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 IRELAND 353 from Dublin and Belfast are among the Irish exports to the United States, and tobacco, wheat, and corn among American imports into Ireland. In 1871 there were 17 lines of rail- way open in Ireland, of which the following were the most important : Belfast and North- ern Counties ; Dublin and Belfast junction ; Dublin and Drogheda; Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford ; Great Southern and Western ; Irish Northwestern; Midland Great Western; Uls- ter ; Waterford and Limerick. The aggregate capital of the main lines (excluding that of lines leased or worked) is 27,028,580. In 1871 the number of miles open was 1,988 (in 1872, 2,091); of passengers carried, 15,547,934; gross receipts, 2,272,386; net receipts, 1,090,795. The lines of inland navigation are as follows : Grand canal with its branches, 165| m. ; Royal canal with its branches, 96J ; Shannon naviga- tion, river and canal, and two branches, 158; Lagan navigation, river and canal, 26J; Newry navigation, do., 35 ; Tyrone navigation, do., 4 ; lower Boyne navigation, do., 19 ; Barrow navi- gation, do., 42 J ; Ulster canal, 24 ; Suir navi- gation, 16. Large amounts have been ad- vanced by the government (according to sta- tistics of 1872, 11,832,224) for the improve- ment of land by means of arterial and thorough drainage, post roads, farm buildings, &c. The encumbered estates court, established in 1849, has brought into market smaller holdings and estates overburdened by debt, and has proved of very great advantage to the prosperity of the country. The total amount expended in the purchase of property under control of the court from 1849 to 1858, when it was replaced by the landed estates court, was 22,000,000, of which 3,000,000 was invested by English and Scotch purchasers. The number of es- tates sold was 2,380, divided into more than 11,000 lots, and 8,235 conveyances have been executed by the commissioners. The total number of letters delivered in 1871 was 71,- 166,000, giving an average of 13 letters for each person. The number of newspapers pub- lished in 1873 was 154. Savings banks were introduced in 1810 ; in 1845 the amount de- posited reached nearly 3,000,000, but owing to the famine it fell below 1,500,000 in 1849 ; a gradual increase has since taken place, bring- ing the deposits up again to 2,220,000 in 1871. Of loan societies there were 81, which advanced 115,095 loans, the amount circulated during the year being 542,295. The bank- note circulation in 1871 was about 7,500,000. There are 8 banks, all issuing their own notes ex- cepting the Hibernian joint stock company and the Royal bank of Dublin. The most important is the bank of Ireland, which acts as banker to the government, and which is bound to make weekly returns similar to those of the bank of England. It has 42 branches; its capital is 3,000,000, its reserve fund about 1,000,000, and at the end of 1872 it circulated notes to the amount of about 3,392,000. The next most important establishments are the Pro- vincial bank of Ireland, with a capital of 2,040,000 and 44 branches, and the National bank, with a capital of 2,500,000 and 73 branches. The public institutions for religious, benevolent, and educational purposes are nu- merous. The Episcopal or Anglican was for- merly the established church of Ireland, but by act of parliament it was disestablished on Jan. 1, 1871. (See IRELAND, CHURCH OF.) The dignitaries of the Roman Catholic church of Ireland are the four archbishops of Armagh, Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam, and 24 bishops. The number of priests in 1873 was upward of 3,200, nominated by the bishops, and supported altogether by voluntary contributions. The " Presbyterian church in Ireland " in 1872 had 627 ministers and 553 congregations. There are eight other small Presbyterian and three Methodist organizations, with a small number of Congregationalists, Baptists, Moravians, and others. According to the census of 1871, there were 4,141,933 Roman Catholics, 683,295 per- sons reporting themselves as belonging to " the church of Ireland " or as Protestant Episco- palians, 503,461 Presbyterians, 41,815 Metho- dists, 4,485 Independents, 4,643 Baptists, 3,834 Friends, 19,035 of other denominations, and 258 Jews. The chief educational institution is the university of Trinity college, Dublin, founded in 1591, with an average attendance of nearly 1,200 students. Among the other principal seats of learning are the queen's colleges of Belfast (351 students in 187l-'2), Cork (253 students), and Galway (141 stu- dents), established by acts passed in 1845 and 1850. Maynooth college and All-Hallows col- lege, Drumcondra, are the chief institutions for the education of Roman Catholics for the priesthood. The establishment of a Roman Catholic university was agreed upon by a syn- odical meeting in 1854, and the schools were opened in the same year. On July 20, 1862, the corner stone of a new university building was laid at Drumcondra. The Roman Catho- lics have also colleges affiliated with the Catho- lic university at Clonliffe, Tuam, Cloyne, Ar- magh, Carlow, Athlone, Tullamore, Thurles, Castleknock, Kilkenny, Fermoy, Longford, and Ellis. The Presbyterians have a theologi- cal college at Belfast, and Magee college (estab- lished in 1865) in Londonderry; the Metho- dists a college at Belfast (established in 1868). The college of St. Columba, at Rathfarnham, is an Episcopalian institution. The Alexandra college in Dublin was founded in 1866 for the higher education of females. The royal college of science for Ireland was established under the authority of the science and art depart- ment, London, in August, 1867, in place of the museum of Irish industry, which then ceased to exist. The church education society, insti- tuted in 1839 for the education of its pupils in the principles of the church of England, had 52,166 pupils in 1870, of whom 3,757 were Catholics. Since 1837 the grants of public money for the education of the people have