I R F. L A N D. 



of the mountains of this i.land, ar/J on parts of the nortlierii 

 and weltern coaits exceedingly bare and open to ftorms. 

 Vaft roots and noble trunks of this fpecies of pine liave 

 been fecn, and examined with attention, in fitiiatious where 

 human indiiftry cannot now rear a twig of the hardicll tree. 

 The devailation occafioned by fands in fome parts of the 

 northern coaft, and even in the fouth, and the greater in- 

 fluxes of the tide, fcem to prove tlie more frequent recurrence 

 and greater violence of the Atlantic ftorms. The deftruc- 

 tion of the forclls may perhaps account fatisfadtorily for 

 fotne of thefc fafts, whilll others may liave been occafioned 

 by -circumHances not yet fufliciently attended to. Dr. Pa- 

 terfon, in his " Obfervations on the Climate of Ireland," has 

 adduced many fafts to controvert the opinion of a change ; 

 and the obfervations made a century and a half ago, are fo 

 applicable to the country at prefent, that it may be in- 

 ferred the prefent feafons do not materially differ from former 

 ones, and that the influence of the Atlantic has always been 

 much the fame. Tlie winds moft prevalent in Ireland are the 

 weft and fouth-weft, which, contrary to the poetical defcrip- 

 tiou of zephyrs, are frequently attended with rain and ftorms. 

 Eafterly \vinds are lefs common, and are jjcnerally dry and 

 keen ; thcfe are faund prejudicial to health, and invalids 

 avoid being expofed to them. On the whole, if the climate 

 of Ireland be not the moft agreeable, it is found very whole- 

 fome ; iuftances of longevity are frequent, and if peculiar 

 ciniumftatrces occallon much fickncfs in many of the large 

 tov.-ns, the peafantry are very healthful, and, in confequence 

 of it, robuft and hardy. The bogs, which fome have fup- 

 pofed to be unwholefome, are of a very different nature 

 ^from the moraffes in other countries, which appears both 

 from the tin^ber preferved in them, and from the effeCl 

 produced on the fkins of animals unfortunately loft in 

 them. 



The produftions of Ireland, and the animals found in it, 

 do not differ much from thofe in England. The moft valuable 

 ones in both feem to have been imported from other coun- 

 tries, and the variety of thefe muit be greater in England, 

 on account of its fuperior cultivation. The domeftic ani- 

 mals are the fame, and from the care taken of late years to 

 improve the breeds, it may be expeiled that our iheep and 

 oxen wiUjiot be furpafled. Bede, who has commemorated 

 the praife of Ireland for abundance of honey and milk, 

 alio mentions numerous herds of deer, which animal the pro- 

 grefs of cultivation has now rendered rare. In various parts 

 of Ireland are dug up enormous horns of deer, which lome 

 writers have imagined to be of the fpecies called moofc dier 

 in America; but Mr. Pennant has demonftrated that tlie 

 animal muft have almoft donbled in fize the American 

 monfter, which is fometimes found feventeen hands in heigl-t. 

 The Irifti horns have been found of the extent of fourteen 

 feel from tip to tip, furniftied with brow antlers, and weigh- 

 ing 300 pounds ; the whole fl<eleton is frequently found 

 with them. It is fuppofed that the animal muft have been 

 about twelve feet high. Wolves infefted the country for- 

 merly, but are faid to have been extirpated by Ohver Crom- 

 well. It has been afterted that no poifonous animal will 

 live in Ireland, and even that no fpiders will haunt Irillt 

 timber, which, as is faid, was the caufe why it was often 

 employed in magnificent ceilings in the middle ages. 

 •' Whether it be owing to the foil or the climate," fays Dr. 

 Beaufort, " certain it is that in Ireland there are neither 

 m >les nor toads, nor any kind of ferpents ; and it is not a 

 hundred years fince frogs, of which there arc now abundance, 

 were full imported from EngJEud. But though tiic fame 

 experiment has been made with fnakes and vipers, it has 

 bappily been unfuccefsful." 'l"he rivers, lakes, aud leas 

 6 



are ftocked with a great variety of fifli, which yield a picn* 

 tiful article of food to all ranks of people. The fifheries 

 on the coaft give employment to great numbers, and have 

 become, in fome iuftances, au objeft of national attention 

 and legillative encouragement, though they have never yet 

 been carried on as exienfively as they might be, or there 

 could have been no occalion for an importation of filh from 

 foreign countries. Jephfon Oddy, cfq. in his prolpec^ns of 

 a weliern lidiery company, mentions that the Nymph bank, 

 and others near the coaft of Ireland, abound with the fmelk 

 cod, Hug, hake, turbot, pollock, &c., and that the adjoiniiiL.' 

 feas are frequented at different periods by mackarel and her- 

 rings in great quantities ; and he forcibly urges that if tiiiv 

 filhcry was carried on with fpirit, it wo'd'd fupply both Eng- 

 land and Ireland with abundance of fill), fo as to render im- 

 portation unnecelTary, whilft it would at the fame time give 

 employment to nutnbers, and prove a valuabk nurfery for 

 feamen. 



The native graffes are thofe cllccmed moft valuable by 

 the farmer, fo that Ireland has ever been celebrated for the ex- 

 cellence of its paftures ; the number of cultivated vegetables 

 is daily increaling ; and in confequence of the attention 

 lately paid to botanical knowledge, it appears that native 

 plants have not been beftowcd with a fparir.g hand. The in- 

 trodnclion of the potatoe, the value of which is univerfally 

 acknowledged, and which forms the principal part of tiie 

 food of the Irilh peafautrv, has been commonly attributed tu 

 fir Walter Raleigh. 



To this general and hrief account of the natural ftate of 

 Ireland, it may be proper to fubjoin a lilt of the counties 

 into which Ireland is divided. The population of each, as 

 ftated by Dr. Beaufort, is added ; at the fame time it muft 

 be obferved, that this moft probably falls far ftiort of the real 

 population, as in fo many years as have elapfed fince its pub- 

 lication, there muft have been a confiderable increafe. It 

 may ferve, however, to give fome idea of the comparative 

 population of different counties, until more fatisfaiSory 

 documents than at prefent exift enable us to give a more 

 correct ftatement. The number of counties is 32, which are 

 contained in four provinces. A particular account of each 

 will be found under their refpettive names. 



Ulster. 



r.i>..!aur.n. 



j6c,ooo 



201,500 

 120,000 

 158,000. 

 ) 25,000 

 140,000 

 71,800 

 •.1,570 



1 iS,oco 



57.75Q 



II 2,40a 

 69,000 

 50,100 

 74,500 

 82,000 

 56,0001 



lyS,ooo 

 58,000 



115,000 

 44 oco 



I CO .coo 



CoN.NALOllT 



