Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/604

Rh LIMERICK. 59G LIMERICK. miles, of wjiich 35 arc washed by the Shannon, having here from 2 to 20 fathoms water, and on whose bank is situated the county town of Limerick, with Tervoo coastguard station and Tarbert lighthouse. The sur- face is ono vast undulating plain rising into mountains in tho S.E., W., and N.E. Oa the S.E. the plain country is bounded by the Galtees, rising precipitously to a considerable height, and forming tho boundary of Limerick towards Tipperary, into which county they extend for a far distance. In the W. an unbroken range of mountains stretches in a curve from Loughill to Drumcollogher, and on the N.E. tho skirts of the Slieve Phelim mountains occupy part of the barony of Owney- beg. Near the centre of the county are the Ballingarry hills ono of which, the Knockferine, is very conspi- cuous, rising in a conical form abruptly from a fertile plain. Between Shanagolden and the Shannon is a conspicuous hill called Knockpatrick, and in tho neigh- bourhood of Pallasgrean are several very beautiful alevations. The county is watered by several rivers, all tributaries of the Shannon. This river, after passing the pool of Limerick, which is GO miles from the Atlantic Ocean, expands into a wide csluary, and after a course of about 17 miles mingles its waters with those of the Fergus, forming an arm of the sea several miles wide. Its tributaries are the Maigue, navigable to the village of Adare ; the Deel, navigable to Askeaton ; the Mulcairn, the Commogue, and the Daun, or Morning Star. The county is touched on the S.W. boundary by the Feale, and on the S.E. by the Funcheon. The only canal is that cut in 1759 above Limerick, to facilitate the navigation of the Shannon. The geological forma- tion of the county comprises three great divisions, carbo- niferous, or mountain limestone, with coal, sandstone, and trap, or basalt. The first comprises the greater portion of the champaign country, including the vales of the rivers that are tributary to the Shannon, the dip being almost uniformly from E. to W. The coal lies chieily on the western boundary of the limestone district, alter- nating with ironstone ; but neither of these minerals are worked to any extent. There are also some thin seams of coal in the glen between Castlereagh, Galbally, and the town of Tipperary. The second formation includes the Old Red sandstone range of hills running E. and W. from the Deel to the Maigue, and the New Red sandstone range from Charleville to Glenbrohane, forming the boundary between Cork and Limerick, and merging into the Galtees. The third or basalt formation chiefly S'cvails in the neighbourhood of Lough Gur and the ead river, sometimes, as at Linfield, rising to a height of near 200 feet, and presenting a perpendicular colon- nade of massive pillars 109 feet long, of pentagonal or hexagonal form ; but in general the basalt of this region is amorphous, as in the hills of Ballygooly, Knockruadh, Cahirnarry, and tho hill of Newcastle. A little to the S.E. of this district rises Knockgreine, or " the Hill of the Sun," 500 feet high, with a base of limestone and a summit of basalt. Oxide of iron and iron clay are found in large quantities at the foot of the hills, and ironstone in the coal measures. Traces of lead are met with in the carboniferous limestone, and sometimes in large quantities, as near Toryhill ; also pure copper ore near Abington, and various other minerals, as slate, flagstones, freestone, and an inferior kind of pipeclay in other parts of the county ; but no adequate attempts have as yet been made to render available these mineral treasures. The soil of Limerick is peculiarly fertile, comprising about 100,000 acres of the richest land in all Ireland, named by reason of its extraordinary abun- dance the Golden Vale, which extends from the borders of Tipperary westward through the centre of the county, a distance of 32 miles, and in breadth from Drehidtarsna, by the city of Limerick, to Abington, a distance of 18 miles. The morasses or low meadow lands which ex- tend from the Maigue along the Shannon to Limerick, though not included in the Golden Vale, can scarcely be surpassed iu the abundance and richness of their herbage. In several of the lower lands are small detached por- tions o bog, which supply the greater part of the inha- bitants with fuel, and are in consequence extremelj valuable, letting sometimes for as much as 1 per rood ; when reclaimed, these bog lands are peculiarly adapted to the culture of hemp. Some of the hilly districts not entirely mountainous are also well adapted both for pasture and tillage, though not so luxuriant as the plains. The soil of the lowlands is in general a deep yellow loam resting on limestone, or stiff clay, except in the morasses, which are formed of a black vegetable mould occasionally mixed with sand and gravel resting on a stratum of yellow and bine clay. The hills are more or less fertile, according to the prevailing character of the underlying rock. In the earliest times this country appears to have been inhabited by the Coriondi mentioned by Ptolemy, and subsequently formed part of the native kingdom or principality of Thomond. In the 9th century it was overrun by the Danes, or Ostmen, who retained the city of Limerick and the island of Iniscattery, in the Shannon, till the llth century, when they submitted to the O'Briens, princes of Thomond, who then removed the seat of government to Limerick. At the time of the English invasion the chief families were tho O'Briens, O'Ryans, or O'Regans, O'Donovans, O'Gormans, O'Scanlans, O'Kinealys, O'Thyans, Mac- Sheehys, MacEneirys, and some others. The disposal of this territory was granted by Henry II. to Herebert Fitz-IIerebert, and subsequently to Philip de Braosa, with the exception of the city and castle of the Ostmen, which was committed to William de Burgo, ancestor of the De Burghs, by Richard I. Braosa's grants having been forfeited, various Anglo-Norman settlements were effected under Theobald Fitz-Waltcr, ancestor of the Butler family, Hamo de Valois, William Fitz-Aldhelm, Thomas Fitzgerald, the Graces, and others, who united with the O'Briens of Thomond in reducing the native clans, and procured their territory to be formed into a county by King John in 1210. The native Irish of Thomond still retained their ancient customs, and were frequently at war with the English settlers. In 1367 they took prisoner the Lord Justice Gerald Fitz-Gerald, at Manister-Nenagh, and during the Wars of the Roses overran the whole country. In tho reign of Elizabeth the Earl of Desmond revolted against the English authority, and possessed himself of Askeaton, Kilmallock, I Newcastle, and Rathkeale, then the four chief places in the county ; but on his death his estates were confiscated and bestowed on new proprietors an event which con- siderably increased the number of English settlers, aa did also the wars of 1641 and 1688. Towards the com- mencement of the 18th century Lord Southwell brought I over a number of German Protestants, or Palatines, whom he settled in the country around Adare and liath- kcale, who by their industry and skill have greatly conduced to the advancement of agriculture and the wealth of the country, but were originally looked upon with great jealousy by the native population. In tho year 1762 a most alarming spirit of insurrection showed itself in this part of the country ; the peasantry assembled in great numbers, chiefly by night, dug up cornfields, houghed or killed the cattle of tho gentry, and mur- dered many who were obnoxious to them from their harsh mode of collecting the tithes and taxes. From theii practice of wearing shirts over their clothes to distinguish each other at night they were called White- boys, and kept the country in a continual state of agita- tion for near sixty years, till the great rebellion of 182(1, when they burnt the churches of Athlacca, Ballybrook, and Kilkeedy, besides numerous gentlemen's houses, committing their devastations often in the open ' Several wealthy and influential persons were murdered, amongst whom was a Roman Catholic clergyman, who rashly attempted to exhort them to submission to tho laws ; and it was only under the application of the Insurrection Act, and the most vigorous exertions of the magistracy, that the spirit of violence was ;:t length suppressed. Through the uncertainty of life and pro- perty prevailing in this part of the country, a great check was given to enterprise, which it has not yet entirely recovered. Tho occupations are chiefly agri-