CORK. 



221 



uel, plan- 

 itions, &c. 



ters Waterford, and after a course of SO miles, falls 

 into the sea at Youghall Bay. The Bandon rises in the 

 mountains of Carbery, and after a much shorter course 

 than that of the other two rivers, falls into the sea at 

 Kinsale. Besides these, there are innumerable other 

 streams, all of which might be turned to good account 

 were agriculture and manufactures in a prosperous 

 state. Most of them have been immortalized in the 

 poetry of Spenser. 



The whole coast of Cork, extending to about 37 

 leagues, is indented with creeks and bays ; and affords 

 numerous places of shelter and safety for shipping of 

 the largest burden. Cork, Youghall, Kingsale, Crook- 

 haven, Bearhaven, and Bantry Bay, though the most 

 considerable, are but a few of the multitude of har- 

 bours and anchor-grounds with which this coast is fur- 

 nished. 



The fuel in common use is turf, which the poor can 

 buy at a low price ; and furze, of which sometimes 

 whole fields are raised for the very purpose. There is 

 also coal in the county, but its quality is not good. 

 English coal is burnt in the sea-port towns, in none of 

 which is it so high by 50 per cent, as it is in London. 

 Some excellent and valuable wood is to be seen in this 

 county. Mr Hyde sold, some time ago, 8000 trees, of 

 100 years growth, and covering 60 acres, for L. 10,000. 

 There is still, however, a very extensive field for im- 

 provement in this respect. There are many thousands 

 of acres which may be planted without much difficulty, 

 and to great advantage. Formerly, there was a consi- 

 derable quantity of timber, but the trees were cut 

 down and consumed at the iron-Avorks in the 17th cen- 

 tury, and no adequate pains have been taken since to 

 supply their place. Planting is now carried on by 

 some individuals with great "spirit. There are nume- 

 rous orchards on the banks of the Blackwater, which 

 are very productive. In various places there are nur- 

 series for the cultivation and sale of forest trees. 



There are manufactures of various kinds in this coun- 

 ty : of linen, sailcloth, duck, canvas, drilling, &c. In 

 1808, Sir T. J. Fitzgerald obtained bounty from the 

 Linen Board on 112,782 yards of duck and canvas; 

 and the same year, Mr Julius Besnard obtained boun- 

 ty for 73,054 yards of sailcloth. Mr Besnard has a 

 rope work at Douglas, two miles east from the city of 

 Cork, with a walk of 232 feet long. At the same place 

 he has two factories which go by water, at which he 

 •cards and rows hards, and spins all kinds of linen yarn, 

 but particularly coarse. The young women employed 

 here are not so depraved as in many other factories, 

 because there are scarcely any of the other sex but old 

 men Within a few miles of Cork, Alderman Lane 

 and Son have a woollen manufactory, where they dress 

 cloth, after it is dyed, by means of machinery which 

 cost about L. 500 >, and where they employ altogether 

 nearly a thousand people. In some parts coarse cloth, 

 like Scotch Osnaburghs, is made and exported for negro 

 clothing. The muslin manufacture has been introduced 

 at bandon. Gunpowder is made in the neighbourhood 

 of Cork : it is the government manufactory of that ar- 

 ticle, and the only one in the kingdom. There are 

 several breweries and distilleries of large extent ; and 

 cider is made from the fruit winch grows on the banks 

 of the Blackwater, &c. 



All the fresh water fish, salmon, pike, trout, eels, 

 &c. are found here in great abundance, and, on ac- 

 count ot the limestone- beds over which many of the 

 rivers flow, are said to be of very superior quality. 

 Herrings and other sea fish, whichwere once very plen* 



tiful on the coast of Cork, have almost wholly disap- Cork. 



peared, and there is now no fishery worth mentioning. "'■""V"'"" 



A good many sand eels, lobsters, craw fish, pearl mussels, 



&c. are caught; the sun fish, very large and valuable 



on account of the oil which it yields, is occasionally 



seen ; and seals and porpoises frequent all the havens 



and headlands in great multitudes. 



The rocks most prevalent in the county are argilla- Mineral*, 

 ceous. The greater part of the coast, and of the hills 

 in its vicinity, is composed of a coarse red or grey 

 sandstone, which often varies to a coarser and more 

 slaty fracture ; and in this we meet with slate, some 

 of which is fit for roofing houses. Limestone is found 

 in great quantity in almost every district, and at a 

 cheap rate. A large seam of it commences in the pe- 

 ninsula of Cork bay, and the islands in Cork harbour, 

 and extends on the south of the river Lee to a consi- 

 derable distance. It contains a variety of fossil shells ; 

 and some of it, when scraped, has the unpleasant smell 

 of stinkstone. In the limestone quarries near Cork, 

 transparent quartz and large amethysts are found. 

 The Galtee mountains are composed of a very coarse 

 pudding stone, in which there is a great deal of iron 

 shot quartz. Several quarries of marble, admitting of 

 a good polish, and extremely beautiful, have been open- 

 ed in the neighbourhood of Cork. This county is not 

 destitute of coal. It is wrought on the barony of Du- 

 hallow, but is of a sulphureous stone quality, and not 

 very good for domestic and culinary purposes. Char- 

 coal is usually employed for kindling it. A bed or 

 two, however, of superior purity, have been discovered^ 

 and are now the object of attention. There is abun- 

 dance of iron-stone and some copper ore in the county ; 

 and both of them were formerly wrought with no 

 small success, but the works have been long since dis- 

 continued. Ochre is widely diffused, and of a great 

 variety of colours. A saponaceous earth, like fullers* 

 earth, is found in abundance near the old head of Kin- 

 sale; About a mile west from Cloyne there is a stra- 

 tum of clay, six feet thick, remarkable for being as 

 white as snow, and made use of for whitewashing the 

 walls of houses, taking grease out of boards, and com- 

 posing glaziers' putty. 



The weights and measures used in this county, are, vFeielits 

 with a few exceptions, the same that are used through- ai ,d mea- 

 out the kingdom. The cwt. weighs 8 stone, or 1 1 2 lb. sures. 

 The barrel of barley is equal to 3 kilderkins, and each 

 kilderkin is 12 stone. The barrel of oats is equal to 

 3 kilderkins, and each of these kilderkins is only 11 

 stone. The English acre is used through all the south- 

 ern parts of the county. Potatoes, when retailed in 

 market, are sold by a measure called a weight, general- 

 ly containing 2 1 lb. 



Cork is divided into 16 baronies, and 269 parishes, politic 

 It returns eight members to the imperial parliament; division.^ 

 of these there are two for the county, two for the city of &c. 

 Cork, and one for each of the burghs of Kinsale, Youghal, 

 Bandon- Bridge, and Mallow : The voters for the coun- 

 ty members are 20,000. It furnishes three regiments 

 of militia ; one for the city, another for the north dis- 

 trict, and a third for the south district, of the eounty. 



The county of Cork contains the bishoprick of Cloyne, Eccleslair. 

 founded A. D. 600, and that of Cork and Ross, united tical divi- 

 A. D 1586. That of Cloyne contains 137 parishes ; and sions,&c. 

 that of Cork and Ross contains 127. The number of 

 beneficed clergymen in the former is 56, and their col- 

 lective revenue upwards of L. 40,000. The collective 

 revenue in the latter amounts to L. 30,000. The in- 

 come of the Bishop of Cloyne, according to Mr Young, 



