IRELAND. 



393 



those numerous indentations whicli vary the contour of Ireland's Atlantic coast. 

 The western seaboard of Ireland, like that of Scotland, and for the same reasons, is 

 far more indented than that facing the east. The bays of Leinster bear no com- 

 parison with the firths of Scotland. Cork Harbour, with its winding passages and 

 islands, is the only estuary along the south coast at all presenting the features of 

 a Scotch loch. The north-eastern portion of the coast, which faces the Scotch 



Fig. 199. — The Mouth of the Shannon. 

 From an Admiralty Chart. Scale 1 : 178,000. 



. 2 Miles. 



peninsulas of Galloway and Kintyre, is more varied in outline, while the Loughs 

 of Carlingford, Strangford, Belfast, and Lame penetrate far inland ; but it cannot 

 compare with the Atlantic coast, where, between Malin Head, in Donegal, and 

 Cape Clear, in the county of Cork, bays, creeks, and river estuaries rapidly succeed 

 each other. There are islands, too, and all of them, whether they occur singly or 

 in groups, are detached fragments of the mainland. They stud the bays, form 

 outlying promontories, and give rise to a variety of landscape features, presenting 

 135 



