IRELAND. 



■JnirTioners were appointed " to enquire into the nature and 

 extent of the bogs of Ireland ; and the prafticability of 

 draining and cultivating tlu;ni." As the vaft extent of 

 thefe hogs has not enabled the co-.nmifiioners to complete 

 the taflv committed to them, it can only be obfervcd, that 

 the firft of a number of dillrids contains 36,430 Englilh 

 acres of bog, and that the expeiice of tlie operations which 

 a very able engineer deemed neceflary for completely drain- 

 ing it, was 70,014/. -/s. ^d. The bogs in the King's county 

 alone, exceeding 500 acres each, contain at leall 124,000 

 acres. The drainage of thefe bogs is, therefore, a. matter 

 of vaft importance, not only to Ireland, but to the empire 

 at large, as thefe lar.ds, now of little or no value, would, 

 when drained and properly cultivated, yield a vaft fupply 

 ef food, for which England has had to pay large fums in 

 gold to her moft bitter enemy. It has alfo been made 

 evident, that this drainage would increafe the quantity of 

 turf fuel, fo as to render it both more ealily procurable 

 and cheaper. At prefent only the fmall bogs, which it is 

 not intended to drain, and the edges of the large ones, 

 are accefiible to the turf-digger, but the drainage would 

 enable an approach to the interior parts of them ; and fuch 

 is the quantity, that after every exertion, to reclaim, there 

 will remain more for turf than an increafed confumption 

 can poffibly exhauft in the courfe of ages. This is an ob- 

 fcrvation of much importance, becaufe the want of this 

 excellent fuel would be very feverely felt in a country 

 where few coal mines are worked, and where the fupply of 

 coal is confequently uncertain and expenfive. The in- 

 ftruSions of the commiffioners do not authorife them to 

 examine the numerous boggy trafts on the fides of moun- 

 tains, which not being in general deep, afford at times good 

 pafturage. Tlie bell mode of reclaiming thefe would be to 

 introduce the culture of Fiorin, as recommended by the 

 Rev. Dr. Richardfon, and thus render them good mea- 

 <Iows. 



Perhaps no country of the fame extent is more bounti- 

 fully watered by fine rivers and lakes, or more indented by 

 noble harbours, than Ireland is, fo as to poffefs, in an emi- 

 ■nent degree, thofe great requifites for agriculture, manu- 

 factures, and the mod extenfive commerce. The rivers, 

 befides abounding with an inhnlte variety of fifh, communi- 

 cate uncommon fertility to the lands which they beautify, 

 and afford a multitude of the bell fituations for the machinery 

 of manufaiStures, fo that wind-mills are very rarely met with 

 in this .country. But though many of thefe rivers are very 

 confiderable in point of fize, and run a pretty long courfe, 

 and fome of them are capable 'jf bearing large boats many 

 miles above their fall into the iea ; yet there are none which 

 can be called navigable in the fame fenfe as the Thames or 

 the Severn. This is partly occafioned by rocks running 

 acrofs their beds, and thus forming catarafts ; partly by 

 the praAice of breaking down the banks to make fords for 

 the convenience of travellers, when bridges were lefs fre- 

 quent than they are at prefent ; and partly by weirs made 

 cither to ferve mills, or for the fake of catching ialmon. 

 Much, however, may be done by labour, attention, and 

 expence, to remove thefe impediments, arid extend internal 

 navigation ; and fo fenfible was the Irifli legiflature of this, 

 that a fum of money has been appropriated, under the di- 

 reftion of commiffioners, for this purpofe. The Shannon 

 is the principal river of Ireland, which, riling in the -northern 

 part of Connaught, almoft infulates that province and the 

 county of Clare, and after a courfe of 150 miles, in which 

 it expands into fix different lakes, it flows into ths Atlantic 

 ocean, between the counties of Clare and Kerry, being na- 

 vigable for large veffels as far as Limerick. The Suir, the 



Vol. XIX. 



Barrow, and the Nore, which iSpenfer has defcribed as thrfc 

 brothers, proceeding in different direfiions from Siicbh- 

 bloom, a ridge of mountains between the King's and 

 Queen's counties, aiid in the north of Tipperary, pour their 

 united ftrcams into the bay of Walerford. 



The number of lakes or loughs in Ireland is very great,- ' 

 and fome of them are large, and even magnificent. Many 

 of thofe fheets of water, however, which are called by 

 this name, are in reality arms of' the fea, as Lough-Swilly, 

 Lough Foyle, and others. Of thofe which arc, -ilrictly' 

 fpeaking, lakes. Lough Nea'gh, Lough Erne, and Lough 

 Corrib, are the mod confiderable in point of extent ; as 

 Lough Lane, or the lake of Killarney, is the moll dif- 

 tinguilhed for its beauties. There are alfo many mineral 

 fprings in different parts, the moft remarkable of v.'liich will 

 be noticed under their refpeftive counties. 



The harbours of Ireland are very numerous. Thefe have- 

 been divided into the principal havens, and the leffer or 

 barred havens ; but the dillinCtion feems of little ufe, as 

 they will deferve notice, rather on account of their being 

 frequented, than on account of natural advantages. Thofe 

 indeed which are moll capacious, on the S. and S.W. have 

 hitherto been little frequented, except by the fmuggler, of 

 by veffels unable to reach their deltined port. Waterford 

 and Cork harbours on the S. ; Bantry and Dingle bays 

 on the S.W. ; the cftuary of the Shannon, and the vaft 

 bay of GaKvay on the W. ; that great opcn-ug on the 

 N.W. of w-hich the bay of Sligo is a part ; *Lough Swilly 

 and Lough Foyle on the N., are the moll confiderable. On 

 the eafiern fide, there are none poffeffcd of great natural 

 advantages, yet from the greater improvement of the ad- 

 joining country and the vicinity of England, there are 

 many which are much frequented, efpe-;ially the harbours 

 of Belfaff and Newry, and the barred havens of Dublin, 

 Droghcda, and Wexford. The principal commercial towns 

 are Dublin, Cork, Belfall, Limerick, and Waterford. 



With refpeCl to the climate of Ireland, ffrangers foon 

 perceive that it is in general lefs hot in fummer, and lefs 

 cold in winter than in England, and other countries in the 

 fame latitude ; and that very hot or very cold weather, 

 when it does take place, continues for a much fliorter time. 

 If, however, the climate be more temperate, it is alfo niucli 

 damper, both on account of a greater fall of rain, and of a 

 moillure in the atmofphere when there is no rain, -which 

 produces a \ery ilriking effedl on the walls of houfes, on 

 furniture, and various other articles. This prevalence of 

 moillure feems to be occalioned by the winds blowing from 

 the vaft Atlantic ocean, and is more perceivable in the weftern 

 and fouthern parts. Though the frequent fliowers anfwer 

 very well for pafturage, and clothe the limeilone rocks 

 •with verdure, yet they often interfere with the gathering 

 -in of the harveil, and render expedition on the part of the 

 farmer, in ufing fine weather whilfl in his power, more iiccef- 

 .fary. This ftiort continuance of heat is not fufiicient to 

 -ripen peaches, grapes, and other fruits, without great care 

 and attention ; but the broad-leaved myrtle (Myrtu* 

 communis) grows luxuriantly, with very little care, in the 

 .fouthern counties, being feldom injured by the cold of 

 winter; and the arbutus (Arbutus unedo) is not found as 

 .a native in any other country fo far diftant from the equator. 

 Perfons advanced in life co«iplain of an unfavourable change 

 in the climate, faying that it is much feverer and more un- 

 certain tlian it ufed to be ; and an ingenious writer. Dr. 

 AV. Hamilton, (in the 6th vol. of Tranfaclions of the Royal 

 Irhh Academy), has Hated fome facts which appear to add 

 .credibility to fuch complaints. Tlie pine-tree, cfpccially 

 that fpccies called the Scotch fir, formerlv grew on many 

 3F ' cf 



