286 



I K E L A N D. 



not kept Those belonging to the cottars, are general- 

 ly confined l>y a tether to the tops of the banks. In 

 the mountains, where they are numerous, they are quite 

 t liberty. Many of the poorer families have no other 

 milk but what tlii'ir goats afford. The Irish breed of 

 hogs is very tall, long, and narrow in the loins. They 

 re met with in every part of the kingdom. No pea- 

 sant is without one. They are fattened principally 

 with potatoes ; and afterwards sold, fur the purpose of 

 paying the rent. Breeding sows are generally kept by 

 dairymen. Rabbit warrens are not numerous in Ire- 

 land; but some of them are very extensive. On the 

 east side of the river Bann, there are two, one of which 

 contain* 500 acres, and the other about 2000. It is sin- 

 gular, that the hair of the hares in Ireland will not felt ; 

 whereas the rabbit hair ire that country, answers re- 

 markably well in the manufacture af hats. 



Bees thrive remarkably well, on the dry hills in the 

 county of Down, and the honey there is highly esteem- 

 ed for its fine flavour ; but the breeding of them is 

 much on the decline in this county as well as in Kil- 

 kenny, where formerly a considerable quantity of mead 

 was made. The county of Wexford is celebrated for 

 crammed fowls ; and there is a fair at Ballyheague, in 

 that county, expressly for the sale of poultry of all 

 kinds. Families send thither from a great distance, to 

 purchase store fowls. Turkeys are numerous in Ire- 

 land. The warmth of the cabins, into which they are 

 always admitted, is favourable to their increase. In the 

 county of Cork, there is a fair for a sale of them. 



CHAP. IV. 



Manufactures Lincn-~Cotton Woollen, fyc. Distilla- 

 tion Flour Mills Salting Provisions, fyc. Fish- 

 eriesTrade and Commerce Revenue and Finance. 



tinen ma- The linen manufacture is very justly considered as 

 nufacturc. the staple manufacture of Ireland. It was established 

 by the Earl of Strafford, when he was lord lieutenant 

 of this country, in the reign of Charles I. In order to 

 fix it on a firm foundation, he brought flax seed from 

 Holland, and spinners and manufacturers from the Ne- 

 therlands and France. His lordship himself afterwards 

 embarked in the business, and expended 30,000 of 

 his private fortune. 



In consequence of the civil wars between Charles and 

 his parliament, this manufacture languished, and had 

 almost been annihilated, when the Duke of Ormond 

 gave it his patronage, and took measures for its re-esta- 

 blishment. His measures were successful ; and, as he 

 sent persons into the Netherlands to learn the best 

 mode of raising flax, and procured manufacturers from 

 Brabant, France, and Jersey, it was soon placed on a 

 better and firmer footing than it had ever been. The 

 places where the manufacture was first carried on in 

 the Duke of Ormond's time, were near Dublin, where 

 cordage, sail cloth, ticking, and linen of Irish yarn, 

 were manufactured, of excellent quality ; and at Car- 

 rick. Before he quitted the government of Ireland in 

 the year 1669, the linen trade was fully established, 

 and in a promising condition. In the beginning of the 

 next century, parliament took it under its protection ; 

 considerable sums of money were voted for its support ; 

 a board of trustees was established ; and bounties were 

 granted on the exportation of Irish linen. In 1737, 

 the board exerted themselves in the introduction from 

 trance, and establishment in Ireland, of the cambric 

 manufacture. 



The raw material for the linen manufacture, is al- Statistic. 

 most entirely grown in Ireland. The following Table w 

 shews the number of acres sown wfch flax in the year Raw ma- 

 1810. It does not include pieces of land less than an terial, 

 acre sown with flax. Hence it may fairly be calcula- 

 ted, that the total number of acres under this plant in 

 the year 1810, was about 100,000, which, allowing the 

 average produce to be 30 stone per acre, at 1 Os. 6d. per 

 stone, the average price for the seven years before 

 1810, will give an annual produce of the raw material 

 worth ,1,500,000. 



Till the beginning of the present century, the flax Spinning, 

 was entirely spun by the hand. Spinning by machi- 

 nery was first introduced in the county of Down, and 

 afterwards spread into other counties ; but it is by no 

 means general. This has arisen principally from the 

 very low price of labour in every part of the land. Yam 

 spun by women, is sold in this country much cheaper 

 than the same article manufactured by machinery in. 

 England. The earnings of the poorer females are fre- 

 quently not more than two-pence' a day, working 

 diligently from morning to night. There is also ano- 

 ther reason why machinery has not been more general- 

 ly established. It cannot with any material, however 

 fine, exceed the fineness of three hanks in the pound; 

 whereas women, when the flax is good, can spin it from 

 twelve to twenty hanks. " To sum up the whole," 

 observes Sir Charles Coote in his Survey of Monaghan, 

 " the quantity of yarn spun by machinery, the greater 

 price given for it, and the better means of obtaining u 

 market, are in favour of that mode with re-pect to 

 coarse yarn. On the other hand, the low price of la- 

 bour, the superior fineness of the wrought m iterial, and 

 the expence of machinery, with its woar anil tear, are 

 very great drawbacks ; yet it may be estimated, that the 

 balance is in favour of the former, to the amount, it is 



