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Lewis 1842: County Cork abbeystrowry - aughadown - ballincollig - ballydehob - blackrock - blarney - carrigaline - carrigrohanbeg - carrigrohane - cork - crosshaven - donoughmore - kilcoe - kilmurry - monkstown - passage - skibbereen - skull

contents preface glossary

County Cork

CORK (County of), A maritime county of the province of MUNSTER, and the largest in Ireland, bounded on the east by the counties of Tipperary and Waterford, on the north by that of Limerick, on the west by that of Kerry, and on the south-west, south, and south-east by St. George's Channel: it extends from 51° 12' to 52° 13' (N. Lat.), and from 9° 45' to 10° 3' (W. Lon.); and comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 1,725,100 statute acres, of which 1,024,340 are cultivated, and 700,760 are occupied by mountains, bogs, &c. The population, in 1821, was 629,786, and in 1831, 700,359, of which latter number, 407,935 were in the East, and 292,424 in the West, Riding. The earliest inhabitants of the south-western part of this extensive territory are designated by Ptolemy Uterni or Uterini, and by other writers Iberni, Iberi, and Juerni. They occupied most of the southern part of the country subsequently called Desmond: their name and situation prove them to have been of Spanish Iberian origin, and the former, as well as that of the tribes from which they sprung, and the designation Ibernia or Hibernia, applied to the whole island even by Ptolemy, was derived from the western situation of the country which they inhabited. From Ptolemy's map it appears that the most eastern maritime part of the county in the south of Cork was, in the same age, inhabited by a people whom he called Vodiae, or Vodii, but who are unnoticed both by Sir James Ware and Dr. Charles O'Connor. The Coriondi, whose name still bears some affinity to the Irish appellation of this tract, were, according to Smith, the inhabitants of the middle and northern parts, particularly near the present city of Cork, and are said to have spring from the Coritani, a British tribe occupying a tract in the eastern part of England. The ancient divisions of the country prior to the English settlements, were intricate, and at present can with difficulty be ascertained. The whole formed the southern and most important part of the petty kingdom of Cork or Desmond, which comprised also the western portion of the present county of Waterford, and all Kerry. Desmond, signifying "South Munster," was more properly the name of only the south-western part of the principality, which was divided into three portions, of which the whole of that called Ivelagh of Evaugh, including the country between Bantry and Baltimore, and also that called Bear, lying between Bantry and the Kenmare river, are included in the modern county of Cork. Bear still partly retains its ancient name, being divided into the baronies of Bear and Bantry; but Evaugh is included in the barony of West Carbery, which, with East Carbery, Kinalmeaky, and Ibawn or Ibane and Barryroe, anciently formed an extensive territory, deriving its name from its chieftain, Carbry Riada, and in which are said to have been settled four of the eight families of royal extraction in Munster, the head of one of which was McCarty Reagh, sometimes styled prince of Carber. Kerrycurrihy was anciently called Muskerry Ilane, and comprised also the barony of Imokilly, on the north side of Cork harbour: the only maritime territory remaining unnoticed, viz. Kinnalea, was formerly called Insovenagh. Besides Kerrycurrihy and Imokilly, the entire central part of the county, between the rivers Lee and Blackwater, formed a portion of the ancient territory of Muskerry, which name the western portion of it still retains. The north-western extremity of the county, forming the present barony of Duhallow, is in some old writings called Alla and Dubh Alla; and its chief, who, to a very late period, enjoyed almost regal authority, was sometimes styled prince of Duhallow. The remainder, to the north of the Blackwater, formed, before the English conquests, a principality of the O'Keefes, called Fearmuigh. Henry II., about the year 1177, granted to Robert Fitz-Stephen and Milo de Cogan the whole kingdom of Cork, except the city and the cantred belonging to the OStmen settled there, which he retained in his own hands; but they were unable to take possession of more than seven cantrels lying nearest the city, receiving tribute from the other twenty-four. They introduced other Anglo-Norman families and their retainers; and the military colony thus established was never completely uprooted. Cork was one of the districuts erected into a county by King John, and the English power was gradually extended by the divisions arising from female inheritance and inferior grants; large tracts of country were successively held by the Carews, De Courcys, and other families, of whom the former, who were styled Marquesses of Cork, built the castle of Donemark, in the western part of the county, and others in Imokilly, for protection against the natives. The chief men of this family, with many other English settled here, removed into England on the breaking out of the civil war between the houses of York and Lancaster; while De Courcy, who remained, besides divesting himself of some of his possessions, which he gave in marriage with his daughters, lost a considerable portion by the superior power of the natives. The English were thus greatly reduced both in numbers and power, and were subsequently further weakened by the usurping measures of the Earls of Desmond, to whom Robert Fitz-Geoffry Cogan granted all his lands in Ireland, including one-half of Cork; but the whole was forfeited by the attainder of the last Earl, in 1582. This induced the settlement of new colonies of the English; for although a considerable portion was regranted to the Fitz-Geralds and other resident families, the rest of the forfeitures was divided in seignioies and granted by letters patent to several English gentlemen, who were called undertakers, from being bound to perform the conditions mentioned in the articles for the plantation of this province with English, who were consequently settled here in great numbers, especially by Sir Richard Boyle, afterwards created Earl of Cork. In the Spanish invasion of 1600, this county was wholly the scene of operations, particularly in the vicinity of Kinsale. During the civil war which broke out in 1641, the bands of trained English conrtibuted much to the maintenance of British interests here, which, however, were greatly weakened by these commotions, until in a great measure renewed towards the period of the Restoration by the settlement of republican officers, soldiers, and adventurers; and the Protestant inhabitants of English descent again proved their strength by the most active and important services in 1691. This large county contains the whole of the united dioceses of Cork, Ross, and Cloyne, and about 28,800 plantation acres of that of Ardfert and Aghadoe. By the statue of the 4th of Geo. Iv., cap. 93, it was divided, for the more frequent holding of general sesions of the peace, into two districts, called the East and West Ridings: the former comprises the baronies of Duhallow, Orrery and Kilmore, Condons and Clongibbons, Fermoy, Kinnatalloon, Imokilly, Kerrycurrihy, Kinnalea, Barrymore, Barretts, and East Muskerry (with the exception of the parishes of Ahinagh and Aghabologue), together with the liberties of the city of Cork and of Kinsale; the West Riding is composed of the baronies of Ibane and Barryroe, Beer or Bear, Bantry, West Muskerry, Kinalmeaky, Courcies, East Carbery (east and west divisions), and West Carbery (east and west divisions), with the two parishes of Ahinagh and Aghalbologue, in the barony of East Muskerry. Besides the city of Cork, which, with an extensive surrounding district forms a county of itself, it contains the borough, market, and sea-port towns of Youghal and Kinsale; the borough and market-towns of Cove and Bantry; the market and post-towns of Fermoy, Skibbereen, Macroom, and Dunmanway; the ancient disfranchised boroughs of Baltimore, Castlemartyr, Charleville, Clonakilty, Doneraile, Midleton, and Rathcormac, all of which, except the rst, are post-towns; the post-towns o Ballincollig, Buttevan, Castletown-Bearhaven, Castletown-Roche, Cloyne, Innishannon, Kanturk, Kildorrery, Kilworth, West Millstreet, Mitchelstown, Passage, and Rosscarbery; and the small towns of Castle-Lyons, Crookhaven, Liscarrol, and Timoleague. Prior to the Union it sent twenty-four members to the Irish Parliament, being two for the county at large, and two for each of the boroughs, besides the two for the county of the city of Cork. At present it sends to the Imperial parliament two representatives for the county at large, two for the city of Cork, and one each for the boroughs of Bandon, Kinsale, Mallow, and Youghal. The recent enactments have made no alteration in the number of representatives, but have constituted each riding a separate jurisdiction for the purposes of registry: the county members are elected at the court-house in the city of Cork. The total number of voters registered up to March, 1836, was 4394, of which 1179 were £50, 532 £20, and 1828 £10 freeholders; 158 £20, and 639 £10 leaseholders, and 23 £50, and 35 £20 rent-chargers. The county is included in the Munster circuit: the assizes are held in the city of Cork; and by the act of the 4th of Geo. IV., it is enacted that five general sessions of the peace shall be holden in alternate months is each of the two ridings, so that in the county at large a session is held every month, except the two in which the general sessions are hoden for the entire couty: the sessions for each division are directed to be holden, for the East Riding, alternately in the city of Cork, and at Midleton, Fermoy, Mallow, and Kanturk; and for the Werst Riding, alternately at Bandon, Macroom, Bantry, Skibbereen, and Clonakilty; the precise days to be settled by the high sheriff, the two assistant barristers, and the clerk of the peace. In all processes connected with these sessions, the several divisions are to be carefuly distinguished as Cork County East Riding, and Cork County West Riding; but with the exception of the power given to the lord-lieutenant to appoint an assistant barrister for each, with a salary equal to that of similar officers in entire counties. the officers and jurisdictions of the county are not in any manner altered from those which are customary.. In the city of Cork are the county gaol and house of correction, rules for the management of which were drawn up by a committee of the magistrates in 1816, which were afterwrds embodied in the general act for the prisons of Ireland. There are, besides, seventeen bridewells, situated respectively at Midleton, Bandon, Conakilty, Skibbereen, Bantry, Dunmanway, Macroom, Mitchelstwon, Fermoy, Mallow, Cove, Kinsale, Rosscarbery, Millstreet, Kanturk, Youghal, and Charleville. The number of persons charged with criminal offences and committed to the county prison in 1835, was 740. The local government is vested in a lord-lieutenant, 16 deputy-lieutenants, and 282 other magistrates; besides whom there are the usual county officers, including four coroners. The constabulary force consists of 16 chief and 85 subordinate constables, and 426 men, with 17 horses, the expense of maintaining which is defrayed equally by Grand Jury presentments and be Government. The coast-guard districts are those of Youghal, containing the stations of Helwick Head, Ardmore, Youghal, Knockadoon, and Ballycotton; Cove, containing the stations of Ballycroneen, Poor Head, Lighthouse, East Ferry, Cove, Cork, Crosshaver, and Robert's Cove; Kinsale, containing the stations of Upper Cove, Oyster Haven, Old Head, Howshand, Courtmasherry, Barry's Cove, Dunny Cove, and Dirk Cove; Skibbereen, containing the stations of Milk Cove, Glandore, Castle-Townsend, Barlogue, Baltimore, Long Island, Crook Haven, Dunmanus, and Whithorse; and Castletown, containing the stations of Colaris, Garnish, and Castlerown: the entire force consists of 5 inspecting commanders, 32 chief officers, and 251 men. The public charitable institutions are the lunatic asylum, house of industry and infirmary in Cork, and infirmary at Mallow, 12 fever hospitals, and 48 local dispensaries, maintained partly by subscription and partly by grand jury presentments: the dispensaries are situated respectively at Mitchelstown, Millstreet, Castletown-Roche, Bandon, Ovens, Ballyneen, Newmarket, Kanturk, Cloyne, Rosscarbery, Timoleague, Charlville, Buttevant, Kildorrery, Dunbullogue, Whitechurch, Kinsale, Glanworth, Fermoy, Glenville, Midleton, Bantry, Ballyclough, Skibbereen, Rathcromac, Glandore, Innishannon, Donoughmore, Doneraile, Glanmire, Carrigaline, Clonakilty, Dunmanway, Cove, Kilworth, Ballydehob, Passage, Macroom, Castletown-Beahaven, Inniscarra, Conna, Castlemartyr, Magourney, Crookstown, Ballymacoda, Blarney, Glauntain, and Water-grass Hill. The total amount of the county Grand Jury presentments, for 1835, was £62,645. 13. 8¾., of which £6978, 19, 0¾. was for the public roads and bridges of the county at large; £17,629. 16. 5. for public establishments, officers' salaries, and buildings; £9864. 16. 6. for police, and £7145. 4. 4. for repayment of advances made by the Government. In the military arrangements the county is in the Southern District; it contains sixteen military stations, situated respectively at Ballincollig, Buttevant, Charles Fort, Clonakilty, Fermoy, (which is the principal, and the military depôt of the district,) Kinsale, Mallow, Millstreet, Mitchelstown, Youghal, Skibbereen, and, in Cork Harbour, at Spike Island, Camden Fort, Carlisle Fort, Rocky Island, and Hawlbowling Island; and affording barrack accommodation in the whole, for 352 officers and 6799 men. The surface of the county is of considerable variet and much natural beauty, but exchibits a very great deficiency of timber, and of hedge rows and plantations. The western part is bold, rocky, and mountainous; while the northern and eastern potions are distinguished for their richness an dfertility. But even in this irregularity some order is perceived, the ranges of high land stretching nearly in the direction of east and west, though several ranges of hills branch off in transverse directions. The principal deviation from this general character is seen in the Bogra mountains, forming a high and barren tract in the centre of the county, between the rivers Lee and Blackwater, and which, instead of rising into narrow subbits, spread out into an ample area, having in some places a deep boggy surface. The great longitudinal ranges of high ground are likewise oftern intersected by deep glens and gullies, through which numerous small streams find a rapid descent, and, after heavy rains, form beautiful waterfalls. The western mountains differ from the rest in form and aspect, being far more rocky, bold, and sterile, and abruptly parted by gaps and fissures. The entire south and south-western portions of the county are composed of stupendous masses of schistose rock, standing as barriers against the waves of the Atlantic, which, for the greater part of the year, are driven with fury against them by the force of the prevailing winds. Of low grounds, the most extenensive tracts are those in which limestone is found: the largest is in the northern part of the county, lying north of the Blackwater, and extending upwards of twenty miles in length from east to west, varying in breadth from five to nine. This rich and beautiful expanse of country, though comparatively flat, is, hosever, agreeably diversified with gentle elevations, and contains but little land forming a dead level. By far the greater part of the county, excepting its western portions, has a similar undulating character even the mountains are little more irregular in their outlines than the lwoer grounds, and the transition from one to the other is by very gentle degrees. The limestone vale, in which part of the city of Cork is situated, commences at Castlemore, about 10 miles to the west of it; and though at first of inconsiderable breadth, on crossing Cork harbour and reaching Imokilly, it takes a wider range, and throughout its course to the sea presents a fine tract of the best cultivated ground in the county. The line of coast presents a series of magnificent headlands, separated from each other by numerous inlets forming safe and commodious harbours, of which the most noted are those of Youghal, Cork, Kinsale, Baltimore, Crookhaven, Dunmanus, and Bantry, in the last of which, surrounded by the majestic scenery of the western mountains, whole navies may ride in safety. The numerous estuaries, disclose at low water, rich banks of calcareous sand for manure, and afford access to the interior of the county by navigation. On the south-western coast are various small, rocky islands, of which the principal are Cape Clear and Innisherkin, near the harbour of Baltimore; Bear island and Whiddy island, in Bantry bay; and Dursey island, off the extermity of Bearhaven promontory, forming the most western extremity of the county. In the mountainous parts of the district are several small lakes, among which are those of Cahir, near Glengariffe; other on Three-Castle Head: that of Loughbofinny, near Bantry; and those of Shepperton; three between Bantry and Dunmanway, and the interesting lake of Googane-Barra, with smaller sheets of water at Rathberry, Macloneigh, Ballintowlus, Drinagh, and in other parts. The climate is remarkable for the mildness of its temperature, never reaching those extremes of heat and cold to which the same degree of latitude is subject even in England. This arises from its proximity to the Atlantic, across whch the prevailing winds come loaded with vapours, seldom objectionable in winter, but often intercepting the maturing rays of the summer's sun; which circumstance renders the corn raised here, though good, generally inferior to that of a drier climate. The county, however, suffers much less in this respect than the neighbouring more western counties; and its climate has been decidedly improved by the draining of bogs and swamps. The soils present no great variety, and may be distributed into four classes, each comprising several species differing in degrees of fertility, but united by a general resemblance of component parts. These are, --1st. The calcareous soils, or those found in the limestone tracts, which exceed all the rest in richness and fertility, producing the finest herbage and best wheat, and having always a crumbling and mellow surface. --2nd. The loamy soils not calcareous, comprising the deep and mellow loams remote from limestone, occurring in several of the less elevated parts, especially towards the south, where they constitute the best lands: they are next in quality to the former, to which some of the best bear a close affinity both in texture and fertility; they generally rest on clay-slate. --3rd. The light and shallow soils resting upon an absorbent bottom, as gravel, or rubbly stone, which have a much shallower and less vigorous arable surface than the preceding, but commonly afford a short sweet herbage peculiarly adapted for sheep, and produce the best corn in wet seasons. --4th. The moorland or peat soil, the usual substratum of which is a hard rock or coarse retentive clay, and is of greater extent than any of the preceding classes, occupying both bog and mountain, and even several tracts of elevated land, which, though improved by culture, still exhibit sufficient traces of their origin: though inferior in fertility, some portions of this class may be rendered productive of good crops of grass, oats, and potatoes; but the most elevated portions can never afford any-thin better than coarse summer pasturage. Sands occur only on the sea-shore, and are most extensive in the bays of Courtmasherry, Bantry, Kinsale, Clonakilty, and Ross. The tillage, except of the demesnes of resident gentlemen, presents rather unfavourable features, owing in a great measure to the want of skill and adequate capital, the too minute subdivision of farms, and the superabundant population of the arable districts. The crop of the greatest importance, and cultivated with the greatest care, is that of potatoes, which constitute the staple food of the small farmers and labourers: it is succeeded in the more fertile districts by wheat, for which the ground is not unfrequently manured with lime, and this is followed b one or two crops of oats. The ground is rarely levelled, properly cleared, or sown with artificual grasses, except by a few of the more opulent farmers on calcareous soils in the west and south parts of the county; barley and oats are more generally cultivated. The land held by the small farmers, or cottiers, presents an impoverished appearance, and is rarely left to recruit its productive powers by means of rest, until first exhausted by over-cropping. The cabins occupied by this class of tenant are for the most part of a wretched description. A considerable portion of the northern part of the county is appropriated to dairy farms, and is but thinly inhabited; but the land there is in good condition, and the farm-houses more comfortable than in the tillage districts. Some of the principal landowners have corrected the abuses of the cottier system, and adopted for the improvement of their estates, and the amelioration of their tenantry, the practice of letting sufficiently large farms to occupying and working tenants, and providing them with comfortable dwelling-houses and farm-offices suitable to the extent of land and the condition of the holder. The substances generally employed as manure are, common dung, lime, erth collected from the ditches, sea-sand, and sea-weed. As the beds of limestone are situated in the northern and eastern parts of the county, the farmers in the south-west are precluded from using this material, but find an abundant substitute in the calcareous sea-sand driven upon the shore, which is partly composed of pulverised marine shells in various proportions, and of which the coral sand of Bantry bay, being wholly calcareous, is most esteemed: some kinds of a red colour are also in great esteem; those of a dark blue colour seem to be composed chiefly of the fragments of muscle shells. Spade labout is generally preferred to the use of the plough, of which the prevailing kind is of very rude construction, having short and thick handles, a low beam, and the coulter and sock placed obliquely, so that in working, the mould-board is raised out of the ground; the Scotch swing plough has been introduced by the gentry and wealthy farmers in the neighbourhood of Cork and other places. Formerly hay and corn were brought from the fields on slide cars or crooks, both of which are still used in the west; but the general improvement of the roads has introduced the wheel car, which, however, is of very rude construction, consisting of little more than a pair of shafts connected by a few cross bars, and resting upon a wooden axletree fixed into small solid wheels of ash plank, and turning with them; in all the low districts the cart, or "butt," has become general. The fences contribute to the general naked appearance of the surface, being commonly formed of banks of earth dug from trenches on each side, and faced with sods or stones; they are frequently planted with furze, and occasionally with white thorn and forest trees. The cattle of the sourth and south-west are small, seldom weighing more than 3½ cwt.; formerly they were all black, but at present the breed is mixed, and of various colours; they generally yield abundance of milk. In the baronies of Duhallow, and Orrery and Kilmore, forming the north-western portion of the county, the Leicester breed, or, as they are here commonly called, the Limerick heifers, form the stock of some of the rich dairy farms; lands of inferior quality are stocked with a mixed breed of these and the old native black cattle. Indeed the cattle of the great northern vale are altogether superior in size and form to those of the more southern and western districts; and the same may be observed of all other kinds of live stock. The Holderness, Devon, Durham, and Ayrshire breeds have also been partially introduced. There are no large flocks of sheep, except in gentlemen's demesnes; the Leicester is the prevailing breed on good soils, and the common and half-bred Irish on inferior soils. Horses, mostly black, are, in the northern portion of the county, universally employed by the common farmers: in other parts are kept great numbers of mules of a small size, which are occasionally employed in draught, but chiefly for back loads; and being easily red, are well adapted to the purposes of a poor peasantry in a rough country. Of the extensive woods with which the county was once adorned, numerous vestiges are found both above and beneath the surface. Although now so denuded, the oak, birch, alder, fir, and yew, and even the ash and poplar, appear to be indigenous, and of shrubs and underwoods there seems to have been a still greater variety. The former growth of firs in this part of the island is also traced by their existence in the bogs, in which they greatly exceed in number all the rest. The mountain lands, covered with little but heath and sedgy grass, form extensive tracts of comparative waste: the bogs and marshes are chiefly confined to these elevated regions, being elsewhere of very small extent. The scarcity and dearness of fuel are in many parts very disadvantageous; the maritime towns and the richer inhabitants generally obtain coal from England; while the mass of the people are compelled to seek for peat, which in many places has been exhausted; furze is often planted to supply this grievous deficiency. The crown lands of Pobble O'Keefe are in the centre of a wild district on the confines of the counties of Limerick, Kerry and Cork, which, until within these few years, had been neglected and deserted, and was nearly inaccessible for want of roads. They are estimated to contain about 9000 statute acres of undulating hilly country, the soil of which varies from a strong clay to a loamy gravel and sand on the higher grounds, with tracts of alluvial land and peat bog in the vallyes and along the bottoms. The Crownn is at present in actual possession of 5000 acres only; the remainder being withheld by the adjacent proprietors who claim to be entitled to the inheritance. When these lands were surrendered to the Crown they were inhabited by about 70 families residing in miserable mud cabins, the only buildings then on the property, subsisting almost entirely on the deteriorated produce of a few acres of potatoe tillage, and depending on the produce of a few cows and their harvest labour in the adjoining district for the payment of their rent. With every local facility for drainage, the lands were saturated with water, and covered with thick matted beds of moss, rushes, and heath, the growth of ages. Under these circumstances, Mr. Weale, who was deputed to survey the estate, suggested to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests that the Crown, instead of reletting or selling, should retain possession of the property, render this wild district accessible by the construction of proper roads, and cause its natural resources to be made available for ameliorating the condition of it inhabitants; and thus foster a numberous body of loyal, contented, and prosperous peasantry. Mr. Weale's benevolent suggestions have been acted upon, and under the superintendence of Mr. Griffith, the government engineer, and excellent raod has been constructed from Roskeen Bridge on the Blackwater, about seven British miles above Mallow, by the collieries of Coolelough, Dromagh, and Clonbanin through the village of Boherbee, and the centre of the Crown estate, and, crossing the Blackwater near its source, it extends to Castleisland in the county of Kerry; another branching off from Clonbanin also crosses the Blackwater and extends to Shanogh Cross in the same county, where it forms the mail road from Cork to Killarney. The former line is 33½ British miles in length, and forms a direct communication between Tralee and Cork; the latter measures 9¾ miles, and forms an equally direct communication between Killarney and Mallow. These roads have been executed chiefly at the expense of Government, who advanced £17,000 of the gross estimate of £24,987; the remainder, £7937, was presented by the Grand Juries of Cork and Kerry. The roads are completed, with the exception of a portion of the line between Castleisland and King-William's-Town, which is expected to be speedily finished. The general improvment of this district already affords a striking contrast to its utterly neglected state previously to their formation. The enw village, called "King-William's-Town," on the east bank of the Blackwater, on the road to Castleisland, with the various improvments made by the Government in its vicinity, is described under that head. The geological division may be classed under four principal heads. The calcareous districts comprise the greater part of the vale in the north of the Blackwater, and of the vale south-west of Cork, the vale of Imokilly extending from Midleton to Killeagh, and the vale of the Bride from Rathcormac to Tallow. Detached beds of this formation are to be met with at Moylan and Taur, near Newmarket, at Blarney, near Macroom, near Bantry, at Timoleague, at Skibbereen, and near Cloyne. It also forms the Barrel rocks on the coast near Youghal. The marble presents a great variety of colours, and is for the most part close-grained and susceptible of a good polish. That raised near Cork is grey, with white veins; that near Castle Hyde is of a darker hue, embellished with various shades and a rich display of shells. A very beautiful species is found near Castlemartyr. The district bordering on Kerry and Limerick forms a portion of the great southern coal field, many parts of which contain vaulable beds of non-flaming coal, similar to that of Kilkenny, and of culm much used for burning lime. It extends from the north-western boundary of the county to the river Awbeg, running west of that river and north of the Blackwater, and lying chiefly between the limestone district and the last named river. The principal collieries, and the most important in the south of Ireland, are in the valley of the Blackwater, where beds of coal and culm are found running parallel with each other. The largest now worked is that of Dromagh, in the barony of Duhallow, 22 miles from Cork, and the property of Nicholas Leader, Esq. This colliery has been worked uninteruptedly for nearly a century; a large capital has been expended in useful works connected with it within the last fifteen years, and it is now in excellent order and capable of supplying any demand. The second division includes the mountains on the western confines of the county, and the two extensive ranges enclosing the great calcareous vale on the north side of the Blackwater, one on the north and the other on the south. The northern range is of the grauwacke formation, and is composed of various beds of red, green and grey schist and sandstone. The mountinas which separate Bantry bay from the Kenmare estuary are composed of beds of schist and sandstone of various colours, but similar in their composition to the grauwacke formations of other parts of the county. The eastern mountains have generally a thick covering of clay mixed with small stones, while those of the west are more bare and rocky: indications of iron are more or less visible in all. The third great district is that of the clay-slate, locally known as the brown and red stone, which prevails in all the middle and northern parts of the county not included in either of the above-named divisions, and which rist occurs on the south on a line forming the southern boundary of the limestone district of Cork, from the western mountains eastward. To the north of the city, this stone occupies the whole of the great elevated tract between the vale of Cork and the Blackwater: though commonly of shades of red, it has some other varieties of colour as well as of texture: it affords good building stone and flags, but will not split into laminae sufficiently thin for roofing. The last division is that of the clay-slate, called also grey-stone, the epithet grey being indicative of the prevailing hue of the rocks, the colours of which really vary considerable. It comprehends by far the greater portion of the remainder of the county, lying to the south of the vale of Cork, and conatins several kinds of argillite, some of grit, a few strata of calcareous schist and a large proportion of slate. The numerous quarries along the southern coast supply Cork and most parts of the northern districts with slates for roofing, some of a good kind, but the best of a quality inferior to those imported from Wales. Extensive quarries of excellent slate have, however, been lately opened near Skull, and others at Nohaval, Ringabella, and some other places. Large pieces of quartz, generally of a circular form, and sometimes weighing three or four cwt., are frequently found lying on the surface of the ground; and near Ross there is a very curious and remarkable rock composed entirely of white quartz. Vast numbers of grit stones, often of large size, are likewise scattered over the surface, above which the rocks in the south-western parts are seen projecting in almost every field. The dip of the strata throughout the county is in most places very rapid, and everywhere very irregular. Freestone is found on Horse island near Castle-Townsend, and in small veins in several places along the coast: extensive quarries of it are worked on the Duke of Devonshire's estate, near Bandon, and on Capt. Herrick's, near Innishannon, on which latter appear also some rocks of greenstone. Of the metallic ores, that of iron is the most abundant, and appears to have been formerly smelted ot a considerable extent. Lead ore has been found in many places in small veins, generally combined with quartz; in some parts it is very productive, particularly at Annacarriga and Ringabella; the latter mines are worked on a considerable scale. Copper has also been found in abundance; the whole barony of Bear produces itmore or less, and enar Castletown are extensive and valuable mines worked with much spirit. There are large deposits of this ore in the parish of Skull: valuable mines are now in operation on Horse island, and on the mainland, adjoining the slate quarries at Ballydehob, from which an abundance of excellent ore is obtained. Veins of copper ore are likewise found in Kilmoe, near Crookhaven, and in several other places, but are not elsewhere worked with spirit or advantage. Manganese is abundant and very pure, particularly in the neighbourhood of Ross, the Leap, Nohaval, Castleventry, and other places, but is only worked with any degree of spirit in the parish of Kilfaughnabeg, near Leap, where it is obtained bery good and in large quantities. The impregnation of two small turf bogs near Rosscarbery with particles of copper, by the agency of springs, has led to an opinion that the neighbouring mountains contain abundance of it: the turf of one of these bogs was burned, and the ashes sent to Swansea where good bopper was procured from them. In Whiddy island, in Bantry bay, is found a peculiar kind of black chalk. The manufactures are various, but of trifling importance. Flannel and frieze are made in most places, some for sale, but the greater part for home use: the dyeing of the latter, chiefly of a blue colour, is carried on to a considerable extent in Carbery, and at Bandon, where a large number of hands are likewise employed in wool-combing, in the camlet and stuff trade, and in the cotton manufacture. The spinning of woollen yarn and the manufacture of camlets, stuffs, valentias, and woollen cloth of various kinds, are carried on at Blarney and Glanmire; and there is an extensive manufacture of stuffs at Cork, of calicoes at Templemartin, and of paper near Blarney, at Dripsey, and on the Bandon river near Morah: there are also iron-works near Blarney. The manufactures more immediately connecte with the trade of the city of Cork, which, however, are unimportant as compared with its commerce, are described in the account of the city. The inhabitants of the maritime districts derive a principal means of support from fishing, frequently procuring not only enough for their own families, but a surplus for sale; the principal fish is hake, the season for taking iwhich is from July to Novermber. A singular kind of fishery is carried on during the months of Sept. and Oct. in the strands of Ross and Castlefreke, where the inhabitants of the neighbourhood assemble, when the tide is low, and dig out of the sand great numbers of a choice and peculiar kind of eel, which are sold in the markets of Clonakilty and Ross. Clonakilty and Courtmasherry strands also supply this fish, but less plentifully; and likewise aford great quantities of cockles and muscles. The commerce of the county consists in the exportation of a great portion of its agricultural produce, and the importation of coal and other commodities for the ordinary supply of the inhabitants. The principal river is the Blackwater, which, rising in the mountains on the confines of Kerry, runs southward along the western border of this county to the vicinity of Millstreet, where it suddenly turns eastward, and after a course of many miles, passing Mallow, Fermoy, &c., enters the county of Waterford, after a short course through which it returns to that of Cork at tis most eastern extremity, where it forms the harbour of Youghal. Owing to the rapidity of its current this noble river is navigable scarcely higher than the reach of the tide; but few others present a greater variety of beautiful scenery, having on one side a range of lofty mountains, and on the other a wide tract of fertile country, both adorned by fine plantations and forming a striking and agreeable contrast. The river Lee also has its source on the confines of Kerry, in a lage called Gougane-Barra, encompassed by wild and rocky mountains: after a course of about thurty miles eastward it reaches Cork, through which city it flows in two channels, and becomes navigable for vessels of considerable burden on meeting the tide: below Cork it soon expands into a wide estuary, in which are several considerable islands, on the largest of which stands the modern town of Cove. The course of this river until it reaches the vale of Carrigdrohid, is very irregular, through hills exhibiting much variety, but no scenery approaching in luxuriance to that of the Blackwater; but here and below Cork it rivals the most celebrated rivers, in the winding variety of its channel and the curltivated richness of its shores. The Bandon has its source in the Owen mountain above Dunmanway and runs eastward through the town of Bandon, and by the bequtiful village of Innishannon to Kinsale, of which place it forms the harbour. The Ilen also rises in the same mountains, and runs nearly southward to the town of Skibbereen, where it increases in size on meeting the tide, and forms the harbour of Baltimore. Amoung the small streams, which are exceedingly numerous, may be noticed the Awbeg, tributary to the Blackwater, and celebrated under the poetic name of "the gentle Mulla," by Spenser, who resided at Kilcolman castle in its vicinity. The only valuable fish in the rivers is salmon, of which the Blackwater afords the greatest abundance, while those of the Lee are distinguished for their superior quality, and are always in season: eels and trout are found in all, pike and perch only in a few. Their general rapidity renders the number of advantageous sites for the erection of mills very great; and boulting-mills are particularly numerous on their banks. This county has no canals; some have been proposed, but none executed, and only one begun, viz., that designed to extend from Mallow to the Duhallow coal-pits, but which has been long abandoned. The roads, which were in a very bad state, have been much improved since the commencement of the present century by sums originally furnished for the most part by Government, but ultimately repaid by Grand Jury presentments, and several new liens have been contructed. The turnpike trusts, which are very few, are partly vested in trustees, and partly in the hands of contractors. Stone circles, cromlechs (commonly called Druids' altars), raths or circular mounds of earth, caves, and stone pillars, are numerous, particularly raths. Near Clonakilty is a remarkable stone circle: close to the church is an ancient pillar, formed of a single stone, and in the vicinity an artificial cave. In the neighbourhood of Ross is an imperfect circle of smaller diameter than the preceding, and near it a cromlech, and an upright stone of the same kind as those composing the circle. In the mountains of Clondrohid is a spacious circle; at Ring, near Clonakilty, the remains of another; and fragments of several may be seen in different parts of the county. Near Glanworth is a monument of extraordinary size and form, called in Irish Labacolly, or the "witches' bed." In the demesne of Castlemary, near Cloyne, are the remains of a similar monument. At Rosscarbery are caves of much greater extent than that near Clonakilty. Another subterraneous vault has been discovered in the Great island in Cork harbour, between Cove and Cuskinny. There are also large caves at the Ovens, about seven miles westward from the city of Cork. Many of the raths have vaults or caves, the entrances to which lie on the eastern side, and which, after winding for some distance, terminate in a small square room in the centre. A very large rath of stone may be seen on the hill of Knockdrummon, above Castletown; and there are several of similar construction in the rocky parish of Ballyvourney. The cairns and barrows are commonly met with near waters or bogs. Of ancient round towers there are two, one at Cloyne, the other at Kineth: the former is 102 feet high, with floors and ladders perfect from bottom to top; the latter is divided into six stories, each 11 feet 9 inches high. At vaious places urns have been found in tumuli; and several brass trumpets were discovered in a bog between Cork and Mallow. Divers ancient remains of minor importance are still occasionally found. The number of religious houses, of the existence of which in ancient times evidences are still found in records or in ruins, was very great. Archdall enumerates no no less than sixty-nine, and states that the sites of nine of these were unknow. Most of those mentioned by him were built subsequently to the first English invasion, and owed their foundation to the descendants of the English adventurers. Those of which some vestiges still exist are at Rosscarbery, Buttevant, Ballybeg, Monanimy, Timoleague, Innisharkan, Bantry, Abbey-Mahon, Abbeystrowry, Ballyvourney, Mourne, Bridgetown, Glanworth, Ballymacadam, Red Abbey in Cork, Tracton, Coole, and Youghal. Of the ancient fortresses erected by the early English invaders and their descendants the remains are very numerous, owing to their massy strength and durability: some are of a superiour description, and deficient neither in magnificence nor accommodation; but by far the gerater number are composed merely of a square tower or keep usually very high, to compensate for the small size of the area by the number of stories, and containing only cold and gloomy apartments: they generally occupy bold and commanding situations, and many had an enclosed area attached, flanked by smaller towers; in size there is a great disparity, some being very small and rudely built. The castle of Kanturk is of the greatest extent and magnificence: the other principal fortresses of which there are extensive remains are those of Blarney, Macroom, and Lohort, of which the first is one of the finest edifices of the kind in the kingdom. Donneen castle, though a very small structure, deserves notice for its rearkable situation in Ross bay, on a point of land forming part of the mainland at the time of its erection, but now isolated by the force of the waves. Of fortified residences of a later age, bearing some resemblance to the English mansion-houses in the Elizabethan style, there are yet remaining three, built about the year 1638, one at Monkstown, near Cork harbour; one called Castle-Long, on Oyster haven, and the third at Ballyvireen, a little to the west of Ross. The modern residences of the nobility and gentry, among which Mitchelstown Castle, the splendid mansion of the Earl of Kingston, is pre-eminently distinguished for its extent and grandeur, are noticed in the description of the parishes in which they are respectively situated. The appearance of the farm-houses seldom affords matter for commendation; though varying in size, according to the circumstances of the occupier, they are all built on the same plan, with an open chimney at one end, and at the other a small room separated by a partition and seving both as a bed-chamber and store-room. Few farm-yards are attached to the houses, and these are very small and confined: the corn being frequently stacked on circular stages supported by upright cap-stones: barns are never used for any other purpose than thrashing, and are consequently built very small: the common farmer, indeed, is often unprovided with either stage or barn, and thrashes his grain in the open air. The cabins of the poor have no glass windows and only one door, which is almost always left open to admit the light, and by which the smoke mostly escapes; an arrangement which, in bad weather, makes them very cold and uncomfortable. The general condition of the labouring poor is very wretched; a cabin and an acre of ground to plant potatoes in, generally held at forty of fifty shillings per annum, and under an obligation of working for the farmer at an extremely low rate, forms their chief means of subsistence. Almost their sole food throughout the year is potatoes, except that on the seac-coast they obtain fish, and boil different kinds of sea-weed. The peasantry are nevertheless hardy, active, and lively, and generally, except in the mountain districts, speak the English language. A striking similarity in some of their customs in husbandry, and some of heir agricultural terms, is observed between them and the inhabitants of the south-western English counties. The most remarkable ancient customs still preserved are, the wailing over deceased persons, the waking, and the lighting of fires on Midsummer's Eve. Among the entire population there is a considerable intermixture of English blood and English surnames; but the names of the old Irish families also remain. There are several chalybeate springs, but none of medicinal celebrity except those of Mallow, which resemble the Bristol waters in taste and temperature, and are reputed to posses the same properties.

Abbeystrowry, Co. Cork

ABBEYSTROWRY, a parish, in the Eastern Division of the barony of WEST CARBERY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER; containing, with part of the market and post-town of Skibbereen, 5570 inhabitants. This parish is situated near the southern coast, on the road from Cork to Baltimore, and is intersected by the river Ilen. It contains 9362 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act; and is said to derive its name from a religious house, the ruins of which are situated close to the northern bank of the Ilen, one mile west from Skibbereen, but the origin of which no particulars are on record. About one-third is waste land or bog, the former consisting of rocky elevations which in some parts afford tolerable pasturage; the bog is only of small extent, and peat is becoming somewhat scarce. Generally the system of agriculture is not much improved: the heavy old wooden plough is still used. The substratum is entirely of the schistus formation: the are quarries of excellent slate at Derrygoole, but not much worked; and throughout the parish is found clay-slate for building and repairing the roads. There are numerous large and handsome residences; the principal are Hollybrook, the seat of R. Becher, Esq.; Lakelands, of T. J. Hungerford, Esq.; Coronea, of Mrs. Marmion; Gortnamucalla, of H. Newman, Esq.; Carriganare, of Mrs. Evans; Laghartydawley, of A. McCarthy, Esq.; Mill House, of J. Clark, Esq.; Clover Hill, of J. Sweetnam, Esq.; Weston of D. H. Clarke, Esq.; the glebe-house, the residence of the Rev. R. B. Townsend; Abbeyville, the seat of G. Brenham, Esq.; and Rossfort, of J. Ross, Esq; TThe living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Ross, and in the patronage of J. S. Townsend, Esq., the impropriatur of the rectory: the tithes amount to £647, of which £200 is payable to the impropriator, £l20 to the vicar (under an appropriation grant of the late Earl of Shannon), and the remainder to the lessees of Col. Townsend. The church, situated in the town of Skibbereen, is a large edifice, in the early Dnglish style of architecture, with a logty square tower at the east end: it was built on a new site in 1827, at an expense of £1200, of which £900 was given by the late Board of First Fruits; and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £180 for its repair. The glebe-house, near the town, was built in 1824, by aid of a gift of £450 and a loan of £50 from the same Board, on a glebe of fifteen acres purschased by the Board and subject to a rent of £13. 7. per annum. In the R. C. divisions this parish is united to those of Creagh and Tullage, under the denomination of the union of Skibbereen: the chapel in that town is a spacious and handsome structure, in the Grecian style, with an elegant altar; there is also a chapel in the parish of Tullagh. The male and female parochial schools are situated near the church, and were built in 1825, at the expense of the vicar. An infants' school was built in 1835, and is supported by subscription; and there is a Sunday school for both sexes, under the superintence of the vicar. See SKIBBEREEN.

Aughadown, Co. Cork

AUGHADOWN, or AGHADOWN, a parish, in the East Division of the barony of WEST CARBERY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 3¼ miles (W. S. W.) from Skibbereen; containing, with several inhabited islands, 5419 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the north bank of the river Ilen, and comprises 7063 statue acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £5400 per annum. Its surface is very uneven; in some parts, especially towards the north, it is rocky and unproductive; but near its southern boundary, towards the Ilen, the land is good and produces excellent crops. About two-thirds of it are under cultivation; the remainder is rocky ground and bog, of which latter there is a considerable extent near Newcourt. The state of agriculture is not much improved; the old heavy wooden plough is still used, and some of the land is cultivated by spade labour; the fences are everywhere much neglected. Several good roads intersect the parish, one of which is a new line from Skibbereen to Crookhaven, likely to be of considerable advantage. The Ilen is navigable for vessels of 200 tons' burden nearly to its eastern extremity: a quay and storehouses have been constructed at Newcourt, but are entirely neglected, and the harbour is only frequented by a few sand boats, which discharge their cargoes there for the convenience of the farmers. The principal seats are Aughadown House, that of H. Becher, Esq., occupying an elevated site in the midst of flourishing plantations, and commanding a fine view of the western coast; Lake Marsh, of Hugh Lawton, Esq.; Whitehall, of S. Townsend, Esq.; Newcourt, of Becher Fleming, Esq.; the glebe-house, the residence of the Rev. T. D. Moore; and Holly Hill, of the Rev. J. Coppinger, P.P. Fairs for the sale of cattle, sheep, pigs, &c., are held on May 6th and Oct. 2nd. A manor court is held monthly by a seneschal appointed by Lord Carbery, for the recovery of debts under 40s.; and here is a constabulary police station. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Ross, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the rectory is partly impropriate in Lord Audley and partly forms the corps of the archdeaconry of Ross. The tithes amount ot £600, of which £300 is payable to the impropriator and appropriator, and £300 to the vicar. The church, situated on the margin of the river, is a small neat edifice with a square tower, and was built by aid of a loan of £500, in 1812, from the late Board of First Fruits. The glebe-house is handsome and commodious, and is situated on a glebe of 45½ acres. In the R. C. division this parish is the head of a union or district, which comprises also the parish of Kilcoe and part of Abbeystrowry, and contains two chapels, situated at Aughadown and Kilcoe, the former of which is a large and handsome edifice, occupying an elevated site near Currabeg. In addition to the parochial schools, there are schools at Whitehall and near Newcourt, also a pay school. In the demesne of Whitehall are the ruins of Kincoe or Kincolisky castle, built by the O'Driscols in 1495; and on the grounds of Lake View are some picturesque remains of an ecclesiastical edifice, called by the people of the neighbourhood the Abbey of Our Lady.

Ballincollig, Co. Cork

BALLINCOLLIG, a post-town, in the parish of CARRIGROHANE, barony of BARRETTS, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 5¼ miles (W.) from Cork, and 130½ miles (S. W.) from Dublin, on the road from Cork to Macroom; containing 875 inhabitants. This place is chiefly distinguished as a military depôt, and for its extensive gunpowder-mills, formerly carried on under the superintendence of Government, but, after having been for some years discontinued, recently purchased by the present proprietors, and now in full operation. The artillery barracks form an extensive quadrangular pile of buildings, having in the eastern range the offers' apartmnets, and on the wester side an hospital and a neat church, built in 1814, in which divine service is regularly performed by a resident chaplain. The buildings contain accommodation for 18 officers and 242 non-commissioned officers and privates, and are adapted to receive eight field batteries, though at present only one is stationed here, to which are attached 95 men and 44 horses: in the centre of the quadrangle eight gun sheds are placed in two parrallel lines, and near them are the stables and offices; within the walls is a large and commodious school-room. Immediately adjoining the barracks, and occupying a space of nearly four miles in extent, are the gunpowder-mills, 16 in number. At convenient distances are placed the different establishments for granulating and drying the gunpowder, making charcoal, refining sulphur and salt-petre, making casks and hoops and the various machinery connected with the works; the whole communicating with each other, and with the mills, by means of small canals constructed for facility of carriage, and for preventing such accidents as might occur from other modes of conveyance. In appropriate situations, and adjoining these establishments, are the residences of the different persons superintending the works; and at the eastern extremity of the ground, but at a considerable distance from the mills, are two ranges of comfortable cottages for a portion of the work-people, now tenanted by 54 families, which obtain a comfortable livelihood. The number of persons employed is about 200, and the quantity of gunpowder manufactured annually is about 16,000 barrels. The police depôt for the province of Munster is situated here; the men are drilled till they become efficient, and then drafted off to the different stations in the province. There is a R. C. chapel, to which is attached a school. To the south of the town, and on a limestone rock rising abruptly from the surrounding meadows, are the remains of Ballincollig castle, of which one of the towers is in tolerable preservation. -- See CARRIGROHANE.

Ballydehob, Co. Cork

BALLYDEHOB, a village, in the parish of SKULL, Western Division of the barony of WEST CARBERY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 8 miles (W. S. W.) from Skibbereen; containing 601 inhabitants. The village is situated on a new line of road, formed by the Board of Works from Skibbereen to Rock island; and derives its name from it position at the confluence of three streams, whose united waters are crossed by a handsome stone bridge, below which they expand into a small but secure haven, near the termination of Roaring Water bay. It consists of a long and irregular street containing about 100 houses, some of which are large and well built; and is rapidly increasing in size and importance, particularly since the formation of the new road, which has made it a considerable thoroughfare, aided by its propinquity to the copper mines of Cappach and the slate quarries of Audsley's Cove and Filemuck, which renders it well adapted for business. Fairs for horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, and pedlery are held on Jan. 1st, Feb. 2nd, March 12th, Easter Tuesday, Whit_tuessday, June 29th, July 15th, Aug. 15th, Sept. 8th, Oct. 10th, Nov. 1st, and Dec. 8th. A penny post to Skibbereen has been recently established; and here is a station of the constabulary police. A chapel of ease was built in 1829 by the late Board of First Fruits, at an expense of £600; it is a small handsome edifice, in the early English style of architecture, without a tower. A large and handsome R. C. chapel was also erected in 1826; and there is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. A school, in connection with the Kildare-Place Society, and another at Liskeencreagh, are supported by the Cork Dicesan Association; and adjoining the R. C. chapel is a large shool for boys and girls, built in 1835 by the Rev. J. Barry. Here is a dispensary, a branch to that at Skull, which see.

Blackrock, Co. Cork

BLACKROCK, a chapelry, in the parish of ST. FINBARR, county of the city of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 2¼ miles (E. S. E.) from Cork: the population is included in the return for the parish. This place is bequtifully situated on an peninsula bounded on the north and east by the river Lee, and on the sourth by Lough Mahon and the Douglas channel. The castle was originally built in 1604 by the Lord-Deputy Mountjoy, to protect the passage up the river from the harbour to the city, and was subsequently vested in the corporation, who held their courts of admiralty in it, and by whom, having been some years since destroyed by an accidental fire, it was rebuilt in 1829, froma design by Messrs. Pain, and is now assigned to the mayor of Cork as an occasional residence during his year of office. It is situated on a limestone rock projecting into the river, and consists of one bold circular tower of hewn limestone, containing a small banqueting room, from which there is a fine view over the river: from this tower springs a small turret rising to a considerable elevation and displaying from the upper part of it two brilliant lights; and attached to it is a water gate, with some low embattled buildings in the rear, which harmonise well with the principal feature of the castle. Numerous advantages resulting from its proximity to Cork, the beauty of its situation, the salubrity of its climate, and the excellent accommodations for bathing, have rendered this one of the most desirable places of residence in the South of Ireland. It has a penny post to Cork, and the railroad from Cork to Passage will, if carried into effect, pass through the village. The scenery is of the most varied and pleasing character, exhibiting numerous elegant villas and cottages, with lawns, gardens, and plantations reaching down to the margin of the Lee, which is here a noble expanse of water more than a mile broad, constantly enlivened by steam-boats and other vessels. Among the principal seats are Dundanion Castle, that of Sir T. Deane, Knt.; Beaumont, of W. Beamish, Esq., a noble mansion consisting of a centre and two wings, with two conservatories, situated in tastefully arranged grounds; Lakelands, of W. Crawford, Esq., Clifton, of J. Moore Travers, Esq.; Ring-Mahon Castle, of J. Murphy, Esq.; Besborough, of Ebenezer Pike, Esq.; Cleve Hill, of S. Perrott, Esq.; Castlemahon, of Sir W. A. Chatterton, Bart.; Ferney, of J. H. Manley, Esq.; Filtrim, of W. Fagan, Esq.; Ashton, of J. Cotter, Esq.; Prospect, of Carden erry, Esq.; Rochelle, of T. W. Topp, Esq.; Carrigdure, of R. Nutter, Esq.; Sans Souci, of R. B. Shaw, Esq.; Carrigduve, of G. Sherlock, Esq.; Chiplee, of P. Maylor, Esq.; Ballinure House, of W. Crofts, Esq.; Lakeview House, of Miss Allen; Webbe Ville, of the Rev. C. Tuthill; Mary Ville, of J. Lindsay, Esq.; Lakeview, of P. Kearney, Esq.; Templeville, of M. Murphy, Esq.; Rose Hill, of G. P. Rogers, Esq.; Lakeview, of W. Prettie Harris, Esq.; Temple Hill, of R. Hall, Esq.; Rosetta, of G. Frend, Esq.; Dean Ville, of J. Mac Muller, Esq.; Knockrea, of A. W. Webb, Esq.; Barnstead, of the Rev. W. R. Nash; Midsummer Lodge, of Miss Jones; Clover Hill, of C. Connell, Esq.; North Cliffe, of J. Mac Donnell, Esq.; Prospect Lodge, of C. Terry Crofts, Esq.; Flower Lodge, of R. Mac Mullen, Esq.; Rockville Cottage, of J. Cogan, Esq.; Clifton Cottage, of F. C. Cole, Esq.; and Rock Cottage, of M. Smith, Esq. Besides these seats there are numerous villas which are let during the summer. The land is naturally very fertile, and is for the most part enclosed in lawns, gardens, and pleasure grounds; the rest, deriving from its contiguity to Cork an abundant supply of rich manures, and having the advantage of inexhaustible quarries of limestone and plenty of sea sand, is in a high state of cultivation, and supplies the Cork market with a large proportion of its vegetables. The substratum is limestone of excellent quality, which is wxtensively quarried for various purposes. Between the fissures of the rocks, near its junction with the clay slate, are found numerous amethystine crystals, some of which are very large and clustery, and all are beautifully coloured; one specimen in the Cork Royal Institution weighs more than 40lb. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, serves as a chapel of ease to the cathedral church of St. Finbarr, Cork, and was built in 1827, at an expense of £2100, of which £9000 was given by the late Board of First Fruits, £100 by the corporation of Cork, and the remainder, with the exception of a few local subscriptions and the sale of pews, was defrayed by the dean and chapter, who appoint and pay the curate. It is a handsome edifice of hewn limestone, in the later style of architecture, with a tower crowned with battlements and pinnacles, and surmounted by a spire 60 feet high, which, with part of the tower and the western portion of the nave, was destroyed by lightning on Jan. 28th, 1836, but has been restored by aid of a grant of £310 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The R. C. chapel, erected in 1821, is a large and handsome building, and is a chapel of ease to the parochial chapel of St. Finbarr, or the South chapel: it was begun at the private expense of the late Dean Collins, aided by a subscruiption of £300, and was complete and elegantly fitted up by means of a bequest of £1100 from the late T. Rochford, Esq., of Garretstown, part of which, in 1834, was expended in the erection of a house for the officiating priest near the chapel. An Ursuline convent was removed hither from Cork, in 1825: it was founded in 1771, by the late Miss Honora Nagle, whose portrait is in the visiting room, and is the original of all the institutions of this class founded in Ireland. The community consists of 35 professed nuns and 6 lay sisters, and is governed by a superioress, her deputy, and a council of six. At this intitution many of the daughters of the R. C. gentry are instructed; and in a separate building about 100 poor girls are gratuitously taught and partially clothed. The convent has a demesne of 42 acres, and is an ornamental building, consisting of a centre and two wings, with a frontage of 350 feet. The chapel, which is in the east wing, is fitted up with simple elegance and ornamented with four Ionic pilasters supporting a pediment, on the apex of which is a cross, and at each of the other angles a vase. It contains a neat monument to the Rev. Dr. Lyons, who was many years chaplain to the convent. A school-house connected with St. Michael's chapel was erected at Ballintemple in 1836; a school for boys was built in 1834, at an expense of £160, of which two-thirds were contributed by the National Board, and the remainder by J. Murphy, Esq., or Ring-Mahon Castle; and there is a school for girls, supported by subscuption. Here is a despensary, and near Ballintemple are two private lunatic asylums. Cittadella, belonging to Joshua Bull, Esq., was extablished by the late Dr. Hallaran, in 1798, and has secluded pleasure grounds for the use of the patients. Lindville belongs to Dr. Osborne, and is pleasantly situated in a demesne of 14 acres. A temperance society was established in 1835. At the billage of Ballintemple, situated on this peninsula, the Knights Templars erected a large and handsome church in 1392, which, after the dissolution of that order, was granted, with its possessions, to Gill abbey. At what period it fell into decay is uncertain; the burial ground is still used. There are fragments of some ancient towers at Dundanion and Ring-Mahon, but nothing of their history is known.

Blarney, Co. Cork

BLARNEY, a village, in the parish of GARRYCLOYNE, barony of EAST MUSKERRY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 5 miles (N. W. by W.) from Cork, containing 417 inhabitants, It is situated on a river of the same name, over which is a handsome bridge of three arches, on the road from Cork to Kanturk, and comprises 57 houses, which are small but wel built and slated. The noted castle of Blarney was built in 1446, by Cormac McCarthy, surnamed Laidir, who was descended in a direct line from the hereditary kings of Desmond or South Munster, and was equally distinguished by his extraordinary strength and feats of chivalry as by elegance and grace both of body and mind. It is situated on an isolated rock of limestone rising boldly over the junction of the rivers Blarney and Comane, and is the third castle occupying the site: the rist was rather a hunting post of Dermot McCarthy, King of South Munster, and was built of timber; the second was built in the year 1200, and the present structure was raised on its foundations, which are still visible. In the reign of Elizabeth it was the strongest fortress in Munster, and at different periods withstood regular sieges, but was treacherously taken by Lord Broghill in 1646, and the army of King Willian demolished all the fortifications, leaving only the tower remaining. Donogh McCarthy, who commanded the forces of Munster, was first summoned to parliament in the reigh of Elizabeth by the title of Baron of Blarney; and Chas. II., in 1638, conferred the title of Earl of Clancarthy on the head of this family, the last of whom was dispossessed after the siege of Limerick; and the estate, comprising all Muskerry, was forfeited to the crown for the earl's adherence to the cause of Jas. II. On the sale of the forfeited lands in 1692, the Hollow Sword Blade Company purchased all the land around this place, and more than 3000 acres in the parish were allotted to a member of the Company, and are now held by his descendant, George Putland, Esq., of Dublin. Junstin McCarthy, of Carrignavar, the only lineal descendant of that family, holds a part of the ancient inheritance. The castle was purchased in 1701 by Sire James Jefferyes, governor of Cork, who son after erected a large and handsome house in front of it, which was the family residence for many years, but is now a picturesque ruin. The top of the castle commands a very fine view over a rich undulating tract intersected by the rivers Blarney, Comane, and Scorthonac, and bounded on the north-west by the lofty chain of the Boggra mountains. On the east is the Comane bog, many years since an impenetrable wildernes, and the last receptacle for wolves in this part of the country: that river, which takes its name from its serpentine course, flows through the bog and joins the river Blarney under the walls of the castle; and their united waters receive a considerable accession from the Scorthonac, a rapid stream which rises in the Boggra mountains. The interest which both natives and strangers take in the castle arises more from a tradition connected with a stone in its north-eastern angle, about 20 feet from the top, than from any other circumstance: this stone, which bears an inscription in Latin recording the erection of the fortres, is called the "Blarney stone," and has given rise to the well known phrase of "Blarney," in reference to the notion that, if any one kisses it, he will ever after have a cajoling tongue and the art of flattery or of telling lies with unblushing effrontery. Few, however, venture upon this ceremony, from the danger in being lowered down to the stone by a rope from an insecure battlement 132 feet high. The "groves of Blarney" are of considerable extent and very interesting; and beneath the castle are some spacious natural caves, one of which was converted into a dungeon by some of its early proprietors: it is entered by a very strong door, near which is a solitary window scarcely admitting a ray of light, and there are several massive iron rings and bolts yet remaining. Stalactites and stalgmites of bequtiful formation and very compact are found in these caves. The village, though now of little importance, was once the most thriving in the county, and between the years 1765 and 1782, when the linen manufacture was carried on, had not less than 13 mills in operation, erected by St. John Jefferyes, Esq., at an expense of about £20,000. The cotton trade was afterwards introduced and flourished for a time, but has decayed; and the only establishments now in operation are a spinning-mill belonging to M. Mahony, Esq., in which about 120 persons are employed in spinning and dyeing woolen yarn for the extensive camlet manufactory in Cork; and a paper-mill, erected by G. Jenkins, Esq., which employs about 170 persons. St. John Jefferyes, Esq., the proprietor of the village, has it in contemplation to rebuild it on an enlarged and improved plan. Just above it stands the parish church, which was repaired and enlarged in 1835, and is a very neat edifice. Fars are held on Sept. 18th and Nov. 11th; here is a station of the constabulary police; and petty sessions are held on alternate Tuesdays. A national school, capable of accommodating 500 children, was built in 1836, at an expense of £300, of thich the Commissioners gave £90, the parishioners £11, and the Rev. M. Horgan, P.P., gave the remainder; and there is a dispensary. -- See GARRYCLOYNE.

Carrigaline, Co. Cork

CARRIGALINE, a parish, partly in the county of the city of CORK, and partly in the barony of KINNALEA, but chiefly in that of KERRICURRIHY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 7 miles (S. E.) from Cork; containing 7375 inhabitants. This place was in early times called Beavor, or Bebhor, and derived its name from the abrupt rocky cliff on which are the remains of the ancient castle, built by Milo de Cogan in the reign of King John, and for nealy two centuries occupied by the Earls of Desmond, by whom it was forfeited, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The castle, together with the lands of Carrigaline and Balinrea, was then granted by the queen to St Anthony St. Leger, who demised them to Stephen Golding, from whom they were purchased by Sir Richard Boyle, afterwards Earl of Cork, and from him descended to the present proprietor, the Earl of Shannon. In 1568, the Lord-Deputy Sidney, after relieving the Lady St. Leger in Cork, advanced against this fortress, which he took from James Fitzmaurice after an obstinate resistance, and from this time during the entire reign of Elizabeth it had the reputation of being impregnable. In 1589, Sir Francis Drake, with a squadron of five ships, being chased by a Spanish fleet of superior force, ran into Cork harbour; and sailing up Crosshaven, moored his squadron in a safe basin, sheltered by Corribiny Hill, close under Coolmore. The Spaniards pursued, but, being unacquainted with the harbour, sailed round the shores without discovering the English fleet, and giving up the search, left it here in perfect security. The basin in which Sir Francis lay has since been called Drake's pool. The parish is situated on the road from Cork to Tracton, and contains 14,254 statue acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £16,606 per annum; the surface is pleasingly undulated, and the soil is fertile; a considerable part is under an improved system of tillage, and the remainder is in demesne, meadow, or pasture land. There is neither waste land nor bog; coal, which is landed at several small quays here, is the chief fuel. A light brown and purplish clay-slate is found; and limestone of very superior quality is raised at Shanbally, in large blocks, and after being hewn into columns, tombstones, &c., is shipped to Cork and other places. The appearance of the country is beautifully varied: the views from the high grounds are extensive and picturesque, commanding hte course of the Awenbwuy, with the capacious estuary, called Crosshaven, and embellished with numerous gentlemen's seats. The principal are Coolmore, the residence of W. H. Worth Newenham, Esq., situated in a beautiful demesne of 545 acres, with a lofty square tower a little to the east of the house, which commands a magnificent prospect of the town and harbour of Cove, and the rich scenery of the river; Mount Rivers, of M. Roberts, Esq.; Waterpark, of Robert Atkins, Esq.; and, on the border of the parish, Ballybricken, of D. Conner, Esq. The village has a very pleasing appearance; it consists of several good houses and a number of decent cottages, extending into the parish of Kilmoney, on the south side of the river, over which is a bridge of three arches. There are three large boulting-mills, the property of Messrs. Michael Roberts and Co., capable of grinding 20,000 sacks of flour annually, of which the greater part is shipped for England from Cork. The trade consists chiefly in the export of corn, flour, and potatoes, and the import of coal and culm. The channel of the river has been lately deepend six feet, principally at the expense of Mr. Roberts, and vessels can now deliver their cargoes at the bridge. A creek runs up to Shanbally, and another forms the channel of Douglas, both of which are navigable for vessels of 40 tons' burden, which being up lime, sand, and manure, and take away limestone and bricks, the latter of which are made near Douglas. The opening of several new lines of road has been of great advantage to the district. The river Awenbwuy, winding through a rich corn country, is well situated for commerce, and salmon and trout are caught in abundance. Fairs are held in Carrigaline on Easter-Monday, Whit-Monday, Aug. 12th, and Nov. 8th, for cattle, sheep, and pigs. There is a penny post to Cork; and a chief constabulary police force has been stationed here. Petty sessions are held in the court-house every Tuesday, and a manorial court once in three weeks. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Cork, and in the patronage of the Earl of Shannon: the tithes amount to £1080. The church is a very handsome edifice of hewn limestone, in the later English style of architecture, with a massive square tower crowned with pinnacles and surmounted by an elegant and lofty octagonal spire pierced with lights: it was erected in 1823, near the site of the former church, and enlarged in 1835, by the addition of a north transept; the windows are very light, chaste, and beautiful, particularly the eastern one, the upper part of which is ornamented with stained glass. near the west front is a lofty arch, beneath which is an altar-tomb of grey marble, with a recumbent leaden figure, now much mutilated, of Lady Suanna Newenham, who died in 1754. A chapel of ease has been built at the village of Douglas, in the northern division of the parish, within the liberties of the city of Cork. There is no glebe-house, but a glebe of 6a. 3r. 9p. In the R. C. divisions the parish partly forms the head of a union or district, comprising the four ploughlands called Carrigaline and the parishes of Templebready and Kilmoney, and is partly in the union of Douglas or Ballygervin, and partly in that of Passage: the chapel is in that part of the village of Carrigaline which is on the south side of the river. The male and female parochial schools are supported by subscription; the school-rooms were built in 1834. At Raheens are schools for boys and girls, the former supported by a donation of £50 per ann. from W. H. W. Newenham, Esq., and the latter by Mrs. Newenham; a school is aided by annual subscriptions, amounting to £4, and there are other hedge schools in the parish, altogether affording instruction to about 450 children, and a Sunday school. Here is also a dispensary. At Ballinrea there is a mineral spring, which is considered to be of the same kind as that of Tunbridge Wells, and has been found efficacious in cases of debility; and near it is a holy well, dedicated to St. Renogue, which is resorted to by the country people on the 24th of June.

Carrigrohanbeg, Co. Cork

CARRIGROHANBEG, or KILGROHANBEG, a parish, in the barony of BARRETTS, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 3 miles (W.) from Cork; containing 659 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated in a very fertile district adjoining the western boundary of the county of the city of Cork, is bounded on the south by the river Lee, and on the east by the Awenbeg, or Shawnagh, a small river which flows from Blarney and falls into the Lee opposite to the beautiful ruins of Carrigrohane castle. It contains 1513 statue acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £1936 per annum: the surface is pleasingly diversified, and the soil, resting on a substratum of clay-slate, is extremely fertile. The land is chiefly in pasture, and the farmers attend most exclusively to the dairy, for supplying the city of Cork with milk and butter. The vale of Awenbeg is beautifully romantic, and on the banks of that river were formerly some mills for manufacturing paper and some iron forges; the vale of the Lee is exceedingly fertile, and the meadows are occasionally irrigated by the overflowing of the river. The gentlemen's seats are Woodside, the residence of the Rev. E. M. Carleton, commanding a fine view down the vale, with an excellent farm adjoining it belonging to the proprietor of the estate, who has done much towards improving the agriculture of the surrounding district; Rock Lodge, of R. Carleton, Esq.; Beechmount, of the Rev. R. Cahill; and Temple Hill, of Russell Fitton, Esq. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Cloyne, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the tithes amount to £155. 11. 7. There is no church, but divine service is regularly performed by the rector in his own house; the ruins of the old parish church, covered with ivy, and presenting a very picturesque appearance, are situated between the high road and the river Lee, near its junction with the Awenbeg. There is neither glebe-hous nor glebe. In the R. C. divisions this parish forms part of the union or district of Inniscarra. The male and female parochial schools are supported by the rector, in connection with the Cloyne Diocesan Association.

Carrigrohane, Co. Cork

CARRIGROHANE, or KILGROHANMORE, a parish, partly in the county of the city of CORK, but chiefly in the barony of BARRETTS, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 4 miles (W. by S.) from Cork; containing 1921 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the south bank of the river Lee, over which is a stone bridge connecting it with the parish of Inniscarra, and on the new line of road through Magourney to Macroom. The whole comprises 2578 acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £4655 per annum; and that part of it which is included within the barony of Barretts contains 1556 acres, valued at £2136, according to the county estimate. The land is of excellent quality, and the farms, being in the occupation of persons with capital, are in an excellent state of cultivation. From the low price of grain, the produce of the dairy and the grazing of cattle have been found more profitable than growing corn; the lands are therefore being converted into dairy farms. The parish forms part of the limestone district that extends from near the source of the river Bride, along its southern bank, across the vale to the west of the city of Cork, and passing through its souther suburbs, terminates at Blackrock. The quarrying of limestone and manufacture of gunpowder at Ballincollig encourage that industry among the people of which the fruits are seen in their comfortable appearance and the improved state of their habitations. On the river Lee are some extensive mills, capable of manufacturing from 350 to 400 sacks of flour weekly. About a mile and a half from the church are several very handsome houses, occupied by the officers connected with the garrison of Ballincollig. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Cork, united from time immemorial to the rectories of Curricuppane and Corbally, and to one-fourth of the rectory of Kinneagh, which four parishes constitute the corps of the precentorship of the cathedral of St. Finbarr, Cork: the tithes of the parish amount to £330, and of the whole union to £943. The church is a small plain edifice, situated nearr the river Lee, to the repairs of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently made a grant of £143. There is no-glebe house in the untion, but a glebe of 22 acres and 38 perches. In the R. C. divisions this parish, together with the parishes of Kilnaglory and Inniskenny, and a small part of that of Ballinaboy, form the untion of district of Ballincollig, where there is a chapel. There are male and female parochial schools supported by subscritpions; a national school at Ballincollig, in which are about 100 boys and 70 girls; a public and two private schools, one of which is for infants, in which are about 60 boys and 40 girls; and a Sunday school supported by the rector. Behind the church are considerable remains of the ancient castle, and the fine ruins of a more modern house, of great strength, of which nearly the whole of the outer walls are remaining. The turrets, pierced with loop-holes, which project from the upper story of the latter building, indicate that it was build about the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but the castle is evidently much older and both were ruined in the war of 1641. At Ballincollig are the ruins of an extensive castle, situated on an isolated rock which rises in the midst of a fertile plain. This castle was built by the Barrett family, in the reign of Edw. III. William Barrett joined in the insurrection of the Earl of Desmond against Elizabeth, but was pardoned by Her Majest and received into favour. In the war of 1641, it was in the possession of the insurgents, who were dispossessed by Cromwell in 1645: it was garrisoned for Jas. II. in 1689, but after his flight fell into decay, and is now a stately ruin, with a very strong and lofty square tower still nearly perfect.

Cork, Co. Cork

CORK, a sea-port, city, and a county of itself, and the head of a diocese, locally in the county of CORK, of which it is the capital, and in the province of MUNSTER 51 miles (S. W. by W.) from Waterford, and 126 (S. W. by S.) from Dublin; containing 107,007 inhabitants, of which number, 84,000 are in the city and suburbs. This place, which in extent and importance is the second city in Ireland, and is distinguished for its fine harbour, derived its ancient names Corcach and Corcach-Bascoin, signifying in the Irish language "a marshy place," from it s situation on the navigable river Lee. The earliest authentic account of its origin occurs in Colgan's life of St. Nessan, to whose preceptor, St. Barr or Finbarr, is attributed the foundation of a cathedral church, to which, as the abode of that saint, such numbers of disciples resorted from all parts, that the desert in which it stood soon became the site of a considerable city. St. Nessan, according to the annals of the four masters, died in 551: if this be correct, he could not be a disciple of St. Finbarr, unless the latter flourished at a period much earlier than that state by Sir James Ware, namely, about the year 630. The original city was built on a limestone rock, on the margin of the south branch of the river, and appears to have grown up around the cathedral and westward as far as the monastery called Gill Abbey; but what from a very early period has been more especially regarded as the city was erected on the island formed by the Lee, and its origin is ascribed to the Danes, who, after repeatedly pludering the old city and its religious establishments for more than 300 years, settled here in 1020, but dit not long retain possession, being eighteen years afterwards defeated with great slaughter, and the whole of their property destroyed by fire. In 1080 the city is said to have been destroyed by lightning; and eight years afterwards the Danes of Dublin, Waterford, and Wicklow united their forces to recover possesion of ti, but were defeated by a large body of the natives of Oneachach, now forming the district of West Carbery. According to other accounts, Dermot, the sone of Foirdhealbhach O'Brien, in the same year, laid waste and plundered the town, and carried away the relics of St. Finbarr. At the time of the English invasion, the city and the adjacent country were in the undistrubed possession of the Danes, who held them under Dermot Mac Carthy or Mac Carty, prince of Desmond, of which extensive territory this place was the capitl. On the landing of Hen. II., in 1172, that chieftain was the first to acknowledge his sovereighnty: attending his court on the day after his arrival, he riesigned to the English monarch his city of Cork, and did him homage, and paid tribute for the rest of his possessions. The king immediately appointed and English governor, with a garrison, which being soon obliged, from the small number of his forces, to withdraw, Mac Carty resumed possession; and the inhabitants, in 1174, fitted out 30 barques, and, proceeding to Dungarvan, fell with all their force upon Strongbow's army under Raymond le Gros, who had been plundering the neighbouring country, and had just shipped his booty for Wesford; they were, however, repulsed, and Gilbert their commander was slain. In 1177, Henry granted the surrounding territory to Milo de Cogan and Robert Fitz-Stephen, with the exception of the city and adjacent cantrels occupied by the Ostmen, which he kept in his own possission. In 1165 the city was besieged by the Irish forces under Mac Carty; Fitz-Stephen, being closely shut up within the walls, sent for assistance to Raymond le Gros, then at Wexford, and that noblman coming promptly by sea with a reinforcment of 20 knights and 100 archers, the garrison made a sally and routed the Irish at the first onset. In the following year Dermot Mac Carty, while holding a conference with some other Irish chiefs near the city, was slain by a party of English under Theobold Firz-Waslter, the founder of the noble house of Ormonde; but, shortly after, the success which crowned the military efforst of the native Irish left this the only considerable place of strength in Munster in the possession of the English. The city was now surrounded by the troops of Desmond, and a force detched to its relief was totally defated; but from the secret jealousies that prevailed in the Irish camp, Daniel Mac Carty, one of the principal chieftains, abandoned the siege, and the garrison was saved from destruction. The English, however, being without succour or provisions, cut off from all intercourse with their countrymen, and perpetually harassed by their enemies, were in a short time obliged to capitulate to the Prince of Desmond; but in a few years they recovered possession of the city, and strengthened it by the erection of an additional fort, which kept the men of Desmond in subjection. Shandon Castle is said to have been built by Philip de Barry, nephew of Fitz-Stephen; and in 1199, John Despenser, the first civic magistrate upon record, was made provost of Cork. From this period a great chasm occurs in the history of the place, which does not appear to have experienced any important changes, or to have been distinguished by any remarkable event, till the death here, in 1381, of the lord-deputy, Edmund Mortmier, Earl of March and Ulster, when John Colton, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, was immediately appointed to that office. In 1492, Perkin Warbeck, in his assumed character of Richard duke of York, arrived here from Lisbon, and was kindly received by the citizens; after a short stay, he embarked for France, whence he returned to this city in 1495, and soon after departed for Scotland; he once more visited this place, and having enlisted a small force, set sail for Cornwall. After the disastrous termination of Warbeck's expedition, the mayor of Cork was hanged for countenancing that impostor; and in 1498, on account of the disloyalty of the citizens, The Earl of Kildare placed a strong garrison here, and compelled the principal inhabitants to swear allegiance to He. Vii., and give bonds and pledges for their future obedience. In 1541, the mayour was one of four commissioners, appointed in lieu of the Irish brehons or judges, to hear and determine all controversies among the natives of this province. In 1568, the lady of Sir Warham St. Leger, lord-president of Munster, was, during the absence of her husband, besieged by the insurgents in the city, but was relieved by the lord-deputy, Sir Henry Sidney, with 400 men from England; and in 1575 the lord-deputy again came hither with his forces, and remained six weeks. During this period Queen Elizabeth presented Maurice Roched, mayor of Cork, for his able services against the insrugents, with a silver collar of the order of St. Simplicius, which is still preserved by his descendant, Thoc. C. Kerney, Esq., at Garrettstown. At the commencement of the great Desmond insurrection, the city became the head-quarters of the English forces, and Sir John Perrot arrived with six ships of war for the protection of the port against the threatened assault of the Spaniards. In 1598 Sir Thomas Norris, vice-preisdent of Munster, was obliged to shut himself up here for security against the insurgents sent from Ulster by O'Neill; and in 1601 the lord-deputy assembled at this place the army destined to expel the Spaniards from Kinsale, which was soon after reinforced with 2000 men from England. At this period the city is described by Camden as "of an oval figure surrounded by walls, envieroned and intersected by the river, which is passable only by bridges, and consisting of one straight street coninued by a bridge; it is, however, a little trading town of great resort, but so beset by rebellious neighbours as to require as constant watch as if continually besieged." On the death of Queen Elizabeth, in 1602, the mayor and corporation refused at first to proclaim the accession of James; the citizens took arms, and set guards upon the gates to prevent any soldiers from entering the town, disarmed the Protestants, refused to admit Sir Charles Wilmot, who came with his army to quell the disturbance, and determined to acknowledge no authority but that of the mayor; they then proceeded to organize a plan of defence, and, among other outrages, fired upon Shandon Castle, then the residence of Lady Carew, and upon the bishop's palace, where were assembled the commissioners to whom the bovernment of the province had been entrusted. The commissioners sent to Halbowling Fort, in the harbour, for a supply of artillery; but the citizens manned some boats to take that fort, and, if possible, to intercept the supply; and though the attempt was frustrated, severl men were killed on both sides; and they succeeded, after some difficulty, in demolishing the Queen's Fort, on the south side of the city. On the 11th of May the lord-lieutenant marched with all his forces into the city, and after condemning some of the leaders to punishment, and leaving a strong garrison, proceeded to Limerick, where similar disturbances had taken place. On this occasion the Queen's Fort was rebuilt as a citadel, to keep the citizens in subjection; and further, to prevent a recurrence of theses outrages, the city and liberties were, in 1608, consistuted a distinct and independent county. In 1613, James I., in a letter to Sir Arthur Chichester, proposed that Cork should be divided into two counties; but the scheme was opposed by the Earl of Cork, who had lent the lord-president Villiers £500 towards repairing the forts of Cork and Waterford, by which means they were put into a state of defence. In 1636 the Algerines, who had infested this coast five years previously, reappeared, and, aided by the French, spread terror among the inhabitants. The Earl of Strafford, in a letter dated Sept. 15th of that year, states that "the Turks still annoy this coast; they came of late into Cork harbour, took a boat with eight fishermen, and gave chase to two others that saved themselves among the rocks, the townsmen looking on without the power or means to assist them." In March, 1642, the city was blockaded by the insurgents under Gen. Barry and Lord Muskerry; but part of the garrison, making a sally, pursued a detachment of them to their camp at Rochfortstown, where, without the loss of a single man, thry killed 200 of the enemy, put their whole army to flight, and took al their bagage and carriages. In 1644 two conspiracies to betray the city to the insurgents, at the head of one of which was the mayor, were discovered and suppressed. On the approach of Cromwell, in 1649, the inhabitants embraced the cause of the parliament. In 1688 a large party of Irish horse and foot, under Lieut.-Gen. Mac Carty, entered the city at midnight, disarmed the Protestant inhabitants, plundered the houses of the most wealthy, and committed similar excesses in all the neighbouring villages. James II. arrived here shortly after; and in the autumn of 1689 the Protestant inhabitants were seized and imprisoned by Lord Clare, the governor, and many of them were sent to the neighbouring castles of Blarney and Macroom. In September, 1690, the city was besieged by the army of Wm. III., under the command of the Earl of Marlborough and the Duke of Wirtemberg; and on this occasion, notwithstanding an agreement with the inhabitants to the contrary, the suburbs were burnt by the gobernor Mac Elligott; the fortresses called the Catt and Shandon Castle were taken without resistance; and from both these, as well as from a battery neat the Red Abbey, and from the steeple of the cathedral church, the south fort and the city were assailed. A breach being made by the cannon at Red Abbey, the troops advanced to the assault; on which the garrison, after a siege of five days, surrendered prisoners of war to the number of 4500, of whom many afterwards made their escape, and 160 were blown up in the Breda Man of war, then lying in the harbour. In marching to the assault, the Duke of Grafton, who had entered as a volunteer in William's army, was killed. The royal troops took possession of the city on the 29th of September; and the mgistrates, resuming their offices, proclaimed King William and Queen Mary. The annals of the city during the period subsequent to the Revolution, record little deserving of special notice, In 1746, the militia of Cork consisted of 3000 foot and 200 horse, together with a well-appointed company of 100 gentlemen, commanded by Col. H. Cavendish. In 1787 the city was honoured by the presence of the king, then Prince William Henry, commander of the ship Pegasus, which lay at Cove: two years after, a flood, occasioned by a heavy fall of rain, immediately following a storm of snow, which had continued for several days, laid the whole of the streets under water, to the height of five feet, and in some places of seven; several houses were washed away, many injured, and immense damage inflicted on property. The first mail coach arrived in Cork from Dublin in 1789. About the commencement of the 17th century the city consisted of only one principal street, now called North and South Main-street, and it appears to have undergone but little extension or improvement till the reign of Wm. III., when the corporation began to form new streets and erect public buildings. In 1701 it had only two entrances, the north, leading from Dublin, and the south, from Kinsale; and two bridges, the north and the south, built of wood, and which, by an act of the 1st of Geo. I., cap. 19., the corportation were empowered to rebuild of stone. From the records of the corporation and a plan of the city it appears that, about the middle of the last centry, a navigable branch of the river ran down the centre of the South Mall, and that the ground on which the houses forming the south side of the street now stand was an island, beyond which was another small tract called Goose island, now occupied by Charlotte quay; and for many years subsequently another branch ran through Patrick-street, up which vessels sailed at every tide. A map published in 1766 shows that the fields then reached down to the north branch of the river; and the neighbourhood of Ballynamocht, to the east of the Dublin road, was under cultivation. Its rapid advancement may be attributed to the great capabilities of its almost matchless haven, which renders it the emporium of commerce for this part of the country; and the numerous improvements that have since taken place are fully commensurate with its increased importance. It is generally regarded as consisting of the city, the suburbs, and the liberites, all which consistute the county of the city. One mile west of the cathedral the river Lee divides into two branches, insulating a tract about two English miles in length and half a mile in breadth, on which the ancient city was built; and uniting again at its eastern extremity, expands into a noble estuary a mile broad, forming the commencement of the harbour. But that which is now considered as the city includes a district stretching to a considerable distance north and south of these two branches, in which numerous elegant streets have been recently formed, and its limits are progressively extending. The smaller channels which ran through the streets presented at low water a mass of mud, but being some years since arched over by the corporation, the most spacious and elegant streets have been formed above them. Across the two main branches of the river, within the city, are nine stone bridges communicating with the district which, in 1813, was defined for the purpose of local taxation, under the provisions of an act of the 53rd of Geo. III., and is marked out by stones set up in various directions, separating it from the liberties: this district comprises an are of 2379 statute acres, the whole is generally called "the city," and 10,263 houses, of which 8212 are dwelling-houses, and 2051 are warehouses, stores, and other buildings. The general appearance of the city, particularly since its recent extensive improvements, is picturesque and cheerful; the principal streets are spacious and well paved; most of the houses are large and well built, chiefly of clay-slate fronted with roofing slate, which gives them a clean though sombre appearance; others are built of the beautiful grey limestone of the neighbourhood, and some are faced with cement; those in the new streets are principally of red brick. The streets are now made and repaired under the directions of the commissioners of wide streets, originally constituted a body corporate by an act of the 5th of Geo. III., cap. 24, with extensive powers conferred by that and subsequent acts; and nearly £6000 is annually expended in paving, cleansing, and improving them. The privilege of licensing vehicles of every description plying for hire within the city is vested in the commissioners, who have framed a code of by-laws and a table of rates for regulating them. The city is lighted with gas by the General United Gas Company of London, who in 1825 contracted with the commissioners of wide streets to supply the city and suburbs with coal gas for 12 years, at £3130. 13. 4. per annum: the works are situated on the south branch of the river, and afford an excellent supply. The inhabitants are provided with water from the river Lee, raised by two large water wheels into a capacious reservoir, and thence distributed by metal pipes through all the lower parts of the city: it is conveyed into each house on payment of £2. 2. per annum, but application is about to be made to parliament for an act to empower the Company to regulate the rate according to the value of the houses, as provided by the English and Scottish acts. The works, situated on the north side of Wellington bridge, one mile above the town, were originally contructed by the corporation; but the undertaking was some years since divided into 100 shares, of which 25 were ratained by that body, and the remainder purchased by private individuals: it is intended to construct a reservoir on a higher level, from which the water may be conveyed into every house in the city. Until the general establishment of the constabulary system this city had no regularly constituted police; but a force consisting of one officer and 60 men was introduced, for whose accommodation the guard-houses in Tucky-street and Shandon have been fitted up: there is not yet any public nightly watch, but private watchmen are appointed. Of the bridges over the Lee several are modern and elegant structures. Patrick's bridge, the last over the northern branch, and to which vessels sail up, was erected in 1789 from a design by Mr. M. Shannahan, by a company of shareholders, and was a pay bridge, with a portcullis, which was removed by the commissioners of wide streets in 1823: it consists of three elliptic arches surmounted by an open balustrade, built entirely of hewn limestone, and connects the noble line of quays extending on both sides of the river through the principal part of the city. North bridge, over the same branch, was built of stone early in the last century, at the expense of the corporation, on the site of an ancient wooden bridge, which, with another of the same kind at the southern extremity of the main street, formed for ages the only accessible communication between the town and country: it was thoroughly repaired and widened by the corporation in 1831, when two foot-paths of cast iron were formed, and it now opens a ready communication between the North Main-street, the butter markets, and the populous districts of Shandon. Wellington bridge, at the western extremity of the city, near the termination of the Mardyke, and close to the division of the main channel of the Lee, is a noble structure of hewn limestone, erected by Messrs. Pain, from a design by Richard Griffiths, Esq.: it consists of a centre arch of 50 feet and two side arches each of 45 feet span, with solid parapets, the piers of the arches sunk in caissons; and opens a fine communication with the new western road, near George the Fourth's bridge, which here crosses the south branch of the river. This latter bridge is a plain structure of one arch, built in 1820 entirely of hewn limestone. Midway between it and the Lee mills is a handsome bridge of one arch of 50 feet span, which by a raised causeway leads from the new western road to the county gaol and house of correction. Clarke's bridge, built by the corporation in 1726, is an ancient structure of red clay-slate, communicating betwwen Great George's-street and the cathedral. South bridge, built also by the corporation a few years previously, on the site of the ancient wooden bridge, is a neat structure of three segmental arches of hewn limestone, and has been widened at their expense by the addition of two foot-paths. Parliament bridge, a handsome edifice of one lofty arch, with open parapets, built of hewn limestone, connects the South Mall with Sullivan's quay, to which vessels of considerable burden sail up. Anglesey bridge, erected in 1830 by Sir Thos. Deane, from a design by Mr. Griffiths, is a very handsome structure of hewn limestone, with parapets of cast iron; and consists of two elliptic arches 44 feet in span, with a rise of eleven feet, having between them a waterway of 32 feet crossed by two parallel drawbridges of cast iron, which are raised to admit vessels above it, and are designed to prevent the confusion resulting from the numerous cars and other vehicles which pass over it, by compelling each to keep to its proper side. This bridge, which is the last on the southern branch of the river, was built at an expense of more than £9000, defrayed by the commissioners of the new corn market: it is the thoroughfare to Blackrock, Douglas, and Passage, and opens an approach from Warren's-place and the eastern end of the South Mall, on the north, to the new corn market on the south side of the river. The scenery around the city is exceedingly beautiful, particularly on the east, where two lines of road, called Upper and Lower Glanmire roads, have been formed along the north bank of the river, on eon the elevated ground and the other close to the strand; and a variety of new streets, terraces, crescents, and detached villas, have been erected on the sides and summits of the gentle acclivities, commanding magnificent view of the river Lee, the city, Blackrock, and the beautiful and fertile district bounded by the hills of Carrigaline. The scenery on the south side of the river, from Anglesey bridge to Balckrock and Passage, is pleasingly undulating and diversified; elegant houses, with lwans, gardens, and plantations sloping to the water's edge, and commanding delightul views over the noble expanse of water to the lofty and verdant hills of Rathcoony, have been built throughout the entire space. The beauty of the scenery, the mildness and salubrity of the climate, the abundance and purity of the water, the fertility of the soil, and the excellence of the markets, have induced many wealthy families from distant parts to settle here, who have erected very elegant villas and cottages in fanciful situations and in every variety of architectural styule. Besides those named under the respective heads of Blackrock, Douglas, Glanmire, and other places in the vicinity of the city, the following are worthy of notice; Woodville, the residence of Gen. Sir Thos. Arbuthenott; Tivoli House, of J. Morgan, Esq.; Eastview, of J. Leycester, Esq., a very pretty villa in the cottage style, commanding a splendid view down the river towards Passage, and containing many valuable paintings and other specimens of virtû; Summerhill, of G. Newenham, Esq.; Belleview, of J. W. Topp, Esq.; Shanakill, of D. Leahy, Esq.; Silver Spring, of J. Cummins, Esq.; Hyde Park, of J. S. Murphy, Esq.; Clifton, of N. Murphy, Esq.; Wilton, of C. H. Leslie, Esq.; Hyde Park House, of J. Morrow, Esq.; Temple Ville, of D. Murphy Esq.; Carolina, of Mrs. Carroll; Trafalgar, of T. Lyons Esq.; Beach Hill, of M. Salmon, Esq.; Vostersberg, of W. N. Reeves, Esq.; Ballynamote, of J. Chatterton, Esq.; Woodview, of D. Hamblin, Esq.; Doughcloyne, House, of D. Sarsfield, Esq.; Lehannah, of T. Curtis, Esq.; Lehannah, of C. Matthews, Esq.; Somerstown, of J. Swiney, Esq.; Doughcloyne, of J. Simpson, Esq.; Chetwind, of J. Forrest, Esq.; Strawberry Hill, of W. R. Westropp, Esq.; Bruin Lodge, of R. Beare, Esq.; Woodhill, of W. Fitzgibbon, Esq.; Glanmire Rock, of W. Adams, Esq.; The Castle, of Ald. Gibbings; Cottage, of Kieffe O'Kieffe, Esq.; Mount Vernon, of E. Ronayne, Esq.; Castle White, of J. Cope, Esq.; Snugborough, of T. Nelson, Esq.; and Ardmanning, of W. D. White, Esq. The entrance from Dublin, by Patrick's bridge, is remarkably striking and picturesque: the road winds through the beautiful vale of Glanmire and enters that of the Lee opposite the castle of Blackrock, where it joins that from Waterford, Youghal, Midleton, and Cove, and continues westward beneath the plantations of Lota Beg and the lofty and fertile hills of Rathcoony, studded with numerous detached villas commanding the most delightful views of the noble estuary. The approach from Limerick is by a new line of road carried through a fine undulating country; at a short distance from Blackpool it crosses a pleasant valley by a viaduct supported by six lofty arches. The entrace from the west and south is by the new western road parallel with the Mardyke, and midway between the two main branches of the Lee; it crosses George the Fourth's bridge, and is one of the best improvements in or around the city. The approach from Cove, by way of Passage, is through the village of Douglas, passing numerous elegant villas and cottages, and entering the city by Anglesey bridge. The principal promenade is the Mardyke, a fine raised walk a mile long, extending through the meadows midway between two branches of the river, and shaded by a double row of lofty flourishing elms, from which are extensive and varied views. The Botanic Garden, for some time a favourite place of resort, was sold in 1826, and has been converted by its proprietor, the Very Rev. Theobald Matthews, Provincial of the Capuchins or Reformed Franciscans, into a cemetery laid out in the style of the Pè la Chaise, at Paris: the graves are distributed over the greater part amid the shrubs, plants, and flowers brough hither at a very great expense by the originial proprietors; the ground is intersected by broad gravel walks, and there are several handsome monuments. Among these, one of the most remarkable is that erected over a vault belonging to Messrs. Murphy and O'Connor: it consists of a sarcophagus of Portland stone resting on a base of limestone. On the sarcophagus is the figure of a mourning angel, as large as life, of white Italian marble, wrought in Rome by Mr. John Hogan, a native of Cork. At the bottom of the Grand Parade close to the south branch of the rivers, is a handsome equestrian statue of Geo. II. On a commanding eminence to the north-east of the city are the barracks for infantry and cavalry, erected in 1806 by the late Abraham Hargrave, Esq., and conveniently adapted to the accommodation of 156 officers and 1994 men, with stabling for 232 horses; the grounds for parade and exercise are spacious, and there is an hospital capable of receiving 120 patients. In the south suburb is also a military hospital for about 130 invalids, affording the advantage of change of air for convalescents, but kept up by Government principally as a point d'appui to the surrounding hills; it was by a ball from a battery on this spot that the Duke of Grafton was killed during the siege in 1695. In the South Mall is an elegant house for the county club, built in 1826 by Messrs. Pain, at and expense of about £4000; the front consists of a rustic basement, from which rise three engaged columns of the composite order supporting an entablature and cornice; on the ground floor are a public dining-room 40 feet long by 20 wide, a private dining-room of smaller dimensions, and several apartments for the secretary and steward; and on the first floor are reading, billiard, and card rooms, above which are bed-chambers. The club consists of about 300 members, each of whom pays £5 on admission and a subscription of £5 per annum; naval and military officers are admitted on paryment of the annual subscription only. There are also two other club-houses, namely, Daly's, in the Grand Parade, and the Ticky-street club-house, at the corner of that street and the Grand Parade. The theatre, a well-arranged edifice erected in 1759 by S. Barry and H. Woodward, both celebrated actors in their day, is opened annually for a few months; and balls, concerts, races, and regattas occasionally take place. The Cork county and city Horticultural Society, established under the patronage of the Duchess of Kent, published its first report in January 1835, by which it appears that, during the three first exhibitions, 233 prizes were awarded to successful candidates for the best specimens of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbaceous plants; and according to the 2nd report published Jan. 1836, 274 were awarded; the society is liberally supported by subscription, and promises to be eminently conducive to the horicultural and agricultural improvement of the diestrict. An agricultural society was formed in 1836. The Cork Library Society, in the South Mall, was founded in 1790, and the library contains a valuable collection of more than 10,000 volumes in the various departments of science, art, and general literature; it is managed by a committee who meet every alternate week for the selection of books, the admission of members by ballot, and the transaction of ordinary business. The Cork Royal Institution was founded in 1803 by subscription among private gentlemen of the city and county, for diffusing the knowledge and facilitating the introduction of all improvements in the arts and manufactures, and for teaching by lectures the application of science to the common purposes of life. The obvious usefulness of such an institution recommended it to the favourable consideration of Government, and in 1807 the proprietors abtained a royal charter of incorporation and a parliamentary grant of £2000 per annum. For several years lectures were annually given on Natural Philosophy, Natural History, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Botany, and other useful branches of Science; but in 1830 the grant was withdrawn, and the lectures have been since discontinued. On withholding the grant, Government presented to the proprietary of the old custom-houe, a fine spacious building in Nelson-place, subject to a rent of £65 per ann., to which the Crown was previously liable. There are at present, belonging to the institution, museums of natural history and mineralogy, a scientific and medical library containing more than 5000 volumes, philosophical and chemical apparatus, and a splendid series of casts from the antique. Several efforst have been made to convert this institution into a collegiate establishment, which the situation of Cork in a populous district remote from the metropolis and surrounded by numerous large towns, and the opportunities of practical study afforded by its Medical and Surgical Charitable Institutions and the existence of a School of Physic and Surgery, render peculiarly desirable, and would compensate for the loss which the inhabitants of the city and surrounding districts have sustained by the withdrawal of the parliamentary grant. The Cork Scientific and Literary Society was founded or revived in 1834, after the dissolution of a former society about ten years previously, and consists of about 90 members and 15 subscribers who pac 10s. per ann.; the former are required to produce in rotation an esay at each meeting of the society, which is read on that evening and discussed at the next meeting, in which discussions the subscribers are permitted to take part: the meetings are held in the lecture-room of the Cork Royal Institution. The meetings of the Cuvierian society, formed in 1835, are held in the same place. The object of this society is the promotion of a friendly intercourse among those who wish to cultivate science, literature, and the fine arts, so as, by personal communication and occasional course of lectures, to diffuse more generally the advantages of intellectual and scientific pursuits. The Society of Arts was established about the year 1815 for the advancement of painting and sculpture, and was at first liberally encouraged; George IV., when Prince Regent, presented to the society, in 1820, a very valuable collection of casts from the antique; the students were numerous, and were instructed in drawing, and a course of lectures on Anatomy as connected with the art of design was regularly dlivered; but the funds becoming in a few years insufficient to defray the expenses, the casts presented by the King were transferred to the Royal Institution. The society, however, still exists, and affords patronage and assistance to youthful genius; Dr. Woodroffe continues to give lectures on the Anatomy of expression, the Philosophy of the human body, and on Phrenology. The Mechanics' Institute was founded in 1824, and has a library of 1500 volumes, a reading-room, and two schools, one for instruction in the arts and sciences, and one for design; there are 210 members, and elctures on scientific subjects are occasionally delivered. The school of Physic and Surgery was founded by Dr. Woodroffe in 1811, and continues to flourish; lectures on Anatomy, Physiology, the theory and practice of Surgery and Midwifery, Materia-Medica, practice of Physic and Clinical Surgery are delivered during the winter half-year: this School is connected witht he South Infirmary and the Hospital of the House of Industry, and, being duly recognised by the Royal College of Surgeons in London, the Apothecaries' Hall, Dublin, and the Army and Navy Medical Boards, has been of great benefit to medical students of the south of Ireland. Certificates of attendance at Dr. Cesar's lectures on Anatomy and Materia-Meica, delivered at the Royal Institution, are recognised by the Royal College of Surgeons, London, at Apothecaries' Hall, by the Army and Naby Boards, the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and many continental universities. The trade of Cork, previously to the late war with France, consisted chiefly in the exportation of butter and beef for the supply of the British navy, ot the West Indies, and to the ports of France, Spain, and the Mediterranean; and of hides and tallow chiefly to England. At that time the surrounding districts were nearly all under pasturage and scarcely produced sufficient corn for the supply of their inhabitants; the lands were grazed by vast herds of cattle, and the quantity of beef cured for exportation was perhaps ten times as great as at present; but from the impetus since given to agriculture, a considerable portion of the land has been brought under tillage, and an extensive trade in corn and flour consiequently extablished. This was one of the first places in which the interests of trade and commerce were taken under the protection of the merchants thenselves, who established a committee consisting of fourteen merchants who export butter, seven butter merchants who collect it from the various farms, and three tanners, elected ennaully bu there respective trades: this body, under the simple designation of the "Committee of Merchants," is in all respects similar to the Changer of Commerce in other parts; it has existed as the accredited organ of the tradin gcommunity and been recognised as such in several local acts since the year 1729, and communicates with the public authorities on subjects connected with the trade of Ireland. The butter trade, which is considered as the most important in the province of Munster, and is carried on in this city to a greater extent than in any other par