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rock the vale beneath the house when viewed from the high grounds is pleasing, having several enclosures surrounded by fine trees; and a noble mass of wood rises from them up the mountain's side. On the whole, the place is highly improved, and there are several good paintings in the house by Sebastian Ricci, Laverini," &c. We lament to say that Castle Oliver now falls very short of the above description, the present proprietor having gone to reside in England many years since: the greater part of the timber is cut down, and the house and demesne much neglected. Many Palatine families were settled here about fifty years ago by the late Right Hon. Silver Oliver, and as in other places where they have been established, they have greatly improved the face of the country, and the general habits of the peasantry.

Near Kilfinnan is the parish of Ardpatrick, which contains 2487 acres. Archdall states that St. Patrick founded an abbey here, of which no historical account can be found; but an inquisition taken in the 32d year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, finds that various lands containing forty acres of great measure, annual value besides reprises 6s. 8d. were parcels of the possessions of this abbey. By two inquisitions in the 39th of Queen Elizabeth, it was found that the hill named Ardpatrick, containing three acres of great measure, and making twenty-one acres of small measure, was in former times granted to the Corbeship* founded in the church of Ardpatrick, and that * Corbe, Corbah or Comhurba, was supposed by the learned

the rent of 6s. 8d. was paid annually thereout to the Bishop of Limerick; that the said office had continued by succession from time immemorial in the sept of the Langanes, and that Maurice Langane, who in right thereof enjoyed the said lands, was at that time the possessor. At Ardpatrick stood a fine round tower, the greater part of which fell a few years since near this is Sunville, the old residence of the Godsell family; and near Kilfinnan is one of the most perfect Danish mounts in Ireland, surrounded with three strong ramparts and deep fosses.

North of Kilfinnan is Bulgadeen parish, which contains 1562 acres. Here is a small village of thatched houses, and the ruins of a castle, a little to the north of which is Bulgadeen Hall, once the superb seat of John Evans, Esq. who was brother to the first Lord Carbery: its present fine remains prove it to have ranked amongst the most magnificent mansions in Munster; but it is now almost in ruins, none of the family having resided here for many years. To the south-east is the Castle of Fantstown.

Ballingaddy, west of Bulgadeen, is a rectory

Dr. Ussher, to be the same with Chorepiscopus or Archpresbyter; the name of Comhurba, he observes, occurs frequently in the early annals of Ireland: thus, the Comhurba of St. Patrick means the then Archbishop of Armagh; and so the word is explained by Colgan, in his "Trias Thaumaturga."

*Ceallach Mac Aodh Mac Maoil Iosa, was the name of an Archbishop of Armagh in 1107, who died at Ardpatrick, in the county of Limerick, and was buried at Lismore in 1129.

and vicarage in the diocese of Limerick, and contains 1665 acres. In this parish are Mount Coote, mentioned in a former page, and Fairyfield a neat residence of the Rev. James Ellard. Effin, west of Ballingaddy, is a rectory and vicarage in the diocese of Limerick, and contains 1052 acres. In this parish are Newpark, which belonged to the late Major John Holmes, and Brickfield, a fine old mansion of the Weeks family, now extinct. remaining parishes in Coshlea, are Kilbreedy Major, and Kilflin, which is the most southern parish in the barony, and contains 857 acres in it is the village of Ballyorgan, inhabited by Palatines, which contains a new church and glebe house, as also the walls of an old abbey of which no mention is made by Ware or any other writer. A great part of

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the barony of Coshlea is mountainous, but the low lands are some of the best in Ireland, being mostly used for fattening and dairy.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

The County of Limerick, is so much exposed to the winds from the Atlantic Ocean, that the air is generally moist.* The greatest general height of the thermometer in the shade in summer is 72; its greatest

*The following was the result of atmospherical observations, made in the county of Limerick, during two consecutive years:

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depression 58-+the greatest general height in winter is 54; greatest depression 28. The climate appears highly favorable to the longevity of the natives, as is proved from the annexed tables, by which were returned in the census of 1821, more than eighteen hundred persons from seventy to one hundred years of age, and eight of one hundred and upwards.

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The general aspect of the county is flat, but diversified by small hills, except on the south-east, where it is bounded by the lofty ridge of mountains called the Galtees, extending into Tipperary and on the borders of Kerry to the south-west, where the land grows uneven, and forms a grand theatre of low steep mountains stretching in a curve from Loghill to Drumcolloher. The intermediate space between this and the Shannon contains some of the richest land in Ireland, the soil in general being a rich, mellow, crumbling, sandy loam, fit for every kind of culture and grazing, one acre being sufficient to fatten the largest bullock, and give some winter and spring food to sheep. The richest lands, (compris ing about 100,000 acres,) are to be found in the baronies of Small County, Coonagh, Coshléa, Coshma and Clanwilliam, and in the neighbourhood of Bruff, Kilmallock, and Hospital. This fertile district which is called the Golden Vein, stretches from Charleville to Tipperary by Kilfinnan, twenty-five miles, and across from Ardpatrick to within four miles of the city of Limerick. Mr. Young considered this the richest soil he ever saw, equally suited to

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grazing or tillage. The barony of Kenry is the most remarkable for the fine quality of its wheat: the corcasses which extend fifteen miles along the Shannon, have a soil of yellow and blue clay, covered with a black mould; the grass produced by these corcasses serves to fatten bullocks, while excellent bricks are made of the clay. "When they break this land up," says Mr. Young, "they sow first oats, and get twenty barrels an acre, or forty common barrels, and do not reckon that an extra crop; they take ten or twelve in succession upon one ploughing, until the crops grow poor, and then they sow one of horse beans, which refreshes the land enough to take ten crops of oats more." The wheat crop is generally very great, and the produce of potatoes is about sixty barrels in some instances above one hundred barrels, of twenty-two stone each, per acre. The soil of other parts of the county, particularly in the west between the Maig and the Deel, consists of a light limestone, well suited for cows and sheep. The boggy grounds are peculiarly adapted for the culture of hemp, and in the rich lands flax grows to an extraordinary height, and has lately come into very general cultivation.

Several rivers add to the beauty and fertility of the county. Of the Shannon which waters the whole extent of its northern boundary, we shall speak in a subsequent page, noticing at present only those infe rior streams by which the interior is intersected. The Commogue takes its rise at Drom Commoige,

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