PARISH OF TEMPLEMORE. 
groups. Of these the southern is the more prominent, rising at its western extremity into Holy- 
well Hill, which is the highest land of the parish, being 860 feet above the sea. This group is 
again intersected by the remarkable valley, which, as it were, isolates the Hill of Derry; and 
its surface is further undulated by ravines, which, like that valley, conform in direction to the 
valley of the Foyle. 
The northern group, of which the highest point—in Elaglimore —is only 354 feet above 
the sea, is subdivided into low but distinct ridges by valleys parallel to the Foyle. Of these valleys 
that of Ballyarnet assumes, in some positions, an importance little inferior to that of the valley of 
Pennyburn. A general view of this tract, when seen from the road to Culmore, combines the 
characters derived from its moderate height, and frequent subdivision: it then appears a wide and 
undulating plain, bounded on the S. by the higher ground of the parish, and on the N.W. by the 
southern hills of Ennishowen. 
Lakes —The lake of Ballyarnet, the only one in the parish, occupies portions of three 
townlands— Ballyarnet, Ballynashallog, and Ballynagard. It is small, containing only 3a. 
3r. 27p., and fills a shallow basin in the surrounding bog. Its height above the sea is about 100 
feet. 
Rivers. —The Foyle is formed by the junction of the Mourne and the Finn at Lifford—the 
former having also received, in the county of Tyrone, the waters of the Derg from that of Donegal; 
it also receives the Deel, from Donegal, below Lifford, and empties itself into Lough Foyle atCul- 
more. The ancient Irish, however, appear to have applied the name LoughFoyle to the river, up to 
Lifford, as well as to the present lough ; but, in the accounts of the early settlement by the English, 
they are distinguished as the “ harbour of Lough Foyle” (the present lough), and the “river 
of Lough Foyle,” by which name the river is called in the Down Survey, as well as in some later 
documents. 
The ancient Irish name of the river and lake thus conjoined was Coc peaBctil rhic Looain, 
or the “ Lake of Feval, the son of Lodan,” and it is always so written in the Annals of the 
Four Masters, and other authorities. The origin of this name is explained in the Dinnsearchus — 
a MS. work anterior to the 12th century—by a legend of the Tuatha-de-Dananns, who are stated 
to have been a Greek colony,—importing that, at the time when the lake was formed, Feval, the son 
of Lodan, was drowned, and that its waves cast his body on the shore, and rolled a stone over it, 
which formed his sepulchral monument. The similarity of this legend to that of Selim in 
Byron’s “ Bride of Abydos,” will hardly fail of striking the reader. 
The river flows from S. W. to N. E. in a deep and tranquil bed, within the tideway. Its 
greatest breadth above Derry is at New Buildings, in Clondermot, where it measures nearly a a 
mile. Below Derry is an expansion of it, called Rosses’ Bay, which is lj- mile broad. At the city 
itself it is narrowest, being only 1068 feet wide at the bridge. Its depth at high water is 22 feet, 
opposite Carrigan, where it enters the county of Londonderry : opposite Prehen it is 24, and it 
gradually increases to about 43, its depth at the bridg'e of Derry. The point where it enters the 
county is about 4\ miles above the city. Its banks in this parish are bold, excepting at Pennyburn, 
where it is met by a transverse valley, and their beauty is heightened by ornamental woods, which 
spread in many places to the water’s edge. 
Of the rivulets, which are insignificant, the greater number either flow into the river Foyle, 
or Lough Foyle; one, which passes by Coshquin, flows into Lough Swilly, in the county of 
Donegal. 
The springs are numerous. Within a tract of not more than twenty acres, in Springhill 
and Creggan, no fewer than eight occur. These springs, percolating through the detritus of 
rocks, which abound in oxide of iron, become frequently charged with oclireous particles, and are 
sometimes slightly chalybeate. 
Bogs. The bogs are scattered through the parish in insulated patches.—[See Geology .] 
Woods. —In B ally nag alliagh alone there is a small patch of wood, apparently natural. It 
is possible, however, that some natural wood may have been preserved in the demesnes along the 
Foyle, which are all rich in ornamental planting. 
Coast. —The shore of Lough Foyle, where it borders the parish, is low and flat. 
Climate. —In an able essay by Dr. Patterson, the mean temperature of the city is stated 
to be 49, which is nearly that of the earth, as indicated by the mean of six wells in different 
parts of the city, the extremes being 17 and 71. The range of the barometer is from 28.6 to 
30.6, and on an average of twelve years the medium number of fair days is 126. The hygro¬ 
meter of De Luc varies from 26 a to 52 a, and the mean annual depth of rain is 34.2 inches; 
the latter has, however, been stated by Mr. Sampson at 31. The ratio of winds during 
nine years was N. 295-S. 398—E. 283—W. 1005—N. W. 737—N. E. 265—S. W. 599— 
S. E. 454. 
