Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/363

 IRELAND 349 In 1821, when the first complete census was taken, the population amounted to 6,801,827; in 1831, to 7,767,401 ; in 1841, to 8,199,853 ; in 1851, to 6,514,473. The great decrease from 1841 to 1851, amounting to about 1,600,- 000, was due to the intervening famine and the increasing emigration. Tlje number of inhab- ited houses was 995,156 in 1861, 960,352 in 1871. The coast line is about 750 m. long. From Malin head in the extreme north to Cape Clear in the south, it is comparatively but little broken, and is low and flat, except in the north- east, where the shore is rugged and precipitous ; and navigation in the east is much obstructed by sunken rocks, bars, and sand banks. Be- tween the two points named the chief open- ings in the coast are the loughs of Foyle, Bel- fast, Strangf ord, and Carlingf ord ; the bays of Dundrum, Dundalk, and Drogheda; that of Dublin with the artificial harbor of Kingstown, those of Wexford, Waterford, Dungarvan, and Youghal : the magnificent harbor of Cork, in- cluding Qneenstown; and Kinsale, Courtmac- sherry, Clonakilty, Kosscarbery, Baltimore, and Skibbereen harbors. On the southwest, west, and north the coast presents the aspect of the southern and western coasts of Norway, being broken into narrow strips and ragged fragments by firths and arms of the sea. These form numerous bays and harbors, among which are: on the southwest and west, the bays of Dunmanus, Bantry, Kenmare, and Ballinskel- ligs, Valentia harbor, the bays of Dingle and Tralee, the estuary of the Shannon, navigable for large vessels to Limerick, Liscanor and Galway bays and the Killaries, Clew bay with the harbors of Westport and Newport, Black- sod bay, and Broad Haven ; further north, Kil- lala, Sligo, and Donegal bays, with Sheep Ha- ven and Lough Swilly. The shores on this side of the island are composed of lofty cliffs ; on the coast of Donegal they form in some places a perpendicular wall of 760 ft. On the northern coast are the celebrated colonnades of the Giant's Causeway, near Coleraine, and of the promontories of Bengore and Fairhead, where the basalt rests on chalk-white lime- stone, beneath which appear the greensands of the lias. Scattered along the coast are 196 islands, the principal of which are : on the E. coast, Lambay; on the S. E., the Saltees and Tuscar rock; on the 8., Clear island; on the W., the Skelligs, Valentia, the Blaskets, the South Arran isles, Inishbofin, Inishturk, Clare in Clew bay, the Achill islands, and the Inish- kea islets ; and on the N., the North Arran isles, the Tory isles, and Rathlin. The total number of harbors is 90, of which 14 receive ships of any draught, 17 admit frigates, upward of 30 are deep enough for coasting vessels, and 25 for good summer roadsteads. There are also numerous inlets which afford a shelter to the largest fishing craft. There are 62 lighthouses, of which 26 are first-class lights. The surface is divided into a central basin and mountain masses fringing the coast, with two great open- ings on the east and west. Between these openings the central plain extends from Dublin to Galway and Clew bay, reaching northward as far as Lough Neagh and southward to the borders of Waterford and Cork. It is diversi- fied by rich and rolling uplands rising to 200 and 320 ft. above the sea, and by fiat tracts of sterile bog lying like huge black patches amid the universal green. The high hills and moun- tains are covered to their summits with heather. As compared with England, the country has but few trees and patches of forest, although in former times it bore the name of Island of Woods. Strictly speaking, there are no moun- tain ranges, if we except the Slieve Bloom and Devil's Bit mountains, which stretch in an irreg- ular curve of about 30 m. through N. E. Mun- ster and W. Leinster. Elsewhere the mountains form isolated masses near the coast, subsiding rapidly as they recede from it. The principal groups are: in the northwest, the Donegal mounts, highest point Errigal, about 2,500 ft. ; in the northeast, those of Down, highest point Slieve Donard, 2,800 ft. ; in the west, Trusk- more in Sligo (2,100 ft.), Nephin and Muilrea in Mayo (about 2,700 ft.), and Twelve Pins in Galway (2,400 ft.). Kerry boasts the loftiest peaks in Ireland: Brandon, 3,120 ft., and Cam Tual, 3,414 ft. Of the Waterford mountains, Mona Vullagh is 2,600 ft. ; of the Wicklow, Lugnaquilla is 3,000 ft. ; of the Dublin, Kippure is 2,470 ft. In Antrim the hills form an ele- vated plateau intervening bet ween Lough Neagh and the North channel; Mt. Divis near Bel- fast is 1,560 ft., and Trostan further north 1,800 ft. The great interior basin is chiefly covered with mountain limestone, through which pro- trude the Slieve Bloom and Slieve Baughta mountains, both consisting of clay slates be- tween red and yellow sandstone. This clay- slate formation is the second in extension. It flanks the limestone plain to the east, abutting on the Wicklow granite mountains, extending thence westward into Kildare and eastward through Wicklow and Wexford to the sea, and from the western side of th'e Wicklow moun- tains reaching in a series of elevations south- ward and westward through Kilkenny and Tipperary to Limerick, Cork, and Kerry. They compose the mountain masses of Slievenamon, Knockmeledown, and Galtee, together with those which cover Kerry, terminating at Bran- don head. Clay slates appear on the S. W. border of the Antrim trap bed, covering Down, Armagh, Monaghan, and Louth, with parts of Cavan, Meath, Longford, and Roscommon. Through this clay-slate tract in the north pro- trude the granite ridges of Mourne and Slieve Gullion. The granitic rocks form the Wicklow and Mt. Leinster groups, and appear to the north of Galway bay mixed with greenstone and quartz, Muilrea being the culminating point. From Muilrea northward to Killala lie a series of primitive rocks, principally mica slate and protruded quartz, forming the barrier between the ocean and the great central plain. This