Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/444

Rh SHANNON. 432 SHAP. lakes, and, passing Koosky through a diversified, and in gome places well-wooded, country, it again becomes sluggish, and is in many parts much impeded by bul- rushes and reeds. About 4 miles below Roosky com- mences the expansion below Lough Forbes, which has an average depth of 8 feet. A small shoal near the centre of the lake, where it is only 350 yards wide, haa been cleared away, and the navigation is now unimpeded. At Termonbarry some other shoals were removed, and a wharf was formed, and a little lower down, at Rich- mond Harbour, near the village of Cloondara, is the terminus of the Royal Canal Company. The river, with an average breadth of 250 yards, passes Laneaborough about 7 miles farther down, where it has been deepened, and enters Lough Rea by an improved channel. Lough Rea is about 10 miles long, receives the waters also of the Inny, and extends to within 2 miles of Athlone. The Shannon on leaving the lough sweeps through the centre of the town, and is here a comparatively clear stream, having deposited all silt in the lough. Passing on, it as- sumes very much the character of a great canal, creeping slowly along, and falling only 4 feet in a distance of 15 miles. About 13 miles below Athlone it is joined by the Suck, a largo river which rises in Roscommon, and after a course of 60 miles, in which it receives the waters of several tributary streams, it is so large, and its current so calm and deep, as almost to rival the Shan- non, of which it is the most important tributary. A considerable improvement has lately been made by which the waters of the Shannon are here confined within its banks, and about 19,000 acres secured from the danger of its flooding. At Shannon Harbour the Brosna enters from King's County, and the Grand Canal enters at the same point. A branch canal has been made to Ballinasloe, and a wooden towing bridge is used for communicating with the Connaught side. Fourteen miles lower down the river enters Lough Derg, the largest expansion in its entire course, being 20 miles in length, and from 1 to 3, and in some parts even 7 miles broad. Between Loughs Rea and Derg the soil affords good pasturage for cattle almost to the river side, but the surface close to the water is generally soft and boggy. The scenery of Lough Derg is diver- sified, and in many parts adorned with small tracts of wood. The lake is 2,140 statute acres in extent, and contains, among other islets, Inishgoosh, Saint's Island, and Station Island, or St. Patrick's Purgatory, on which are the remnants of a priory. The soil on both sides of the lough is of slate formation, which is worked to ad- vantage, but to the N. are rounded limestone hills, principally used as pasture lands. About a mile lower down is Killaloe, now the headquarters of the Inland Steam Navigation Company, from whence largo steamers ply daily up the river as far as Termonbarry, a distance of 85 miles. Below Killaloe there is a fall of 97 feet before Limerick is reached, and this difficulty is over- come by a canal about 2 miles long on the Clare side, and by two regulating weirs. Close to Limerick the river divides, the smaller and more rapid branch being called Abbey river, and forms King's Island, upon which the old town, or Englishtown, stands. The river at Limerick is crossed by five bridges, one of which, the Wellesley bridge, recently erected, cost 20,000. A statue of the son of the Earl of Clare, who fell during the Crimean war, is placed on it. The harbour of Limerick extends about 1,600 yards in length, and 150 in breadth, and is supplied with a patent slip for vessels of 500 tons, and three building slips. A short canal about a mile long.completes the communication with Limerick harbour. The remaining part of the river below Lime- rick is generally known as the Lower Shannon, and par- takes much of the character of an estuary. It is easy of access for vessels, and affords good anchorage above Querrin Creek, which is about 12 miles from Loop Head. The entrance between Kerry and Loop Head is 7 miles wide, and is marked by a lighthouse on Loop Head, with a bright fixed light at an elevation of 270 feet above high water, and Kilkadran Point, about 10 miles farther up, is marked by a fixed red light. At Foynes, on the S. shore, is a natural harbour, so admirably adapted for purposes of commerce that it was proposed as the terminus on this side of a line of ocean steamers to sail between Ireland and America. On the Clare side the river Nagus here empties itself into the Shannon, and is navigable for a distance of 9 miles up the country. The Maigne, rising in the S. of Limerick, adds its waters about 9 miles below the city, having on its banks, near the confluence, Adare Abbey, the seat of the Earl of Dunraven. From this point to Limerick the Shannon is so shallow that at low water vessels take the ground, but shoals and rocks have been carefully removed, and the channel marked with beacons. Near the mouth of the Shannon, and about a mile from Kilrush, lies the island of Scattery, upon which a military fort has been erected. The fragments of several small churches are also to be found, as well as an old round tower 120 feet high, which seems to be of great antiquity. SHANNON-BRIDGE, a post-office vil. in the par. of Clonmacnoise, bar. of Garrycastle, King's County, prov. of Leinster, Ireland, 9 miles W. of Ferbane. It is situ- ated on the river Shannon, at the bridge which connects the cos. of Roscommon and King's County. The bridge has sixteen arches, with a battery and tower at the Ros- common end. There are a Roman Catholic chapel, school, and a police station. SHANNON GROVE, a hmlt. in the bar. of Kenry, co. Limerick, prov. of Munster, Ireland, not far from Pallaskenry. Shaunongrove House is the principal seat. SHANNONHARBOUR, a post-office vil. in the par. of Gallen, bar. of Garrycastle, King's County, prov. of Leinster, Ireland, 2 miles N.N.E. of Banagher, at the confluence of the Grand Canal with the Shannon, and near the embouchure of the river Upper Brosna. There are a police station and a station of the Inland Steam Navigation Company. SHANRAHAN, a. par. in the bar. of "West Iffa and Offa, co. Tipperary, prov. of Munster, Ireland, contain- ing the post town of Clogheen and the village of Burn- court. It lies in a valley between the Galtee and Water- ford mountains, and is crossed by the road from Clon- mel to Cork. The living is a vie. in the dioc. of Lis- more, val. 202, in the patron, of the crown. The church was recently built by means of a loan from the late Board of First Fruits. There is a Roman Catholic chapel. At Burncourt are the ruins of a mansion of the barons of Ikerron, besieged by Cromwell. Quin, the actor, is believed to have been a native of this parish. SHAP, a par. and market town in West ward, co. Westmoreland, 6 miles N.W. of Orton, 10 S.E. of Pen- rith, and 16 N. of Kendal. It has a station on the Lan- caster and Carlisle section of the London and North- Western railway, situated at Brackenber, a little to the S. of the town. The par., including the tnshps. of Hardendale, Keld, Mardale, Rosgill, Shap, Swindale, and Wet Sleddale, is divided for parochial purposes into four districts or constabularies. It is for the moat part uncultivated moorland, but near the village and in the valleys there are some fertile tracts. The subsoil is chiefly clay or gravel, and contains abundance of limestone, blue slate, and red granite capable of taking a fine polish. At Thornship is a blue slate quarry, from which slate pencils are manufactured. About the commencement of the present century much of the waste or common lands were enclosed by Act of parliament, and agriculture has recently made considerable progress. The lake Hawes- water bounds the parish on the W., and the rivers Lowther and Leeth flow through it, the latter taking its rise near the town. Besides the market town of Shap, which is a large straggling village of detached houses, extending about a mile along the road from Penrith to Kendal, there are the ancient village of Keld, situated in the valley of the river Lowther, and the ham- lets of Hardendale, Hegdale, Rayside, and Thornship. Shap is a polling-place for the county elections, and a petty sessions town, but is bleak, owing to its elevated position. About three miles from the town, in the parish of Crosby-Ravensworth, is a mineral spring famed for the cure of scorbutic complaints, and the waters of which