KILKENNY. 



E>Ikennv. return a member to parliament. The county is repre- 

 ^"V"^' sented by two memlKrs; and the political influence be- 

 longs principally to the duke of Leinster. 



Population. The population of the county is e-t (mated at 11,20.5 

 houses, and 56,000 inhabitants. The Catholics are to 

 the Protestants in the ratio of 30 to I. The proportion 

 of Catholics to Protestants called on the grand jury, is 

 as 40 to 41. See Beaufort's Memoir ; llawson's S. alis- 

 tical Account "1 Kitdarr ; U'akefield's Account of Ire- 

 land ; and W. Shaw Mason's Statistical Account of Ire- 

 land, vol. i. p. 447, for an account of the parish of Kil- 

 berry in Kildare. See MAVNOOTH, for an account of 

 the Catholic college. 



Kll.kl. NN V is an inland county of Ireland, in the 

 province of Leinster. It is bounded on the south by 

 the river Suire ; on the east, by the Barrow ; and is in- 

 tersected by the Nore, which flows through its centre. 

 Its greatest length, from north to south, from the Slew- 

 magy hills to the Suire, is 45.J English miles ; and its 

 greatest breadth, from east to west, is about 24 Eng- 

 lish miles. Dr. Beaufort makes its superficial contents 

 482,464 English acres ; but Mr. Tighe states, that, from 

 a survey lately made for the use of the grand jury, it 

 amounts to 510,882 English acres. 



"ml - This county is mountainous ; and though much furze 

 F*** is still seen on the hills, cultivation is making consider- 



able progress. In consequence of the declivity of the 

 county from north to south, which is about 500 feet, and 

 from the rapidity of the Nore, which descends 1 3 feet 

 in a mile, the water is carried off, and the county is dry. 

 Kilkenny has also a favourable exposure to the south- 

 east. There is little bog, er marsh land ; and the sub- 

 stratum is limestone, brittle schistus, or porous argillite ; 

 and retentive clay in a very small patt of the county. 

 Sol From these causes, the crops are earlier in general than 



in the tillage counties to the north. The soil is in ge- 

 neral good. The northern parts are poor ; but, by the 

 judicious application of lime, and limestone gravel, 

 they may be rendered productive in corn and grasm 

 The baronies of Ibercon, Idagh, ami Iverk, are all cul- 

 tivated. In the plains and vallies of the southern por- 

 tion, the soil is more fertile. The banks of the Nare 

 contain many delightful prospects and luxuriant fields. 

 In this county, the spring months of February and 

 March are in general rainy and mild, the winds being 

 mostly S. S. W. and S. April and May are drier, but 

 northerly and north-west wind* often destroy the blos- 

 soms on the fruit tree*. June and July are frequently 

 chilled by rains and cool westerly winds. In August, 

 September, and October, there i* a much greater pro- 

 portion of north and easterly wind*. In November, 

 December, and January, there is rain, but little frost 

 The west wind* prevail, in genera), during two-thirds 

 of the year. 



! ,i The principal proprietor* in Kilkenny, are Lord Be- 



fMfotjr. borough, who has an estate of I7,OOO acres, of which 

 2000 are let on leases for ever ; Lord Clifton, who has 

 an estate of SO.OOO acre*, with the town* of Graigue 

 and Gowran ; Lord Ormond. who has property worth 

 about :v2,f)OO ptr OMMITM ; Lord Mountmorris, who 

 has about 4OO-> or 5000 acre* ; and Lord Desart, Lord 

 Carrick, Mr. Tight-, and Mr. Bryan, who have each from 

 .*XX> to 6000 per annum. The leases arc, in gene- 

 ral, for three lives . and partnership leases are common. 

 The land in Kilkenny i estimated as worth two guinea* 

 per acre. There are a great many dairies in Kilkenny, 



the most considerable of which are in the district called Kilkenny. 

 the Welch mountains ; which consists, in general, of >- ^~Y~"' 

 dry land fit for tillage, and inclined by nature to grass, 

 but perfectly unimproved, and almost uninclosed.* The 

 common cattle here, are a mixture of the Irish breed 

 with some of the long- horned English. There are a few 

 of the native breed. The breed of sheep is rapidly im- 

 proving in this part of Ireland. The state of tillage in 

 the county is the same as in Kildare, already described. 

 Fallows are here more attended to than in any other 

 part of Ireland. The best farmers graze their stubbles 

 till Christmas ; give them a first ploughing before the 

 end of January ; even plough in spring ; and never 

 sow wheat till after three earths. Irrigation is practi- 

 sed in some parts of the county. 



The following were the prices of labour and provi- Prices of 

 sions in 1811 : Wages of a man, per day, 10 Ad. ; of l al)0llr> 

 a woman, 6^d. ; grazing a cow, per week, 5s. ad. ; gra- 

 zing a horse, 7s. 7d. ; Kilkenny coal, per cwt. Is. 8^1. ; 

 potatoes, per stone, 3d. ; fresh butter, per Ib. Is. 4d. ; 

 hay, per ton, X.5, lls. 10|d. ; beef, per Ib. 4^d. ; mut- 

 ton, 5^d. ; eggs, per doz. lOd. ; cheese, per Ib. Is. Id. : 

 fowls, per couple, Is. llkl. ; turkeys, 2s. 3d. 



The granite hills of Wicklow terminate in Kilkenny. Minerals. 

 The stone whih usually joins the granite, is silicious 

 schistus ; and, lower down, argi! aceous slate. A few 

 bed* of marie, and limtv.one gravel, are found near the 

 foot of Brandon Hill. Many of the lower hills consist 

 of silirean breccia, which, when of a fine grain, is 

 wrought for millstones. There are excellent quarries 

 for flags on the north of the county, p.-.rtic-ularly at 

 Shawhill. They are sent to Dublin, Cork, &c. undrr 

 the name of Carlow flags, from their passing through 

 the town of Carlow. The great collieries of Lord ( )r- 

 mond, at Castle Coomer, have been wrought for a cen- 

 tury. They were discovered in 1624, but were first 

 wrought by the father of the Idle Lord Wandestbrd. 

 The coal contains <)7-3 per cent, of pure carbon. In 

 private houses it is by no means good ; but for drying 

 malt, and for forges, it is of great value. Forty thousand 

 tons are raised annually at this colliery. The collieries 

 extend four miles, and the number of colliers is 600. 

 The coal is extracted at an expence of 10s. per ton ; 

 whereas, in some of the English collieries, they are de- 

 livered at the mouth of the pit for 3s. per ton. A great 

 part of this coal is conveyed to Dublin by the canal, 

 and is sent to various parts of Ireland, as back carriage 

 for cars, which go into the neighbourhoood. Manga- 

 nese, iron ore, lead ore, and copper ore, have been 

 found in the county. The iron ore was smelted at 

 Castle Coomer while the timber lasted, but the forges 

 have been given up more than eighty years ago. 



There are many valuable marble quarries in the lime- Marble 

 stone district. The marble is black, and contains many quarries. 

 impressions of madrepores, of bivalve, and of turbina- 

 ted shells. It contains 97 per crnl. of carbonate of 

 lime, 2 per cent, carbon, and 1 per cent, magnesia and 

 iron. About 50 tons of it are exported annually. It 

 is sawed and polished at a mill near Kilkenny. 



The rivers of Kilkenny are remarkable both for their Rivers. 

 beauty and utility. The Suire, which separates for 

 about sixteen miles Kilkenny from Waterford, has a 

 winding and majestic course, and conveys the trade 

 that passes between Waterford, Carrick, and Clonmel. 

 It flows with great rapidity, and has a considerable 

 width till it approaches Waterford, where it becomes 



Amyi 



t of UK dairy farm* in Kilkenny, will be found in Tighe't Survey of Kilkenny. 



