IRELAND. 



Aocymcnts. Tliefc vrere partly cut down to deprive the 

 natives of their faitneffes, and partly for the purpofe of ex- 

 tending agriculture. In the reigns of James I. and Charles 

 I., during the continuance of peace, a very extenfive export- 

 ation took place, chiefly of pipe (laves and other fmall tim- 

 ber ; and befides. w hat was confumed in domeftic fuel, im- 

 menfe quantities » ere charred for the iron works whicli were 

 carried on in different pans of the ifland. As no attention 

 was paid to renewing them, the foreds were fpeedily reduced. 

 Yet Boate, whofe work was publifhed about the middle of 

 the fcventeenth century, informs us that there were ftill fundry 

 great woods remaining in all the provinces, fome of them 

 many miles long and broad. All thefe have fince been de- 

 molifhed, and there does not exift in Ireland any traft de- 

 serving the name ofaforcft: but the wiiole country is cleared 

 foi- the purpofes of agriculture, and retains none of the 

 vail woods to be found in the favage (late, yet Ireland is not 

 dcrtitute of woods that are botli ufefuland ornamental. A 

 fpirit of planting has been prevalent for fome years pad, 

 vhich has been powerfully encouraged by the premiums of 

 the Dublin Society, as well as by Ceveral afts of parliament 

 for the pr:te6lion of timber, fo that the country begins to 

 alfume a lefs naked appearance, and will, perhaps, become 

 once more entitled to its old name of the Woody ifland. 



Ireland has been ever celebrated for the fertility of its 

 foil. The rich.eil land is that whicli lies near the principal 

 rivers, but there is not much which can be called bad ; and 

 the proportion of that whicli is wa(le was not thought by 

 Mr. Arthur Young, fo long ago as the year 177S, to be 

 as great as in England. The moft uncultivated traCls are 

 the momitainous didricis in all the wettcrn counties, wliich 

 feem ])laced as barriers againft the fury of the vad Atlantic. 

 In every part of Ireland there is (lone either near the furface 

 cr at no great depth, which Mr. Young confidercd as the 

 greateft fingularity of Ireland. " May we not recognize 

 in this," he continues, " the hand of bounteous Providence, 

 which has given, perhaps, the mod dony foil in Europe to 

 the nioilied climate in it ? If as much rain fell upon the clays 

 of England, (a foil very rarely met with in Ireland, and 

 never without much done,) as falls upon the rocks of her 

 -fider ifland, thofe lands could not be cultivated. But the 

 rocks here are clothed with verdure ; thofe of limeftone, in 

 particular, with only a thin coveriuif of mould, have the 

 fofted and mod beautiful turf imaginable." Light fandy 

 foil is feldom met with, and chalk has not been found in any 

 part of the ifland, though there is a white limeftone fome- 

 what refembling it. 



The mountainous chains in Ireland are neither numerous 

 nor import^mt ; but an upland ridge divides the country from 

 the N.E. to the S AV., giving birtli to feveral of the rivers. 

 The Irifli hills generally form fiiort lines or ditached groujis, 

 which are fo difpcrled through the country, that there is 

 fcarcelv any part in which the profpeft is not terminated by 

 this fpecies of majedic fcenery. There are none, however, 

 equal in height to feveral in Great Britain, the highed pro- 

 bably falling fliort of ?ooc feet ; yet there are a few, Cuch 

 ns Mangerton and M'Giniciiddy's Reeks, near the lake of 

 Killarney, and Brandon, near Dingle, in Kerry ; Croagh 

 Patrick and Nepliin in Mayo ; and Sliebh-Donard, one 

 ■of tlie Moiirne mountains, in the county of Down, which 

 deferve the attention of tlic naturatill, as they have been 

 found to produce many of thofe plants pecuhar to Alpine 

 regions. 



As the whole of the country is fnind to have done near 

 the furface, it was natural to expect that it contained valuable 

 minerals ; and we accordingly find that fuch an expectation 

 ■was early formed, though, iiithcrto, much pains do not 



feem to have been taken to difcover ihem, and render them 

 ufcful. A plan was indeed recommended hy Mr. Kirwan, 

 which, if it had been adopted, would have c(l;ib!iflied a com. 

 plete niineralogical fchool in Ireland, and would thus have not 

 only led to the difcovery of the minerals, but have alfo in- 

 ilnufled in the mode of procuring them with mod advan- 

 tage. As, latterly, attention has been excited to the fub- 

 ject, much progiefs may be fliortly expedled. The lime- 

 done quarries, which abound almoit every where, are now 

 generally worked, and aflbrd a mod valuable manure. A 

 great variety of n:arbles is f<nuid, fome of which are un- 

 commonly beautiful, and capable of a very high polifli, fo 

 as to leave little caufe to regret the difficulty of procuring 

 Italian marbles. Gypfum, fo valuable a material in the 

 hands of the ornamental artid, is found in great abundance 

 near Belfad, and fuller' s-earth has been found in feveral 

 counties. The mountains of granite in Wicklow and Car- 

 luvv fupply the capital with this ufeful done for building; 

 and flates of excellent quality are found in many parts of 

 the ifland. The beds of coal, to be feen in various regions 

 of Ireland, have not yet been properly explored. That of 

 Kilkenny, found at Cadlocomer, is defervedly celebrated 

 amon,j mineralo jiils as the pured coal of the kind to which 

 it belongs, which is the Jlor.e or vmnf.ammnble coal. This is 

 the kind generally found in the foutiiern parts of Ireland ; 

 but in the counties of Tyrone and .-iiitrim fome mines of 

 flate-coal have been worked. Iron ore is very abundant ; 

 and before the foreds were confumed, there was a great 

 number of iron works in various parts. Boate divides the 

 iron mines of Ireland into three defcriptions : i. What he 

 dylrs the bog-mine, or, what is now termed lowland ore, 

 found in moors and bog« ; the ore refcmbiing yellow clay, 

 but mouldering into a (dackifli fand. 2. The rock mine ; 

 a bad fort; the ore intimately combined with ftoni-. 3. That 

 found in various mountains ; the ore fpheric and of a whitilh 

 grey colour ; balls of the bed ore contained kernels full of 

 fmall holes, wlience the name honey-comb ore. Boate praifcs 

 this iron as frequently rivalling that of Spain ; and Mr. 

 Kirvvan affirmed, before the houie of commons, that the 

 Arigna iron was better than any iron made from any fingle 

 fpecies of ore in England. A defective iupply of coal 

 renders, however, the abundance of this ore of no avail. 

 There are alfo valuable mines of lead, copper, and cobal"-, 

 fon.e of which have been \Trought to advantage ; and gold 

 has been found in the county of Wicklow, though not 

 of fuch confcquence as to promife much national advan- 

 tage. 



The bogs of Ireland form a very remarkable feature of 

 the country. Thefe are of different kinds, and in fome 

 places are very extenlive. As trees, and even utenfils of 

 different kinds have been found in thele bogs, they are 

 fuppofed not to be of very great antiquity ; and the moll 

 probable account feems to be, that when foreds had been 

 cut down, the trees were fuffered to lie on the fpot, and 

 the cultivation of the ground negleded. Thefe trees in- 

 tercepted and conlined dreams of water with the various 

 rubbi(h they brought with them ; and became gradually 

 covered with a vegetation of mofs, fedgy grafs, ruflies, and 

 various aquatic plants. Notwithllanding attention was 

 dircdled to the recovery of thefe extenfive wades more than 

 a century ago, very little has yet been effeiled, which is 

 rather to be attributed to want of proper exertion, than 

 to fuch recovery being impraflieable. In the year 1809, 

 however, on the recommendation of the Right Hon. John 

 Foder, at that time chancellor of the exchequer, who will 

 be long remembered as a zealous promoter of the intereds 

 of Ireland, when party aniinodty will be forgotten, com- 



miffiuners 



