[1] Schmahlhausen's _Flora of South-West Russia_ (Kiev, 1886)
contains a good description of the flora of the province.
KIEV, a city of Russia, capital of the above government, on the right or
west bank of the Dnieper, in 50° 27´ 12´´ N. and 30° 30´ 18´´ E., 628 m.
by rail S.W. of Moscow and 406 m. by rail N.N.E. of Odessa. The site of
the greater part of the town consists of hills or bluffs separated by
ravines and hollows, the elevation of the central portions being about
300 ft. above the ordinary level of the Dnieper. On the opposite side of
the river the country spreads out low and level like a sea. Having
received all its important tributaries, the Dnieper is here a broad (400
to 580 yds.) and navigable stream; but as it approaches the town it
divides into two arms and forms a low grassy island of considerable
extent called Tukhanov. During the spring floods there is a rise of 16
or even 20 ft., and not only the island but the country along the left
bank and the lower grounds on the right bank are laid under water. The
bed of the river is sandy and shifting, and it is only by costly
engineering works that the main stream has been kept from returning to
the more eastern channel, along which it formerly flowed. Opposite the
southern part of the town, where the currents have again united, the
river is crossed by a suspension bridge, which at the time of its
erection (1848-1853) was the largest enterprise of the kind in Europe.
It is about half a mile in length and 52½ ft. in breadth, and the four
principal spans are each 440 ft. The bridge was designed by Vignoles,
and cost about £400,000. Steamers ply in summer to Kremenchug,
Ekaterinoslav, Mogilev, Pinsk and Chernigov. Altogether Kiev is one of
the most beautiful cities in Russia, and the vicinity too is
picturesque.
Until 1837 the town proper consisted of the Old Town, Pechersk and
Podoli; but in that year three districts were added, and in 1879 the
limits were extended to include Kurenevka, Lukyanovka, Shulyavka and
Solomenka. The administrative area of the town is 13,500 acres.
The Old Town, or Old Kiev quarter (Starokievskaya Chast), occupies the
highest of the range of hills. Here the houses are most closely built,
and stone structures most abundant. In some of the principal streets are
buildings of three to five storeys, a comparatively rare thing in
Russia, indeed in the main street (Kreshchatik) fine structures have
been erected since 1896. In the 11th century the area was enclosed by
earthen ramparts, with bastions and gateways; but of these the only
surviving remnant is the Golden Gate. In the centre of the Old Town
stands the cathedral of St Sophia, the oldest cathedral in the Russian
empire. Its external walls are of a pale green and white colour, and it
has ten cupolas, four spangled with stars and six surmounted each with a
cross. The golden cupola of the four-storeyed campanile is visible for
many miles across the steppes. The statement frequently made that the
church was a copy of St Sophia's in Constantinople has been shown to be
a mistake. The building measures in length 177 ft., while its breadth is
118 ft. But though the plan shows no imitation of the great Byzantine
church, the decorations of the interior (mosaics, frescoes, &c.) do
indicate direct Byzantine influence. During the occupation of the church
by the Uniats or United Greek Church in the 17th century these were
covered with whitewash, and were only discovered in 1842, after which
the cathedral was internally restored; but the chapel of the Three
Pontiffs has been left untouched to show how carefully the old style has
been preserved or copied. Among the mosaics is a colossal representation
of the Virgin, 15 ft. in height, which, like the so-called
"indestructible wall" in which it is inlaid, dates from the time
(1019-1054) of Prince Yaroslav. This prince founded the church in 1037
in gratitude for his victory over the Petchenegs, a Turkish race then
settled in the Dnieper valley. His sarcophagus, curiously sculptured
with palms, fishes, &c., is preserved. The church of St Andrew the
Apostle occupies the spot where, according to Russian tradition, that
apostle stood when as yet Kiev was not, and declared that the hill would
become the site of a great city. The present building, in florid rococo
style, dates from 1744-1767. The church of the Tithes, rebuilt in
1828-1842, was founded in the close of the 10th century by Prince
Vladimir in honour of two martyrs whom he had put to death; and the
monastery of St Michael (or of the Golden Heads--so called from the
fifteen gilded cupolas of the original church) claims to have been built
in 1108 by Svyatopolk II., and was restored in 1655 by the Cossack
chieftain Bogdan Chmielnicki. On a plateau above the river, the
favourite promenade of the citizens, stands the Vladimir monument (1853)
in bronze. In this quarter, some distance back from the river, is the
new and richly decorated Vladimir cathedral (1862-1896), in the
Byzantine style, distinguished for the beauty and richness of its
paintings.
Until 1820 the south-eastern district of Pechersk was the industrial and
commercial quarter; but it has been greatly altered in carrying out
fortifications commenced in that year by Tsar Nicholas I. Most of the
houses are small and old-fashioned. The monastery--the
Kievo-Pecherskaya--is the chief establishment of its kind in Russia; it
is visited every year by about 250,000 pilgrims. Of its ten or twelve
conventual churches the chief is that of the Assumption. There are four
distinct quarters in the monastery, each under a superior, subject to
the archimandrite: the Laura proper or New Monastery, that of the
Infirmary, and those of the Nearer and the Further Caves. These caves or
catacombs are the most striking characteristic of the place; the name
Pechersk, indeed, is connected with the Russian _peshchera_, "a cave."
The first series of caves, dedicated to St Anthony, contains eighty
saints' tombs; the second, dedicated to St Theodosius, a saint greatly
venerated in Russia, about forty-five. The bodies were formerly exposed
to view; but the pilgrims who now pass through the galleries see nothing
but the draperies and the inscriptions. Among the more notable names are
those of Nestor the chronicler, and Iliya of Murom, the Old Cossack of
the Russian epics. The foundation of the monastery is ascribed to two
saints of the 11th century--Anthony and Hilarion, the latter
metropolitan of Kiev. By the middle of the 12th century it had become
wealthy and beautiful. Completely ruined by the Mongol prince Batu in
1240, it remained deserted for more than two centuries. Prince Simeon
Oblkovich was the first to begin the restoration. A conflagration laid
the buildings waste in 1716, and their present aspect is largely due to
Peter the Great. The cathedral of the Assumption, with seven gilded
cupolas, was dedicated in 1089, destroyed by the Mongols in 1240, and
restored in 1729; the wall-paintings of the interior are by V.
Vereshchagin. The monastery contains a school of picture-makers of
ancient origin, whose productions are widely diffused throughout the
empire, and a printing press, from which have issued liturgical and
religious works, the oldest known examples bearing the date 1616. It
possesses a wonder-working ikon or image of the "Death of the Virgin,"
said to have been brought from Constantinople in 1073, and the second
highest bell-tower in Russia.
The Podol quarter lies on the low ground at the foot of the bluffs. It
is the industrial and trading quarter of the city, and the seat of the
great fair of the "Contracts," the transference of which from Dubno in
1797 largely stimulated the commercial prosperity of Kiev. The present
regular arrangement of its streets arose after the great fire of 1811.
Lipki district (from the _lipki_ or lime trees, destroyed in 1833) is of
recent origin, and is mainly inhabited by the well-to-do classes. It is
sometimes called the palace quarter, from the royal palace erected
between 1868 and 1870, on the site of the older structure dating from
the time of Tsaritsa Elizabeth. Gardens and parks abound; the palace
garden is exceptionally fine, and in the same neighbourhood are the
public gardens with the place of amusement known as the Château des
Fleurs.
In the New Buildings, or the Lybed quarter, are the university and the
botanical gardens. The Ploskaya Chast (Flat quarter) or Obolon contains
the lunatic asylum; the Lukyanovka Chast, the penitentiary and the camp
and barracks; and the Bulvarnaya Chast, the military gymnasium of St
Vladimir and the railway station. The educational and scientific
institutions of Kiev rank next to those of the two capitals. Its
university, removed from Vilna to Kiev in 1834, has about 2500 students,
and is well provided with observatories, laboratories, libraries and
museums; five scientific societies and two societies for aid to poor
students are attached to it. There are, besides, a theological academy,
founded in 1615; a society of church archaeology, which possesses a
museum built in 1900, very rich in old ikons, crosses, &c., both Russian
and Oriental; an imperial academy of music; university courses for
ladies; a polytechnic, with 1300 students--the building was completed in
1900 and stands on the other side of Old Kiev, away from the river. Of
the learned societies the more important are the medical (1840), the
naturalists' (1869), the juridical (1876), the historical of Nestor the
Chronicler (1872), the horticultural (1875), and the dramatic (1879),
the archaeological commission (1843), and the society of church
archaeology.
Kiev is the principal centre for the sugar industry of Russia, as well
as for the general trade of the region. Its Stryetenskaya fair is
important. More than twenty caves were discovered on the slope of a hill
(Kirilov Street), and one of them, excavated in 1876, proved to have
belonged to neolithic troglodytes. Numerous graves, both from the pagan
and the Christian periods, the latter containing more than 2000
skeletons, with a great number of small articles, were discovered in the
same year in the same neighbourhood. Many colonial Roman coins of the
3rd and 4th centuries, and silver _dirhems_, stamped at Samarkand,
Balkh, Merv, &c., were also found in 1869.
In 1862 the population of Kiev was returned as 70,341; in 1874 the total
was given as 127,251; and in 1902 as 319,000. This includes 20,000 Poles
and 12,000 Jews. Kiev is the headquarters of the IX. Army Corps, and of
a metropolitan of the Orthodox Greek Church.
The history of Kiev cannot be satisfactorily separated from that of
Russia. According to Nestor's legend it was founded in 864 by three
brothers, Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv, and after their deaths the
principality was seized by two Varangians (Scandinavians), Askold and
Dir, followers of Rurik, also in 864. Rurik's successor Oleg conquered
Kiev in 882 and made it the chief town of his principality. It was in
the waters of the Dnieper opposite the town that Prince Vladimir, the
first saint of the Russian church, caused his people to be baptized
(988), and Kiev became the seat of the first Christian church, of the
first Christian school, and of the first library in Russia. For three
hundred and seventy-six years it was an independent Russian city; for
eighty years (1240-1320) it was subject to the Mongols; for two
hundred and forty-nine years (1320-1569) it belonged to the Lithuanian
principality; and for eighty-five years to Poland (1569-1654). It was
finally united to the Russian empire in 1686. The city was devastated
by the khan of the Crimea in 1483. The Magdeburg rights, which the
city enjoyed from 1516, were abolished in 1835, and the ordinary form
of town government introduced; and in 1840 it was made subject to the
common civil law of the empire.
The Russian literature concerning Kiev is voluminous. Its bibliography
will be found in the _Russian Geographical Dictionary_ of P. Semenov,
and in the _Russian Encyclopaedic Dictionary_, published by Brockhaus
and Efron (vol. xv., 1895). Among recent publications are: Rambaud's
_La Russie épique_ (Pans, 1876); Avenarius, _Kniga o Kievskikh
Bogatuiryakh_ (St Petersburg, 1876), dealing with the early Kiev
heroes; Zakrevski, _Opisanie Kieva_ (1868); the materials issued by
the commission for the investigation of the ancient records of the
city; Taranovskiy, _Gorod Kiev_ (Kiev, 1881); De Baye, _Kiev, la mère
des villes russes_ (Paris, 1896); Goetz, _Das Kiewer Höhlenkloster als
Kulturzentrum des Vormongolischen Russlands_ (Passau, 1904). See also
Count Bobrinsky, _Kurgans of Smiela_ (1897); and N. Byelyashevsky,
_The Mints of Kiev_. (P. A. K.; J. T. Be.)
KILBARCHAN, a burgh of barony of Renfrewshire, Scotland, 1 m. from
Milliken Park station on the Glasgow & South-Western railway, 13 m. W.
by S. of Glasgow. Pop. (1901), 2886. The public buildings include a
hall, library and masonic lodge (dating from 1784). There is also a
park. In a niche in the town steeple (erected in 1755) is the statue of
the famous piper, who died about the beginning of the 17th century and
is commemorated in the elegy on "The Life and Death of Habbie Simson,
Piper of Kilbarchan" by Robert Sempill of Beltrees (1595-1665). The
chief industries are manufactures of linen (introduced in 1739 and
dating the rise of the prosperity of the town), cotton, silks and
"Paisley" shawls, and calico-printing, besides quarries, coal and iron
mines in the neighbourhood. Two miles south-west is a great rock of
greenstone called Clochoderick, 12 ft. in height, 22 ft. in length, and
17 ft. in breadth. About 2 m. north-west on Gryfe Water, lies Bridge of
Weir (pop. 2242), the industries of which comprise tanning, currying,
calico-printing, thread-making and wood-turning. It has a station on the
Glasgow & South-Western railway. Immediately to the south-west of Bridge
of Weir are the ruins of Ranfurly Castle, the ancient seat of the
Knoxes. Sir John de Knocks (fl. 1422) is supposed to have been the
great-grandfather of John Knox; and Andrew Knox (1550-1633), one of the
most distinguished members of the family, was successively bishop of the
Isles, abbot of Icolmkill (Iona), and bishop of Raphoe. About 4 m. N.W.
of Bridge of Weir lies the holiday resort of Kilmalcolm (pronounced
Kilmacome; pop. 2220), with a station on the Glasgow & South-Western
railway. It has a golf-course, public park and hydropathic
establishment. Several charitable institutions have been built in and
near the town, amongst them the well-known Quarrier's Orphan Homes of
Scotland.
KILBIRNIE, a town in north Ayrshire, Scotland, on the Garnock, 20½ m.
S.W. of Glasgow, with stations on the Glasgow & South-Western and the
Caledonian railways. Pop. (1901), 4571. The industries include
flax-spinning, rope works, engineering works, and manufactures of linen
thread, wincey, flannels and fishing-nets, and there are iron and steel
works and coal mines in the vicinity. The parish church is of historical
interest, most of the building dating from the Reformation. In the
churchyard are the recumbent effigies of Captain Thomas Crawford of
Jordanhill (d. 1603), who in 1575 effected the surprise of Dumbarton
Castle, and his lady. Near Kilbirnie Place, a modern mansion, are the
ruins of Kilbirnie Castle, an ancient seat of the earls of Crawford,
destroyed by fire in 1757. About 1 m. E. is Kilbirnie Loch, 1(1/3) m.
long.
KILBRIDE, WEST, a town on the coast of Ayrshire, Scotland, near the
mouth of Kilbride Burn, 4 m. N.N.W. of Ardrossan and 35¾ m. S.W. of
Glasgow by the Glasgow & South-Western railway. Pop. (1901), 2315. It
has been growing in repute as a health resort; the only considerable
industry is weaving. In the neighbourhood are the ruins of Law Castle,
Crosbie Castle and Portincross Castle, the last, dating from the 13th
century, said to be a seat of the Stuart kings. Farland Head, with
cliffs 300 ft. high, lies 2 m. W. by N.; and the inland country is
hilly, one point, Kaim Hill, being 1270 ft. above sea-level.
KILDARE, a county of Ireland in the province of Leinster, bounded W. by
Queen's County and King's County, N. by Meath, E. by Dublin and Wicklow,
and S. by Carlow. The area is 418,496 acres or about 654 sq. m. The
greater part of Kildare belongs to the great central plain of Ireland.
In the east of the county this plain is bounded by the foot-hills of the
mountains of Dublin and Wicklow; in the centre it is interrupted by an
elevated plateau terminated on the south by the hills of Dunmurry, and
on the north by the Hill of Allen (300 ft.) which rises abruptly from
the Bog of Allen. The principal rivers are the Boyne, which with its
tributary the Blackwater rises in the north part of the county, but soon
passes into Meath; the Barrow, which forms the boundary of Kildare with
Queen's County, and receives the Greese and the Lane shortly after
entering Kildare; the Lesser Barrow, which flows southward from the Bog
of Allen to near Rathangan; and the Liffey, which enters the county near
Ballymore Eustace, and flowing north-west and then north-east quits it
at Leixlip, having received the Morrel between Celbridge and Clane, and
the Ryewater at Leixlip. Trout are taken in the upper waters, and there
are salmon reaches near Leixlip.
_Geology._--The greater part of the county is formed of typical grey
Carboniferous limestone, well seen in the flat land about Clane. The
natural steps at the Salmon Falls at Leixlip are formed from similar
strata. Along the south-east the broken ground of Silurian shales
forms the higher country, rising towards the Leinster chain. The
granite core of the latter, with its margin of mica-schist produced by
the metamorphism of the Silurian beds, appears in the south round
Castledermot. A parallel ridge of Silurian rocks, including an
interesting series of basic lavas, rises from the plain north of
Kildare town (Hill of Allen and Chair of Kildare), with some Old Red
Sandstone on its flanks. The limestone in this ridge is rich in
fossils of Bala age, and has been compared with that at Portrane in
county Dublin. The low ground is diversified by eskers and masses of
glacial gravel, notably at the dry sandy plateau of the Curragh; but
in part it retains sufficient moisture to give rise to extensive bogs.
The Liffey, which comes down as a mountain-stream in the Silurian
area, forming a picturesque fall in the gorge of Pollaphuca, wanders
through the limestone region between low banks as a true river of the
plain.
_Climate and Industries._--Owing to a considerable degree to the large
extent of bog, the climate of the northern districts is very moist,
and fogs are frequent, but the eastern portion is drier, and the
climate of the Liffey valley is very mild and healthy. The soil,
whether resting on the limestone or on the clay slate, is principally
a rich deep loam inclining occasionally to clay, easily cultivated and
very fertile if properly drained. About 40,000 acres in the northern
part of the county are included in the Bog of Allen, which is,
however, intersected in many places by elevated tracts of firm ground.
To the east of the town of Kildare is the Curragh, an undulating down
upwards of 4800 acres in extent. The most fertile and highly
cultivated districts of Kildare are the valleys of the Liffey and a
tract in the south watered by the Greese. The demesne lands along the
valley of the Liffey are finely wooded. More attention is paid to
drainage and the use of manures on the larger farms than is done in
many other parts of Ireland. The pastures which are not subjected to
the plough are generally very rich and fattening. The proportion of
tillage to pasture is roughly as 1 to 2½. Wheat is a scanty crop, but
oats, barley, turnips and potatoes are all considerably cultivated.
Cattle and sheep are grazed extensively, and the numbers are well
sustained. Of the former, crosses with the shorthorn or the Durham are
the commonest breed. Leicesters are the principal breed of sheep.
Poultry farming is a growing industry.
Though possessing a good supply of water-power the county is almost
destitute of manufactures; there are a few small cotton, woollen and
paper mills, as well as breweries and distilleries, and several corn
mills. Large quantities of turf are exported to Dublin by canal. The
main line of the Midland Great Western follows the northern boundary
of the county, with a branch to Carbury and Edenderry; and that of the
Great Southern & Western crosses the county by way of Newbridge and
Kildare, with southward branches to Naas (and Tullow, county Carlow)
and to Athy and the south. The northern border is traversed by the
Royal Canal, which connects Dublin with the Shannon at Cloondara.
Farther south the Grand Canal, which connects Dublin with the Shannon
at Shannon Harbour, occupies the valley of the Liffey until at Sallins
it enters the Bog of Allen, passing into King's County near the source
of the Boyne. Several branch canals afford communication with the
southern districts.
_Population and Administration._--The decreasing population (70,206 in
1891; 63,566 in 1901) shows an unusual excess of males over females, in
spite of an excess of male emigrants. About 86% of the population are
Roman Catholics. The county comprises 14 baronies and contains 110 civil
parishes. Assizes are held at Naas, and quarter sessions at Athy,
Kildare, Maynooth and Naas. The military stations at Newbridge and the
Curragh constitute the Curragh military district, and the barracks at
Athy and Naas are included in the Dublin military district. The
principal towns are Athy (pop. 3599), Naas (3836) and Newbridge (2903);
with Maynooth (which is the seat of a Roman Catholic college),
Celbridge, Kildare (the county town), Monasterevan, Kilcullen and
Leixlip. Ballitore, one of the larger villages, is a Quaker settlement,
and at a school here Edmund Burke was educated. Kildare returned ten
members to the Irish parliament, of whom eight represented boroughs; it
sends only two (for the north and south divisions of the county) to the
parliament of the United Kingdom. The county is in the Protestant
diocese of Dublin and the Roman Catholic dioceses of Dublin and of
Kildare and Leighlin.
_History and Antiquities._--According to a tale in the Book of Leinster
the original name of Kildare was _Druim Criaidh_ (Drumcree), which it
retained until the time of St Brigit, after which it was changed to
_Cilldara_, the church of the oak, from an old oak under whose shadow
the saint had constructed her cell. For some centuries it was under the
government of the Macmurroughs, kings of Leinster, but with the
remainder of Leinster it was granted by Henry II. to Strongbow. On the
division of the palatinate of Leinster among the five grand-daughters of
Strongbow, Kildare fell to Sibilla, the fourth daughter, who married
William de Ferrars, earl of Derby. Through the marriage of the only
daughter of William de Ferrars it passed to William de Vescy--who, when
challenged to single combat by John Fitz Thomas, baron of Offaly, for
accusing him of treason, fled to France. His lands were thereupon in
1297 bestowed on Fitz Thomas, who in 1316 was created earl of Kildare,
and in 1317 was appointed sheriff of Kildare, the office remaining in
the family until the attainder of Gerald, the ninth earl, in the reign
of Henry VIII. Kildare was a liberty of Dublin until 1296, when an act
was passed constituting it a separate county.
In the county are several old gigantic pillar-stones, the principal
being those at Punchestown, Harristown, Jigginstown and Mullamast. Among
remarkable earthworks are the raths at Mullamast, Knockcaellagh near
Kilcullen, Ardscull near Naas, and the numerous sepulchral mounds in the
Curragh. Of the round towers the finest is that of Kildare; there are
remains of others at Taghadoe, Old Kilcullen, Oughterard and
Castledermot. Formerly there were an immense number of religious houses
in the county. There are remains of a Franciscan abbey at Castledermot.
At Graney are ruins of an Augustinian nunnery and portions of a building
said to have belonged to the Knights Templars. The town of Kildare has
ruins of four monastic buildings, including the nunnery founded by St
Brigit. The site of a monastery at Old Kilcullen, said to date from the
time of St Patrick, is marked by two stone crosses, one of which is
curiously sculptured. The fine abbey of Monasterevan is now the seat of
the marquess of Drogheda. On the Liffey are the remains of Great Connel
Abbey near Celbridge, of St Wolstan's near Celbridge, and of New Abbey.
At Moone, where there was a Franciscan monastery, are the remains of an
ancient cross with curious sculpturings. Among castles may be mentioned
those of Athy and Castledermot, built about the time of the Anglo-Norman
invasion; Maynooth Castle, built by the Fitzgeralds; Kilkea, originally
built by the seventh earl of Kildare, and restored within the 19th
century; and Timolin, erected in the reign of King John.
KILDARE, a market town and the county town of county Kildare, Ireland,
in the south parliamentary division, a junction on the main line of the
Great Southern & Western railway, 30. m. S.W. from Dublin, the branch
line to Athy, Carlow and Kilkenny diverging southward. Pop. (1901),
1576. The town is of high antiquarian interest. There is a Protestant
cathedral church, the diocese of which was united with Dublin in 1846.
St Brigit or Bridget founded the religious community in the 5th century,
and a fire sacred to the memory of the saint is said to have been kept
incessantly burning for several centuries (until the Reformation) in a
small ancient chapel called the Fire House, part of which remains. The
cathedral suffered with the town from frequent burnings and destructions
at the hands of the Danes and the Irish, and during the Elizabethan
wars. The existing church was partially in ruins when an extensive
restoration was begun in 1875 under the direction of G.E. Street; while
the choir, which dated from the latter part of the 17th century, was
rebuilt in 1896. Close to the church are an ancient cross and a very
fine round tower (its summit unhappily restored with a modern
battlement) 105½ ft. high, with a doorway with unusual ornament of
Romanesque character. There are remains of a castle of the 13th century,
and of a Carmelite monastery. From the elevated situation of the town, a
striking view of the great central plain of Ireland is afforded. Kildare
was incorporated by James II., and returned two members to the Irish
parliament.
KILHAM, ALEXANDER (1762-1798), English Methodist, was born at Epworth,
Lincolnshire, on the 10th of July 1762. He was admitted by John Wesley
in 1785 into the regular itinerant ministry. He became the leader and
spokesman of the democratic party in the Connexion which claimed for the
laity the free election of class-leaders and stewards, and equal
representation with ministers at Conference. They also contended that
the ministry should possess no official authority or pastoral
prerogative, but should merely carry into effect the decisions of
majorities in the different meetings. Kilham further advocated the
complete separation of the Methodists from the Anglican Church. In the
violent controversy that ensued he wrote many pamphlets, often
anonymous, and frequently not in the best of taste. For this he was
arraigned before the Conference of 1796 and expelled, and he then
founded the Methodist New Connexion (1798, merged since 1906 in the
United Methodist Church). He died in 1798, and the success of the church
he founded is a tribute to his personality and to the principles for
which he strove. Kilham's wife (Hannah Spurr, 1774-1832), whom he
married only a few months before his death, became a Quaker, and worked
as a missionary in the Gambia and at Sierra Leone; she reduced to
writing several West African vernaculars.
KILIA, a town of S. Russia, in the government of Bessarabia, 100 m. S.W.
of Odessa, on the Kilia branch of the Danube, 20 m. from its mouth. Pop.
(1897), 11,703. It has steam flour-mills and a rapidly increasing trade.
The town, anciently known as Chilia, Chele, and Lycostomium, was a place
of banishment for political dignitaries of Byzantium in the 12th-13th
centuries. After belonging to the Genoese from 1381-1403 it was occupied
successively by Walachia and Moldavia, until in 1484 it fell into the
hands of the Ottoman Turks. It was taken from them by the Russians in
1790. After being bombarded by the Anglo-French fleet in July 1854, it
was given to Rumania on the conclusion of the war; but in 1878 was
transferred to Russia with Bessarabia.
KILIAN (CHILIAN, KILLIAN), ST, British missionary bishop and the apostle
of eastern Franconia, where he began his labours towards the end of the
7th century. There are several biographies of him, the first of which
dates back to the 9th century (_Bibliotheca hagiographica latina_, Nos.
4660-4663). The oldest texts which refer to him are an 8th century
necrology at Würzburg and the notice by Hrabanus Maurus in his
martyrology. According to Maurus, Kilian was a native of Ireland, whence
with his companions he went to eastern Franconia. After having preached
the gospel in Würzburg, the whole party were put to death by the orders
of an unjust judge named Gozbert. It is difficult to fix the period with
precision, as the judge (or duke) Gozbert is not known through other
sources. Kilian's comrades, Coloman and Totman, were, according to the
Würzburg necrology, respectively priest and deacon. The elevation of the
relics of the three martyrs was performed by Burchard, the first bishop
of Würzburg, and they are venerated in the cathedral of that town. His
festival is celebrated on the 8th of July.
See _Acta Sanctorum_, Julii, ii. 599-619; F. Emmerich, _Der heilige
Kilian_ (Würzburg, 1896); J. O'Hanlon, _Lives of the Irish Saints_,
vii. 122-143 (Dublin, 1875-1904); A. Hauck, _Kirchengeschichte
Deutschlands_, 3rd ed., i. 382 seq. (H. De.)
KILIMANJARO, a great mountain in East Africa, its centre lying in 3° 5´
S. and 37° 23´ E. It is the highest known summit of the continent,
rising as a volcanic cone from a plateau of about 3000 ft. to 19,321 ft.
Though completely isolated it is but one of several summits which crown
the eastern edge of the great plateau of equatorial Africa. About 200 m.
almost due north, across the wide expanse of the Kapte and Kikuyu
uplands, lies Mount Kenya, somewhat inferior in height and mass to
Kilimanjaro; and some 25 m. due west rises the noble mass of Mount Meru.
The major axis of Kilimanjaro runs almost east and west, and on it rise
the two principal summits, Kibo in the west, Mawenzi (Ki-mawenzi) in the
east. Kibo, the higher, is a truncated cone with a nearly perfect
extinct crater, and marks a comparatively recent period of volcanic
activity; while Mawenzi (16,892 ft.) is the very ancient core of a
former summit, of which the crater walls have been removed by
denudation. The two peaks, about 7 m. apart, are connected by a saddle
or plateau, about 14,000 ft. in altitude, below which the vast mass
slopes with great regularity in a typical volcanic curve, especially in
the south, to the plains below. The sides are furrowed on the south and
east by a large number of narrow ravines, down which flow streams which
feed the Pangani and Lake Jipe in the south and the Tsavo tributary of
the Sabaki in the east. South-west of Kibo, the Shira ridge seems to be
of independent origin, while in the north-west a rugged group of cones,
of comparatively recent origin, has poured forth vast lava-flows. In
the south-east the regularity of the outline is likewise broken by a
ridge running down from Mawenzi.
The lava slopes of the Kibo peak are covered to a depth of some 200 ft.
with an ice-cap, which, where ravines occur, takes the form of genuine
glaciers. The crater walls are highest on the south, three small peaks,
uncovered by ice, rising from the rim on this side. To the central and
highest of these, the culminating point of the mountain, the name Kaiser
Wilhelm Spitze has been given. The rim here sinks precipitously some 600
ft. to the interior of the crater, which measures rather over 2000 yds.
in diameter, and is in part covered by ice, in part by a bare cone of
ashes. On the west the rim is breached, allowing the passage of an
important glacier formed from the snow which falls within the crater.
Lower down this cleft, which owed its origin to dislocation, is occupied
by two glaciers, one of which reaches a lower level (13,800 ft.) than
any other on Kilimanjaro. On the north-west three large glaciers reach
down to 16,000 ft.
Mawenzi peak has no permanent ice-cap, though at times snow lies in
patches. The rock of which it is composed has become very jagged by
denudation, forming stupendous walls and precipices. On the east the
peak falls with great abruptness some 6500 ft. to a vast ravine, due
apparently to dislocation and sinking of the ground. Below this the
slope is more gradual and more symmetrical. Like the other high
mountains of eastern Africa, Kilimanjaro presents well-defined zones of
vegetation. The lowest slopes are arid and scantily covered with scrub,
but between 4000 and 6000 ft. on the south side the slopes are well
watered and cultivated. The forest zone begins, on the south, at about
6500 ft., and extends to 9500, but in the north it is narrower, and in
the north-west, the driest quarter of the mountain, almost disappears.
In the alpine zone, marked especially by tree lobelias and _Senecio_,
flowering plants extend up to 15,700 ft. on the sheltered south-west
flank of Mawenzi, but elsewhere vegetation grows only in dwarfed patches
beyond 13,000 ft. The special fauna and flora of the upper zone are akin
to those of other high African mountains, including Cameroon. The
southern slopes, between 4000 and 6000 ft., form the well-peopled
country of Chaga, divided into small districts.
As the natives believe that the summit of Kilimanjaro is composed of
silver, it is conjectured that Aristotle's reference to "the so-called
Silver Mountain" from which the Nile flows was based on reports about
this mountain. It is possible, however, that the "Silver Mountain" was
Ruwenzori (q.v.), from whose snow-clad heights several headstreams of
the Nile do descend. It is also possible, though improbable, that
Ruwenzori and not Kilimanjaro nor Kenya may be the range known to
Ptolemy and to the Arab geographers of the middle ages as the
Mountains of the Moon. Reports of the existence of mountains covered
with snow were brought to Zanzibar about 1845 by Arab traders.
Attracted by these reports Johannes Rebmann of the Church Missionary
Society journeyed inland from Mombasa in 1848 and discovered
Kilimanjaro, which is some 200 m. inland. Rebmann's account, though
fully borne out by his colleague Dr Ludwig Krapf, was at first
received with great incredulity by professional geographers. The
matter was finally set at rest by the visits paid to the mountain by
Baron Karl von der Decken (1861 and 1862) and Charles New (1867), the
latter of whom reached the lower edge of the snow. Kilimanjaro has
since been explored by Joseph Thomson (1883), Sir H. H. Johnston
(1884), and others. It has been the special study of Dr Hans Meyer,
who made four expeditions to it, accomplishing the first ascent to the
summit in 1889. In the partition of Africa between the powers of
western Europe, Kilimanjaro was secured by Germany (1886) though the
first treaties concluded with native chiefs in that region had been
made in 1884 by Sir H. H. Johnston on behalf of a British company. On
the southern side of the mountain at Moshi is a German government
station.
See R. Thornton (the geologist of von der Decken's party) in _Proc. of
Roy. Geog. Soc._ (1861-1862); Ludwig Krapf, _Travels in East Africa_
(1860); Charles New, _Life ... in East Africa_ (1873); Sir J. D.
Hooker in _Journal of Linnean Society_ (1875); Sir H. H. Johnston,
_The Kilimanjaro Expedition_ (1886); Hans Meyer, _Across East African
Glaciers_ (1891); _Der Kilimanjaro_ (Berlin, 1900). Except the
last-named all these works were published in London. (E. He.)
KILIN, or CH'-I-LIN, one of the four symbolical creatures which in
Chinese mythology are believed to keep watch and ward over the Celestial
Empire. It is a unicorn, portrayed in Chinese art as having the body and
legs of a deer and an ox's tail. Its advent on earth heralds an age of
enlightened government and civic prosperity. It is regarded as the
noblest of the animal creation and as the incarnation of fire, water,
wood, metal and earth. It lives for a thousand years, and is believed to
step so softly as to leave no footprints and to crush no living thing.
KILKEE, a seaside resort of county Clare, Ireland, the terminus of a
branch of the West Clare railway. Pop. (1901), 1661. It lies on a small
and picturesque inlet of the Atlantic named Moore Bay, with a beautiful
sweep of sandy beach. The coast, fully exposed to the open ocean,
abounds in fine cliff scenery, including numerous caves and natural
arches, but is notoriously dangerous to shipping. Moore Bay is safe and
attractive for bathers. Bishop's Island, a bold isolated rock in the
vicinity, has remains of an oratory and house ascribed to the recluse St
Senan.
KILKENNY, a county of Ireland, in the province of Leinster, bounded N.
by Queen's County, E. by Carlow and Wexford, S. by Waterford, and W. by
Waterford and Tipperary. The area is 511,775 acres, or about 800 sq. m.
The greater part of Kilkenny forms the south-eastern extremity of the
great central plain of Ireland, but in the south-east occurs an
extension of the mountains of Wicklow and Carlow, and the plain is
interrupted in the north by a hilly region forming part of the
Castlecomer coal-field, which extends also into Queen's County and
Tipperary. The principal rivers, the Suir, the Barrow and the Nore, have
their origin in the Slieve Bloom Mountains (county Tipperary and Queen's
County), and after widely divergent courses southward discharge their
waters into Waterford Harbour. The Suir forms the boundary of the county
with Waterford, and is navigable for small vessels to Carrick. The Nore,
which is navigable to Innistioge, enters the county at its north-western
boundary, and flows by Kilkenny to the Barrow, 9 m. above Ross, having
received the King's River at Jerpoint and the Argula near Innistioge.
The Barrow, which is navigable beyond the limits of Kilkenny into
Kildare, forms the eastern boundary of the county from near New Bridge.
There are no lakes of any extent, but turloughs or temporary lakes are
occasionally formed by the bursting up of underground streams.
The coal of the Castlecomer basin is anthracite, and the most productive
portions of the bed are in the centre of the basin at Castlecomer.
Hematitic iron of a rich quality is found in the Cambro-Silurian rocks
at several places; and tradition asserts that silver shields were made
about 850 B.C. at Argetros or Silverwood on the Nore. Manganese is
obtained in some of the limestone quarries, and also near the Barrow.
Marl is abundant in various districts. Pipeclay and potter's clay are
found, and also yellow ochre. Copper occurs near Knocktopher.
The high synclinal coal-field forms the most important feature of the
north of the county. A prolongation of the field runs out south-west
by Tullaroan. The lower ground is occupied by Carboniferous limestone.
The Old Red Sandstone, with a Silurian core, forms the high ridge of
Slievenaman in the south; and its upper laminated beds contain
_Archanodon_, the earliest known freshwater mollusc, and
plant-remains, at Kiltorcan near Ballyhale. The Leinster granite
appears mainly as inliers in the Silurian of the south-east. The
Carboniferous sandstones furnish the hard pavement-slabs sold as
"Carlow flags." The black limestone with white shells in it at
Kilkenny is quarried as an ornamental marble. Good slates are quarried
at Kilmoganny, in the Silurian inlier on the Slievenaman range.
On account of the slope of the country, and the nature of the soil, the
surface occupied by bog or wet land is very small, and the air is dry
and healthy. So temperate is it in winter that the myrtle and arbutus
grow in the open air. There is less rain than at Dublin, and vegetation
is earlier than in the adjacent counties. Along the banks of the Suir,
Nore and Barrow a very rich soil has been formed by alluvial deposits.
Above the Coal-measures in the northern part of the county there is a
moorland tract devoted chiefly to pasturage. The soil above the
limestone is for the most part a deep and rich loam admirably adapted
for the growth of wheat. The heath-covered hills afford honey with a
flavour of peculiar excellence. Proportionately to its area, Kilkenny
has an exceptionally large cultivable area. The proportion of tillage
to pasturage is roughly as 1 to 2¼. Oats, barley, turnips and potatoes
are all grown; the cultivation of wheat has very largely lapsed. Cattle,
sheep, pigs and poultry are extensively reared, the Kerry cattle being
in considerable request.
The linen manufacture introduced into the county in the 17th century by
the duke of Ormonde to supersede the woollen manufacture gradually
became extinct, and the woollen manufacture now carried on is also very
small. There are, however, breweries, distilleries, tanneries and
flour-mills, as well as marble polishing works. The county is traversed
from N. to S. by the Maryborough, Kilkenny and Waterford branch of the
Great Southern & Western railway, with a connexion from Kilkenny to
Bagenalstown on the Kildare and Carlow line; and the Waterford and
Limerick line of the same company runs for a short distance through the
southern part of the county.
The population (87,496 in 1891; 79,159 in 1901) includes about 94% of
Roman Catholics. The decrease of population is a little above the
average, though emigration is distinctly below it. The chief towns and
villages are Kilkenny (q.v.), Callan (1840), Castlecomer, Thomastown and
Graigue. The county comprises 10 baronies and contains 134 civil
parishes. The county includes the parliamentary borough of Kilkenny, and
is divided into north and south parliamentary divisions, each returning
one member. Kilkenny returned 16 members to the Irish parliament, two
representing the county. Assizes are held at Kilkenny, and quarter
sessions at Kilkenny, Pilltown, Urlingford, Castlecomer, Callan, Grace's
Old Castle and Thomastown. The county is in the Protestant diocese of
Ossory and the Roman Catholic dioceses of Ossory and Kildare and
Leighlin.
Kilkenny is one of the counties generally considered to have been
created by King John. It had previously formed part of the kingdom of
Ossory, and was one of the liberties granted to the heiresses of
Strongbow with palatinate rights. Circular groups of stones of very
ancient origin are on the summits of Slieve Grian and the hill of
Cloghmanta. There are a large number of cromlechs as well as raths (or
encampments) in various parts of the county. Besides numerous forts and
mounds there are five round towers, one adjoining the Protestant
cathedral of Kilkenny, and others at Tulloherin, Kilree, Fertagh and
Aghaviller. All, except that at Aghaviller, are nearly perfect. There
are remains of a Cistercian monastery at Jerpoint, said to have been
founded by Dunnough, King of Ossory, and of another belonging to the
same order at Graigue, founded by the earl of Pembroke in 1212. The
Dominicans had an abbey at Rosbercon founded in 1267, and another at
Thomastown, of which there are some remains. The Carmelites had a
monastery at Knocktopher. There were an Augustinian monastery at
Inistioge, and priories at Callan and Kells, of all of which there are
remains. There are also ruins of several old castles, such as those of
Callan, Legan, Grenan and Clonamery, besides the ancient portions of
Kilkenny Castle.
KILKENNY, a city and municipal and parliamentary borough (returning one
member), the capital of county Kilkenny, Ireland, finely situated on the
Nore, and on the Great Southern and Western railway, 81 m. S.W. of
Dublin. Pop. (1901), 10,609. It consists of Englishtown (or Kilkenny
proper) and Irishtown, which are separated by a small rivulet, but
although Irishtown retains its name, it is now included in the borough
of Kilkenny. The city is irregularly built, possesses several spacious
streets with many good houses, while its beautiful environs and imposing
ancient buildings give it an unusual interest and picturesque
appearance. The Nore is crossed by two handsome bridges. The cathedral
of St Canice, from whom the town takes its name, dates in its present
form from about 1255. The see of Ossory, which originated in the
monastery of Aghaboe founded by St Canice in the 6th century, and took
its name from the early kingdom of Ossory, was moved to Kilkenny
(according to conjecture) about the year 1200. In 1835 the diocese of
Ferns and Leighlin was united to it. With the exception of St Patrick's,
Dublin, the cathedral is the largest ecclesiastical building in
Ireland, having a length from east to west of 226 ft., and a breadth
along the transepts from north to south of 123 ft. It occupies an
eminence at the western extremity of Irishtown. It is a cruciform
structure mainly in Early English style, with a low massive tower
supported on clustered columns of the black marble peculiar to the
district. The building was extensively restored in 1865. It contains
many old sepulchral monuments and other ancient memorials. The north
transept incorporates the parish church. The adjacent library of St
Canice contains numerous ancient books of great value. A short distance
from the south transept is a round tower 100 ft. high; the original cap
is wanting. The episcopal palace near the east end of the cathedral was
erected in the time of Edward III. and enlarged in 1735. Besides the
cathedral the principal churches are the Protestant church of St Mary, a
plain cruciform structure of earlier foundation than the present
cathedral; that of St John, including a portion of the hospital of St
John founded about 1220; and the Roman Catholic cathedral, of the
diocese of Ossory, dedicated to St Mary (1843-1857), a cruciform
structure in the Early Pointed style, with a massive central tower.
There are important remains of two monasteries--the Dominican abbey
founded in 1225, and now used as a Roman Catholic church; and the
Franciscan abbey on the banks of the Nore, founded about 1230. But next
in importance to the cathedral is the castle, the seat of the marquess
of Ormonde, on the summit of a precipice above the Nore. It was
originally built by Strongbow, but rebuilt by William Marshall after the
destruction of the first castle in 1175; and many additions and
restorations by members of the Ormonde family have maintained it as a
princely residence. The Protestant college of St John, originally
founded by Pierce Butler, 8th earl of Ormonde, in the 16th century, and
re-endowed in 1684 by James, 1st duke of Ormonde, stands on the banks of
the river opposite the castle. In it Swift, Farquhar, Congreve and
Bishop Berkeley received part of their education. On the outskirts of
the city is the Roman Catholic college of St Kyran (Kieran), a Gothic
building completed about 1840. The other principal buildings are the
modern court-house, the tholsel or city court (1764), the city and
county prison, the barracks and the county infirmary. In the
neighbourhood are collieries as well as long-established quarries for
marble, the manufactures connected with which are an important industry
of the town. The city also possesses corn-mills, breweries and
tanneries. Not far from the city are the remarkable limestone caverns of
Dunmore, which have yielded numerous human remains. The corporation of
Kilkenny consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors.
Kilkenny proper owes its origin to an English settlement in the time of
Strongbow, and it received a charter from William Marshall, who married
Strongbow's daughter. This charter was confirmed by Edward III., and
from Edward IV. Irishtown received the privilege of choosing a portreeve
independent of Kilkenny. By Elizabeth the boroughs, while retaining
their distinct rights, were constituted one corporation, which in 1609
was made a free borough by James I., and in the following year a free
city. From James II. the citizens received a new charter, constituting
the city and liberties a distinct county, to be styled the county of the
city of Kilkenny, the burgesses of Irishtown continuing, however, to
elect a portreeve until the passing of the Muncipal Reform Act. Frequent
parliaments were held at Kilkenny from the 14th to the 16th century, and
so late as the reign of Henry VIII. it was the occasional residence of
the lord-lieutenant. In 1642 it was the meeting-place of the assembly of
confederate Catholics. In 1648 Cromwell, in the hope of obtaining
possession of the town by means of a plot, advanced towards it, but
before his arrival the plot was discovered. In 1650 it was, however,
compelled to surrender after a long and resolute defence. At a very
early period Kilkenny and Irishtown returned each two members to the
Irish parliament, but since the Union one member only has been returned
to Westminster for the city of Kilkenny.
The origin of the expression "to fight like Kilkenny cats," which,
according to the legend, fought till only their tails were left, has
been the subject of many conjectures. It is said to be an allegory on
the disastrous municipal quarrels of Kilkenny and Irishtown which
lasted from the end of the 14th to the end of the 17th centuries
(_Notes and Queries_, 1st series, vol. ii. p. 71). It is referred also
to the brutal sport of some Hessian soldiers, quartered in Kilkenny
during the rebellions of 1798 or 1803, who tied two cats together by
their tails, hung them over a line and left them to fight. A soldier
is said to have freed them by cutting off their tails to escape
censure from the officers (ibid. 3rd series, vol. v. p. 433). Lastly,
it is attributed to the invention of J. P. Curran. As a sarcastic
protest against cock-fighting in England, he declared that he had
witnessed in Sligo (?) fights between trained cats, and that once they
had fought so fiercely that only their tails were left (ibid. 7th
series, vol. ii. p. 394).
KILKENNY, STATUTE OF, the name given to a body of laws promulgated in
1366 with the object of strengthening the English authority in Ireland.
In 1361, when Edward III. was on the English throne, he sent one of his
younger sons, Lionel, duke of Clarence, who was already married to an
Irish heiress, to represent him in Ireland. From the English point of
view the country was in a most unsatisfactory condition. Lawless and
predatory, the English settlers were hardly distinguishable from the
native Irish, and the authority of the English king over both had been
reduced to vanishing point. In their efforts to cope with the prevailing
disorder Lionel and his advisers summoned a parliament to meet at
Kilkenny early in 1366 and here the statute of Kilkenny was passed into
law. This statute was written in Norman-French, and nineteen of its
clauses are merely repetitions of some ordinances which had been drawn
up at Kilkenny fifteen years earlier. It began by relating how the
existing state of lawlessness was due to the malign influence exercised
by the Irish over the English, and, like Magna Carta, its first positive
provision declared that the church should be free. As a prime remedy for
the prevailing evils all marriages between the two races were forbidden.
Englishmen must not speak the Irish tongue, nor receive Irish minstrels
into their dwellings, nor even ride in the Irish fashion; while to give
or sell horses or armour to the Irish was made a treasonable offence.
Moreover English and not Breton law was to be employed, and no Irishman
could legally be received into a religious house, nor presented to a
benefice. The statute also contained clauses for compelling the English
settlers to keep the laws. For each county four wardens of the peace
were to be appointed, while the sheriffs were to hold their tourns twice
a year and were not to oppress the people by their exactions. An attempt
was made to prevent the emigration of labourers, and finally the
spiritual arm was invoked to secure obedience to these laws by threats
of excommunication. The statute, although marking an interesting stage
in the history of Ireland, had very little practical effect.
The full text is published in the _Statutes and Ordinances of Ireland.
John to Henry V._, by H. F. Berry (1907).
KILLALA (pron. _Killálla_), a small town on the north coast of county
Mayo, Ireland, in the northern parliamentary division, on the western
shore of a fine bay to which it gives name. Pop. (1901), 510. It is a
terminus of a branch of the Midland Great Western railway. Its trade is
almost wholly diverted to Ballina on the river Moy, which enters the
bay, but Killala is of high antiquarian and historical interest. It was
for many centuries a bishop's see, the foundation being attributed to St
Patrick in the 5th century, but the diocese was joined with Achonry
early in the 17th century and with Tuam in 1833. The cathedral church of
St Patrick is a plain structure of the 17th century. There is a fine
souterrain, evidently connected with a rath, or encampment, in the
graveyard. A round tower, 84 ft. in height, stands boldly on an isolated
eminence. Close to Killala the French under Humbert landed in 1798,
being diverted by contrary winds from the Donegal coast. Near the Moy
river, south of Killala, are the abbeys of Moyne and Roserk or
Rosserick, both Decorated in style, and both possessing fine cloisters.
At Rathfran, 2 m. N., is a Dominican abbey (1274), and in the
neighbourhood are camps, cromlechs, and an inscribed ogham stone, 12 ft.
in height. Killala gives name to a Roman Catholic diocese, the seat of
which, however, is at Ballina.
KILLALOE, a town of county Clare, Ireland, in the east parliamentary
division, at the lower extremity of Lough Derg on the river Shannon, at
the foot of the Slieve Bernagh mountains. Pop. (1901), 885. It is
connected, so as to form one town, with Ballina (county Tipperary) by a
bridge of 13 arches. Ballina is the terminus of a branch of the Great
Southern and Western railway, 15 m. N.E. of Limerick. Slate is quarried
in the vicinity, and there were formerly woollen manufactures. The
cathedral of St Flannan occupies the site of a church founded by St
Dalua in the 6th century. The present building is mainly of the 12th
century, a good cruciform example of the period, preserving, however, a
magnificent Romanesque doorway. It was probably completed by Donall
O'Brien, king of Munster, but part of the fabric dates from a century
before his time. In the churchyard is an ancient oratory said to date
from the period of St Dalua. Near Killaloe stood Brian Boru's palace of
Kincora, celebrated in verse by Moore; for this was the capital of the
kings of Munster. Killaloe is frequented by anglers for the Shannon
salmon-fishing and for trout-fishing in Lough Derg. Killaloe gives name
to Protestant and Roman Catholic dioceses.
KILLARNEY, a market town of county Kerry, Ireland, in the east
parliamentary division, on a branch line of the Great Southern & Western
railway, 185¼ m. S.W. from Dublin. Pop. of urban district (1901), 5656.
On account of the beautiful scenery in the neighbourhood the town is
much frequented by tourists. The principal buildings are the Roman
Catholic cathedral and bishop's palace of the diocese of Kerry, designed
by A. W. Pugin, a large Protestant church and several hotels. Adjoining
the town is the mansion of the earl of Kenmare. There is a school of
arts and crafts, where carving and inlaying are prosecuted. The only
manufacture of importance now carried on at Killarney is that of fancy
articles from arbutus wood; but it owed its origin to iron-smelting
works, for which abundant fuel was obtained from the neighbouring
forests.
The lakes of Killarney, about 1½ m. from the town, lie in a basin
between several lofty mountain groups, some of which rise abruptly from
the water's edge, and all clothed with trees and shrubbery almost to
their summits. The lower lake, or Lough Leane (area 5001 acres), is
studded with finely wooded islands, on the largest of which, Ross
Island, are the ruins of Ross Castle, an old fortress of the
O'Donoghues; and on another island, the "sweet Innisfallen" of Moore,
are the picturesque ruins of an abbey founded by St Finian the leper at
the close of the 6th century. Between the lower lake and the middle or
Torc lake (680 acres in extent) stands Muckross Abbey, built by
Franciscans about 1440. With the upper lake (430 acres), thickly studded
with islands, and close shut in by mountains, the lower and middle lakes
are connected by the Long Range, a winding and finely wooded channel, 2½
m. in length, and commanding magnificent views of the mountains. Midway
in its course is a famous echo caused by the Eagle's Nest, a lofty
pyramidal rock.
Besides the lakes of Killarney themselves, the immediate neighbourhood
includes many features of natural beauty and of historic interest. Among
the first are Macgillicuddy's Reeks and the Torc and Purple Mountains,
the famous pass known as the Gap of Dunloe, Mount Mangerton, with a
curious depression (the Devil's Punchbowl) near its summit, the
waterfalls of Torc and Derrycunihy, and Lough Guitane, above Lough
Leane. Notable ruins and remains, besides Muckross and Innisfallen,
include Aghadoe, with its ruined church of the 12th century (formerly a
cathedral) and remains of a round tower; and the Ogham Cave of Dunloe, a
souterrain containing inscribed stones. The waters of the neighbourhood
provide trout and salmon, and the flora is of high interest to the
botanist. Innumerable legends centre round the traditional hero
O'Donoghue.
KILLDEER, a common American plover, so called in imitation of its
whistling cry, the _Charadrius vociferus_ of Linnaeus, and the
_Aegialitis vocifera_ of modern ornithologists. About the size of a
snipe, it is mostly sooty-brown above, but showing a bright buff on the
tail coverts, and in flight a white bar on the wings; beneath it is
pure white except two pectoral bands of deep black. It is one of the
finest as well as the largest of the group commonly known as ringed
plovers or ring dotterels,[1] forming the genus _Aegialitis_ of Boie.
Mostly wintering in the south or only on the sea-shore of the more
northern states, in spring it spreads widely over the interior, breeding
on the newly ploughed lands or on open grass-fields. The nest is made in
a slight hollow, and is often surrounded with small pebbles and
fragments of shells. Here the hen lays her pear-shaped, stone-coloured
eggs, four in number, and always arranged with their pointed ends
touching each other, as is the custom of most Limicoline birds. The
parents exhibit the greatest anxiety for their offspring on the approach
of an intruder. It is the best-known bird of its family in the United
States, where it is less abundant in the north-east than farther south
or west. In Canada it does not range farther northward than 56° N.; it
is not known in Greenland, and hardly in Labrador, though it is a
passenger in Newfoundland every spring and autumn.[2] In winter it finds
its way to Bermuda and to some of the Antilles, but it is not recorded
from any of the islands to the windward of Porto Rico. In the other
direction, however, it travels down the Isthmus of Panama and the west
coast of South America to Peru. The killdeer has several other congeners
in America, among which may be noticed _Ae. semipalmata_, curiously
resembling the ordinary ringed plover of the Old World, _Ae. hiaticula_,
except that it has its toes connected by a web at the base; and Ae.
nivosa, a bird inhabiting the western parts of both the American
continents, which in the opinion of some authors is only a local form of
the widely spread _Ae. alexandrina_ or _cantiana_, best known as Kentish
plover, from its discovery near Sandwich towards the end of the 18th
century, though it is far more abundant in many other parts of the Old
World. The common ringed plover, _Ae. hiaticula_, has many of the habits
of the killdeer, but is much less often found away from the sea-shore,
though a few colonies may be found in dry warrens in certain parts of
England many miles from the coast, and in Lapland at a still greater
distance. In such localities it paves its nest with small stones (whence
it is locally known as "Stone hatch"), a habit almost unaccountable
unless regarded as an inherited instinct from shingle-haunting
ancestors. (A. N.)