THE MARTEN IN IRELAND. 105 



caught ; indeed, we have read that the use of rabbit-traps is the 

 principal, if not the sole cause of the extermination of the 

 Marten in some parts of Great Britain." 



MUNSTEE. 

 Co. Clare. — On the estate of Raheen Tomgraney, in this 

 county, about 1860, Martens were considered fairly common, and 

 were protected by the English proprietor, who had purchased 

 the property in the Encumbered Estates Court. 



Mr. J. F. Darling, writing from Clonakilty, Co. Cork, in 

 1883, forwarded the measurements of one that had been captured 

 in the Co. Clare in that year, and which weighed 2 lbs. 5 oz.* 

 (Zool. 1883, p. 252). It measured, from tip of nose to end of 

 tail, 29 in. ; length of head, 4f in. ; tail, 12 in. ; ditto to end 

 of caudal vertebrae, 8£ in. ; fore limb, from head of humerus to 

 end of claws, 6j in. ; hind limb, similarly measured, 8| in. 

 Co. Tipperary. — In the woods about Clonmel (Thompson). 

 Co. Limerick. — No records. 



Co. Kerry. — In the neighbourhood of Killarney, more espe- 

 cially near Lough Carragh, still fairly numerous. In 1856 no 

 less than ten were trapped on the Lansdowne estate. In April, 

 1877, Lord Kenmare's keeper at Killarney spoke of trapping 

 Martens there as no uncommon thing, and mentioned 7s. 6d. 

 as the usual price he got for the skins (Zool. 1877, p. 292). In 

 1882 they were reported to be still fairly numerous about Lough 

 Carragh. In 'Land and Water' of July 30th, 1892, a cor- 

 respondent, signing himself " Cloonee," wrote : — "At a shooting 

 I rented some years ago, in the wilds of Co. Kerry, Martens were 

 very common in the dense rocky mountain woods, and we used 

 to trap numbers of them, but I never saw one in a tree, although 

 my dogs have put up plenty in the close covert. I found the best 

 plan of trapping them was to tether a young live rabbit to about 

 18 inches of string fastened to a peg, and place four strong steel 

 traps around it, lightly buried under the grass, and secured by 

 chains to other pegs, being careful not to touch the traps with 

 the naked hand. The result was that we frequently secured one 



* Mr. H. A. Macpherson, in his ' Fauna of Lakeland ' (p. 24), states 

 that the average weight of a male Marten is from 4 to 5 lbs. One caught at 

 Glenarm, Co. Antrim, in 1885, weighed 5 lbs. 



