INTRODUCTION. 



I. Position and Phtsical Featuees of Ieeland. 



Ieeianb, the most -western of tie British. Isles, extends from Iforth 

 Latitude 51° 26' to 55° 21' and fi-om West Longitude 5° 20' to 

 10° 26'. In form the island is roughly rhomhoidal, with a greater 

 diagonal of 302 miles, and a lesser of 210 miles, the total area being 

 32,531 square miles. More truly insular in position than Great 

 Britain, Ireland is bounded on the north, -west, and south by the 

 Atlantic Ocean, and on the east is separated from England by a 

 sea-ohannel, ranging in breadth from 47 to 138 miles. At its north- 

 eastern extremity, ho-wever, it is divided from southern Scotland 

 by a much narrower channel, varying in width from 13 to 23 miles. 

 The western coasts are much broken, and on this side almost all of 

 the larger islands are found, such as Achill Island, Valentia, the 

 South Isles of Aran, Clare Island, and North Aran. The eastern 

 shores are far less broken. 



As regards its surface features, Ireland may be fairly repre- 

 sented as a central plain flanked by mountain groups, disposed 

 towards or along the coasts. "With a few exceptions, such as the 

 SUeve Bloom range in Queen's County, the Galtees in Tipperary, 

 Mount Leinster and Blackstairs in Wexford, Cuilceagh in Cavan, 

 and Keeper Mountain in Limerick, the chief mountains lie quite 

 close to the coasts. The highest summits are found in the south- 

 west in county Kerry, where the fine rock mass of Magillicuddy's 

 Eeeks rises in CarrantuohiU to a height of 3414 feet, while farther 

 west Mount Brandon reaches to upwards of 3100 feet. Elevations 

 such as these are but rarely approached in other parts of the island. 

 In the Wioklow mountain group on the east coast, LugnaquiUa 

 reaches to 3039 feet ; and in the Galtees towards the south, Galty- 

 more to 3015 feet; but elsewhere in Ireland there are no sTimmits 



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