a county of the province of Connaught, in Ireland, bounded N. by the bay and the county of Donegal, E. by the counties of Fermanagh and Cavan, S. by those of Longford and Roscommon, and W. by Roscommon and Sligo. Its only claim to be considered a maritime county is the possession of 3 miles of coast on the Bay of Donegal. In shape it has been compared to an hour-glass, broad at both ends, and contracted in the centre. Its greatest length, measured from S.E. to N.W., is 52 miles; its breadth where broadest is 20, and where narrowest not more than 7 miles; extending over an area of 613 square miles, or 392,363 acres, of which 249,350 are arable, 115,869 uncultivated, 3396 in plantations, and 23,748 are under water. Of the 116,000 acres of uncultivated land, 55,500 are coarse pasture above 800 feet over sea level, 60,500 coarse pasture below 800 feet, including flow bogs, &c.; 30,000 are improvable for cultivation, 36,000 improvable for pasture, and 50,000 acres are incapable of improvement.

The county, which derives its name from an ancient but now obscure village on the Shannon, is supposed to have formed part of the region inhabited by the tribe of the Nagmatae in the time of Ptolemy. The Irish chroniclers distinguish it by the name of Hy-Brune-Brefine, or Brennie. The family of O'Rourke, which derived its descent from Roderic, King of Ireland, held in it the rank of chieftains; and under them were the O'Murrays, McIoghlins, McGlanchies, and McGranells. It was made shire-ground, together with the other counties in Connaught, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and is now divided into the five baronies of Carrigallen, Dromahaire, Leitrim, Mohill, and Rosclogher. These baronies are subdivided into seventeen parishes, of which ten are in the diocese of Kilmore, and seven in that of Ardagh. The county is in the Connaught circuit, and the assizes are held at Carrick-on-Shannon, which is the station of the county inspector of constabulary. For poor-law purposes, Leitrim is divided into the unions of Manor-Hamilton, Mohill, and Carrick-on-Shannon, and small portions are included in the neighbouring unions of Bawnboy and Ballyshannon.

The climate is not only colder than the more southern counties, but also more moist, owing to the number and height of the mountains with which the greater part of its surface is overspread. The whole of the northern part of the county is mountainous. Lugnacluileagh, the most elevated of the mountains, rises to the height of 1485 feet; Benbo is 1365 feet high; Lacka, 1315; the Green Mountain, 950 feet. More southerly are Slieve-an-Ierin and Bencroil. Large tracts of ground comparatively level are to be found in the southern part of the county, the greater part of which is well wooded, fertile, and abounding in picturesque scenery. The soil in general is stiff, heavy, cold, and wet. The tops and sides of most of the hills are covered with a thin ferruginous loam based upon a hard gravel. The valleys, which are in general well watered, are of a quality superior to the hills, deeper in mould, and much more fertile. The more level tracts, already noticed, are a dark rich soil on a limestone bottom.

The county is not more remarkable for its mountains than for its lakes. The principal is Lough Allen, situated in its centre, where narrowest. It is 8 miles long from N. to S., and 4 where broadest, and may be looked upon as the great reservoir and distributor of all the running water in the county, and the embryo feeder of every canal that may be made to traverse it. Squalls on this lake are violent, and render boating on it hazardous. Lough Allen is not in itself an interesting, or beautiful, or picturesque lake; neither is the scenery on its banks sufficiently bold to make the smallest approach to grandeur; it is merely wild and solitary. It is embosomed in hills of moderate elevation, not picturesque in their outline, nor clothed with wood, and contains a few islets. A few miles to the N. is Lough Clean, or Belhovel Lake, which covers an area of 345 acres, and discharges its waters into Lough Allen by a stream of some magnitude. Several smaller sheets of water are scattered throughout the southern baronies. On the borders are Lough Gill, Lough Melvyn, Lough Cane, and Lough Boiffin. The source of the Shannon is a matter of doubt among the local topographers; by some it is placed in the recesses of the Leitrim Hills, where it is said to spring with nearly its full power from a vast gulf, the depth of which has not yet been ascertained; and almost immediately expanding, forms Lough Allen, of which the area is 8900 acres. Issuing from the southern extremity of Lough Allen, this noble river, which is here but 146 feet above the level of the sea, forms the western boundary of the county. The Bonnet rises near Lough Clean, and after a course of about 15 miles through picturesque scenery, falls into Lough Gilly. The small rivers, Bundrows and Brinluff, which separate Leitrim from Donegal and Sligo, contain between their mouths the scanty line of sea-coast belonging to the county. Many other streams, too small to be particularly noticed, and discharging themselves into some of the numerous lakes or larger rivers, afford a copious and perennial supply of water.

The central parts of the county form part of the great Connaught coalfield, which occupies also large portions of the counties of Roscommon, Sligo, and a part of Cavan in Ulster. Before a committee of the House of Commons, Mr Griffith stated that there are three beds of coal in the Lough Allen district, the upper 9 inches, the second 3 feet, and the third also 3 feet. The quality of the coal is not so good as that of either Whitehaven or Newcastle; it is a kind of medium between the open burning, or quick blazing coal of Scotland, and the coking coal of Whitehaven, and is very good for culinary and manufacturing purposes. The principal vein in this county is in Bencroil Mountain, the summit of which is bog. Iron-ore abounds in the Slieve-an-Ierin, or Iron Mountain, so called from the stores of this valuable metal which it contains. On its northern side, where its flanks have been torn by winter torrents, the metal shows itself in considerable quantities, imbedded in strata of limestone. Alternations of shale and sandstone, containing beds of coal, succeed on this and other mountains of sufficient altitude; for it would appear that such a formation had originally extended over the entire district, and that the absence of those members from the lower mountains has been owing to their removal by some abrading and denuding force. At present they remain only on the summits of Slieve-an-Ierin, Lugnacluileagh, Lackagh, and the highest part of the Munsterkenny range; and the occurrence of coal in lumps through the sandstone, gravel, and blue clay hills of the south and south-eastern parts of the county, confirms the supposition that a portion of the coal formation has been removed, and points to the N.W. as the direction from which the denuding agent must have proceeded.

The ore in this county is considered as richer than that found in the Arigna valley in Roscommon. It was at one time attempted to be worked, but the failure of timber, and the want of a regular supply of mineral coal, put a stop to the operations. Indications of the same ore are to be found Leitrim, in several other parts of the mountainous district, and even in the interior of the plain country, near the Shannon. Lead has been found near Lurganboy. Upon the N. side of Benbo Mountain are pits whence copper has been extracted. Manganese is also found in considerable quantities, as is pipe-clay, yellow ochre, white and brown chalks, clays of various hues, and sand suited for the manufacture of glass. The sub-stratum of the parts of the county N. and S. of the coal and iron district is chiefly limestone, interspersed occasionally with sandstone. Benbo is granitic. The quantity of bog is estimated to occupy 7234 acres. Its general depth is 80 feet, and it rests on a stratum of marl or blue clay. The highest level of any of the bogs above the Shannon at Longh Reagh is 114 feet, that of the lowest 29. All are so far elevated as to admit of drainage. There is a sulphurous spa at Drumna, formerly in high repute for cutaneous disorders, and considered more effective than that of Swankinbar. There are also others of the same quality at Annaghduff, Meelock, and Attymannus, and in some other places. Cavan Spa is a chalybeate, issuing from the southern part of a peninsula in the N. of Lough Allen. Oakfield Spas, likewise chalybeate, is near the sea. Both are visited for their supposed sanative qualities.

The population, like that of every other part of Ireland, was progressively on the increase ever since any series of systematic observations have been directed to ascertain it, until the last decennial period. The following are the most authentic statements:

| Year | Population | |------|------------| | 1760 | De Burgho | | 1792 | Beaumont | | 1813 | Parliamentary census | | 1821 | Ditto | | 1831 | Ditto | | 1841 | Ditto | | 1851 | Ditto |

It appears, therefore, that between 1841 and 1851 the population of Leitrim decreased 28 per cent., or 8 per cent. more than the decrease which took place in the whole of Ireland.

This population was represented in the Irish House of Commons by six members,—two for the county at large, and two for each of the close boroughs of Carrick-on-Shannon and Jamestown. At the Union the boroughs were disfranchised, and compensation to the amount of £15,000 awarded to the Earl of Leitrim for Carrick-on-Shannon, or, as it was then called, Carrick-Dumrumrush; and for Jamestown, £7500; to Gilbert King, Esq., and to the Rev. John King, archdeacon of Killala, and the sovereign burgesses of the burgh of Jamestown, £7500. Since the Union no change has been made in the number of representatives, and the county now sends but two members to the imperial parliament.

The state of public education, as collected from the parliamentary inquiries in 1821 and 1824-26, may be inferred from the following table:

| Year | Boys | Girls | Sex not ascertained | Total | |------|------|-------|---------------------|-------| | 1821 | 3580 | 1609 | ... | 5,189 | | 1824-6| 6736 | 3027 | 772 | 11,135|

Of the numbers in the latter of these returns, 2147 were of the Established church, 27 were Dissenters, 7737 Roman Catholics, and 1204 whose religious persuasion could not be ascertained. The total number of schools was 242, of which twenty-one, educating 1181 pupils, were maintained by grants of public money; sixty-four, educating 3113, derived their support from private contributions; and the remaining 157 schools, educating 6841 pupils, were supported wholly by the fees of those who received instruction in them.

The number of pupils attending each description of school, in 1851, was ascertained, by the Census Commissioners, to have been:

| Schools | No. of Schools | Number of Children | |---------|---------------|-------------------| | National | 93 | 2,449 | | Church Education | 17 | 295 | | Private | 52 | 731 | | Free | 4 | 41 | | Mission | 6 | 41 | | Workhouse | 4 | 453 | | Gaol | 1 | 67 | | Total | 177 | 4,077 |

These numbers state the average attendance of pupils during one week; but from the family returns it appears that the number actually receiving instruction was 12,303; i.e., 6423 males, and 5780 females. The condition of the entire population of the county, above five years of age, as regards rudimentary education, in 1851, was ascertained to be as follows:

| Degrees of Education | Males | Females | Total | |----------------------|-------|---------|-------| | Who could read and write | 18,490 | 8,940 | 27,430 | | Who could read only | 9,225 | 11,395 | 20,620 | | Who could neither read nor write | 22,537 | 29,558 | 52,095 |

The quantity of land under tillage is small, and the plough little used, excepting in the campaign districts. In the other parts the mode of culture is still, to some extent, by the loy, a narrow spade with a long handle. The hills are generally steep, and, though abounding with stones, are tough, and retentive of moisture. The loy penetrates into this species of soil more easily than the common broad spade, and the length of its handle serves as a lever to overcome the resistance of the tenacious soil. Potatoes are planted with a steeven, which is a stake about four feet long and three inches in diameter, tapering to a point at the lower end, near which a cross piece is fixed to rest the foot on whilst pressing the implement into the ground. The seed is dropped into the hole thus made, which is then filled up with mould. Oats are the general crop; barley is but little grown; rye and wheat still less. Flax forms a part of the usual rotation of crops. There are about 14,400 holdings above one acre in extent, and of this number more than 11,500 contain less than 30 acres. There are also about 500 cottiers, or persons holding less than one acre of land.

The extent of land under crops, and the number of acres under each species of crop, in 1854, 1855, and 1856, was as follows:

| Crops | 1854 | 1855 | 1856 | |-------|------|------|------| | Wheat | 293 | 291 | 396 | | Oats | 26,959| 25,780| 27,670| | Barley, Bere, Rye, Beans, and Pease | 323 | 587 | 581 | | Potatoes | 23,666 | 23,537 | 25,102 | | Turnips | 988 | 1,075 | 871 | | Other green crops | 1,625 | 1,193 | 1,515 | | Flax | 1,022 | 718 | 680 | | Meadow and clover | 27,748 | 28,598 | 28,385 |

Total extent under crops | 82,625 | 84,779 | 85,500 |

Tillage farms are small; those for grazing are of considerable size, and are sometimes held by several tenants in common. The grasses are mostly natural, and in general excellent, producing fat and well-flavoured meat, and excellent milk and butter. Dairies of large size are seldom to Leitrim, be met with, but every small farmer produces butter to dispose of at some of the neighbouring markets. Green food is seldom used. The cattle are housed in some parts from December to May, whilst in others they are left out during the winter.

The quantity of each of the chief descriptions of live stock in the county, in 1854, 1855, and 1856, was:

| Live Stock | 1854 | 1855 | 1856 | |------------|------|------|------| | Number of Horses | 3,486 | 3,759 | 3,888 | | Cattle | 89,102 | 91,051 | 89,950 | | Sheep | 19,047 | 20,578 | 20,744 | | Pigs | 27,909 | 20,790 | 14,704 |

The usual fence is a drain, backed at one side with a bank of clammy aluminous earth, 3 or 4 feet high. The ditch thus made soon hardens into a consistency nearly equal to brick, and answers every purpose of fencing except against sheep, in which case it is topped with brushwood. Stone walls are few. Hawthorn hedges are to be met with in some parts. Manures are rich and abundant. Every part has a command of limestone, either solid, or in gravel or marl. The farmers living upon the confined verge of sea-coast within the county industriously take advantage of the sea-weeds, shells, and gravel found there. Much attention is paid to the collection of every kind of manure. The farm-houses are generally long, narrow buildings, of one storey high, with a yard before them, of which the offices form the sides. The repairs are usually made by the landlord, a custom very uncommon in other counties. Leases are generally for three lives, or thirty-one years. Non-alienation clauses are common, and the tenant is sometimes bound down to manure a certain portion of the land.

The manufactures are confined to that of coarse linen, the weaving of which is carried on to some extent. Manufactories of coarse pottery exist about Leitrim and Dromahaire. The only navigable river by which an inland trade can be carried on is the Shannon, the navigation of which, consisting of a series of lakes, short canals, and the magnificent river itself, forms a water communication from Lough Allen to Limerick, and to Dublin by its connection with the Royal Canal at Tarmonbarry. "The proposed most important line of inland navigation which would connect the Ulster Canal and Lough Erne with the Shannon at Leitrim has not been undertaken. The importance of this connection may be estimated by a glance at the map, when it will be seen that the network of inland navigation of the N.E. of Ireland, is separated from the water communications of the S. and centre by the tract which this canal would intersect, and that, consequently, the two systems of traffic, now isolated, would by it be placed in connection. Limerick would thus come into direct communication with Enniskillen and Ballyshannon, on the western, and with Belfast on the eastern coast of Ulster, and a total line of 716 miles of inland navigation be opened out." (Industrial Resources of Ireland, by Sir Robert Kane.)

The general food of the peasantry is potatoes and oatmeal bread, with butter and eggs occasionally, and flesh meat at the great festivals. The clothing is neat, clean, and substantial; the coat usually of native flannel, and the waistcoat and breeches of corduroy. In their general demeanour the peasantry are kind and warm-hearted. They are, like those of most other parts of Ireland, singularly attached to peculiar places of interment. One of the most frequented of these is on a small island near the entrance of the Shannon into Lough Allen, where are the remains of a church. It has been from time immemorial the burying-place for the residents in all the surrounding country; and when access to it is prevented by the stormy state of the lake, the friends of the deceased remain on shore by the putrefying corpse, until the weather become favourable, rather than remove it for interment elsewhere. The frequent occurrence of fatal accidents in these funeral voyages induced a neighbouring gentleman to have a piece of ground upon the adjoining mainland consecrated as a cemetery, but to no purpose. The survivors preferred awaiting all chances of weather rather than relinquish the idea of depositing the bones of their departed friend with those of his forefathers. The mountainous districts are thickly peopled, but have few resident proprietors. The lowest classes there speak Irish, a language which is understood by about thirteen per cent. of the entire population of the county. The vicinity of the three counties of Leitrim, Cavan, and Sligo to each other formerly gave frequent occasion to party feuds between hostile clans or factions, that seldom terminated without bloodshed, and not unfrequently with loss of life.

There are but few remains of ancient Irish antiquities in this county. The most remarkable are two druidical altars; one very large near Fenagh, the other of smaller dimensions at Letterlyan. They are called by the natives Leaha Dearmaidh or Graime, or Darby's and Graime's bed. The principal monastic buildings, of which any vestiges can now be traced, are the following:—Creevelea, near the River Bonnet, built by Margaret, widow of O'Rourke, in 1509. The walls, which are nearly entire, have on them some curious figures, and contain several antique monuments. Fionagh, in Fenagh parish, still exhibits a window of fine workmanship; the place was anciently celebrated as a school of divinity, and was resorted to by students from many parts of Europe. A Franciscan friary, at Jamestown, was remarkable, in the eventful period of 1641, as being the place where the Roman Catholic clergy assembled, and nominated commissioners to treat with such foreign powers as were willing to assist them in their struggle against the English government. Clone, near a small river of the same name in Mohill barony, has still some ruins to point out its site. Mohill Abbey, Anghaidh, and Drumleas, have been converted into parish churches. Some others are known only by name. Amongst the military antiquities may be noticed O'Rourke's Hall, at Dromahaire, near the Bonnet, the destruction of which was expedited by using its materials for the construction of the neighbouring castle of Dromahaire, supposed to have been built by Sir William Villiers in the year 1628. Other castles, built by various members of the O'Rourke family, are those of Longfield, Clooncorrick, Castle Cor, and one on the banks of Lough Gill. Woodford House is built on the site of another of the O'Rourke's castles. Manor-Hamilton Castle, built by Sir Frederick Hamilton in 1641, but now in ruins, was by much the largest, best built, and handsomest in the county. Castle John stands on an island in the little lake called Lough Scur. Dunganbuy Castle, near the sea, is of the era of Elizabeth.

The population of Leitrim may be said to be wholly rural; no town in it contains 2000 inhabitants. Carrick-on-Shannon, the county town, where the assizes are held, and all the public business transacted, contains no more than 1366 inhabitants. Though well circumstanced for inland trade, from its situation on a fine navigable river, no advantage is derived from its position. Its only public buildings are a court-house, a jail, a chapel of ease, and a barrack. The mail-coach road to Sligo passes through it. The only other towns whose population exceeds 1000 souls are, Mohill, which contains 1223, and Manor-Hamilton, which has 1297 inhabitants.