CORK

CORK, a maritime county in the province of Munster;

the largest and most southern in Ireland; bounded N. by Limerick, E. by Waterford, W. by Kerry, S., S.E., and S.W. by the Atlantic Ocean. Area 2885 square miles, or 1,846,333 acres,—i.e. 1,308,882 arable; 465,889 uncultivated (of which it is estimated that 100,000 acres might be reclaimed, 150,000 drained for coarse meadow and pasture, and 216,000 may be considered as not worthy of improvement); 52,180 in plantations; 6515 in towns; 12,867 under water. The county is divided into east and west ridings (the county of the city of Cork being included in the east riding); and it is subdivided into 23 baronies, containing 251 parishes, which form the dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, and a part of that of Ardfeert. The county is in the Cork military district, having barracks at Cork (which is the headquarters of the district), at Kinsale, Fermoy, Ballincollig about five miles from Cork; at Spike Island, which is strongly fortified; at Youghal, Buttevant, &c. The constabulary force consists of 647 men and officers, with headquarters at Cork and Bandon, and 20 subinspectors' districts. The assizes are held in Cork city, where the county prison and the county lunatic asylum are situated. There are savings-banks at Cork, Fermoy, and Youghal, with an aggregate amount of upwards of £315,000 deposited by 9000 individuals. The poor-law unions are Bandon, Bantry, Castletown, Clonakilty, Cork, Dunmanway, Fermoy, Kanturk, Kinsale, Macroom, Mallow, Midleton, Millstreet, Mitchelstown, Skibbereen, Skull, and Youghal. The amount of property in the county, valued under the act 6th and 7th Will. IV., cap. 84 (Griffith's valuation), is £1,150,643; and the net annual value of property rated to the poor, £971,622.

The county returns eight members to the imperial parliament, two for the county at large (constituency in 1853 13,474); two for Cork city, (constituency 3152); and one for each of the boroughs of Youghal, Bandon, Mallow, and Kinsale (constituencies 317, 205, 243, and 156 respectively). Previous to the union this county returned 26 members to the Irish parliament. At the union the number was reduced to eight, and the Reform Act made no change in the number of representatives.

According to Ptolemy, the district was inhabited by the Uterini, the Vellebori, the Coriundi, and the Vodii. Before the arrival of the English it was considered as a distinct sovereignty or principality under the MacCarthys; but in 1172 Dermot MacCarthy, who had sworn fealty to Henry II., threw off his allegiance, and attacked the English under Raymond le Gros, thereby forfeiting the crown. What formed his kingdom was granted by Henry II. to Robert Fitzstephen and Milo de Cogan, with the exceptions of the city of Cork and the adjoining cantred belonging to the Ostmen of the same city, which were retained by the king. It was made shire ground by King John in 1210, who appointed sheriffs and other local officers for its government. For many years, however, the royal writs were of little efficacy in many parts of it, as the great families still virtually commanded the allegiance of the inhabitants.

Fitzstephen's share of the grant descended through the female line to the Barrys and Roches, whilst that of De Cogan became vested in Maurice Fitzgerald, growing into an extent of territory and consequent power far exceeding any ever possessed by the MacCarthys. Whilst making a show of attachment to the English, the Fitzgeralds intrigued with the foreign Roman Catholic powers (who projected the conquest of Ireland during the reign of Queen Elizabeth), and ultimately broke out into open rebellion. After being utterly defeated, Gerald, the fifteenth and last Earl of Desmond, when a fugitive in the wilds of Kerry, was slain by an obscure individual named Kelly. Against this Earl of Desmond an act of attainder was passed in 1583, and the Fitzgeralds of Desmond, after having maintained their power and possessions for upwards of 300

years, were reduced to utter ruin; their strong castles were seized, and their vast estates, to the extent of no less than 574,628 acres, confiscated by the crown. These were again transferred to English settlers, called undertakers or planters, who were bound not to convey any part of the lands to the native Irish, or to intermarry with, or maintain any of them. Sir Walter Raleigh obtained 40,000 acres, which afterwards passed to the family of Boyle, Earl of Cork; Arthur Robins 18,000; Hugh Worth 12,000; Fane Beecher 12,000; Arthur Hyde 12,000; Sir Warham St Leger 6000; Sir Thomas Norris 6000; Hugh Caffe 6000; Thomas Say 5800; Sir Richard Beacon 1600; and Edmund Spenser the poet 3028. This attempt to set aside or extirpate the native population failed. The Irish outbade the English settlers, and were, therefore, at least for a time, found to be more profitable tenants, so that ultimately they re-occupied nearly all the lands as tenants under the English undertakers. In 1602 a large portion of the estates of Sir Walter Raleigh and Fane Beecher were purchased by the Earl of Cork, who had them colonized with English settlers; and by founding or rebuilding the towns of Bandon, Clonakilty, Baltimore, Youghal, and afterwards those of Midleton, Castlemartyr, Charleville, and Doneraile, which were incorporated and made parliamentary boroughs, the family of Boyle became possessed of nearly the entire political power of the county. In 1641 and the following years the sons of the Earl of Cork, more especially Lord Broghill, rendered good service to the parliamentary cause, and obtained considerable military renown. The course of events led to the forfeiture of the estates of Lords Muskerry and Roche; afterwards of those of the Earl of Clancarty, Viscount Kenmare, Sir Richard Nagle, and others, to the extent of 250,000 acres. Since that period no events of equal importance have occurred in this county.

The earlier antiquities of the county are rude monuments of the Pagan era, such as stone circles, druids' altars, raths or circular mounds of earth, and stone pillars.

The ecclesiastical antiquities consist of numerous ruins of religious houses, built chiefly since the invasion of Ireland by Henry II., and owing their existence to the descendants of English adventurers. The most ancient ecclesiastical edifice in the county is the abbey of Rosscarbery, picturesque situated upon a rocky eminence, partly insulated by the tide. The abbey of Timoleague is also beautifully situated, with the tide flowing up to its walls; and that of Kilcrea, about eleven miles from Cork, is placed in the centre of a rich vale on a green bank above the river Bride. The interior of the ruins of Kilcrea has long been the favourite burial-place of the peasantry of the country: the architecture is plain, but the ruins are in tolerable preservation. There are also numerous ruins of the old parochial churches, built of stone without mortar, generally of very small dimensions, and destitute of ornament. The cathedral of Cork was rebuilt in the eighteenth century, the old cathedral having been taken down in 1725, in consequence of injury received during the siege of Cork by King William's forces under the Earl of Marlborough. Cloyne cathedral is a plain Gothic building, and is now one of the few remaining ancient cathedrals. That of Ross exhibits no particular feature of antiquity. Near the cathedral of Cloyne is the only round tower now remaining in the county, excepting that of Kinneagh.

Of castles, or rather square towers, there are numerous remains. The chief of these are Blarney, Macroom, and Lohort.

The county of Cork contains but a small quantity of dead level land, and presents a great variety of surface. Although hilly, it cannot be called mountainous, and there is but little lowland bog. The unimproved land is therefore trifling as compared with that of some other counties, or with its own superficial extent. The barony of Duhallow

Cork. in the north-west, contains the chief portion of unreclaimed land, but even that is now much improved. The prevailing character of the western part of the county, which is bold, rocky, and mountainous, is wildness; the northern and eastern parts are distinguished for their richness and fertility. The natural formation of the eastern and southern parts of the county is highly favourable to picturesque effect. That this county was once profusely adorned with timber is evident from the numerous vestiges still to be found above and beneath the surface. The ranges of high and low lands are observed to run nearly in the direction of east and west; the chief deviation from this general character being the high barren tract of the Boghra mountains, situate between the Lee and the Blackwater: these extend in every direction, not rising into sharp or narrow summits, but spreading out into an ample area of deep boggy surface. The limestone rocks, which are not so general in this as in some other Irish counties, form the most extensive tracts of lowland running east and west, and are remarkable for their purity. The marble of this county is of considerable value. It is generally of a dark gray colour with various shades, and presents a rich display of fossil shells. The rivers generally mark the limestone districts. The greater part of the surface of the county of Cork, however, rests on the old red sandstone, of which rock it is the chief locality in Ireland. It commences in the west, on the limits of the upper slate formation, and extends throughout the entire breadth of the county to Waterford county, comprising the various districts of limestone already mentioned. Next in extent to the old red sandstone is the upper clay slate which forms the adjoining county of Kerry, and enters this county on the west, stretching from Dunmanway to Macroom, and thence to the neighbourhood of Mallow, forming the group of the Boghra mountains. The south-west coast, which is formed of immense masses of this rock standing as barriers against the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, is remarkable for its extreme boldness of character. Carboniferous slate occupies a considerable area of the south-eastern coast. It rests on yellow and red sandstone, and contains rich ores of copper, lead, and manganese. In the extreme north-west of the county is a portion of the Munster coal-field. Coal was formerly raised, but the disadvantages of situation in a mountainous district remote from water carriage prevented its general use. Marl, fuller's earth, potter's clay, and brick-clay, are also found. The chief mines and quarries are Allihie's copper mine, near Berelaven, which has realized large sums, and employs upwards of 1000 persons; Audley copper mine, near Skibbereen; the Dromagh collieries, near Kanturk; the limestone quarries on Little Island, in Cork harbour; and the Irish Dove marble quarries near Cloyne. The copper ores found in this county have been ascertained to be extremely rich.

The most extensive tracts of rich lowland in the county are those in which limestone is found. The largest lies on the north side of the river Blackwater, occupying parts of the baronies of Orrery and Fermoy including the towns of Fermoy and Mallow. This district furnishes, on the banks of the Blackwater from Mallow to Fermoy, a succession of picturesque scenery seldom equalled. In another limestone vale, extending in an easterly direction until it reaches the sea near Youghal, the city of Cork is situated.

The climate of this county is mild; winter along the coast being disarmed of its severity by the south wind, while the summer heat is tempered by breezes from the sea. Its climate, like that of Devonshire, is sufficiently moist to be injurious to grain crops, which are generally inferior to those of drier climates.

The chief rivers are the Blackwater, the Lee, and the Bandon. The picturesque Blackwater rises on the confines of Kerry, and flowing eastward past the towns of Mallow and Fermoy, through the northern baronies, enters the

county of Waterford, where, changing its direction, it flows southward, returns to the boundary of the county, and empties its waters into Youghal bay. During its course, among other tributary streams, it receives the Awbeg (Spenser's "Mulla fair and bright," and "Gentle Mulla"), not far from whose banks, on a rivulet joining the Awbeg at Doneraile, stand the ruins of the poet's castle of Killeoman. Since 1580 Spenser had been in Ireland as secretary to the Lord Deputy, Arthur Grey, and here was written his great poem The Fairy Queen, which abounds in beautiful descriptions of Munster scenery. The river Lee also rises on the borders of Kerry out of the small but romantic lake of Gougane Barra, and passing through the larger lake of Inchigela runs through varied and beautiful scenery to the city of Cork, where it becomes navigable for large vessels; and after a further course of eleven miles, the beauty of which from Cork to Queenstown it would be difficult to overpraise, it terminates in the magnificent harbour or inland bay of Cove—or Queenstown as it is now called. The "pleasant Bandon crowned with many a wood," rises a few miles east of the head of Bantry Bay, and passing the towns of Dunmanway and Bandon, ultimately expands into Kinsale harbour.

There are no extensive lakes in the county, but many of diminutive size in the western portion of the county. Among others, the small lake of Gougane Barra, generally considered the source of the river Lee, is highly interesting on account of its sanctified character and wildly picturesque scenery. Nearly surrounded by gigantic mountains rising in almost perpendicular masses from the waters of the lake, it incloses within its limits a small wooded island occupied chiefly by the ruins of a chapel and ancient religious house. It is a favourite resort of pilgrims and pleasure seekers combined on the pattern days, either to bathe in its waters and offer up vows to the tutelary saint Fin Bar, the founder of Cork cathedral, or from curiosity and other motives.

There are no canals or extended means of inland navigation in this county; but rapid communication is maintained with the metropolis by means of the Great Southern and Western railway, which enters the county at Charleville, and passing the towns of Buttevant and Mallow terminates at Cork. A branch line from Mallow extends to Killarney, and Cork is also the terminus of the Cork and Bandon and Cork and Passage railways.

The want of the means of inland navigation is in a great degree compensated by the numerous bays and inlets capable of admitting large vessels, with which the coast is indented. Proceeding westwards from Youghal Bay, which has good anchorage without the bar, and passing that of Ballycotton, which is wholly unsheltered, the fine and capacious inlet of Cork harbour appears, many miles in diameter, completely landlocked, studded with numerous islands rising abruptly and high above the water, and capable of accommodating the entire fleet of the kingdom. It is much resorted to by wind-bound merchantmen, and used as a rendezvous for ships from abroad waiting for orders. Its narrow entrance is defended by batteries on each side, and on the Great Island opposite to its mouth. Spike Island and Hawlbowl Island, within the harbour, are strongly fortified, and used as naval arsenals. Kinsale harbour, though incommoded by a bar at the entrance, has depth enough within for the largest vessels. Clonakilty and Castlehaven harbours are fit for smaller vessels only; but Baltimore Bay has deep water, and enjoys the shelter of Cape Clear Island, and several others at its entrance. Crookhaven is narrow, but well sheltered. Dunmanus Bay, though having deep water and good anchorage, is little frequented except by small craft, or during summer, in consequence of its exposure to the western gales and proximity to Bantry Bay, which is large, safe, and commodious for vessels of any size. It is surrounded by the most magnifi-

cent scenery; and within its entrance is Bere Haven, and farther inwards Whiddy Island, off which lay the French fleet when contemplating an invasion in 1796. The water is deep almost close to the shores, and free from rocks and shoals. Ballydonaghan Bay and Quolagh Bay lie near the mouth of Kenmare river. This last-named inlet, though called a river, is an estuary of large dimensions, separating the counties of Cork and Kerry, and capable of accommodating the largest vessels.

The most remarkable among the numerous islands along the coast, besides those already mentioned, are Inchidony, in Clonakilty Bay; Cape Clear, Inisherkin, and Ringarona or Donegal Island, in Baltimore Bay; Bere Island, in Bantry Bay, affording a secure shelter from the storms of the Atlantic; and Dursey's Island, off the southern point of Bere Barony. Of these, Cape Clear is the largest and most remarkable. It is the most southern point of Ireland except the Fastnet rock, which lies in the sea four miles to the S.S.W. The inhabitants of Cape Clear—a hardy, primitive people, occupied in fishing and agriculture—live almost wholly secluded from the world; and, like other islanders, are superstitious, and tenaciously attached to their rocky and sterile home. The lighthouse, on the south side of the island, is a circular tower, erected in 1817.

Numerous chalybeate and other springs exist, but most of them are now totally neglected. The thermal spring of Mallow resembles the waters of Clifton, and is impregnated with magnesia in its passage through the limestone rocks of the district. It has long been celebrated for the cure of chlorotic, stomachic, and urinary complaints; but is not now quite so much frequented as formerly. The town is favourably situated on the banks of the Blackwater, sheltered on all sides by high grounds thickly planted, and in the midst of scenery of great natural beauty. There are also many summer bathing places along the sea-shore, but Kinsale and those in the neighbourhood of the city of Cork are more especially frequented. The chief of these are Monkstown, Blackrock, Summercove, Passage, and Cove (or Queenstown), which is now more frequented as a summer residence for invalids than any other spot in Ireland, and is remarkable for its equable temperature, being protected from the colder winds and open to those from the warmer quarters.

The soils of the county exhibit no great variety: they may be reduced in number to four. The calcareous in the limestone districts; the deep mellow loams found in districts remote from limestone, and generally occurring in the less elevated parts of the gray and red sandstone districts; the light shallow soils and the moorland or peat soils, the usual substratum of which is coarse retentive clay.

In a district of such extent and variety of surface, the state of agriculture must be liable to much variation. The more populous parts near the sea, and in the vicinity of the great lines of communication, exhibit very favourable specimens of agricultural improvement. In the more retired and mountainous districts, the cultivation of the soil is carried on according to the habits of the past century. Spade cultivation is used to a considerable extent. In the improved parts, where there are facilities of carriage, limestone and sea-sand are largely used. Dairies are extensive, and the character of the Cork butter stands high, both in the British and foreign markets.

The number of acres under crop in 1852 was 492,883, viz.:—wheat, 52,049; oats, 150,581; barley, bere, and rye, 43,293; peas and beans, 133; potatoes, 92,055; turnips, 41,683; mangel-wurzel, 2418; other green crop, 10,076; flax, 1710; meadow and clover, 99,885. The live stock of the county consisted of 51,624 horses; 7751 mules and asses; 264,272 cattle; 215,469 sheep; 121,300 pigs; 30,717 goats; and 612,637 poultry, of the total value of £2,568,230.

Even proportionately to the great extent of this county, in few others has more property passed through the court for the sale of encumbered estates, and much facility for improvement may be expected to result from the change or dismemberment of owners of land, for nowhere more than in Ireland has it been a matter of practical experience that "a landlord of straw may break a tenant of steel."

Manufactures are not carried on to any great extent, the frequent attempts made to establish them having generally failed. The only extensive manufactures are those of whisky and porter, which cause a considerable demand for the agricultural produce; and the chief trade of the county is in the export of provisions—a branch of business which was a source of great profit during war time.

The population of the county, including that of the city and liberties, has been ascertained at various periods to be as follows:—

In 1824-26 there were, according to the reports of the board of education, 1354 schools, in which somewhat more than 69,000 pupils were instructed (45,000 boys and 24,000 girls). Of the whole number, 9494 were of the Established Church, 58,174 were Roman Catholics, 340 Dissenters; leaving a remainder of 1110 whose religious persuasion had not been ascertained.

In 1852, of 54,424 children on the rolls of the national schools, 471 belonged to the Established Church, 12 were Presbyterian or other Protestant Dissenters, and 53,941 were Roman Catholics.

The following was the state of instruction of the inhabitants above the age of five years in 1851:—

There has been much intermixture of English blood among the inhabitants. Besides the followers of Strongbow, whose descendants have long ranked among the most influential families, English settlers were the founders of most of the towns, and the services of numerous bands of adventurers were rewarded at different periods with grants of conquered or forfeited lands. With these came many followers, whose intermarriages with the natives gradually instilled their manners and prejudices into their posterity, who have sometimes been charged with having become more Irish than the Irish themselves. The Danes also, who possessed several of the sea-ports and the adjoining districts, increased these international varieties of character. The easy communication between this county and the Spanish peninsula also led to a commercial intercourse, which, together with the military invasions of the Spaniards during the reigns of the Tudors, has had its due effect in impressing a distinctive character on the inhabitants.