The Church Monuments are by no means so numerous or so ancient as to afford the antiquary, the genealogist, or the heraldic tourist, that amusement and instruction so frequent in the ecclesiastical edifices of England. Few antique monuments remain, and the authenticity of the so much boasted one of Strongbow, in Christ-church in the metropolis, is very doubtful. Sir R. C. Hoare has stated, p. 13, 14, in a note, the evidence for and against it. There we have the authority of an inscription of the restored monument, by Sir H. Sydney in 1570; to which Sir Richard adds a positive assertion of his being buried there, from Giraldus, but setting against it the "Hic jacet" of a tomb in Gloucester cathedral, recorded by Leland. Sir Richard, himself, doubts the fact of Strongbow having been buried in Dublin, as we do also, but not precisely for the same reason. Sir Richard's doubt springs from the circumstance of the knight on the Christ-church monument bearing a shield argent, on a chief azure three cross crosslets fitchée; whilst the family coat of the De Clares, Earls of Pembroke, were Or, 3 chevrons gules. But the fact is, that at the time in question there was a great license in the assumption of coat armour, then just beginning to be hereditary; and indeed there are frequent instances at that period of individuals adopting new coats for particular purposes. The present case is an instance of it; for the coat with the crosses was actually assumed by Gilbert, father of Strongbow, on his return from the Holy Land.
The remaining objects of antiquarian research are the
CASTLES,
which are of various dates. Some of these may be as old as the 11th or 12th century, perhaps older, as it is said that the Scandinavian chiefs introduced stone into their fortified places, and there are several Norwegian round Castles still extant. Ledwich divides them into several eras; first, old Danish forts surrounded with earthen works, to which was afterwards added a keep of stone and lime, and sometimes a circular wall; then piles of building encompassed by a rampart, afterwards called a Bawn, and imitated by later colonists; then houses with battlements and turrets, flankers, &c. Of all these there is a great variety, as well as number; and the author quoted is of opinion, that all the castles constructed by British settlers were by British architects.
The most remarkable of these will be found described in the following sheets.
If the MINERALOGIST does not find so great a variety of substances to repay his research as he may do in most parts of the sister-island of Great Britain, yet the geologist will discover many leading features upon a large scale that deserve his attention. Hitherto the little notice that has been taken on these two subjects, of the soil of Ireland, both superficial and fossil, has been in regard to agricultural purposes; but from casual discoveries hitherto made, there seems reason to hope that an accurate mineralogical research will be both interesting to science and beneficial in political and domestic economics. So far as general examination has yet gone, and in order to offer some leading hints to the scientific inquirer, it may be observed, that sandy soils, such as are frequent in England, are seldom seen except in maritime situations; but there are many inland beds of a red substance, too soft to be called stone, yet too compact to be called sand, though perfectly reducible to that state by the action of the sun or artificial heat. This however generally, if not always, lies below a thin stratum of soil more congenial to vegetation. Of argillaceous earths, clay is not uncommon, but seldom at the surface, and never so tenacious as in the eastern parts of England. Pipe-clay is also met with; and an indifferent kind of fuller's-earth. Calcareous matter is very frequent, as limestone; but chalk is unknown. Silex is found in limestone quarries; but the flints are generally in nodules. Loam is frequent, and now much attended to as a manure or top dressing. Marble and granite, also specimens of porphyry, exist in many districts; and the marble quarries in Kilkenny and Carlow in particular, will not fail to arrest the attention of the geologist, in consequence of the great deposition of sea-shells and marine exuviæ contained in them. Freestone is also often met with; presenting, when cut in particular directions, the semblance of fir-deal in the position of its strata. There is a geological observation made by the Rev. Mr. Townsend in his Survey of Cork, which deserves the investigation of the geological tourist, and may serve to lead him to valuable facts in the course of his research. That intelligent writer remarks, that in many of the southern districts, the limits of limestone tracts are generally marked by the course of a river; and this he illustrates by the fact that the Blackwater river, in its course from Fermoy to Mill-street, runs at the south side of the limestone; whilst, for the far greater part of the way between Castlemore and Cork, a distance of about eleven miles, the course of the limestone is distinctly marked, first by the river Bride, and after its junction with the Lee, by the latter river. During this space, he states that the limestone invariably adheres to one side of the channel, which it follows in all its windings, without ever crossing it. At Kinmare the same circumstances may be observed; and also in the county of Waterford, where, however, the Blackwater runs to the north of its limestone tract. The bogs are also worthy both of mineralogical and geological notice; not only on account of the immense number of fossil oak and yew-trees which they contain; but also from the fact that many of them which extend for miles in length, consist, even to a depth of many feet, of a congeries of branches and twigs of trees, which seem to have required even a succession of forests for ages to have supplied them. Of these, perhaps, there can be little doubt that a great portion are actually antediluvian.
Before entering on this part of the investigation, the scientific tourist will do well to read Mr. Aiton's pamphlet on Moss Earth, where he will meet with many interesting hints for research. Even the antiquary will not pass these immense tracts unnoticed, since much light has been thrown upon the earlier periods of Irish history by the discovery of curious antiques at considerable depths, by the peat cutters. Some iron heads of arms, wooden bowls, three sacks full of nuts, and a coat of ancient texture and construction, were in 1737 dug from under a moss fifteen feet deep; all of which were in a high state of perfection. Indeed Mr. Aiton observes, that the singular antiseptic qualities of moss extend to every thing buried under its surface. Wood, when exposed to the atmosphere, or buried under any other earth, will be totally decomposed or annihilated in a few years; but if it is enveloped in moss before putrefaction has made much progress upon it, it will remain but little impaired for many centuries. The underside of moss timber is generally found entire; and Mr. Aiton is of opinion, that the progress which corruption has made on the upper side of many specimens, must have taken place before the moss, in its progress of growth, rose above the trees. Facts of this kind may very properly lead to observations of the means of preventing the dry rot in timber; and the chemical tourist may devote an hour most usefully to the analysis of those substances which are found in the immediate vicinity of those fossil trees in the highest state of preservation.
Basaltes is another substance which deserves the notice of the tourist; for, though not peculiar to Ireland, it is perhaps more interesting here than in any other country, nature presenting it under the most awful forms; sometimes piled up in immense structures of stupendous height and extent, where its columns are arranged in various directions, as if deposited in regular series by the hand of men. It is principally however in the N.E. district that it is so found, extending from Carrickfergus-bay to Lough-Foyle, on the sea coast, and inland even to the southern shores of Lough-Neagh.
[Granite] forms the great bed of Ireland, and is seen bursting out in all the great ranges of mountains; not only in the central parts of the kingdom, but also in the basaltic district.
Ochres, both red and yellow, are found in considerable quantities in many places. Fuller's-earth has already been mentioned: there are also several other saponaceous earths, particularly near the Old-Head of Kinsale in the county of Cork.
Slates are found in most parts of Ireland; and flag-stones are worked in great quantities in many districts.
The tourist whose time does not admit of much mineralogical research, may yet be amply gratified on that subject whilst in Dublin, by examining the collection at the Society's house.
Before starting on an Irish tour, the traveller will naturally be anxious to know what kind of weather he may expect. To this we shall answer shortly in the words of Mr. Aldworth of Cork, in a communication to Mr. Wakefield, wherein he observes that, as an old agriculturist, he is inclined to think that less rain falls in the interior of Ireland than in any of the other British Isles, and yet perhaps there are more wet days there than in the latter; a circumstance which certainly interferes with travelling in an open carriage. As the showers however, though frequent, are not, generally speaking, of very long duration, this inconvenience may be easily guarded against. To this we may add, that the winds which most usually prevail in Ireland blow from the west: they are mild in their temperature, and moist in their nature; but far from being insalubrious. It has also been well observed by the Rev. Horace Townshend, after a long residence, that along the sea coast the winter is disarmed of its severity by the softness of the southern wind, which mitigates the rigour of the frost, and seldom suffers the heaviest snow to remain many hours undissolved, except on the north sides of the high hills. This observation, however, applies principally to the southern coast; where also the sea breeze tempers the summer's warmth by its refreshing breath; so that the greatest degree of heat, as well as cold, is found in the northern districts of the island. The whole island is remarkably bare of trees, and exhibits a naked appearance; which is more striking to a traveller whose eye has been familiarized to the woody counties of England. Yet the varied aspect arising from the frequency of sea views, combined with the rude but grand scenery of the mountains, and the different tints they assume according to their distance, produces a number of beautiful and diversified prospects.
The Entomologist will also be certain of finding numerous sources of amusement. Mr. Hall, in his Tour, vol. 2. p. 268, asserts that with a tolerable glass, one sees animals grazing, like cattle in a meadow, on the leaves of every vegetable, and these also much larger than in Great Britain.
Some tourists have been deterred from penetrating into the wildest parts of the island, by prejudices founded on misrepresentation and ignorance; but little cause for alarm exists if the tourist chooses to conduct himself with a little civility to the poor ignorant peasantry whom he shall meet, even in the loneliest places. On this subject, Mr. Wakefield records the fact, that when in the county of Mayo, he was advised not to cross a particular district in his way to Roscommon; he, however, experienced no inconvenience, except from the hardness of the roads and his ignorance of the Irish language, there universally spoken. With respect to the conveniences of travelling, we must not lead the tourist astray by inducing him to believe that, except upon the great frequented roads, he will meet with any thing like the accommodations so general in England. But if he can patiently bear with minor difficulties, he may pursue his route over great part of the island by mail and stage-coaches, and in general by post-chaises, if not provided with his own horses or carriages. The Inns, indeed, will often disappoint him, both in accommodation and cleanliness; yet he may always be certain of clean sheets, and his culinary comforts are clean, if he can content himself with plain dishes. Travelling however is so unfrequent, that in many places, when a visitor does arrive at an inn, he appears to be considered as an inexhaustible gold mine, not only by the landlord, but also by the numerous host of retainers, many of whom he never sees until going away. Before we take leave of the tourist, it may be proper to offer him a few hints from Sir R. C. Hoare's Work, which will be extremely useful to him.
If he chooses to go to the expense of his own carriage and horses, he will certainly ensure to himself much independence; especially if he takes care to select a judicious route. For a party also, this would perhaps be as cheap a mode as can well be adopted. But if he is a single traveller, or with one companion, and not averse to pedestrianism, then he may find a general facility by taking the direct and cross coaches from station to station, hiring horses for long excursions, and walking those of a shorter range. Before leaving Dublin, Belfast, or Waterford, the three points from whence an English tourist is likely to start, let him make a fair calculation of time and distance, allow a certain sum per mile and a certain sum per day, and then supply his purse with the paper and coined currency most likely to answer in the district he intends to visit. This he will not find difficult at the places mentioned, or indeed at any of the larger towns; but let him be on his guard against bad money and forged notes; and also, if he has any Irish currency left at the end of his tour, let him change it for English when setting off to return.
It now only remains to add, that every writer, both ancient and modern, on the subject of Ireland, has been consulted; aided by the communications of friends and a general personal knowledge of the Topography of Ireland on the part of the Editor.
The tourist will observe that the distances are given in Irish miles, of which, eleven are equal to fourteen English. The distances of the county towns from the capital are taken on the authority of the latest surveys; whilst the distances in the vicinage of the several stations are from common computation or from the best maps, and may be depended on for every useful purpose to the inquisitive traveller, bearing in mind that bogs and mountains often render roads circuitous, in which cases local inquiry, and also for the best roads, will often be beneficial, and sometimes necessary. Reference to many of the authorities will be found in the work itself; but it may be added that the county surveys have been carefully examined and compared with earlier descriptions, independent of the general notices from Hoare, Hall, Plumptre, Curwen, Drummond, Weld, and all the recent topographical works, together with several recent anonymous tours, whose proved accuracy, in many points, renders them worthy of notice in all.
TOPOGRAPHICAL DIVISION OF IRELAND,
With the Baronies, Parishes, and Contents in Irish Acres.