JcxE 19, 1885.] 



• KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



521 



discounted by our comparatively unsentiiiientnl " Saxon " 

 who has not seen them. As to the coast, except in a few 

 instAnces, the uutss of Englishmen know but little about 

 it ; yet, in some respects, it equals, if it does not exceed 

 for sublimity anything to be found in Great Britain, and 

 includes so many comparatively unknown, because un- 

 frequented, stretches of most picturesque shore that to 

 many who have " done " some of the more celebrated 

 regions of the globe, a well-planned coasting expedition 

 around Ii-eland would be in many respects a very wel- 

 come revelation of much that is most pleasing, new, and 

 strange. 



Ireland — the extremity of Europe — is swept on the west 

 by an ocean that extends iu unbroken expanse for full nine 

 thousand miles. The geological formation of thi.s island — 

 which has, as geology necessarily does, exercised an enor- 

 mous influence on Irish history — is altogether peculiar and 

 unparalleled in the British Isles, ^^'ithin four great head- 

 lands — Fair Head, north-east ; Erris Head, north-west ; 

 Mizen Head, south-west ; and Carnsore Head, south-east, 

 is a vast plain, having but a few hills, soaring up every- 

 where towards the sea-coast into mountains which give the 

 shores, especially on the south-west and north, a singular 

 grandeur and a wild, rugged, often fantastic, beaut\- pecu- 

 liar to itself. It has been aptly said that were Ireland to 

 sink down a little — not an impossible thing by any means 

 — the interior would then form an enormous inland sea, 

 having an internal archipelago and a stern gi-anite moun- 

 tainous wall, but little broken, to oppose all round to the 

 ocean. The principal interruptions, indeed, to the external 

 mountain rim — if I may so call it — which encloses Ireland 

 are caused by Dublin and Galway Bays respectively. The 

 northern highlands, including the Antrim Mountains, 

 attain an elevation of about 2,000 ft., aud the culminating 

 point. Mount Errigal, is -,-102 ft. high. The ranges form 

 in many cases table-lands, and these end with terrible 

 abruptness, and impart to the coasts a most precipitous 

 character. 



In the west the Xephin Beg Mountains are higher and 

 more savage than those of Donegal, and Nephin, the 

 principal summit, attains a height of 2,640 ft., ending in 

 the grand clifTs of Achill Island, ranging from 900 to 

 nearly 2,000 ft. high. Achill, or rather Eagle, Island is 

 off the west coast of Mayo, and is about 1-5 miles by 12, 

 possessing a most irregular and picturesque landscape, 

 after the Salvator Rosa type. It is reckoned to Include an 

 area of .3.5,000 acres, of which certainly not a thousand are 

 cultivated. Here may be seen a very singular mountain 

 composed entirely of mica slate, rising out of the Atlantic 

 a sheer precipice 2,208 ft. high. 



The southern peninsula includes the Connemara Moun- 

 tains, which culminate on or very near the coast, and 

 occasionally soar up in grand isolated masses of granite, 

 and in other cases are found in groups. 



Passing south there^ are the mountains of Kerry, with 

 Macgillicuddy's Reeks, the highest mountains in Ireland 

 (3,400 ft.), and proceeding eastwards are the Wicklow 

 Mountains, with Lug-na-quilla (over .3,000 ft.), and the 

 Mourne Jlountains. 



Broadly speaking. Ireland consists of a great central 

 plain of limestone rock, once covei-ed with dense forests, 

 and generally having a natural mountainous wall on the 

 coasts, which gain thence a marked grandeur aud general 

 picturesqueness. So extensive and numerous are the 

 sinuosities of the shores of Ireland, that the total length of 

 the coast-line, it extended, would reach 2,000 miles ! No 

 part of Ireland can be over .")0 miles from sea or a good 

 navigable river, and yet we know too well in how low a 

 condition are the principal industries of the island. 



The north and west shores are, like West Scotland, 

 studded with numerous isles, but those are mostly very 

 small; many, indeed, are mere rocks, and inca]lal^le of 

 sheltering even one inhabitant properly ; but they add, all 

 the same, great variety, and, from an artistic view-point, 

 much wild beauty, to the general seascape of the west. As 

 for the shores themselves, these may bo describf^d as 

 shielded by tremendous dill's against the terrific storms of 

 the Atlantic, and generally the coast is broken by a number 

 of small rivers which flow <lirectly down a short course from 

 the highlands of their oi'igin. The nortii coast is niuiark- 

 able for Kathlin Island, composed entirely of basalt with 

 limestone, and for the Giants' Causeway. 



Dublin County has a coast-lino of about 70 miles, oil" 

 which lie several islands. Tlw iSay of Dublin (Dubh-linn, 

 i.<'., black pool) is guarded on each side by j)recipitous hills 

 full .500 ft. high, and having the curious eminence of 

 Lambay Isle, or Ireland's Eye. All along the coast are 

 good fishing-grounds for turbot, brill, sole, plaice, cod, 

 haddock, and last, but to many by no means least, oysters. 

 Proceeding north, Louth is the next maritime county with 

 its fine heiglits, that, under the name of Carlingford Moun- 

 tain, nearly 2,000 ft. high, overlook the bay of that name. 

 These heights are chiefly granite with limestone and ilay 

 slate. This county — the smallest in Ireland — is eminently 

 remarkable for its ecclesiastical antiquities, its round towers, 

 aud its Celtic remains generally. 



Continuing our survey of the maritime counties, next 

 comes Down, having an interesting coast-line of 67 miles, 

 or, reckoning the islands off it, 12.5. Here are the IMourne 

 Mountains, covering 90 square miles, and culminating in 

 Slieve Donagh, 2,796 ft. Silurian and granite rocks con- 

 stitute the greater part of the country ; and, on the toj) of 

 Slieve Croob (1,7.55 ft. high) may be seen over twenty 

 cairns, one being of the remarkable height of 50 ft. Antrim, 

 third among Irish counties in population, and only ninth in 

 extent, has a sea-coast of 90 miles, and includes that extra- 

 ordinary natural feature of the island, the Giants' Causeway. 

 The surface of Antrim consists chiefly of basaltic trap, 

 sometimes alternating with red ochre, and overlying hard 

 chalk, greensand, mica slate, millstone grit, and, in the 

 Giants' Causeway, the most perfect specimens of columnar 

 basalt in the world. Londonderry has comparatively a 

 short coast line ; but it is bold and frequently precipitous, 

 and the River Bann, separating it from Antrim, is famous 

 for its salmon. Donegal, with its coast line of 395 miles, 

 deeply indented l)y bays and loughs, some over 25 miles 

 long, its numerous islands, tremendous mountains, lakes, 

 and rivers steeped in the accumulated fairy lore and the 

 romantic traditions of a very superstitious, uncultured, but 

 highly imaginative people, is, indeed, deeply interesting 

 ground. The geological structure of Donegal is granite, 

 metamorpjhic rock, graywacke, Devonian limestone, and 

 marble. The climate is wild, too, and boisterous, especially 

 during the prevalence of western gales ; and, near the coast, 

 it is not uncommon to meet with the ruins of habitations 

 that have been completely wrecked by terrific storms of 

 sand. Donegal is rich in arcb;eological remains, abounds 

 in the ruins of rude old fortresses, and boasts the site and 

 remains of the palace of the old North Irish kings, and of 

 the famous Coronation Stone of the old monarchs of Erin. 

 Many interesting memorials are here to be found of St. 

 Columba ; and on an isle in Loch Derg is a place, in- 

 teresting to antiqiuirians, known as St. Patrick's Purgatory. 

 Close to one of the lieadlands is a singular cavern, 

 having an opening in the roof, whence at seasons 

 rudimous jets of water are shot forth like the explosion of 

 a cannon. 



(To be continued.) - '■■■ 



