DUBLIN

DUBLIN, the metropolitan county of Ireland, in the province of Leinster, is bounded on the north by the county of Meath, on the east by the Irish Sea, on the south by the county of Wicklow, and on the west by those of Kildare and Meath. It is the smallest county in Ireland except Louth and Carlow, containing 248,631 acres, or 388

square miles, of which 237,819 acres are cultivable, the remaining 10,812 being bog or mountain. Its greatest length from north to south is thirty miles, its greatest breadth from west to east twenty-three. A small portion, detached from the rest, lies at a distance of between twenty-four and thirty miles from the city, and is surrounded by the counties of Wicklow and Kildare. In Ptolemy's geography it is stated to be inhabited by the tribe of the Eblani. At the period of the English invasion, and for some time previously to that event, the city of Dublin and all the adjoining districts were in the possession of the Danes, from whom the tract to the north of the city was called Fingal, or the country of the White Strangers, a name given by the natives to those invaders on account of their fair hair and complexion; and that on the south was called Harold's country, which name it retained long after it fell into the hands of the English. Of the nine baronies into which the county is divided, those of Balrothery, Castleknock, Coolock, and Nethercross, are on the north of the Liffey; those of Donore, Newcastle, Rathdown, St Sepulchre, and Uppercross, are on the south of the same river. The baronies are subdivided into seventy-eight parishes, besides four parts of parishes, the remainders of which are in the city. The ultimate subdivision of townlands is retained here, as in other counties, but is little used, because the county is divided in a different manner for the purpose of collecting the local taxes; the whole surface being considered as broken up into 114,657 parts, a proportionate number of which is allocated to each barony.

The northern portion of the county is flat, and the soil good, particularly in the parts bordering on Meath; but,

on the southern side, the land soon rises into elevations of considerable height, which extend into the adjoining county of Wicklow. Of these, Kippure Head is 2527 feet above the level of the sea, and the Three Rock Mountain 1585 feet. The soil in these mountains is very poor, affording no encouragement for tillage, being chiefly covered with heath, except where a subsidence in the ground affords a nucleus for the formation of bog, with which about two thousand acres are covered. There are also a few small tracts of bog in the northern part of the county. This mountain district is well adapted for timber, to the growth of which much attention has lately been paid, and the labours of the improvers are already rewarded by some fine plantations equally ornamental and profitable. This range of mountain ground produces a very striking effect on the traveller proceeding to the metropolis from Wicklow county. On arriving at its brow, the whole of the plain, watered by the Liffey, studded with villas, and enriched with groups of trees, spreads itself out before him, in the midst of which may be seen the spires and domes of the city rising through the dusky canopy of smoke that envelopes them; whilst beyond, the beautiful expanse of Dublin Bay, backed by the Hill of Howth, and the islands of Lambay and Ireland's Eye, and still more remote the peaked summit of Slieve Donard towering above them all on the horizon's verge, present a view of highly improved nature not often to be surpassed.

Though by much the greater part of the soil is inclined to clay, it is not of the deep and tenacious character so common in England; for scarcely any part is without a mixture of gravel; and due search will generally discover limestone or other beneficial substrata at no very great depth, attended with the further advantage, that the operation of draining generally raises a sufficiency of gravel to manure the whole surface. The position of the ground, usually more or less sloping, affords peculiar facilities for drainage; and the circumstance of a great city in a central position furnishes large quantities of ashes and other species of refuse well calculated to conquer the natural stubbornness of such soils. Along the coast between Howth and Balbriggan are salt marshes, but not of any extent. The only stream deserving the name of river is the Liffey, which, rising in the table-land of Wicklow, and precipitating itself over the fine cataract of Polaphuca, near which it is joined by the King's River, traverses the level county of Kildare; on leaving which it rushes over another elevated ledge of rocks called the Salmon-leap at Leixlip, after which it resumes its tranquil character, and, passing through the centre of Dublin city, discharges itself into the bay of the same name. It is joined at its mouth by the Dodder, a mountain stream which, though too insignificant to afford depth sufficient for the smallest boat, supplies water for several mills of various description during its short course from Kippure Hill to the sea. The other streams, which are numerous, have all an eastern direction, but are too small to be noticed, except the Delvan and Braywater, and these only as forming the county boundaries to the north and south.

Dublin Bay, much admired by strangers who arrive by sea, and deemed inferior only to the Bay of Naples in scenic grandeur, is very unsafe for shipping. It is five and a half miles wide at the entrance between the Point of Howth and Dalkey Island, and six miles deep to the mouth of the Liffey at Ringsend. It is dangerous to navigators, being exposed to a heavy sea from the east. To guard against wreck, a lighthouse has been erected at the Point or Bailey of Howth, another on a pier projecting from the mouth of the Liffey, and a third on the Kish Bank, outside the bay. Two artificial harbours have also been constructed, the smaller at Howth, occupying an area

of fifty acres, at an expense of £300,000. It is now little used. The other is at Dunleary or Kingstown, formed by two immense moles, including a space of 250 acres, from three to four fathoms deep at low water. Its entrance is marked by a revolving light. A small obelisk, surmounted by a regal crown, has been erected close to the pier, to point out the place where King George IV. took his departure from Dublin in 1821. The place of his previous landing at Howth has not been marked by any similar memorial. A rail-road from Kingstown to Dublin has been commenced. The only other harbours are those of Balbriggan and Skerries, to the north of Howth. Each of them has been improved by artificial piers, but both are dry at low water. The former admits vessels of some size, and enjoys a small coasting trade. The latter is little more than a fishing station. The sailors are considered as among the most skilful and hardy on the eastern coast. They fish in decked wherries, manned by a full crew of twelve or fourteen hands, all of whom have a share in the boat, and consequently an interest in the capture of fish.

The largest island on the coast is Lambay, to the north of Howth, comprehending somewhat more than 650 acres. A castle on it serves as the occasional residence of the proprietor. Shell-fish of every description is taken in abundance on the shore, and during the summer season it is frequently visited by fishing and pleasure parties from Dublin. To the north are the Skerries, consisting of the islets of Innispatrick, Colt, Shenex, and Red Island, the last named of which is connected to the mainland by the pier already noticed. Innispatrick is noted in the ecclesiastical annals of the country as being the place on which St Patrick first landed, and where he built a church. Between Lambay and Howth is Ireland's Eye, or, as it should be named, Hirlandsie, a craggy rock, comprehending about thirty acres, and supposed by some geologists to be an isolated portion of the neighbouring peninsula. At the southern extremity of Dublin Bay is Dalkey Island, formerly called St Begnet's or Bennet's, and at present remarkable only for a martello tower erected on it. The channel which separates it from the mainland occasionally affords a good roadstead for shipping. It has been considered by some engineers as the most appropriate situation on which the public money could be laid out on a safety harbour with the greatest economy, and the most probable return of advantage to the trade of Dublin.

The greater part of the county is the eastern extremity of the great bed of floetz limestone that extends over the middle of the island, widening as it spreads westward. It rises in its southern part into a range of mountains, which forms the verge of an elevated district, extending thence for more than thirty miles to the south. Through this latter tract a large body of granite passes in a south-western direction, bounded on its eastern and western sides by incumbent rocks of great variety of structure and relations. Within the portion of this district included in the county of Dublin, and distinguished by its beautiful scenery, are veins of lead ore at Dalkey and near the Scalp. The country near Bray presents, within a small space, an instructive series of rocks; and at Killiney, schistose beds are to be seen to a considerable extent, reposing on granite. Near Booterstown, in Dublin Bay, a mass of compact limestone is visible, within a few fathoms of the granite. The calp of Kirwan, a variety of limestone, is the prevailing rock in the immediate vicinity of Dublin, and is much used for building. The brown spar of Jameson is found in veins in the quarries of Dolphinsbarn, and beds of magnesia limestone in the Dodder. Petrifications abound in many parts of the limestone country. In the peninsula of Howth gray ore of manganese, with brown iron stone, and brown iron ore, have been obtained in quan-

titles; and a variety of the earthy black cobalt of Werner has been found on the side of the hill, forming a crust of a rich blue colour, lining the fissures of a rock of clay slate nearly approaching to whet slate; a mineral found in great abundance at Killiney, and for some time considered as a nondescript species, is to be referred to the anadusite. It appears thickly on the surface of beds of mica slate, and seems to abound also imbedded in the substance of the same rock. White clay, potters' clay, and yellow and brown ochre, are found in Howth, and at Rush and Skerries. Indications of lead show themselves at the commons of Kilmainham, near Castleknock, at Clontarf, and near Dalkey and Killiney. The copper mines at Lough Shinney have been badly wrought; the ore was of a rich quality, and apparently derived from contemporaneous veins of quartz of uncertain extent.

At Lucan, to the west of Dublin, there is a spring strongly impregnated with iron and sulphur; another exists at Goldenbridge, near Kilmainham; and both are much frequented by invalids. Chalybeate springs have been discovered in various places in the vicinity of Dublin city.

The population of the county, taken detached from that of the city, has until lately been calculated on very uncertain data, and the results are consequently very unsatisfactory. De Burgho, in his Hibernia Dominicana, published in 1762, estimates it at 211,674, including the city; but this is evidently too high. Beaufort, in 1792, estimates it at 64,000, which is probably too low. The subsequent parliamentary returns give the following results: In 1812 it amounted to 132,000, in 1821 to 150,011, in 1831 to 183,042.

The state of education has been ascertained by parliamentary returns to be as follows:

The numbers in the latter return are thus classified according to the religious persuasion and pecuniary capabilities of the pupils: Of Roman Catholics, 20,440; of the established church, 10,372; of dissenters, 465; of those whose religious persuasion was not ascertained, 1731. As to the mode of payments, there are stated to be 730 schools, fifty-four of which, containing 3301 pupils, are supported by grants of public money; 140 schools, containing 13,467 pupils, by voluntary contributions; while those in the remaining 535 schools, amounting to 16,605 pupils, are supported wholly by the fees paid for education by the parents and friends of the children.

Previously to the union the county returned ten representatives to parliament; two for the county, two for the city, two for the university, and two for each of the boroughs of Swords and Newcastle. The number was reduced to five by the act of union; the members for both boroughs being struck off, and one withdrawn from the university, but this latter has been restored to it by the reform act. The constituency at various periods, before, during, and since the alterations made in consequence of the Catholic relief bill, presents the following results:—

From this table it appears that, though the constituency has been increased by the reform act beyond what it had been reduced to by the disfranchisement of the forty-shilling freeholders, it still amounts to but one half of what it had been before that period. The county court, in which the elections are held, the county business transacted, and

the records kept, is at Kilmainham, a suburb of Dublin. When opened for legal proceedings, the chairman of the county, who is a barrister, nominated by the crown, but not allowed to practise as such, presides. In many points the jurisdiction of the city police, of which an account will be given in the description of the city, extends throughout a great part of the county.

The manners, appearance, and dress of the lower classes differ less from what may be considered as being peculiarly characteristic of the rural population of remoter districts, than might be expected in the vicinity of a large metropolis. Even in the immediate neighbourhood of the city are to be seen groups of cabins, exhibiting, both in their external appearance and in the dress and manners of their inmates, much to remind the observer of the peasantry of the interior. The farms are in general small. Near Dublin, particularly on the southern side, they are chiefly villas, with land attached to them, more for ornament and convenience than for agricultural profit. The rents are proportionally high, being rated rather from local circumstances than from the quality of the soil. Tillage, though not in a backward state, is by no means so far advanced as might be expected. Dairy farms, for the supply of the city with milk and butter, are much run upon. Vegetable gardens are numerous, particularly in the superior soil of the northern outlets of Dublin. Grazing farms for black cattle and horses are also frequent. The fences are generally of white thorn, close, and well kept. Manure of every kind is abundant; blue, brown, and white marl is extracted in many parts; fine shelly sand is drawn from the flat shores; and coal ashes, night soil, and other refuse of the metropolis, furnish abundant supplies of this important material, varying in quality according to the taste of the farmer and the peculiarity of the soil. The waste from gas works has also been beneficially used for the same purpose, when mixed with other substances.

Manufactures are carried on, but in a limited manner, in the country parts. At Balbriggan is a stocking manufactory of some extent. The Dodder furnishes sites for several paper-mills, a distillery, and some cotton and woollen factories. There is also an extensive woollen factory at Kilmainham, and a few smaller ones in the liberties of Dublin.

This county is distinguished for the superior quality of its eels; they are found in great abundance in Tullaghkeen river, where they are called silver eels, from their clear white colour, supposed to be derived from the superior purity of the water they inhabit. The mud eels are of a yellow tinge and less pleasant flavour. Sand eels are found in plenty along the coast. At Rush and Skerries the curing of cod and ling is carried on. Sturgeon has at times appeared in Dublin Bay; and the sprat is found in the Liffey, in which river there is also a profitable salmon fishery. There are oyster beds at Howth, Lambay, and Poolbeg; the fish was originally brought from Arklow. Porpoises are frequent on the Dublin coast. The principal supply of fish for the Dublin market is from Skerries and Howth.

Among the amusements of the lower classes, horse-racing and steeple chases are peculiarly attractive. Latterly a new direction has been given to the public taste for manly diversions by means of the new harbour at Kingstown. A regatta is annually held there, where prizes are distributed, by a club of noblemen and gentlemen, for races of yachts and row-boats. The annual assemblages occasioned thereby every summer give rise to much festivity in the neighbourhood. Formerly a club devoted to conviviality used to assemble once a year on the island of Dalkey, where, during the period of the meeting, a king of the island, elected for his superior qualifications, from among his boon companions, and who therefore might just-

Dublin. ly be styled the king of good fellows, held his mimic court, with all the appendages of burlesque royalty. But, during the period subsequent to the first French revolution, the love of frolic, as was to have been expected, took a democratic bent. The good king of Dalkey was formally deposed. The events which followed were ill adapted for the indulgence of this species of sociability; the annual meetings were discontinued, and have never since been revived. At Finglas, a village to the north of Dublin, Mayday is celebrated by amusements of a different kind, yet not less grotesque, consisting of races of asses, men in sacks, pigs with soaped tails, and other feats of waggish skill and eccentricity. But of all places calculated to exhibit the peculiarities of Irish frolic in its wildest mood, Donnybrook bears the palm. A fair is held here annually in August, ostensibly for the sale of cattle; and there is generally a good show at it, particularly of horses; but its leading attraction is the great variety of diversions of every kind likely to draw to it the artisans and lower classes of Dublin. The festivities are kept up night and day for a week, and sometimes for a fortnight. Latterly, however, the irregularities it gave rise to have induced the civic authorities to restrain its duration, and it is consequently on the decline as a place of public amusement.

This county reckons three round towers among its antiquities; one at Clondalkin in a high state of preservation; another at Swords, where also is the remains of a large monastic institution; a third at Lusk, forming one of the angles of the steeple. The church of St Doulaghs is worthy of note for the extreme antiquity of its architecture; it is covered with a double stone roof. A fine cromleach is still preserved near Cabinteely. The remains of a stone chair, and a rudely sculptured piece of granite, mark the former existence of an ancient temple near Killiney. At Old Connaught is a cross of considerable antiquity formed of granite. Its shaft is surmounted by a circle, on which the crucifixion is rudely sculptured. Among modern monuments may be noticed the Wellington memorial in the park; obelisks at Stiltorgan and on Killiney Hill, built by the proprietors of those demesnes, to supply employment during seasons of scarcity; and another also near Killiney, on the spot where the young Duke of Dorset was killed by a fall from his horse. This county can boast of no large town except the capital. Balbriggan, the second in size, contains a population of only 3016 souls.