LEINSTER. 415 



see, are higher up, on the Boyne ; Slane, a poor village, with the ruins of a 

 castle and a monastery, is below. Half-way between Navan and Trim are the 

 beautiful ruins of Bective Abbey. Kelk, a flourishing market town on the Black- 

 water, has a round tower on Lloyd Hill (422 feet). In the southern part of the 

 county are the Hill of Tara (see p. 411) and the decayed town oi DanshaughUn. 



Westmeath, like its neighbour, lies within the central plain, and its detached 

 heights attain no considerable elevation. Its maia portion drains into the Shannon, 

 which forms the western boundary. There are numerous lakes scattered all over 

 the county. MulUngar, the county town, on the Royal Canal, and in the vicinity 

 of a cluster of lakes rich in trout, has fairs for horses and cattle, and much trade 

 in agricultural products. Athlone, seated astride the river Shannon, near 

 where it issues from Lough Ree, spanned by a railway viaduct and a fine stone 

 bridge, is a place of considerable strategical importance, for it guards the passage 

 from Leinster into Connaught. Its castle is old and strong, and beside it stand 

 barracks for a larsre garrison. As is often the case in Ireland, there are a clean 

 "new town," inhabited by men of Saxon race, and a wretched "Irish town." 

 Auburn, or rather Lkhoy, which Oliver Goldsmith describes in his " Deserted 

 Village," is in the neighbourhood. The onh' other places of note in the county 

 are Moate-a-Gronogue, on the southern border, and Kilhoggan, on the Brosna, 

 which issues from Lough Ennell. 



The county of Longford lies almost wholly within the basin of the Shunnon, 

 which washes its western margin ; but its northern portion, where Lough Gowna 

 covers a large area, drains into the Erne. Long/ord, on a branch of the Royal 

 Canal, is the seat of a Catholic bishop. Near it are Arclagh, a poor village, after 

 which one of the dioceses of Ireland is named, and Edgeworthfi/oiiii, a pretty 

 village in a flat country, the birthplace of Maria Edgeworth. Ballijntahon is a 

 market town on the Inny, whicli flows through the southern part of the county, 

 Granard, on the water-parting between Inny and Erne, has a small linen trade. 



King's Coimy, and its neighbour Queen's County, were named in honour of 

 Philip II., of Spain, and his coîisort Queen Mary, during whose reign they 

 were first formed. The bulk of King's County consists of a plain descending 

 towards the Shannon and Liffey, dotted over with a few hills, including the 

 Croghan (761 feet), and culminating towards the south in the Slieve Bloom. 

 The Grand Canal intersects the county from east to west. Tullamore, on a river 

 fl wing to the Shannon, FhiUpHtown, and Edenderri/ all lie on the Grand Canal, 

 and on the northern mai'gin of the Bog of Allen, large portions of which have 

 been drained. On the Shannon are Shannon Bridge, with an old fort ; 

 Shannon Harbour, at the mouth of the Grand Canal, with marble quarries ; 

 and Banagher. Above Shannon Bridge are the ruins of the seven churches of 

 Clonmacnoise. Parsonstown, on the Birr, a small tributary of the Shannon, is 

 perhaps the prettiest town in the county. Near it lies Castle Birr, with Lord 

 Rosse's famous telescope. 



Queen's County lies on the southern slope of the Slieve Bloom, and 

 along the Upper Barrow (which rises in it) and the Nore. Maryborough, the 



