LONDONDERRY

LONDONDERRY, a maritime county in the province of Ulster, in Ireland, bounded on the N. by the Atlantic, on the E. by the county of Antrim, on the S. by that of Tyrone, and on the W. by Donegal and Lough Foyle. Its greatest length is from the point of Magilligan, at the entrance of Lough Foyle, to Cookstown, a distance of 52 miles; its greatest breadth, from the western point of the liberties of Londonderry to Vow Ferry, on the Bann, is 44 miles. It extends over a surface of 810 square miles, or 518,595 acres, of which 318,282 are arable, 180,709 uncultivated, 7718 in plantations, 1559 in towns, and 10,327 under water. The uncultivated pasture land of this county is chiefly situate in elevations exceeding 800 feet above the sea. Of the entire quantity, it is probable that about 50,000 acres may be improved for cultivation, 60,000 may be drained for pasture, and 71,000 may be considered as unimprovable, consisting of the tops of the highest ridges of mountains, and the sands of Magilligan.

According to Ptolemy, the tribe of the Robogdii were located here. Afterwards it was the territory of the O'Cahans,

who were feudatories of the great O'Neil family. After the confiscation of O'Neil's princely estate, in consequence of his abrupt flight into Spain at the commencement of the reign of James I., this county was offered to the city of London on certain conditions. The city accepted the grant of the towns of Derry and Coleraine, and the whole country betwixt them, which is above 20 miles in length, bounded by the sea on the N., the river Bann on the E., and the river Derry, or Lough Foyle, on the W. The common council appointed a special company for the management of the affairs of the plantation, afterwards well known under the name of the Irish Society, and retaining in its possession the houses of Londonderry and Coleraine, the lands attached thereto, and the woods, ferries, and fisheries. The remainder of the grant was in 1613 divided into twelve lots, and balloted for by the great London companies, viz., the drapers, salters, vintners, mercers, ironmongers, merchant tailors, clothworkers, haberdashers, fishmongers, grocers, goldsmiths, and skinners. The county is now divided into the baronies of Coleraine, Kenaught, Loughinsholin, and Tirkeeran, together with the liberties of Londonderry and Coleraine, which have separate jurisdictions. These greater divisions are subdivided into forty-three parishes, chiefly in the diocese of Derry.

The diocese of Derry is much larger, both as to number of parishes and extent of surface, than the county, comprehending, besides the parishes within the civil boundary, ten in Donegal, eleven in Tyrone, and part of a parish in Antrim. By a curious anomaly, the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the parishes in the liberties of Coleraine belongs to the Bishop of Down and Connor. The seat of the see is in the city of Derry, where is the cathedral, a building in inferior Gothic style, erected in 1633. The chapter consists of a dean, an archdeacon, and three prebendaries.

The neighbourhood of the great Western Ocean, and the height of the mountain ranges, may account for the fall of a considerable quantity of rain; yet Mr Sampson in his survey of the county states the mean annual depth of rain as only 31 inches, and in the ordnance survey of the parish of Templemore it is stated at 342 inches.

The surface of the county presents an appearance of valleys separated from each other by ridges of rugged but not very elevated mountains, and expanding as they approach the coast into alluvial plains. The most elevated of the mountains are,—Sawel, 2236 feet high; White Mountain, 1996 feet; Slieve Gallen, 1780 feet; Cairntogher, 1521 feet; Donald's Hill, 1318 feet; Benyevenagh, 1262 feet; and Legavannon, 1269 feet.

The principal river is the Roe, which, receiving as it flows in a northerly direction the tributary streams of the Owenbeg, Owenmore, Gelvan, Castle, and Curley, discharges itself into Lough Foyle, below Newtown-Limavady. The mud deposited near its mouth forms shifting banks, which prevent it from being a useful port for small craft. The Faughan rises in the S., and discharges itself into Lough Foyle, nearly opposite Culmore Fort. The Moyola takes a south-eastern course, and falls into Lough Neagh. A small portion only of the Foyle belongs to the county. It is navigable for vessels of large burden as far as the city of Londonderry, and thence to Lifford in Donegal for lighters of 20 tons. The Upper Bann, from Lough Neagh, forms the eastern boundary until it approaches Coleraine, where it separates the barony from the liberties of the town. The navigation of this river is impeded by shoals, which form a dangerous bar.

The valleys formed by these rivers, and their subordinate branches, are called stacks. The most beautiful is that of Fin-Glen. On the western side of the ridge of Benyevenagh there is a shaking quag, named the Gray Lough, which spreads over many acres. Cattle can pass freely through it in summer, yet at every step the soil yields

London-derry. to the pressure, communicating an undulating motion all around. The surface is broken in every direction by pits full of water of unknown depth, and all invariably rectangular parallelograms, very much resembling tan-pits. The only lake is Lough Finn, situated in the confines of Tyrone; it is of very considerable dimensions. Lough Neagh touches the county over about 6 miles of its south-eastern boundary. The small port of Ballyronan, in the N.W. angle of the lough, affords accommodation for sloops of 60 tons to load and unload. The inlet of Lough Foyle forms the principal part of the western boundary. Having a narrow entrance, but with 10 fathoms of water, between Culmore Fort and Magilligan Point, it expands itself at high water into a gulf of 15 miles in length and 7 in breadth, with a channel 14 fathoms deep at low water, but very narrow, and therefore of difficult navigation.

The soil in the northern part, along the sea-coast, is a stiff and reddish clay, interspersed with knolls of basalt, and resting on a substratum of white limestone, which occasionally appears on the surface. Near the mouth of the Roe is an extensive tract of a marly nature, formed of layers of clay and shells, alternating to a depth of several feet. Fossil shells are frequently found in the ditches. The lands lying between the loamy soil in the low grounds and the higher wastes are either of a blue clay with fragments of quartz, slate, and a shallow covering of peat moss, or a shingle of slate interspersed with red ochreous sand, or with gravel and loam. Above the lime is the region of the trap, and the soil is generally without clay, being merely composed of the softer parts of this ochreous sand, producing little but potatoes and straw. Yet its summits are admirable as sheep walks; for, if the immediate substratum be of the fossil known by the name of zeolite trap, the soil is fertile and the herbage sweet, presenting an elegant carpeting of shamrock, daisy, butter-cup, and plantain, which is eagerly browsed on by sheep.

The valley of the Roe divides the county into two districts, totally different in respect to their geological character. On the W. lies the territory of clay slate, on the E. that of basalt. The prevalent species of slate is a kind of flag-rock or micaceous clay slate, next to which in quantity is a laminated flag, the dip of which is generally N.W. The great mountain of Sawel is composed of several varieties of this rock, surmounted towards the summit by amorphous whinstone, interspersed with veins of quartz. Slieve Gallen is also a mass of trap, resting upon granite, which emerges from beneath in various places. Limestone may be found everywhere, from the sea to Benbradagh. The most remarkable cavern on the coast is in the white limestone; it is very appropriately called the Robber's Cave, having at one time been the asylum of formidable banditti. A species of blue limestone has been used for various architectural purposes. Sandstone is universally found below the basalt, and is occasionally intermingled with slate. A species of it, of a bright tawny colour, is raised in large quantities near Dungiven. Many of the principal buildings are constructed of it. Iron is found in great abundance, as bog ore. To the abundance of this metal in the peat moss is to be attributed the red colour of the ashes, which are so heavy as to keep in heaps even in a breeze of wind. Copper and lead, in small veins, have been discovered. Boate states that pure gold had been found in a rivulet which discharges itself into Lough Neagh; but the fact has not been substantiated by subsequent discoveries, further than that some specimens of quartz have been observed to contain thin laminae of that metal. Quartz and hornstone are common in all parts. The latter sometimes exhibits marine impressions, the quartz never. In all the mountains composed of slate with pyrites the streamlets show strong indications of iron,—to such a degree, indeed, that in some places the water is not fit for drinking.

The treatment of arable ground differs little from that generally practised throughout the province. The principal crops are oats and potatoes; the implements, the Scotch and Irish ploughs; the manures, sea-weed, and composts of which it forms a part, near the coast, and lime and turf-mould in the interior. The shell banks of Lough Foyle also furnish valuable manure. When the tide is out these banks form extensive flats, which are firm enough to be walked on without inconvenience, and are resorted to by numerous boats for loads of shells, which are all of recent species, and the supply is apparently inexhaustible. "They are particularly useful in bringing bad lands into cultivation, and in ameliorating stiff wet clays, deficient in calcareous matter, being applied at the rate of from thirty to sixty barrels per acre. They are preferred to lime as warming and brittling the land." In Magilligan the mossy sands are alternately ploughed and laid up in meadow.

The farms in this county are generally small; out of 17,000 holdings exceeding one acre in extent, about 13,500 are of less than 30 acres, 2100 between 30 and 50 acres, and 1100 between 50 and 100 acres. The extent of land under each description of crop in 1855 and 1856 was:—

The forin grass springs up luxuriantly here. Amongst the more uncommon species of grasses may be mentioned the Parnassia palustris, commonly called crottel,—in Irish croutuil.

The total quantity of live stock in the county in 1855 and 1856 was:—

There are no great herds of goats in the mountains, but a few are found in many of the habitations of the cottiers. Magilligan contains a very large rabbit-warren, extending over 1500 acres. The poultry are numerous, and flocks of geese are fed in summer on the vetches and tares which abound in the bottoms, in autumn on the stubble, and in winter on the potato-ridge. The county was once remarkable for the quantity of honey it produced; latterly the produce has decreased.

The linen manufacture is the staple here, and contributes greatly to the comfortable support of the population. The yarn and linen are generally of a coarser staple than in the neighbouring county of Antrim. Sacking is made of the tow-yarn. Potteries, in which the coarser kinds of earthenware are manufactured, are carried on in some places. There are several large distilleries and breweries, and some salt-works. One of the most productive salmon fisheries in Ireland is on the Bann, near Coleraine.

The most remarkable relic of ancient fortification is the Giant's Scence, or Ring, a remarkable remnant of pagan times, situate in the pass between Drumbo and Largantea. It formed a circular space of about 600 feet in diameter, on an isolated knoll of basalt, difficult of access on all sides but the N.E., where art has supplied the deficiency by a wall of massive masonry. The interior was hollowed, as if for a receptacle for men and stores; whilst a covered way, admitting only one person in a stooping posture to pass at

a time, surrounded the whole. Several cromlechs are still in existence, some of them surrounded by a circle of upright pillars, somewhat like Stonehenge. The most remarkable is that at Slacht Manus. Cairns are too numerous to admit of special notice. Danish forts are sometimes exposed. Sepulchral pillars are numerous, and one peculiarly remarkable stands near Dungiven. Artificial caverns, evidently constructed for the concealment of men and property, are frequently discovered. They are rudely built of stone, without cement; and flags or long stones form the roof. They consist of narrow galleries, some at right angles with the main entrance, others parallel to it. The entrance is usually concealed by a rock or grassy sod. Castles of acknowledged Irish erection are few. That of Carrickreagh is looked upon as amongst the most ancient. Near Ballyraghran was another. Both are said to have been residences of the family of the McQuillans. Pieces of pit-coal, found in the cement of the walls, lead to the opinion that the operations of miners were practised in those remote ages. Some of the castellated mansions of the first English settlers, with their bawns, are still in a state of preservation; as at Killalod, Dungiven, Salterstown, and Muff.

The most ancient monastic building was the abbey of Derry, founded by S. Columba in the sixth century, and on the site of which the present cathedral stands. At Coleraine were two monasteries, one of Dominicans, the other of regular canons. At Camus, on the Bann, was a very celebrated monastic structure, attributed to St. Comgal. The only remains of it at present existing are the fort, with a pillar curiously carved. The remains of the abbey of Dungiven are the most interesting in the county. It was the burial-place of the O'Cahans several of whose tombs have resisted the attacks of time. The principal monument is that of one of the chieftains, named Cooey-nagal. There is a tower at the north-west side of the building, and a sepulchral pillar placed on an artificial mount. A smaller tumulus in the vicinity, when opened, was found to contain an urn of earthenware with bones. The urn was surrounded with white stones. Other tumuli, when examined, exhibit similar results.

The number of pupils attending each description of school during the week ending 15th April 1851 was:—

The great London companies have always afforded marked encouragement to the education of the people, and no consideration as to the religion of the children is allowed to interfere with their bounty.

The population has increased progressively from the earliest period at which any probable estimate of its amount was made until the last two decennial periods:—

The last of these estimates gives an average of 237 inhabitants to each square mile. The county is represented in the imperial parliament by two members for the county at large, and one for each of the boroughs of Londonderry and Coleraine.