KILDARE

KILDARE, an inland county of Ireland, bounded on the north by Meath, on the east by Dublin and Wicklow, on the south by Carlow, and on the west by King's and Queen's Counties. It is about 41 miles long, and 27 broad, and contains 242,245 Irish or 392,397 English acres; of which four-fifths are arable, meadow, and pasture, and the remainder bog. Kildare forms part of the province of Leinster, its see is in the archbishoprick of Dublin; and the divisions are baronies and half baronies, of which there are fourteen in all, subdivided into 119 parishes. Situation. Estates. Kerry is divided into estates very large, both in extent and value, some of them, according to Mr Wakefield, worth L. 30,000 a-year. Leases are in general for thirty-one years and three lives, and a considerable portion of the whole county is let to partnership tenants. Few of the tenants in the north quarter about Kerry-head occupy so much land as to require them to employ labourers; they pay their rents by the sale of butter and pigs, and by turf which they carry to Limerick. It is the practice for farmers to hire large tracts which they stock with cows, and these cows are then let out to dairymen, upon such terms as leave them but a very small return for their labour. The best corn land is about Tralee, and towards Dingle, where more flax is raised than in any other part of the county. In the neighbourhood of Tralee, land lets as high as 10 guineas the Irish acre. Part of the Bog of Allen and other similar tracts occupy a large portion of the western side of this county. The surface is varied by a number of small hills and gentle declivities, but for the most part it is flat and nearly level, and when viewed from a commanding station, presents a rich, and on the banks of its rivers, a beautiful landscape. The Curragh of Kildare, extending to about 5000 acres, has been long celebrated for the softness of its turf, and the fineness of its pastures. But the climate of Kildare is said to be more moist than that of any other part of Ireland, which, if the statement be correct, is a very unfavourable circumstance, as a clay soil prevails very generally, and much of it is exceedingly tenacious of moisture. Surface. Products. The principal articles which Kerry affords for export are its raw produce, beef, butter, hides, and tallow. It does not raise more corn than is necessary for its own consumption, and carries on no manufacture for sale, but that of coarse linen, which is only on a small scale. It has orchards, from the produce of which cyder is made; but little timber and not many plantations. The towns are Tralee, the county town; Dingle; Killarney; Ardfert; Castle Island, and Listowel. Tralee, which contains about 7000 inhabitants, and Killarney 5000, are the most considerable. The county, in which Lord Kenmare's influence preponderates, sends two members to Parliament, and the borough of Tralee, of which Sir Edward Denny is patron, a third. The Kildare is watered by several streams, of which the most considerable belong to other counties. The Liffey entering it from the county of Dublin, to which it returns, traverses its north-east quarter in a circular direction. The Boyne, which rises within this county, in the Bog of Allen, and washes it on the north-west, does not become a considerable stream till it has passed into Meath. The Barrow has its sources in part from the same bog, and flows in an opposite direction through the south-west quarter. Kildare has the advantage of an inland navigation by the grand canal, which entering it from the north-east, proceeds in a west and north-west direction, till it passes into King's County. At Lowton a branch of this canal leaves the main trunk, and advances to the town of Athy, on the south-west boundary, and from this the navigation is continued southward on the River Barrow, which, soon after leaving Athy, becomes the boundary with Queen's County. The Royal Canal also passes through its northern quarter from east to west, and then enters the county of Meath on the north-west. Rivers. Town. population, in 1792, is stated by Beaufort at 107,000, but it is understood to be considerably greater at present. In 1733, the Catholics were to the Protestants as twelve to one; but according to Mr Wakefield's information, the Catholic population is now one hundred to one. One half of the non-commissioned officers of the militia, and five-sixths of the privates, are Catholics. In 1811, the wages of common labour were 1s. a-day; potatoes 4d., and oats 10d. per stone; beef and mutton 5d. per pound; milk 2½d., butter milk, in summer 1d., and in winter 2d. per quart. There are a few large estates in Kildare, particularly the Duke of Leinster's, which extends over a third of the county; and several proprietors, according to Mr Wakefield, have from L. 6000 to L. 7000 a-year. Yet many are less considerable, and property seems to be more divided here than in most of the other districts of Ireland. Canals. Population. See Smith's History of Kerry, and the works of The common size of farms is from 10 Irish acres to 200, and these farms are frequently held in partnership. Larger farms, however, are less rare here than in the arable tracts of the other counties. The leases were formerly for thirty-one years, but are now mostly for twenty-one years and one life. All parish and county taxes are paid by the tenant. Estates. Prices. Farms. KildareKilkenny. With few exceptions, the course of cropping is the same as it has been for a century, viz. fallow, wheat, oats. Potatoes are universally cultivated. Oxen are employed in ploughing, and horses for carriages; but in many instances oxen and horses are mixed together in the plough team, which sometimes consists of six, and never less than four animals. A number of mules are also kept on the farms. The rent of the arable and pasture land in 1807 was estimated at a little more than 20s. the Irish acre, or about 12s. the English. what is often met with in that country. Much of the soil is incumbent on limestone; no great portion is occupied with bogs, of which, however, there are some considerable tracts near Urlingford and Callen on the west side; and the climate is said to be less humid than that of Dublin and Wicklow, which lie to the north-east, although the west winds prevail for about two-thirds of the year. During summer the thermometer ranges between 70° and 75°, and seldom sinks below the freezing point in winter. Kilkenny. Towns, &c. Kildare has no large towns. Athy on the Barrow in the south-west, and Naas on the north-east, are alternately the assize towns; the others are Kildare, Monasterevin, Castle Dermot, on the south and west, and Leixlip, Maynooth, and a few others, on the north and east. At Cellbridge on the Liffey, a woollen manufactory was established some years ago by a company from Yorkshire. In the Catholic seminary at Maynooth, about 200 students are accommodated with lodgings, commons, and instruction. Each student pays a small sum as entrance-money, which, with his other expences, may amount to L. 20 a-year; the charges of the establishment being chiefly supported by an annual grant from Parliament. Coal has been wrought for many years in Kilkenny. The largest colliery in Ireland is at Castle Coomer, near the northern boundary of the county. It is a stone coal, raised in immense pieces, but of a sulphureous quality, which renders it disagreeable, and sometimes noxious, and it is, therefore, less fit for being used in families. For this reason, and also from the great expence at which it is raised, English coal is used in preference, even within a few miles of the works. There are several quarries of marble, chiefly of a black colour, of which a few tons are exported; and also quarries of excellent sandstone. Manganese, and iron and lead ores, have been observed in different parts. Jasper, of a deep red colour, in pieces of 10 or 12 inches long, and half as broad, has been found on the estate of Sir Edward Loftus, near the extremity of the granite district, between the Nore and the Barrow. There is a chalybeate spring of some celebrity at Ballyspellin. Coal, &c. Representation, &c. The county, in which the Duke of Leinster is the greatest freeholder, sends two members to Parliament, but Kildare has no parliamentary boroughs. The population, in 1790, was 56,000, but is said to be now nearly doubled. In 1811, taking the inhabitants throughout, the Catholics were in proportion to the Protestants as thirty to one. In the same year wages and the prices of necessaries were higher than in most other parts of Ireland, common labour being quoted by Mr Wakefield at 1s. 6d. a-day for men, and 10d. for women and children; and in hay and corn harvest 2s. 8d. Potatoes were 5d. a stone, beef and mutton 6d. per pound, oatmeal 18s. per cwt. milk per quart 2d., and butter-milk ¼d. in summer, and ¾d. in winter. Kilkenny contains several large estates, and many of a moderate extent, not exceeding a rental of L. 2000 a year. The principal proprietors are Lords Besborough, Clifton, and Ormond. The leases are in general for three lives, and partnership leases are common, though prohibited on one of the largest properties. On this estate the tenant is allowed to transfer his lease to one individual, but not to divide his farm. In 1809 the rent which might have been got, if all the leases had then expired, was estimated at 40s. or 42s. the acre, equal to about 25s. the English acre. Estates. Wages and Prices. See Rawson's Statistical Survey of Kildare, and the works already quoted under the Irish counties. (A.) Of the husbandry of this county, the most important department is the dairy, which extends over the greater part of it. The most considerable dairies are in the district called the Welch or Welsh mountains, a tract of dry grassy land fit for tillage, but still in its natural state, and not inclosed. Above 2000 Irish acres of this land were held in 1800 by one family, who kept 120 cows. The cattle are not for the most part housed in winter, and only those that are about the time of calving get a little hay on the fields, where the horses also are kept all the year. They fatten pigs to the weight of five cwt. The produce of the best dairies is 1½ cwt. or three firkins of butter per cow, and each cow requires from 1½ to 3 Irish acres. The practice of letting cows to dairymen, which is common in Munster, is but little known in Kilkenny, the cows belonging to the dairymen themselves, who, in some situations, breed them on their own farms, and in others prefer buying them at a proper age. Too little attention is paid to cleanliness in these dairies, especially in the northern district; and for this reason, according Dairies. Situation.