Description of Granard. 209 



Water, Lough Shelon, which is said to be seven 

 miles in length, and four in breadth. Granard 

 is a neat town, consisting of one handsome 

 street about half a mile long, at the head of 

 which stands the Castle, built on a singular hill 

 rising to a considerable height: as the sur- 

 rounding country is perfectly flat, the hill has 

 the appearance of being a work of art. 



Prizes are annually given at Granard to the 

 best performers on the Irish harp, an instru- 

 ment which is falling into disuse ; and, as far as 

 we were enabled to judge, from its want of 

 either melody or harmony, this circumstance is 

 not much to be regretted. A few years ago, 

 an establishment was formed at Belfast for the 

 purpose of teaching blind persons to play on this 

 instrument : as a mean of subsistence to those 

 whose resources are so limited, the design was 

 highly commendable. At Faun, we attended a 

 poor boy who had been thus instructed : his 

 misfortune, and not his proficiency, was his re- 

 commendation. 



The principal street at Granard was over- 

 flowing : possibly four thousand people were 

 crowded into it. To force our way through 

 such a multitude was no easy task ; the good 

 humour, however, so conspicuous at Ballymo- 



VOL. 21. F 



