MITCHELSTOWN. 279 



Men, who from long pofleflion of landed pro- 

 perty, become gradually convinced of the im- 

 portance of attending toit, may at laft work fome 

 improvements without meriting any confider- 

 abJe portion of praife ; but that a young man, 

 warm from pleafure, fhould do it, has a muclx 

 fuperior claim. Lo.d Kingfborough has, in 

 this refpeft, a great deal of merit ; and for the 

 fake both of himfelf and his country, I heartily 

 wifh he may fleadily perfevere in that line of 

 conduct which his underftanding has once told 

 him, and muft continue to tell him, is fo greatly 

 for the advantage of himfelf, his family and 

 the public. 



It is not uncommon* efpecially in moun- 

 tainous countries, to find objects that much 

 deferve the attention of travellers intireiy ne- 

 glefted by them* There are a few inftances 

 of this upon Lord Kingfborough's eftate, in 

 the neighbourhood of Mitchelftown $ the firft 

 I fhall mention, is a cave at Skeheenrinky, on 

 the road between Cahir and that place : the 

 opening to it is a cleft of rock in a lime flone 

 hill, fo narrow as to be difficult to get into it. 

 I defcended by a ladder of about twenty fleps, 

 and then found myfelf in a vault of a hundred 

 feet long, and fifty or fixty high : a fmall hole, 

 on the left, leads from this a winding courfe 

 of I believe not lefs than half an Irilh mile, 

 exhibiting a variety that (truck me much. In 

 fome places the cavity in the rock is fo large, 

 that when well lighted up by candles, (not 

 flambeaux, Lord Kingfborough once fhewed 



