K I L 



454 



K I L 



Manufac- 

 tures. 



Towns. 



Kilkenny, contracted between two rocks, beyond which there is 

 a wooden bridge. The banks afford very beautiful 

 prospects. It is navigable for large lighters from Wa- 

 terford to Clonmel, a course of about twenty-five miles. 

 It abounds with excellent trout and salmon. The Bar- 

 row skirts, for about twenty miles, the eastern borders 

 of Kilkenny. It is navigable to Carton, and thence 

 communicates with the great canal. From the new 

 bridge of Ross, to its junction with the Suire, it in ge- 

 neral flows between very high land, and affords most 

 romantic scenery. The Nore, or Newre, flows through 

 the county for thirty-six miles. It receives many tri- 

 butary streams, and is navigable for small vessels to 

 Inistioge. The scenery from Kilfaine to Ross is very 

 fine. The rivers in this county have been long famous 

 for their salmon. The country people catch salmon 

 with a snap-net suspended. between two cots, which 

 are small flat-bottomed boats governed by paddles. 

 The fish thus taken, are sold chiefly at Ross and Wa- 

 terford. On the Nare there are several weirs for the 

 catching of salmon. Most of them are ebb weirs, open 

 to the descending currents, and are fished only during 

 the latter half of the ebb. In the Barrow there are no 

 weirs ; but the quantity of fish has been greatly dimi- 

 nished by the navigation and by mills. 



There are no manufactures of importance in Kilken- 

 ny. The common farmers and cottars manufacture 

 frieze, stockings, linseys, and flannels, for their own 

 use, but very little for sale, except in Ivesk. There was 

 a school at Kilkenny, where 12 children were taught 

 the art of making lace. 



The towns in this county are Kilkenny, the capi'al, 

 described in a separate article, Callan, Inistioge, Tho- 

 mastown, Gowran, Knocktopper, Graigue, Durrow, 

 Castle Coonier, and Freshford. The county sends two 

 members to parliament, and the political influence is in 

 the hands of the Earls of Ormond and Besborough. 



Antiquities. There are five round towers at Kilkenny, namely, 

 St. Canicc, Tulloherin, Kilree, Fartagh, and Aghaviller. 

 They all stand close to churches. Gramy, or Grandi- 

 sin Castle, situated on the banks of the Suire, is one of 

 the most considerable remains of antiquity. As this 

 county is one of the first in which the English settled, 

 it is full of castles. 



Population. In 1 792, the population, as given by Dr. Beaufort, 

 was 17,569 houses, and 100,000 inhabitants. The po- 

 pulation in 1800, as computed for the hearth returns, 

 is 17,212 houses, and 108,000 inhabitants. There are 

 127 parishes, but only 31 churches. The Catholic po- 

 pulation in 1800, seems to have been about 95,000. 

 See Beaufort's Memoir ; Tighe's Survey of Kilkenny ; 

 Wakefield's Account of Ireland ; and \V. Shaw Mason's 

 Statistical Account of Ireland, vol. i. which contains a 

 description of the parishes of Fiddoivn and Grange-Sil- 

 VCE. 



KILKENNY is a city of Ireland, and the capital of 

 the county of Kilkenny. It is delightfully situated 

 on the river Nare, over which there are two handsome 

 stone bridges ; and with the borough of St. Canute, or 

 the Irish town, it forms a large town, which is con- 

 sidered as one of the neatest and pleasantest in the 

 kingdom. The houses are decorated with the mar- 

 ble dug in the neighbourhood, and the streets of the 

 town are paved with the same material. Many of the 

 buildings are large and good. The most remarkable 

 are the bishop's palace, the castle of the Earl of Or- 

 mond, and the celebrated college or free school, a 

 theatre, an asylum for decayed house-keepers, &c. 



The college, of which there is a fine view from the 

 walks, on the banks of the river, was founded by 

 James Duke of Ormond, in1.682. The present build- 

 ing was erected in 1784, at the expence of ^5000, grant- 

 ed by parliament. The number of students is about 

 70, of whom 50 are boarded in the house. The ap- 

 pointment of the master belongs to the provost and 

 senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. Ormond 

 Castle is a magnificent and noble building, on the banks 

 of the river, having its entrances flanked by two large 

 and unequal round towers. The stables on the oppo- 

 site side of the road, are very fine. The little cathe- 

 dral is a fine gothic structure, with round towers. 

 The theatre is small, but neat. It is private property, 

 and is opened about a month annually. Amateurs of 

 the first rank perform, the female performers being en- 

 gaged from Dublin. The ruins of three monasteries, St. 

 John's, St. Francis-, and the Black Abbey, still exist. 

 The windows of the latter are much admired. There 

 are only two churches in the city, but there are several 

 Roman Catholic chapels, each of which lias congrega- 

 tions more numerous than both the churches. The 

 city sends only one member to parliament. The Earls 

 of Ormond and Desart are alternately the patrons. 



The principal manufactures are those of starch, 

 coarse woollens, and very fine blankets. The town 

 contains 2870 houses, and 14,975 persons. West Leng. 

 7 15', North Lat. 52 38'. See the works quoted in the 

 last article, and Carr's Stranger in Ireland. 



KILLARNEY is a market and post town of Ireland, 

 in the county of Kerry. It is neat and populous, and 

 is situated on the side of the lake of the same name. 

 The town contains many handsome houses, and an ad- 

 mirable public school for Catholic children. The ve- 

 nerable ruins of Mucross abbey are in the neighbour- 

 hood of that town. They are half embosomed in a 

 group of luxuriant and stately trees. A prodigious 

 yew tree, about seven or eight feet in circumference, 

 springs from the centre of a cloistered court, the roof 

 of which it covers with its leaves and branches. The 

 town is much frequented by the strangers who come to 

 see the charming lakes of Killarney. The population 

 of the town is about 5000. For an account of the lakes 

 of Killarney, see our article IR.PLANH, vol. xii. p. 26'9 ; 

 Young's Toi.r in Ireland; Smith's Survey of Kerry; 

 Weldt's Account of the Lakes ; Carr's Stranaer in Ire* 

 land; and Wakefield's Account of Ireland, vol. i. p. G6, 

 &c. 



KILLICRANKIE, BATTLE OF. See BRITAIN, vol. 

 iv. p. 612. A full account of the battle will be found 

 under the Life of GRAHAM, JOHN, Viscount Dundee, in 

 vol. x. p. 387, 388. 



KILMARNOCK is a large and flourishing town of 

 Scotland, in the northern district of Ayrshire, 22 miles 

 from Glasgow, and 12 from Ayr. It .extends about a 

 mile and a half along the banks of a small river of -the 

 same name, which flows into the Irvine at the southern 

 extremity of the town. It is finely situated in the 

 heart of a rich, -extensive, and fertile tract of land, 

 which abounds not only in all the products of agricul- 

 ture, but also in rich mines of coal, an article so neces- 

 sary to the growth of manufactures, and to the comfort 

 of life. Such is the abundance of coal in the neigh- 

 bourhood of this town, that, in the summer of 1817, 

 they were laid down to the consumer at somewhat less 

 than fourpence per hundred weight, and vast quanti- 

 ties are constantly shipped for Ireland, at the commo- 

 dious harbour .which has lately been constructed at 



Kilmar- 

 nock. 



