Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/65

Rh 

1em

1em

1em 1em 1em

1em 1em  GALWAY, a maritime county in the province of Connaught, in the extreme west of Ireland, between 52° 54’ and 53° 43' N. lat., and 7° 57' and 10° 20' \V. long. It is bounded on the N. by Mayo and Roscommon; E. by Roscommon, King’s County, and Tipperary; S. by Clare and the Bay of Galway; and W. by the Atlantic Ocean. The area comprises 2447 square miles, or 1,566,354 acres, of which 90,230 are under water.

Surface.—The county is naturally divided by Lough Corrib into two great divisions. The eastern, which com- prchends all the county except the four western baronies, rests on a limestone base, and is, generally speaking, a level champaign country, but contains large quantities of wet bog. Its southern portion is partly a continuation of the Golden Vale of Limerick, so celebrated for its fertility, and partly occupied by the Slievebaughty Mountains. The northern portion of the division contains rich pasture and tillage ground, beautifully diversiﬁed with hill and dale. Some of the intermediate country is comparatively uncultivated, but forms excellent pasturage for sheep. The western division of the :county has a substratum of granite, and is barren, rugged, and mountainous. It is divided into the three districts of Connemara, Jar-Connaught, and J oyce's Country ; the name of Connemara is, however, often applied to the whole district. Its highest mountains are the grand and picturesque group of Binabola, or the Twelve Pins, which occupy a space of about 25 square miles, the highest elevation being about 2400 feet. Much of this district is a gently sloping plain, from 100 to 300 feet above sea-level. J oyce’s Country, further north, is an elevated tract, with flat-topped hills of from 1300 to 2000 feet high, and deep narrow valleys lying between them.

1em

1em

1em

