six miles. Possesses chalybeate spring. Beautiful river scenery,
and splendid fishing. The Shannon Hotel can be recommended.
DUNMORE EAST.--Pleasant, quiet, and select seaside resort, eleven
miles from Waterford, at the mouth of the River Suir. Good strand,
well sheltered. Splendid sea fishing and exceptionally good harbour
for yachting or boating. Plenty of villa and lodging-accommodation,
demand for same on increase in season. Good bathing; good hotel.
GLENGARRIFF.--Coach from Kenmare or Bantry. Beautiful scenery.
Inlet of Bantry Bay. Well wooded, mild climate, winter resort
beyond compare. Gulf Stream strikes coast in vicinity. Excellent
hotel accommodation. Good cottage accommodation. Plenty coaching
and boating facilities in summer; splendid sea bathing. Arbutus
grows wild.
KENMARE.--One of the starting-points for the Grand Atlantic Coast
Drive. Thriving pleasant town at the head of the fiord.
Macgillicuddy Reeks stand out behind the town. Mountain climbers
will make ascent best from point beyond Sohaleen Bridge. Both the
Cork and Kerry sides of the bay are very beautiful and worthy of
investigation. The Southern Hotels Company has one of its branches
outside the railway station. The Lansdowne Arms is an old coaching
inn, famed for its mountain mutton and good claret.
~KILKEE.~--The best bathing-resort in the three kingdoms. Splendid
facilities. The cliff scenery and coast walks attractive. Good
villa and cottage accommodation. Modern hotels on esplanade.
~KILLARNEY~, see page 136.
~LEHINCH.~--Bracing air from Atlantic. Good bathing. Bold coast
line. New hotel, fine golf links. Promises to be the most
up-to-date watering place in Clare.
~LEENANE.~--The pleasant place on Killary Harbour. It has the
Mweelrea mountains behind it and the sea in front. The bay is
remarkable for sea fishing, while the salmon and trout angler will
have his heart's desire in Errif Lake. The Leenane Hotel stands
close to the shore, and the Aasleagh Hotel, high above the Errif,
is surrounded by demesne lands. The mountain scenery is remarkable.
~LISDOONVARNA.~--Inland watering place. An old favourite health
resort now more easy of access than hitherto. The spas are
sulphurous and chalybeate. The hotel accommodation is unusually
good, but still insufficient for the summer and early autumn
visitors. The driving tours in the locality take in the most
delightful scenery in county Clare.
~LUCAN.~--A very old spa. Beautiful sylvan retreat within nine
miles of Dublin. Scenery on upper Liffey and drives in vicinity
through charming country. The Hydro, equipped with every modern
advantage.
~PARKNASILLA.~--THE PREMIER WINTER RESORT OF IRELAND. Hotel well
sheltered on fiord of Kenmare Bay. The grounds around beautifully
wooded and planted with luxuriant shrubs. Absolutely free from
winter cold. This country side the pride of Kerry. The seascape and
islands in vicinity delightful. Admirable arrangements for boating,
fishing, and coaching.
~POULAPHOUCA.~--Approached from Harristown on the Tullow branch. The
upper Liffey winds here through a beautiful glen with a splendid
fall beyond Poulaphouca bridge. Splendid facilities for shooting and
fishing are afforded in the surrounding mountain country.
Convenient centre for pedestrian and cycle tours. Hotel immediately
above the Fall, also good hotel at Blessington: and four miles
higher up in the Wicklow Highlands, at Lacken, excellent hotel.
~QUEENSTOWN.~--"The Paradise of Pensioners." The port of Cork
Harbour. Centre of American tourist traffic. Well sheltered. Long
the winter quarters of invalids. Every facility for visitors.
Within easy reach of Cork city. Excellent train service. In summer
steamer trips on beautiful river. Several good hotels; splendid
villa accommodation. A bright cheerful town, full of life and
change of colour. A well known specialist (Dr. A. Thomson), in his
"Physician's Note Book," puts the query--"Where should a
consumptive patient pass the winter months if he can't go abroad?"
and answers himself, "There is no place within Great Britain and
Ireland so well adapted for the residence of a consumptive patient
as Queenstown."
~RECESS.~--Midway between Clifden and Kylemore, on the edge of the
western Glendalough, guarded behind by mountain scenery, secluded,
but all the more attractive to those weary of the busy haunts of
men. The lake and mountain scenery exceptionally wild. It is an
ideal resort for sportsmen.
~TRAMORE.~--One of the most attractive watering places in Ireland.
Its name in English signifies "the great strand," and it is no
misnomer. The bathing facilities are the best on southern coast,
and are not, indeed, surpassed on any other coast. Splendid new
hotel up-to-date in every respect, and other hotels to suit all
classes, with fine race-course, plenty of lodgings and houses to be
had in the season. Twenty minutes run from Waterford by train.
Military bands in the summer. Exceptionally good place for
families. Tramore is a delightful seaside resort, built on a
gradual incline, with a southerly aspect, on the shores of the
broad Atlantic. The air is almost proverbial for its restorative
qualities, not only in popular but also in scientific opinion. It
is beyond all doubt that Tramore has as many hours of sunshine,
less rainfall, and more even temperature than any other seaside
town in the United Kingdom.
~VALENCIA.~--The next parish to America, the home of Atlantic cable
stations. The island remarkable for the number of tropical plants
which grow in the open. Climate unusually mild. Boating, sailing,
and bathing in the season. Deep-sea fishing with islanders. Good
hotel, comfortable, clean, and cheap. Other accommodation difficult
to obtain.
~WATERFORD~, see page 112.
~WATERVILLE.~--Principal posting place on Atlantic coast tour.
Splendid watering place, beautifully situated on strip of land
dividing mountain lake from sea. Fine strand. Sea and lake fishing.
The station for Mackey Bennet cable system. Three good hotels,
M'Elligott's and Galvin's, on the coast, and the Southern Hotel on
the shore of the picturesque Lough Currane, within a stone's throw
of the sea. Very good cottage accommodation in summer season.
[Illustration]
Natural History of the South and West of Ireland.
By R. LLOYD PRAEGER, B.A., B.E., &c.
The Natural History of the South and West of Ireland possesses a special
and peculiar interest in the occurrence in this region of a number of
plants and animals which are rare in or absent from Great Britain and
the adjoining portions of Europe. Let us first consider the general
geographical features of this area, and the geological characters which
have produced those features. Ireland has often been likened to a
saucer, consisting as it does of a great central plain, fringed with
mountain groups disposed around the coast. The plain has a slightly
undulating floor of Carboniferous limestone; the groups of hills are
mostly formed of older rocks, which break through the level limestones.
On our journey from Dublin to Athlone, or from Dublin to Mallow, we pass
across typical portions of the central plain; and the brown ridges of
Slieve Bloom and Devil's Bit, and the greener heights of the Galtees,
furnish good examples of the masses of older rocks that rise out of the
plain.
In considering the features and natural history of this wide area, it
will be convenient to divide it into districts, which we shall treat of
in the following order:--
1. Wicklow and Wexford.
2. Waterford and East Cork.
3. West Cork and Kerry.
4. Clare and East Galway.
5. West Galway and West Mayo.
6. Sligo.
7. The Central Plain and River Shannon.
1. ~WICKLOW AND WEXFORD.~--Here we are on the East Coast, looking across
St. George's Channel towards the shores of Wales. The lovely county of
Wicklow is the most mountainous in Ireland, having 180 square miles over
1,000 feet elevation, and 25 square miles over 2,000. Wexford is lower
and more fertile. The coasts of both counties are in great measure flat
and sandy, and are the home of many rare plants. A number of species of
light soils and of gravelly shores have here their Irish headquarters,
such as the Round-headed Trefoil (_Trifolium glomeratum_) the Sea-Stock
(_Matthiola sinuata_), the rare Sea-Cudweed (_Diotis candidissima_), and
the Wild Asparagus (_A. officinalis_). The Murrough, a great gravel
beach backed by salt marshes which extends from Greystones to Wicklow,
and the marshes of the River Slaney, may be specially recommended to the
naturalist. These coasts are the only Irish locality for the handsome
ground-beetle, _Nebria complanata_, a typical South European animal. The
Wicklow mountains, which reach in Lugnaquilla a height of 3,039 feet,
are the main portion of the Leinster highlands, formed by a great mass
of granite which stretches from Dublin into county Kilkenny. Considering
their elevation this range is singularly devoid of alpine plants and
animals, but many interesting species inhabit the lower grounds, famous
on account of the beauty of the scenery.
Among the Lepidoptera several rare species are characteristic of the
district, such as the "Bath White" butterfly (_Pontia daplidice_), and
the "Four-spotted Footman" moth (_OEnistis quadra_).
2. ~WATERFORD AND EAST CORK.~--This is a picturesque district, formed
largely of slates and sandstones of Old Red Sandstone age. The coast
is mostly of very bold character, with towering cliff ranges. The
country is generally undulating and fertile, with occasional mountain
ranges, of which the Comeraghs are rendered especially interesting and
picturesque by the deep "cooms," embosoming tarns, which give them their
name. The Comeraghs and the lovely valley of the Blackwater furnish
particularly attractive ground for the naturalist. The flora and fauna
of this area are intermediate in character between that of the district
last considered and of the surpassingly interesting country that lies to
the westward, and which will next claim attention. Thus, the coasts
yield several of the rare plants mentioned in the last paragraph--for
instance, _Diotis_ and _Asparagus_ grow at Tramore; while at the same
time we first meet in this area with some of the most famous plants of
the south-west--London Pride (_Saxifraga umbrosa_), Kidney-leaved
Saxifrage (_S. Geum_), Great Butterwort (_Pinguicula grandiflora_),
Irish Spurge (_Euphorbia hiberna_). Two rare butterflies of this
district are _Dianthæcia cæsia_ and _D. luteago_ var. _Barrettii_; and
the largest of the British leaf-beetles, _Timarcha lævigata_, has been
taken near Waterford, and at Tipperary.
[Illustration: _Drawing, J. St. J. Phillips._ Geological Section from
Bantry Bay to Killarney.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ A Kerry ditchbank showing
Pennywort two feet in height.]
3. ~WEST CORK AND KERRY.~--This is one of the most beautiful and
interesting districts in the British Isles, and indeed in Europe. The
ancient Devonian rocks which prevail have been folded into a grand
series of simple arches and troughs, the axes running north-east and
south-west. The arches form noble mountain ranges, which on the coast
project far into the Atlantic in a series of grand promontories, and
inland form picturesque highlands, of which Macgillicuddy's Reeks, which
rise to 3,404, constitute the highest land in Ireland. The valleys in
their lower portions are occupied by the sea, in the form of long
island-studded fiords; their upper parts are often filled with
Carboniferous limestone, and offer a pleasant contrast of tillage and
green pasture between the gaunt brown mountain-ribs. Here we stand on
the most western outpost of the European Continent, with the Atlantic on
three sides. The effect of the encompassing ocean, and the western winds
which constantly blow in from it, is to produce here and along the whole
western coast the most uniform annual temperature to be found in Europe.
Frosts are almost unknown, and great heat and drought likewise. These
peculiar climatic conditions have resulted in the acquisition and
preservation of a fauna and flora which spread here from more southern
latitudes at some time now long gone by, and which in these favoured
spots still remain to remind us of a period when a state of things
prevailed very different from what obtains at present. For naturalists
tell us that there can be no doubt that these southern plants and
animals migrated to Ireland over land-surfaces now destroyed, having
spread along the old-time coast line which long ago extended from the
Pyrenean highlands to Ireland; and as a relic of their march, we find
some of the species still surviving in the south-west of England, while
all of them are absent from the rest of England and from the adjoining
parts of continental Europe.
An enumeration of a few of the most remarkable of the plants, with a
definition of their range, will make clearer this peculiar feature of
the natural history of the West of Ireland:--
[Illustration: Saxifraga umbrosa.]
London Pride (_Saxifraga umbrosa_). In Ireland along the west and south
coasts. Absent from England. On the Continent it is found only in the
south.
Kidney-leaved Saxifrage (_S. Geum_). In Ireland in the south-west.
Unknown in England. On the Continent confined to the Pyrenean district
Strawberry-tree (_Arbutus unedo_). In Ireland in the south-west. Unknown
in England. On the Continent it grows all along the Mediterranean.
Great Butter wort (_Pinguicula grandiflora_). In Ireland in the
south-west. Unknown in England. On the Continent it grows on the Alps
and in the south-west.
Irish Spurge (_Euphorbia hiberna_). In Ireland along the south and west
coasts. In England it is confined to Devonshire. On the Continent it
occurs only in the south-west.
[Illustration: _Photo, J. St. J. Phillips._ Among the Arbutus, Cloonee
Lakes.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ Arbutus Islands, Killarney.]
Going for a moment further north, we find in Connemara, and there only,
a group of three kinds of Heath with the same peculiar distribution:--
[Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ The Irish Spurge.]
St. Dabeoc's Heath (_Dabeocia polifolia_). In Ireland
in Connemara. Unknown in England. On the
Continent confined to the south-west.
Mediterranean Heath (_Erica mediterranea_). In
Ireland in Connemara. Unknown in England.
On the Continent confined to the south-west.
Mackay's Heath (_E. Mackaiana_). In Ireland in
Connemara. Unknown in England. On the
Continent in Spain only.
Nor is it the plants alone that exhibit the peculiar relation existing
between the Natural History of Ireland and of the Pyrenean region.
Among the animals the same features may be observed, the most striking
instance being the peculiar Kerry Slug (_Geomalacus maculosus_), which
is abundant in many parts of the extreme south-west of Ireland, and is
elsewhere found only in Portugal.
[Illustration: _Drawing, Dr. R. F. Scharff._ The Kerry Slug.]
Mixed with these southern forms in the West of Ireland we find another
group of still stranger affinities. In pools and lakes from Kerry to
Donegal grows the curious Pipe-wort (_Eriocaulon septangulare_). It may
be also found in the Island of Skye, in the West of Scotland, but
nowhere else in Europe; to see it again we must go to the northern
regions of North America, where it flourishes under conditions much more
rigorous than those which obtain in its mild Irish home. The deliciously
fragrant orchid, _Spiranthes Romanzoviana_, grows in the counties of
Cork, Armagh, Antrim, and Londonderry; elsewhere only in sub-arctic
America and the portion of Asia which most nearly approaches the Alaskan
shores. The "Blue-eyed Grass" of Canada (_Sisyrinchium angustifolium_)
is likewise confined to the West of Ireland and to North America; and
further instances might be quoted. In the animal kingdom, too, parallel
cases have been noted, the most interesting being the discovery of no
less than three American species of fresh-water sponge, which are
unknown in the rest of Europe.
To account for the presence of this American group naturalists are
driven, as in the case of the southern species, to the conclusion that
these represent one of the very oldest components of our existing fauna
and flora, and point to a period when the edge of Europe was prolonged
far to the north-west, forming a continuous land area, presumably by way
of Iceland and Greenland, to America. And here on the wild western coast
of Ireland these last inhabitants of the lost lands of Europe still
survive.
[Illustration: The Kerry Slug, showing the manner in which its
coloration mimics clusters of lichen among which it lives.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ Nest of Wood Ant at Killarney]
4. ~CLARE AND EAST GALWAY.~--Our last district--West Cork and Kerry--was
characterised by great ribs of slate and sandstone, and by an absence of
limestone and the numerous plants which follow in its train. The present
district forms a marked contrast, being largely composed of
Carboniferous limestone. And the remarkable thing about these limestones
is that they are over many miles totally devoid of any covering of soil
or clay; the grey gnarled rock, fantastically carved and crevassed by
the action of rain and weather, lies naked and bare. But in the crevices
of the rock a wonderful variety of rare and beautiful plants abound. One
or two of these have their home in the far south, like the plants we
have lately considered, notably the little Close-flowered Orchid,
_Neotinea intacta_, whose nearest station is about Nice. But the
majority of the interesting species of these limestones are alpine
plants, usually found at high elevations on mountains, which here form
sheets of verdure down to the very edge of the sea. The Mountain Dryas
(_D. octopetala_), the Bearberry (_Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi_), the lovely
Spring Gentian (_G. verna_), and the Blue Moor-grass (_Sesleria
cærulea_) are good examples, all of them growing in great abundance from
the hill-tops down to the shore. It is this strange mingling of plants
from the far south, from the far north, and from the mountains, which
renders the West of Ireland so fascinating a field for the botanist. In
the barren district of Clare, and in the adjoining Isles of Arran and
south-west portion of county Galway, this peculiar flora may be seen in
its greatest perfection. Some very rare insects have been taken in
eastern Galway, including the Lepidoptera _Nallia ancilla_ and _Lycæna
artexerus_.
[Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ Wolf Spider (_Pisaura
mirabilis_) spinning nest for young.]
5. ~WEST GALWAY AND WEST MAYO~.--In this district we have again a
complete change of geology and of scenery. The grey limestones with rich
grass and rare flowers filling every crevice are gone, and we are in a
wild region of ancient metamorphic rocks--schists, quartzites, gneisses,
and granites--which form wide moorlands, dotted with innumerable
lakelets, with noble mountain groups rising over the wild boggy
lowlands. To the student of metamorphism the geology of this area is of
very high interest. The botanist finds himself once again, as in Kerry,
in a focus of the southern flora already discussed. As stated above,
Connemara contributes to the list of Pyrenean plants three Heaths, of
which St. Dabeoc's Heath is the loveliest of the British representatives
of the order. Here we may also meet again our old Kerry friends the
London Pride, and on Inisbofin the Irish Spurge--plants which strictly
avoid the limestone, as do the Heaths. The American element is
represented by the Pipe-wort, which is common, and the little water
plant, _Naias flexilis_, which grows near Roundstone. Of the three
famous Heaths, St. Dabeoc's is abundant throughout Connemara, becoming
rarer in Mayo. The Mediterranean Heath grows near Roundstone, and in
immense abundance on the north side of Clew Bay, and again near the
north-west corner of Mayo, extending inland as far as Lough Conn.
Mackay's Heath is the rarest, being confined to the neighbourhood of
Roundstone. As regards its fauna, Connemara and West Mayo yield fewer
peculiar species than the south-west; but much remains to be done before
it can be said that the zoology of this area is thoroughly known, and it
offers a most promising field for the explorer.
6. ~SLIGO.~--The visitor who makes Sligo his headquarters finds himself
in a district of much variety and interest. This is a district that
cannot be too highly recommended to the naturalist. To the geologist the
fossiliferous limestones and the metamorphic rocks are alike of
interest. The botanist naturally turns to the Ben Bulben Mountains,
which harbour the richest group of alpine plants to be found in Ireland,
including the pretty _Arenaria ciliata_, which does not grow elsewhere
in the British Isles. To the zoologist a rich field lies waiting. A
recent exploration of the limestone glens by a party of English and
Irish conchologists has shown that in variety of land mollusca this
district surpasses almost any other in these islands; and good results
may be confidently expected in other invertebrate groups.
7. ~THE CENTRE.~--The area comprised in the field of operations of the
Great Southern and Western Railway Company include the southern half of
the great Central Plain of Ireland and the lower course of the Shannon,
the largest river in the British Isles. Towards the east the counties of
Carlow and Kilkenny include much picturesque ground, especially along
the courses of the rivers Nore and Barrow; and as picturesque ground
implies the existence of hill and valley, wood and rock, the naturalist
will find himself at home here. The flora is rich, though without any
very marked features; the Nettle-leaved Bell-flower (_Campanula
Trachelium_) being the most characteristic species. Regarding the fauna
much has still to be learned. In Tipperary, Queen's County, and King's
County we are in typical central plain country--great tracts of slightly
undulating drift-covered Carboniferous limestone, the surface including
wide pastures, cultivated ridges, and large areas of peat bog and marsh.
The bogs, which form so peculiar a feature of the surface of Ireland,
may be studied here over many miles of country. The noble Shannon, which
winds slowly southward across the plain, widens at intervals into great
lake-like expanses, of which Lough Derg is the largest, a place of much
interest to the student of natural history. One plant which grows here,
the Willow-leaved Inula (_I. salicina_), is found nowhere else in the
British Isles; other characteristic Shannon plants are the Water
Germander (_Teucrium Scordium_) and the rare Stone wort _Chara
tomentosa_. Further west, in Limerick, a more varied surface prevails.
Like Waterford and Cork, Limerick is a great centre for animals of the
"Southern" distributional type, such as the Wood White Butterfly
(_Leptidia sinapis_) the Brimstone Butterfly (_Gonapteryx rhamm_), and
the Purple Hair-streak (_Thecla quercus_). The small but handsome
Ground-beetle, _Panogæus crux-major_, is known in Ireland only from
Finlough. This species has a typically "germanic" distribution in Great
Britain. The Water-beetle _Pelobius Hermanni_, a very rare species, and
the only British member of its family, occurs near Limerick and Cork.
Cratloe Wood, by the Shannon near Limerick, may be specially recommended
as a hunting-ground.
[Illustration]
SPORT.
For sportsmen Ireland is a happy land, ready to supply their every want.
Royal Meath, Kildare, Waterford, Tipperary, and Cork County are hunted
by several good packs during-each season, and "the meets" are duly
published in the local newspapers.