this rock with a most tremendous noise. To those fond of such kind of scenery I would recommend the Brandon Mountains forming the south, as Kerry Head does the north side, of Tralee Bay. These high mountains stretching out into the sea, as if braving its fury, their black and dusky appearance, and the rocks called the Hog Islands in the midst of the bay, form, on the whole, a very interesting scene.

On the 18th of October, 1808, I was at Tralee, and observed that from the signal station at Kerry Head to Ballyheigh there is no road. A few scattered villages appear in the mountains, but in a place so little frequented that the inhabitants seldom see a stranger.

Ballyheigh, the residence of Colonel Crosby, stands in a commanding situation on the north-east point of Tralee Bay, having a direct view of those heights which run up to Brandon Point. From this place I proceeded to Ardfert, a village belonging to Lord Glendore, and during the whole way never had the sight of a single bush. From Ardfert, where there is an ancient abbey and cathedral, I took the Spa road, which passes along the strand, and making the tour of Tralee Bay, had a nearer view of the Brandon Mountains on the opposite side of the bay, which, according to Dr. Smith, are some of the highest in the county, being little, if at all, inferior to Mangerton or the Reeks.* However this may be, I remarked a peculiar blueness in their appearance, forming a tint unique in its kind. According to information I received in this neighbourhood, it is worth a traveller's while to go across them to Dingle, on account of the numerous beautiful and extensive views which they afford. Near Listowel the Knight of Kerry has a romantic seat, built in the cottage style, on the banks of a mountain stream, called the River Teal, bordered on both sides with wood. I went along the edge of the county from Tarbert to Listowel, passing Ballybunian; the woods of the former have long since been cut down, but on this side there is abundance of cliff scenery, which sometimes presents very romantic views.

Kenmare River, properly an inlet of the sea, exhibits several fine prospects, and the Shannon, which bounds the county towards the north, has on its banks some delightful spots, well worth the notice of every traveller who visits this part of Ireland. But Mucross exceeds them all, and, in my opinion, is the finest place in the island, or in the whole of the united kingdom. The seat of Lord Glendore, that of Lord Ventry, as I have heard, near Dingle, the residence of Mr. Bateman at Oak Park, near Tralee, and Mr. Cronin's domain at the Park, near Killarney, are al much admired for the beauty of their situation. But these are only a few of the fine seats in this county, which contains a great many, possessing various advantages, and ornamented both by nature and art.

* Smith's Kerry, p. 193.

Sir Richard Hoare has given a description of Lislaghtin Abbey,* but he places it in a wrong situation, as it stands between Tarbert and Ballylongford. From the whole account it is evident that Sir Richard never saw it.

On the road from Tarbert to Listowel, on the 16th of October, 1808, through Ballylongford, I travelled over college property+ where I saw some of the most wretched villages I ever beheld; they exhibited a true picture of Irish misery in its worst state. In my way I paid a visit to the abbey of Lislaghtin, on the outside of which there are a great many remarkable vaults disposed in rows and constructed of stone; they are seven feet high, as many in width, and have each a door large enough to admit a coffin.

Carigfoyle Castle is in a state of decay, but there still remain one hundred and six steps which conduct to the top of it, where there are two arched ceilings of stone, but it is probable that there have been intermediate ones of wood. It does not stand on an island but a peninsula.

LIMERICK.

This county contains 1045 English square miles.. "Though diversified by small hills, it is not at all mountainous; except on the south-east, where it is bounded by the Galtees, a ridge of formidable mountains, extending into Tipperary; and on the borders of Kerry, where it grows uneven, and forms a grand amphitheatre of low but steep mountains, which stretch in a curve from Loghil to Drumcolloher. In the first of these rises the river Maig, which crosses the county and falls into the Shannon; as do many fine streams by which it is plentifully watered. In the western hills are the sources of the Feale and the Gale, which run. westward through Kerry; and of the Blackwater, which flows in acontrary direction through the county of Cork." None of the views here exhibit fine scenery; the cabins of the cotters make a most wretched appearance, and bear evident marks of the poverty of their inhabitants. The greater part of the county consists of rich grass lands slovenly kept, and divided by earthen banks, but without any trees.

On the 12th of October, 1808, I paid a visit to Adair, where I viewed the ruins of the Castle of the Desmonds, and of three abbeys belonging to it. Mr. Quin's domain, watered by the river Maig which runs through it, is of considerable extent and well planted, Mountshannon, the seat of Lord Clare, which consists of a large pile of building ornamented with plantations, deserves notice, and the environs of Limerick, studded with neat houses belonging to its wealthy merchants, engage the attention, and form a very striking contrast with some of the poorer parts of the. + It belongs to Trinity College, Dublin.

* Journal of a Tour in Ireland, p. 57.

Beaufort's Memoir, p. 87.

country, which between Limerick and Adair is exceedingly bare of trees, and uninteresting. Between that city and Askeaton I passed over some tracts of land, abounding with limestone, which lies in strata near the surface.

From Adair to Askeaton, the country is of a rocky nature. Of the castle at the latter, which belonged to the Desmond family, only one side-wall remains. It was built on an island formed by the Deal River, which appeared to me to be fordable. The hall, called the Desmond Hall, stands upon arches which are still entire, and is now a ball alley. At the distance of a few hundred yards on the other side of the river, are the ruins of the abbey. The cloisters almost entire, are exceedingly beautiful, being built of sculptured marble, and would have been perfect, had not two of the pillars been secretly carried away in the year 1784, by some superstitious person, as is supposed, who perhaps considered them as sacred relics. At the north-east end of the abbey is a vaulted burying place, which I conceived to be a repository for the earthly remains of some persons of distinction, but I found on inquiry that it contained the ashes of a family of humble shopkeepers.

In this neighbourhood there are some beautiful seats belonging to gentlemen of fortune, independently of those villas which must always be attached to a city like Limerick. Among the latter, there are a few large edifices built of brick or stone, but I saw none of those neat white-washed houses which enliven the scenery on the banks of Belfast Lough. Adair is celebrated for its ruins, which have been often described.

Passing O'Brien's Bridge over the Shannon, which from Killaloe becomes contracted to the breadth of a common river, I travelled across a bog to Castle Connel, a most beautiful village, so called from an old castle built there on a rock. It is celebrated for its medicinal water, and in the summer months is much frequented by people from every part of the country. The Shannon, now widened to a considerable extent, rolls over a rocky bed, the opposite sides being planted, and the foreground occupied by a bleach-green. The village consists chiefly of lodging houses, the whole of which almost are white-washed, and to the north-east of the back the Keeper Mountains rising to view, terminate the prospect.

scenery,

Proceeding on my tour, I stopped at Lord Massey's, whose domain, or at least that part of it near the Shannon, seems most delightful. On the opposite side the river makes a bend, and winding round a rocky promontory, with a continued shallow stream, enters a bed of rock, in which it proceeds till it disappears among the distant hills. On the west, the view is highly picturesque, and in the east, is seen the village of Castle Connel with its white houses, while the remote mountains fading on the sight, produce a most pleasing effect. But in the upper part of the domain the prospect is exceedingly different; for when the spectator has got so high as to be

elevated above the tops of the trees, the beauty of the scenery seems lost amidst the immense extent of the naked and bare hills.

TIPPERARY.

This large county contains 1591 English square miles; and presents extensive tracts of uncultivated mountains, but it has also abundance of fertile plains, with a calcareous substratum, which form as rich land as is to be met with in any part of the empire. The Suir, which washes the bottom of the Waterford mountains, exhibits beautiful and romantic scenery, and before it leaves Tipperary, assumes the appearance of a magnificent river. There are here a number of fine seats, among which that of the Earl of Landaff, at Thomas Town, is remarkable for the extent of its domain, which comprehends 2200 acres, the greater part planted, and the whole surrounded by a wall.

Mr. Bagwell's mansion at Marefield, which I visited on the 6th of December, 1808, consists of an excellent house on the banks of the Suir, surrounded by extensive grounds, and commanding in front a view of the Waterford mountains, with the Galtees rising at a distance towards the west.

The seat of Lord Donoughmore, at Knocklofty, is a residence with a beautiful and extensive domain attached to it, but the house stands in a hollow, and is so sunk beneath the eye, that it can scarcely be seen from any part of the grounds, which on that account have a solitary appearance, and seem as if belonging to some other place.

Near Knocklofty stands Kilmanahan Castle, belonging to Major Green. The house has been lately built on the site of the old castle, in the ancient style of architecture, which gives it a more venerable appearance, and makes the spectator imagine he is conveyed back to scenes of former times. It rises from the top of a rock at a bending of the Suir, and though in the county of Waterford, that river forming the boundary between the two counties, is so elevated, that it commands an extensive view far beyond Knocklofty and the adjacent districts. Grandeur united with convenience, renders this one of the most complete residences I have ever seen.

The Suir, like the Blackwater, runs with great rapidity, and from Kilmanahan Castle the spectator sees it rolling its waters as it were at his feet, between woody banks; the plantations and grounds of Knock lofty forming the immediate foreground, and the Galtee Mountains the distant prospect towards the west and the north.

On the 25th of March, 1809, I proceeded along the banks of the Suir, which seem to consist of excellent land, and passing the ruins of a very large building called Somerstown, with the Galtee Mountains in front, arrived at Cahir; where I saw the remains of an old castle, but of inconsiderable size. The town stands on both sides VOL. I.

L

of the river, surrounded by the extensive domain of Lord Cahir, who here has a seat, which like that of Lord Lismore, bears evident marks of the good effects that may be produced by the patriotic exertions of an ardent mind, directed to laudable pursuits, and anxious for improvement. Both these noblemen have contributed, by their extensive plantations, to increase the beauty of this country, which naturally abounds with wild and romantic scenery.

From this place I went to Clogheen, proceeding through a valley which extends from the Galtees, on the north, to the Knockmeledown Mountains on the south. The land of this vale did not appear to me to be equal in quality to that in the rest of Tipperary; and I observed, that the fields in the whole country were divided either by grassy banks or low stone walls. The Knockmeledown Mountains are exceedingly barren they are covered with heath, which in the spring season is extremely black, and as their great height intercepted the rays of the sun which lay hid behind them, their north side being towards me, every thing assumed a dusky appearance, which threw a gloom over the whole visible face of nature. Clogheen is situated upon a stream close to the bottom of these mountains, and the road to the town forms a gradual descent of nearly two miles, with a lofty black mountain in front.

The Shannon at Lough Derg, flowing towards the county of Limerick, exhibits a variety of views of much grandeur and beauty. In this country there is a large valley called the Golden Vale, which contains land exceedingly rich and fertile.

On the 12th of October, 1808, I paid a visit to Ballyvalley, on the banks of Lough Derg, near Killaloe. The domain at Castlelough, belonging to Mr. Parker, contains abundance of extensive and charming views. The grounds are finely planted, but the house stands in a most miserable situation, sunk in a hollow, with a large walnut-tree in front, which is the only object seen from it.

Another house called Castletown, formerly the residence of the heir apparent, but which had not been inhabited for twenty years, and which when I saw it was pulling down, had a far better situation, as it stood on the immediate bank of the Shannon, surrounded by trees, and commanded most magnificent views of that noble river in every direction. Nearly opposite was the Bay of Sheriff at Lough Derg, with a wooded peninsula, and an island of twenty acres called Holy Island, on which are a round tower and the ruins of several old churches..

Near Mitchelstown there are some caverns of considerable extent in limestone rock, but I never had an opportunity of seeing them.*

* Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia, p. 19, gives an account of caverns, also in limestone, and I believe caverns are frequently found in calcareous rocks.