ST6 



IRELAND. 



SowtJt*. quest, in company with Henry IT., this country was full 

 S ""V"' of woods on every side; but the English, on gaining pos- 

 icssion of it, cut them down, partly in order to deprive 

 the banditti of their lurking places, and partly to gain 

 the greater scope of profitable lands. Another cause 

 operated, whicn operates in all countries the desire 

 to obtain wood for fuel. Forests, however, were still 

 numerous in those parts, especially, over which the 

 English had not acquired a perfect and tranquil power ; 

 but after the quelling of the great rebellion in the time 

 of Elizabeth, the forests were still more reduced in ex- 

 tent and number. The same motives which operated 

 with the conquerors on their first invasion, operated 

 now. Besides, the prospect of gain for the sale of the 

 timber was a further inducement. Immense ship loads 

 were sent to foreign parts ; arid whereas, before this 

 period, there was not a single charcoal manufactory, on 

 the subduing of the rebellion, a grsat number on a ve- 

 ry extensive scale were erected. 



Forests in All these causes, however, though operating probably 

 the 17th w jth a progressive effect, had not denuded Ireland en- 

 rantury. ti re ly of forests in the middle of the 17th century, the 

 period when Boate published his Natural History of 

 that country. He complains, indeed, that great part of 

 Ireland was very bare of woods in his time ; and that, 

 in some places, you may travel whole days long without 

 seeing any wood or trees, except a few about gentle-i 

 men's houses; and, particularly, instances the route from 

 Dublin, as far as Dromore, by Dundalk and Newry, 

 being above 60 miles, in some parts whereof you shall 

 not see so much as one tree in many miles ; and adds 

 that the " great woods, which the maps do represent to 

 us upon the mountains between Dundalk and Newry, 

 are quite vanished." Notwithstanding these complaints, 

 there were, in the time of this author, large forests, 

 which no longer exist. In Leinster he states, that the 

 counties of Wicklow, and King and' Queen's Counties, 

 were throughout full of woods, seme many miles long 

 and broad ; and that part of the counties of Wexford 

 and Carlow were greatly furnished with them. In Ul- 

 ster, there were, in his time, great forests in the county 

 of Donegal, and in the north part of Tyrone ; likewise 

 in Fermanagh, along Lake Erne, in Antrim, and in the 

 north part of Down. The greatest part of the latter 

 county, however, as well as Armagh, Monaghan, and 

 Cavan, which, in the war with Tyrone, were encum- 

 bered with great and thick forests, were, in the time of 

 Dr. Boate, almost everywhere bare. With respect to 

 Munster, he represents the counties of Kerry and Tip- 

 , perary as possessing sundry great forests, notwithstand- 

 ing the English, especially the Earl of Cork, had made 

 great havoc with the woods. In Connaught he states, 

 that there were very few forests, except in the counties 

 of Mayo and Sligo. 



At present. Such was the state of Ireland with regard to forests, 

 during the middle of the l?th century; but it is much 

 changed at present, for in Donegal and some other 

 of the counties represented, by Boate, as possessing ex- 

 tensive forests in his time, there are now none. Wood 

 is more general in the county of Fermanagh than in 

 any other county of Ireland. Oak abounds throughout 

 the glens of Wicklow, and upon the mountains of Kil- 

 larney, but it is of inconsiderable size ; and in other 

 parts of the country is by no means common. Ash is 

 confined principally to Fermanagh, and in some parts 

 of Tyrone and Cavan. As proofs of the denuded state 

 of parts of Ireland with respect to wood, it may be 

 mentioned, that in the county of Clare, there are only 

 780 acres of wood, or rather of plantation ; and that in 

 Kilkenny, there are only 1800 acres. 



The fertility of every country depends mainly upon Statistic. 

 its soil and climate. The soil^of Ireland, we have seen ^""Y" 1 "'' 

 to be, in general, of a very fertile quality, but at the climate - 

 same time, in most places very shallow, and resting 

 upon a rocky substratum. Such a soil, in a dry cli- 

 mate, could not be very productive ; but, fortunately 

 for Ireland, her climate is most admirably adapted to 

 her soil. The situation of this country, which, on all 

 sides except the eastern, lies quite open to the Atlantic, 

 in connection with the circumstance, that westerly, and 

 especially south-westerly winds, prevail more in this 

 country, even than on the opposite coast of England, 

 renders its atmosphere extremely clouded and moist. 

 These winds, generally speaking, may be said to blow 

 three-fourths of the year; and as they blow often with 

 considerable violence, this circumstance, and the dfy- 

 ness of the soil, prevent the excessive moisture of the 

 climate from being unhealthy. The same causes which 

 render the climate of Ireland more moist than that ot 

 Britain, and the winds from the west and south-west 

 more prevalent, vender also the climate more uncertain, 

 and the seasons more irregular; generally speaking, 

 however, showers are very frequent, especially in the 

 winter season. In this season, also, the south-west and 

 south winds prevail more than in the other seasons of 

 the year ; in summer and autumn, the west prevail ; 

 in spring, the east, south-east, north-east, and north. 

 Storms are more frequent in autumn and winter, than 

 in spring and summer ; the months most liable to them 

 are November, December, January, and February. 



The temperature of Ireland is milder, and through- Tempera- 

 out the year averages a higher degree than the tempe- ture - 

 rature of England ; but this must be understood as ap- 

 plying not so much to the higher heat of the summer, 

 as to the less cold of the winter and spring. In the 

 south and south-west of Ireland, it does not often hap- 

 pen that winter covers the low ground with snow, or 

 locks it up in frost, for any length of time ; and even 

 in the middle of the country, snow of a month's dura- 

 tion on the plains is very uncommon. Rain, however, 

 in winter, through all Ireland, is abundant ; and the 

 moisture this occasions, gives a feeling of coldness, 

 which, if not compared with the thermometer, would 

 lead to the supposition, that the temperature of the air 

 was really very low. The winter continues commonly 

 in the north and central parts seven or eight months, 

 fires in chambers being requisite from about the middle 

 of September to the middle of May. The seasons are 

 later than in England : " the spring and autumn more 

 tardy in their approach, as also the winter ; the fall of 

 the leaf being later than in England.'' 



The differences of temperature between the north and In the north 

 the south of Ireland, seem to arise more from the diffe- an< * south. 

 rent elevation of the land, than from difference of lati- 

 tude. The latter cause, indeed, cannot produce much 

 effect, the extent of Ireland, in a meridian line, not be- 

 ing above four degrees of latitude. The situation of 

 the country with Tespect to the ocean, also affects its 

 temperature. The western and southern parts are 

 more moist and temperate than the eastern and north- 

 eastern, and the coasts, than the interior. It has been 

 also remarked, that, where the substratum is limestone, 

 the snow dissolves sooner than elsewhere. 



Such is a general description of the climate of Ire- 

 land ; but it may be proper to select some particular 

 facts, to confirm and illustrate the truth and accuracy 

 of this description. 



And, first, with respect to temperature. Generally State of *<= 

 speaking, the mean temperature of the north of Ireland t hel <ne- 

 is about 48 ; of the middle 50 ; and of the south 52, ter> 



