KERRY, a county, of the province of MUNSTER, bounded on the
east by the counties of Limerick and Cork, on the north by
the estuary of the Shannon (which separates it from Clare),
on the west by the Atlantic, and on the south by the same ocean
and the county of Cork, It extends from 51° 40' to
52° 37' (North Lat.), and from 9° 8' to 10° 27'
(West Lon.); and comprises an area, according to the
Ordnance survey, of 1,148,720 acres, of which 581,189
acres are cultivated land, 552,862 are unprofitable bog
and mountain, and 14,669 are under water. The
population, in 1821, amounted to 216,185; and in 1831,
to 263,126.
The inhabitants of this tract, according to Ptolemy's
chart, were in his time designated Velabri or Fellibori;
"Hibernice," says Dr. O'Connor, "SioL Ebir, obviously
meaning Illiberi Iberia." They are supposed to have
been descended from the Iberi of Spain, to which their
country lies opposite; but Camden derives their name
from the British Aber, signifying an estuary, thus
making it descriptive of the nature of the country.
The Lucanij, or "people of the maritime country," were
placed by Richard of Cirencester in this county, near
Dingle bay. Ptolemy calls them Luceni, and they
appear to be the Lugadii of Irish writers, which in a
general sense comprehended all the inhabitants on the
southern coast, from the harbour of Waterford to the
mouth of the Shannon, though sometimes confined to
those of the county of Waterford. The present name of
the county is variously derived. Some trace it from
Ciar, the eldest son of Fergus, King of Ulster, from
whom it was called Carruidhe, or Cair Reeght, that is,
"the kingdom of Ciar." According to Ledwich, it was
called Cerrigia, or "the rocky country," from Cerrig, or
Carric, "a rock." Ciaruidhe, or "the rocky district on
the water," from ciar, or cer, "a rock," and uidhe, or
ui dha, "a district on the water," was the present
barony of Iraghticonnor, on the south bank of the
Shannon, and from which may be derived Cerrigia and
Kerry. The chiefs of this country were called Hy Cain
air Ciaruidhe, by contraction O'Connor Kerry, whose
descendants were in possession of their ancient patrimony
in the beginning of the last century. This district
was sometimes denominated Ciaruidhe Luachra, or "the
rocky district on the great lake or water." By some
ecclesiastical writers the whole is called the country of
St. Brandon, to whom the principal cathedral in the
county was dedicated, and from whom a very remarkable
mountain on the western coast takes its name.
Camden calls that part of the sea into which the Shannon
discharges itself Mare JBrendanicum. The great portion
of the county lying to the south of the river Mang
formed, with the whole county of Cork, the old native
sovereignty of Desmond, or South Munster, granted by
Hen. II. to Robert Fitz-Stephen and Milo de Cogan,but
of which these adventurers were able to make themselves
masters only of the districts near the city of Cork.
On the arrival of the English, the O'Connors were in
possession of the northern part; the middle parts were
in the possession of the Moriartys: the southern portion
was occupied by the O'Sullivans, from whom the district
now named Dunkerron barony was called O'Sullivan's
country; also by the O'Donoghoes, distinguished into
the septs of O'Donoghoe More and O'Donoghoe Ross
and by the O'Mahonies. The McCarties, who had
been the most powerful sept in the South of Ireland
before the landing of the English, being subdued by the
invaders, their chief took refuge in the fastnesses of Kerry,
where he was afterwards compelled to have recourse to
the aid of Raymond le Gros to put down a rebellion of
his own son, and in recompense for this service he gave
him the northern district, then called Lixnaw. Raymond
here settled his son Maurice, who gave its present name
to this part of the county, which was henceforward called
Clan-Maurice, in like manner as the family bear to the
present day the name of Fitzmaurice. The ancestor of
the Earls of Desmond, John Fitz-Thomas, also, soon after
the arrival of Hen. II., acquired large possessions in
Kerry and the contiguous districts, including the country
of Desmond, by marriage with the daughter of
Thomas Fitz-Anthony, another Anglo-Norman leader;
and these were augmented by Prince John, in 1199.
Henceforward, the family of Fitz-Gerald exercised a
predominant authority in this quarter of the kingdom.
The county was made shire ground, with its present
limits, by King John, in 1210. Desmond was included
with the Decies in the confirmatory grant made, in 1260,
by Prince Edward to Lord John Fitz-Thomas; but in
the following year this family received from the native
sept of the McCarties a complete overthrow in Glanerought,
in this county, from which they did not recover
for twelve years, when quarrels among the native chiefs
again admitted the rise of their power. Lord Thomas,
towards the close of the thirteenth century, sat in
parliament as Lord Offaly, and claimed, under the grant
of Edw. I., to be the king's sheriff of Kerry. In these
early ages, therefore, the districts forming the present
county were subject to the power of three great families,
the Fitz-Geralds, lords of Desmond; the Fitz-Maurices,
lords of Kerry in the north; and the McCarties, tanists
of the elevated central and southern regions. Edw. III.,
in 1329, granted to Maurice Fitz-Thomas the name and
honour of Earl of Desmond, and all royal liberties
within the county of Kerry; the church or cross lands
thereof, and the four usual pleas of burnings, rape,
forestal, and treasure trove alone excepted. In the
following year, the earl deemed this sufficient authority
for entirely excluding the king's sheriffs and other ordinary
ministers of justice from the county. The extraordinary
power of this nobleman, however, brought
upon him for a time some jealous persecution by the
officers of the crown. In 1345, having presumed to
summon a parliament in opposition to that called by
the Lord Justice, Sir Ralph Ufford, the latter overran
and seized upon the whole of his possessions, which
were not restored to him until 1352. In 1388, Gerald,
Earl of Desmond, was formally appointed keeper of the
peace in the counties of Kerry and Limerick, with very
extensive powers and authority, and in conjunction with
Patrick Fox. In 1386, we find John Fitz-Gerald, Earl of
Desmond, made sheriff of the Crosses of Kerry; being
the lands of the church within its limits, in which the
king's ordinary jurisdiction had course. James, Earl
of Desmond, about 1425, as lord of the liberties of
Kerry, entered into a deed with Patrick Fitz-Maurice
Fitz-John, Lord Kerry, "captain or head of his nation,"
whereby the latter was bound to answer to the earl
and his heirs at his assizes. James, the 15th earl, surrendered,
by his deed in. the chancery of Ireland, his old
family prerogative of exemption from attendance on a
parliament summoned in any walled town, except at his
pleasure; and covenanted that he would suffer the laws
of England to be executed in his county, assist the
king's judges in their circuits, and permit subsidies to
be raised upon his followers; but these conditions were
never fulfilled either by himself or his successors. Thomas,
sixteenth Lord or Baron of Kerry, is styled, even
in the 5th of Edw, VI., "Captain of his nation," an
extraordinary mark of the absence of English laws of
property and society in this as well as the other old
palatinates down to that period: he held his seat in
parliament by the title of Baron of Lixnaw.
But a great change in thepolitical condition of the inha
bitants soon afterwards took place. Gerald, sixteenth
Earl of Desmond, restless, ambitious, and raised to a still
higher rank among the most powerful subjects of Europe
by the oppressions which his family had exercised over
their weaker neighbours, united with these qualities and
circumstances a great want of discretion, and disaffection
to the English crown, which, in the reign of Elizabeth,
arose by mutual jealousies between the government and
such of the leading men as had not joined the Reformation.
He was imprisoned for a short period in 1568,
during which the government of this and of the two
contiguous counties was vested in commissioners. The
remote southern situation of Kerry rendered it, in the
subsequent sanguinary periods, a principal medium of
foreign correspondence maintained by the insurgents,
whose first attempt was suppressed by Sir John Perrot,
in 1572; and the leaders, heads of the native clans of
the south, with a few of the old Anglo-Norman knights,
submitted to mercy. Although a reward was offered for
the apprehension of the Earl of Desmond, after his escape
from Dublin in 1574, when he was declared a traitor,
he remained quiet in his own territories until 1576,
when Sir William Drury was made Lord-President of
Munster, and the earl nominally appointed one of his
council. Sir William, with a view to the general reform
of the province, resolved to break through Desmond's
liberties, and hold assizes in the palatinate of Kerry,
which he regarded as a sanctuary for rebels and disturbers
of the peace. The earl endeavoured to dissuade
him from his design, but without effect. He then,
reserving himself for an appeal to the chief governor,
assured Drury that he should be received in Kerry
with all honour and submission, and invited him to
reside at his castle of Tralee. This invitation was
accepted, when, on the near approach of Sir William
with 120 men, he observed at some distance a body of
700 of Desmond's followers advancing to meet him.
The president at once concluded that he had been betrayed,
and hastened to charge without waiting an
attack. Desmond's followers dispersed at the first
onset, and it was explained by the countess, who
received the president at the castle, that they had
been assembled by her lord merely to entertain him
with hunting. Drury then proceeded to execute the
laws without control or opposition, except in the unavailing
complaints made to the government by the
earl. In 1579, a party of Spaniards and a few native
insurgents having landed at Smerwick, in this county,
with Saunders, the Pope's nuncio, Sir John of Desmond,
the carl's brother, to ingratiate himself with them,
procured the murder, at Tralee, of Henry Danvers,
an English gentleman, and the two provincial judges
sent there to execute justice in the queen's name,
together with all their attendants. This transaction
completed the determination of the government totally
to abolish all the Earl of Desmond's powers of exclusive
jurisdiction, which his subsequent rebellion gave an
opportunity to effect. This wavering and indecisive
conduct, in which he was joined by the Lord of Kerry,
brought a protracted war of extermination on the whole
province, and, his defection proving every day more
certain, he was at length proclaimed a traitor, and his
country entered with fire and sword. The Earl of
Ormond and Sir Warham St. Leger wasted his lands,
slew numbers of his men, burned his towns, and took
his castles (putting both Spaniards and natives to the
sword) as far, with the aid of the lord-justice, as the
mountains of Slievelogher. They then ravaged and
destroyed the district of Corkaguiney from Tralee to
Dingle, slaying many of the people. While this desultory
warfare was proceeding, however, additional
forces, with military stores, landed at Smerwick from
Spain; but these troops, after a long siege, surrendered
at discretion and were barbarously murdered, together
with all who had joined them. Captain Zouch was
then appointed, with 450 men, to govern the county
and pursue the insurgents, which lie did with the
utmost rigour; but the English army being soon
reduced to an insignificant force, the war again revived
with all its horrors; and it was terminated only by
the death of the carl, who was slain, by a party of
common soldiers in a wretched hovel in a wood, where
he had taken refuge, a few miles east of Tralee. Sir
John Perrot shortly after gave the government of the
palatinate to the queen's sheriff and the lord of Kerry,
who had submitted and received pardon from the
queen. In 1599, a fresh rebellion had broken out,
headed in this county by the sugan or mock Earl of
Desmond; his brother John; Patrick, the seventeenth
Lord of Kerry; Pierce Lacy, the knight of the Glin
or Valley; and Thomas Fitzmaurice, son of the late-
Baron of Lixnaw, or Kerry: Florence McCarty also
took secret part with them. It was, however, suppressed
prior to the landing of the Spaniards in 1601,
when this event encouraged another general revolt, in
which the most noted parties in this county were the
McCarties, O'Sullivans, O'Connors, the Lord of Kerry,
the Knight of Kerry, and all who had been pardoned
for their previous acts of insurgency. They raised and
maintained in active service a guerilla force of about
one thousand men. A warfare of ravages, with a view
to destroy all means of subsistence, conducted by Sir
Charles Wilrnot, at length forced the insurgents through
absolute famine to surrender.
The lands forfeited by these successive rebellions,
including the vast possessions of the Earl of Desmond,
were portioned out to English adventurers, of whom
the principal were Sir William Herbert, Sir Valentine
Browne, Sir Edward Denny, Robert Blennerhassett,
and Capt. Jenkins Conway, besides whom other settlers
obtained grants, from whom the families of Spring
Rice, Morris, and Gunn, descended. About this period
it was considered to be the most flourishing part of the
South of Ireland, abounding with corn, and the best inKER
habited county of Munster. But the state of misery,
depopulation, and ruin to which the whole was reduced
by these wars was most appalling. The old custom of
tanistry was formally abolished here by a judgment of
the King's Bench, in 1605. On the breaking out of
the war in 1641, the old native families took part with
the insurgents, appointed a governor of the county, and
levied men, whose hostilities caused as many of the
English gentlemen as were able to retire to join the
Lord-President St. Leger, or to pass over into England,
while others fortified themselves in places of strength.
By the end of 1642 the Irish were masters of every
place in the county, with the exception of Ballingarry
castle. Rinuncini landed here in Kenmare bay in
1645, and died in a wood near Tulligaron, in the vicinity
of Tralee; but the county was finally reduced in 1652,
by Gen. Ludlow, who took Ross castle and compelled
Lord Muskerry to surrender his troops, amounting to
about 5000 men. Extensive grants were now made to
new English settlers out of the estates forfeited in these
disastrous commotions; and a colony of English was
planted on the Kenmare river in the south by Sir
William Petty, who obtained large grants of land here,
and carried on the iron trade with great activity so
long as timber could be procured for smelting. In 1689,
the colony was attacked by the Irish in King James's
interest, to whom, after some resistance, it was compelled
to surrender on terms; and the Protestant settlers
of the entire county were much harassed and
plundered, and for the most part driven out. In a
report made to King William's government, and now
among the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum, this
county is described to be "of large extent, almost surrounded
by the sea, and in it the most and best harbours
of any county in the kingdom; full of woods,
bogs, and mountains, yet intermixed with pleasant
valleys, full of people, and the most quiet and peaceable
part of Ireland; the country full of cattle and great
store of corn in the ground; and in the last wars, when
all Ireland was reduced, this one county kept near
10,000 men almost two years in action; and hither
came the Earl of Clancarty and all the officers of his
army, and in Ross, a place by nature of great strength,
made good terms and so went off. It may cost more
men to reduce it than half Ireland, for the county is
full of fastnesses and plenty of provision. The greatest
advantage may be made of its harbours, that are for all
winds, and near which all ships from the western seas
must pass, and if in possession of the French might
destroy more merchants of England than out of any
parts in France or Ireland." In 1691, a detachment of
William's army under Brigadier Levison completely
subdued the country, although the Irish inhabitants
every where rose to oppose them, and burned Tralee.
About 1710, the southern coast was greatly harassed by
French privateers, to check whose inroads a redoubt
was ordered by parliament to be erected on Valencia
island.
This county is entirely within the diocese of Ardfert
and Aghadoe. For purposes of civil jurisdiction
it is divided into the baronies of Clanmaurice, Corkaguiney,
Dunkerron, Glanerough, Iraghticonnor, Iveragh,
Magonihy, and Trughenackmy. It contains the borough
market and assize town of Tralee; the incorporated
market-town and post-town of Dingle; the market-town and post-towns
of Cahirciveen and Killarney; the post-towns of
Kenmare, Listowel, Milltown, Tarbert, and Valencia;
and the smaller towns of Ballylongford, Blennerville,
Castlegregory, and Castleisland, which, with the ancient
incorporated town of Ardfert, and the villages of Annescalle,
Ballybrack, Ballyheigue, Killorglin, and Sneem,
have each a penny post. Prior to the union it sent
eight members to the Irish parliament,-two knights
of the shire, and two representatives for each of the
boroughs of Tralee, Dingle, and Ardfert; but since that
period its sole representatives have been the two members
for the county at large, and one representative for
the borough of Tralee, in the imperial parliament. The
county constituency, as registered at the last general
election, amounted to 1212, of which number, 989
polled. The election for the county takes place at
Tralee. The county is included in the Munster circuit:
the assizes and general quarter sessions are held
at Tralee, and quarter sessions are also held at Killarney,
in the former of which towns are the county courthouse
and county gaol; and there are bridewells at
Cahirciveen, Castleisland, Dingle, Kenmare, Killarney,
Listowel, Milltown, and Tarbert. The number of persons
charged with criminal offences and committed to the
several prisons, in 1835, was 636; and of civil bill
commitments, 199. The local government is vested
in a lieutenant, 17 deputy-lieutenants, and 122 magistrates,
including the Provost of Tralee and the Sovereign
of Dingle, who are magistrates of the county for the
time being; besides whom there are the usual county
officers, including three coroners. There are 30 constabulary
police stations, having in the whole a force of
7 chief and 26 subordinate constables, and 130 men,
with 11 horses, the expense of whose maintenance, in
1835, was £5818, of which, £2830 was defrayed by
grand jury presentments, and the rest by Government.
Along the coast there are 15 coast-guard stations, 4 in
the district of Valencia, having a force of 4 officers and
31 men; 6 in that of Dingle, with 7 officers and 36
men; and 5 in the district of Tralee, with 3 officers
and 35 men; each district is under the control of a
resident inspecting commander. The county infirmary,
lunatic asylum, fever hospital, and dispensary are at
Tralee; and there are a dispensary and fever hospital at
Killarney, and dispensaries situated respectively at Tarbert,
Listowel, Milltown, Dingle, Castleisland, Cahirciveen,
Kenmare, and Sneem, supported equally by
private contributions and grand jury presentments.
The entire amount of grand jury presentments, in 1835,
was £30,951. 4. 7½., of which £19,672 was for the
public roads, buildings, institutions, and all other charges
on the county at large; and £11,279. 4.7. for the public
roads, being the baronial charge. In the mountainous
districts the applotments are made by what are called
reduced ploughlands, each being divided into 60 acres,
called reduced acres; but these ploughlands are determined
rather by their proportionable quality and value
than by their superficial extent; for the larger they are,
the coarser and less fertile; the smallest being the most
fruitful. In the military arrangements that part of the
county south of the river Flesk is included in the Southern
District, the other part to the north of the river
being in the South-western District, and containing a
barrack station for infantry at Tralee, affording accommodation
for 17 officers and 456 non-commissioned
G
officers and men; and the two batteries on the islands of
Carrigue and Tarbert, each mounting six 24-pounders
and containing bomb-proof barracks for about 20 men.
Kerry is the most western county of Ireland, and
the fourth in extent; it is surpassed by many in fertility.
From its aspect it seems well adapted to become a
valuable tillage country, but, though improvements have
been very rapid of late years, a great part of it lies still
in a very unproductive condition. The northern part
lying towards the Shannon is comparatively low. From
the mouth of the river Cashen to Kerry Head, which
forms the south side of the mouth of the Shannon,
stretches a bank of upland which is chiefly a heathy
moor, and near Kerry Head rises to a considerable elevation.
The coast towards the ocean is partly high sand
hills and partly steep cliffs, on which the ruins of some
dismantled castles are boldly situated: that of Doon
stands almost perpendicularly over the ocean. The
northern tract of low country has on its south a range
of upland, rising gradually into the boundaries between
Limerick and Cork: this upland, in passing eastward,
expands to a great width. Still more southerly is an
extensive range of mountains, many of the summits of
which are among the highest in Ireland: they commence
at the eastern side of the bay of Dingle, and,
with little interruption, pass along the southern side of
the lake of Killarney and onward to the county of
Cork, emhracing some deep and extensive vales. The
general aspect of this part of the county is rude: the
valleys are commonly occupied with bog, round the
upper edge of which, and along the margins of the
streams, are narrow stripes of cultivated land, behind
which the mountains rise to an elevation of from 1500
to 2000 feet, presenting bold rocky cliffs towards the
bay of Dingle and the Atlantic. The southern baronies
of Iveragh, Dunkerron, and Glanerough are the wildest
and most uncultivated tracts in the county: the lastmentioned,
which takes its name from the river Roughty,
that flows through it, is separated from the adjoining
barony of Bere, in the county of Cork, by a range of
lofty mountains, the greater part of which was formerly
the estate of the O'Sullivans. Macgillycuddy's Reeks,
in North Dunkerron, are the highest mountains not
only in the county, but in Ireland; their most elevated
summit, called Carran Tual, or Gheran Tuel, being 3410
feet above the level of the sea. Mangerton is next in
height. Towards the west are the mountains of Drung
and Callee, the highest summits of the range that separates
the baronies of Iveragh and Dunkerron. This
chain proceeds eastward to the south of the lakes of
Killarney, along Tomies mountain, Glena, Torc, Mangerton,
Crohane, and the Paps, which latter are particularly
remarkable for the regularity of their convex or
conical form. The range of which they form a part is
connected with the hills of Glanflesk, which overhang
O'Donoghoe's country. North and east of Tralee are
the ranges called Stack's mountains and the Glanruddery
mountains: and between the harbours of Castlemaine
and Tralee is a range of high mountains, called
Slieve Mish, attaining an elevation of upwards of 2200
feet; and hence mountains extend westward into the
peninsular barony of Corkaguiney under various names,
among which, one of remarkable conical shape is called
Cahir-conrigh. Considerable tracts of these mountains
have been improved and brought into tillage. This
barony is esteemed the granary of the county: the
northern side, called Litteragh, is richly cultivated, and
rendered very productive by the great facility of obtaining
sea manure. Brandon hill rises to a great height,
and its top or sides are often enveloped in clouds. From
tne base of the mountains various brooks run into both
bays. From the southern coast a long peninsula of
sand hills, called Inch island, extends into the bay of
Castlemaine.
The lakes in the mountainous regions are numerous,
but few are of large dimensions. The most remarkable,
both for extent and beauty, is the celebrated Lough
Leine, the principal of the lakes of Killarney, three in
number, which are connected by straits, or short rivers.
They are distinguished by the names of the Upper, the
Torc, and the Lower lake. The last is about six miles
in length and of great breadth, with mountains of the
richest grandeur on one side, which is increased by the
contrast of the level shore on the other, and overspread
with islands of the most luxuriant beauty. Torc Lake
is separated from it by the richly wooded peninsula
of Muckross and Dinis island, and is still more picturesque;
but the wildest sublimity is that of the Upper
Lake, about 2½ miles in length, and wholly surrounded
by the mountains. [For a more detailed account, see
the article on Killarney.] The other lakes are as follow:-
Lough Currane, near the shore of Ballinskellig
bay, which has several islands, and is fed by a stream
called the Cummaragh river, flowing from the smaller
lakes of Derriana and Elaineanc, in the mountains;
Lough Scall, about halfway between Tralee and Dingle;
Lough Cara, near the harbour of Castlemaine; and
Lough Quinlan, near that of Kilmacalogue, which contains
several small floating islands. The Devil's Punch
Bowl is a very deep hollow near the summit of Mangerton
mountain, upwards of 1500 feet above the level
of the sea, which discharges its surplus water by a
large stream that rolls down the mountain side in a
succession of cataracts distinguished by their white
foam at a considerable distance. At the foot of the
same mountain is Lough Kittane, a secluded and picturesque
lake.
Several of the mountain ridges form headlands projecting
boldly into the sea, the intermediate valleys
being the basins of noble bays and estuaries, into which
the rivers empty themselves. Commencing at the
southern extremity of the county, the first of these is
the bay or estuary of the Kenmare river, which penetrates
25 miles into the country, and is navigable at
high water up to Kenmare town at its innermost extremity:
it contains, on the south side, the harbours
of Ardgroom and Kilmacalogue, and on its northern
side, that of Sneem; and along the northern shore is a
succession of small islands, of which the principal are
Rossmore, Hansherky, Cappanacoss, and Dunkerron.
The next bay is that of Ballinaskellig, near the entrance
of which are the Hog islands, and towards the west are
the Skellig islands, which, with the other principal islands
here noticed, are described under a separate head.
Beyond these is Puffin island (see Killemlagh), and
beyond it is Valencia island, forming a harbour by the
channel that separates it from the main land, which has
an entrance at each end; it is considered one of the
safest and most commodious on the western coast.
Between Valencia island and the Blasquets is Dingle
bay, an extensive opening with steep shores on each
side, in which a ship may anchor in any part above a
mile from the shore: it contains the harbours of Ventry,
Dingle and Castlemaine. Dunmore Head, the most
western point of Ireland, forms the northern extremity
of Dingle hay: the natives call it Tig-vourney-Geerane,
or Mary Gerane's house. Off this headland are the
Blasquet or Ferriter's islands, between the largest of
which and the mainland is a deep sound with a rapid
current. Beyond Dunmore Head is Smerwick bay, the
whole of which was originally bog, now invaded by the
sea. Pursuing eastward the north coast of the peninsula
of Corkaguiney, between Magharee Head and
Brandon Head, lies Brandon bay, on the eastern side
of the mountain of that name. The Magharees, or
Seven Hog islands, lie at the extremity of a peninsula
which separates Brandon from Tralee bay. Between
Fenit island (behind which is the inlet called Barra harbour)
and Kerry Head is Ballyheigue bay, in which
there is no shelter, and from an error in laying down
the latitude of Loop Head in the charts, it has often
been fatally mistaken for the mouth of the Shannon.
The only harbour in Kerry within the Shannon is that
of Tarbert: off its mouth is the island of the same name.
The climate is mild, and though moist from its vicinity
to the Atlantic, the height of the mountains, and
the extent of the bogs, is salubrious: several trees
which are deemed indigenous to warmer latitudes, particularly
the arbutus, grow here naturally to great size
and beauty. In some instances cultivation extends up
the sides of the high lands in the mountainous region to
an elevation of 700 feet above the sea. The soil in the
northern parts is of a coarse quality, much inclined to
produce rushes, and retentive of surface water, a considerable
portion of it having been reclaimed from a
state of bog; but in summer it is very productive of
grass, and is chiefly depastured by dairy cattle. The
middle district, bounded as it is by mountains of considerable
elevation, is in general of an alluvial aspect:
the soil and gravel transported from the uplands on each
side forms the cover, and limestone the substratum to
an uncertain depth. The south side is generally a stonebrash
of the slate and rubble stone mingled with sand;
the northern, a gravel of blue flag, tightened with sandy
clay. The valley from Tralee by Castleisland and down
the river Maine has a sandy and clayey loam on limestone:
the upland on the north is argillaceous, being
chiefly composed of slate clay and hard argillaceous sandstone.
A band of limestone is found to traverse the
lower part of this tract. In the mountainous district,
which occupies nearly the whole of the south of the
county, there are deep and extensive vales, which are
almost entirely occupied by bog, but which, though at
present little better than wastes, appear, from their
favourable exposure and the facility with which their
produce may be exported, to be well adapted to a more
improved mode of cultivation. The bogs are not confined
to the mountainous districts, but occur frequently
in large continuous tracts in all parts of the county,
and cover an extent of 105,577 acres, exclusively
of the small mountain bogs which were not estimated
in the general survey of the bogs of Ireland. One
species of bog, found chiefly in the barony of Corkaguiney,
peculiarly deserves notice: it is called in Irish
Meagh Vone, which signifies flat turf. In its natural
state it is of a glutinous or saponaceous quality, lying
upon the gravel under shallow peat bogs, which are of
a black and brittle nature, with a grassy surface, often
producing rushes. It lies about three spits deep, in a
stratum of from eight to twelve inches thick, and is of
a light brown colour, mixed with a clayey white. When
found, it is carefully laid aside, not for fuel but for
light; as two or three sods of it, broken small and
placed successively on the top of the fire, supply light
for the family during the longest night. When kept
it is carefully dried, in which case it is nearly as
light as cork and has a similar smell when burning. A
chymical analysis showed it to be wood much decayed
and highly impregnated with bituminous matter: when
distilled it yielded a considerable proportion of a thick oily
inflammable matter, with a residuum of soft charcoal.
In a country so extensive as Kerry, and until of late
so difficult of access in its mountainous districts, where
the inhabitants of its several baronies seem to be precluded
by nature from a free communication with each
other; and where, throughout the whole, agriculture is
in a backward state, no regular system of tillage can be
supposed to prevail. The general crops are potatoes,
wheat, barley, oats, and flax. Green crops, with a few
exceptions, are little known; nor are any grass seeds
sown, except by a few gentlemen farmers. The Irish
oat, which is but of indifferent quality, is that usually
raised. Barley has been tried on boggy land, but found
to be a failing crop, being liable to be overrun by the
weed persicarium. In some places, rape is partially
cultivated for seed, and is well adapted for boggy land:
the crop is stacked when cut, and threshed when a
market occurs. Dairies abound, particularly in the district
about Castleisland. In some the proprietor of
the land and stock lets out a certain number of cows
on a given tract of land by the year, for a particular
sum, engaging that all shall have calved before the
21st of June, with a drawback in cases of failure. In
other cases, the land and cows are given up to the
management of a dairyman, who gives his employer a
certain quantity of butter of prime quality, and one
guinea horn-money for each cow, by which is meant
an allowance for the sale or value of sour milk. To
every dairy farm a certain portion of meadow ground
is annexed for winter provender, which the dairyman
is obliged to save at his own cost. Should his supply
fall short, the proprietor buys elsewhere and the dairyman
draws it home. In the northern districts the
dairy system is very prevalent, and the method used
there for making butter has been deemed worthy of a
particular description by an agricultural writer. The
butter produced in Kerry, to the annual amount of
100,000 firkins, or full-bounds, as they are here called,
formerly found a market in the city of Cork, but of late
butter has been sold to a large extent at Tralee and
Killarney. Much is sold in the public market; but a
considerable quantity is also disposed of by private contract
to particular merchants. Limestone is extensively
used as a manure in those districts where it can be
easily procured: the quarries which supply a very large
tract of country are at Ballymacelligot, four miles from
Tralee, and there are others about seven miles from
Killarney, isolated by a district of bog and mountain:
the former also produce building stone of superior
quality. The vicinity of the sea shore has an inex-
G2
haustible supply of manure of two kinds, sea-weed and
sand, which on loamy soils act jointly with the best
effect, and on soils where either is found to be injurious,
the other operates as a correction. The agricultural
implements are few and simple. In the mountainous
parts the plough is scarcely used; the process of tillage
being wholly managed by a spade of peculiar construction,
called a "loy." Until the late general improvement
of the roads, wheel carriages were little known in
these districts, but their use is now becoming general.
From the introduction of the improved kinds of cattle
from Great Britain, the county now possesses the
long-horned Leicester, the Hereford, the Holderness,
and the Devon breeds: the common cattle of the
country are partly of the long and partly of the short
horned, varying in size according to their pasture: in
mountain farms they are very small and chiefly shorthorned.
The mixtures of blood have operated towards
the extinction of the original Kerry breed of small
cattle, so beautiful in their shape, so valuable for their
milk, and so easily fattened to the best quality of finegrained
meat. Yet some of their good qualities still
remain: they frequently prove good milchers, and
almost all, when brought into rich pastures, increase
considerably in size and make excellent beef. The dairy
stock is of a very good description, not of any distinct
breed, but what may be termed an excellent grazier's
cow, of good shape and thrifty appearance, weighing
from four to six cwt. when fat. The sheep are of the
mountain kind, in some parts of good size, and in
general with very good wool of clothing quality: from
their strong resemblance to the Merino, particularly in
the formation of the horns of the males, and from the
former communication between Spain and this part of
Ireland, there is every reason to suppose that the mountain
flocks of this county are deeply crossed with Merino
blood. Numerous herds of goats are fed on the mountains,
which, though apparently suffered to ramble at
large, are collected every evening for milking by dogs
trained for the purpose. Little attention is paid to the
breed of swine. In some places a very bad description
of long-legged, thin, flat-ribbed pig, difficult to fatten,
is met with; in others, a well-formed white pig, easily
fattened and weighing from two to three cwt., is reared.
The Suffolk breed of horses has been introduced, but
has not spread largely through the county. The Kerry
ponies, once so famed, and originally of Spanish or
rather of Moorish extraction, were formerly strong
enough for farming purposes, but now, by injudicious
crossing, are so degenerated as to be fit only for the
saddle and for very light weights. Numbers of them are
brought down from the mountains to Killorglin fair,
in droves of perhaps a score together, not one of them
having been ever embarrassed by a halter, till sold
there. Ponies of a superior description are occasionally
offered for sale here, and command high prices.
Some of the wilder mountains are still haunted by the
native red deer, and a few of the fallow deer still remain
wild about Ballyheigue; the hunting of the former
through the mountains of Killarney, with their resounding
echoes, affords sport of the most animating
description.
This county was once almost entirely covered with
timber of large size and of the best description, and even
now in the mountain valleys the growth of timber is kept
down only by the grazing of the cattle; for it has been
found that wherever these were excluded, timber spontaneously
grew up, insomuch as, in some cases, to choke
up and prevent the growth of young plantations. Some
of the great landed proprietors are very attentive to the
planting of their property. The Marquess of Lansdowne
planted 100,000 trees, principally oak, ash, Scotch fir,
beech, and larch, in the twelve years between 1800 and
1812. The extent of the Earl of Kenmare's woods is
estimated at 2,000 acres; and Mr. Herbert's, of Muckross,
at nearly double that number. Extensive and important
improvements have been effected by Lord Headley
on his estates at Glenbegh, Castleisland, and Aghadoe,
particularly the first, where the change produced in a
few years, not merely in the cultivation of the land,
planting, draining, embanking, &c., but in the habits and
manners of the peasantry, excites the admiration of all
who were previously acquainted with this wild, mountainous,
and lawless district. Orchards are not unfrequent
in the northern district. This county produces
the celebrated Kacageogh cyder: the trees which bear
this famous apple are the worst-looking and least productive
of any; they appear to be falling down, are ill
supplied with leaves, unhealthy in appearance, so knotty
as to resemble trees grown from pitchers, but unrivalled
in the quality of liquor they produce. The next in
quality is made from an apple called the Speckled Moss.
The fuel universally used is turf, of which the supply
may be said to be inexhaustible. Coal is rarely used
for fuel, except by a few respectable families.
The western portion of the north of the county,
which has been described as lying low, is a great limestone
basin, the eastern boundary of which is formed
by a line from Knockanure hill southward to Listowel,
and thence south-westerly to Ardfert, where it; sinks
under the ocean in Ballyheigue bay. This limestone is
secondary, with marine remains and eale spar, usually
of a light blue or smoke-grey colour: it seldom rises
more than forty or fifty feet above high water, appearing
sometimes in crags and low cliffs, but mostly concealed
by a cover of yellow clay. Its northern boundary, the
hill of Knockanure, about 700 feet high, is composed of
grey sandstone; the junction on that side is every where
concealed by a deep cover of clayey loam. To the west
of that hill, the contiguous rock sinks under the level
of the ocean, and permits the tide to enter the mouth of
the Cashen, the navigation of which is obstructed by
sand hills; but these, being partly calcareous, alford a
useful supply of manure to the upper country. From
the Cashen to Kerry Head stretches a bank of upland,
which, as it proceeds westwardly, becomes chiefly a
heathy moor, rising to a considerable height at its termination:
it is composed of thick beds of argillaceous
sandstone, nearly horizontal, in the partings of which
the beautiful quartz crystals called Kerry stones are
found: they are transparent and regular, and very hard.
Steel-grained lead is also found traversing this formation.
On its southern side this bank is more slaty and somewhat
calcareous, being mixed, near Ballyheigue, with
lesser masses of close-grained conglomerate. On the
west is a low sandy flat and salt marsh, defended from
the ocean by a screen of sand hills extending from
Ballyheigue to Barra harbour. In the northern upland
formation of the middle district of Kerry are beds of
culm, which has been worked only in its eastern range,
in the county of Cork. Specimens of the culm from
Killarney, Tralee, and Castleisland were nearly incombustible,
which may be accounted for from their having
been taken from the surface. In a drift in the river
Awineeghrea, a branch of the Flesk, the specimens
resemble plumbago. It is possible, by sinking, to obtain
coal like that of Kilkenny. A band of limestone, containing
a few organic remains, traverses the southern
part of this formation: it is chiefly blue, compact, with
chert over it, and to the west partly regularly stratified.
Where it shows itself in the middle of the Slieve Lughar
bogs, in Lord Kenmare's quarries, it is also blue and
compact, without any chert, but a good deal of calcareous
spar. It next appears about two miles west of
Killarney, on the Flesk, much intermingled with hornstone
or chert, and, finally, constitutes the great deposition
which forms nearly all the islands and promontories
on the north side of the Lower lake. The limestone
there meets the brown transition rocks of the mountains;
and near the junction it is traversed by metallic
veins of copper and lead. A second band is found in
various places along the course of the Gheestan, where
it is blackish and mingled with chert. The whole bottom
of the valley of the Maine consists of limestone lying in
strata, which, though generally confused, appear to lap
on each side above those of the mountain. The limestone
is generally compact, much impressed with marine
remains; black and hard towards Tralee, where it is
dressed as marble; whitening and more tender towards
Castleisland and the Maine, and of course more readily
calcined: both kinds are excellent and nearly pure.
Towards the northern side of the beds they become more
flinty, and are separated from the mountain rocks by
thin beds of Lydian stone, black or blueish grey, with the
cross fracture slightly conchoidal. Towards Tralee this
becomes a complete horn slate, the shiver of which is
highly valued for road gravel. There are large banks of
shell sand in Castlemaine bay: it is of a muddy blueish
cast, containing numerous whole shells of the species of
cardium. One of the Skellig rocks, which has often
been called marble, contains nothing but bolts of quartz
traversing the brown slate. The mountain of Slieve
Mish, which runs parallel to the Maine on its northern
side, and terminates in the peninsula of Corkaguiney,
is composed of old sandstone or grit, dipping about
40° to N. 8° W.: towards the interior the dip is greater,
and the rock more indurated. It is covered with thick
beds of millstone grit, or coarse-grained conglomerate,
with pebbles of quartz, jasper, and feldspar. The component
rock of the mountains which form nearly the
whole of the southern part of the county is of the transition
class, being a clay-slate or ardesia, which dips to
the S. 55° E., at an angle of 68° from the horizontal; so
that, though nearly on edge, it presents its cliffs and
sections to the north-west. This position is favourable
to its decomposition. From the facility with which the
water penetrates, the strata split and crumble down the
mountain side, leaving a considerable detritus at the foot
of all the cliffs, finally decomposing into an adhesive
loam well suited to the production of grain crops, and
forming a principal component of many fertile soils in
the South of Ireland. The range of mountains which
separates the bay or river of Kenmare from Bantry bay
is composed of beds of schist and sandstone of various
colours, but similar in their composition to the grauwacke
formations of other parts of the county. The
clay-slate is quarried for roofing in some places, but as
the works have seldom proceeded far below the surface,
that raised is generally shivery and small, yet much of
it is equal in quality to the Easdale and Ballahulish, in
the West of Scotland. It is blue, purple, and green,
according to the intermixture of iron or chlorite; splits
readily and bears piercing, is slightly foliated or wavy,
harder and more silicious than Bangor slate, and very
durable. The convenience of export has hitherto onlyadmitted
of quarries being opened at Cahir, Begnish,
and Valencia; at the last place flags of large dimensions
are quarried, which find a ready market in London.
The general slate rock, especially towards the south and
centre, is in many places penetrated with veins of quartz;
is highly indurated, and in some places the traces of
stratification are entirely obliterated in the smaller specimen,
though always recognizable in the great, where
the rock is found in situ. From the colour communicated
by the chlorite, the rock is provincially called
greenstone, being similar in aspect, though of different
composition, to that so called by mineralogists. When
the red oxyde is more abundant, it is called brownstone.
Where the induration is not so great as to destroy the
schistose as well as the lamellar structure, the rock is
used as flag or rubble stone. Flags of this sort are
common on the surface. But the most common land
stones here are the blocks of more highly indurated
rocks, which, parting from the mass by cracks and
fissures, have had their angles decomposed and worn off,
and are to be met with in the form of round boulders at
great distances from their original seat in the mountain.
One of the most singular rocks occurs close to the road
from Killarney to Ballyvourney, at the head of the glen
of Glenflesk: it rests on the transition slate of the
county, and is a close-grained compact sandstone, imbedded
in which are minute prismatic crystals of fleshcoloured
feldspar, and here and there geodes, six or
eight inches in diameter, containing sparry iron-ore and
white quartz. It thus comes under the description of
porphyritic rocks, and is the only one at present known
in the South of Ireland. It may also be mentioned that
in all the mountains the common grit-stone contains
large quantities of spar or crystal, or both; also sparry
iron-ore, and iron pyrites in crystals. The Roughty
stream separates beds of limestone from others of clayslate;
and near the head of the Kenmare river are several
islands abounding with limestone and beautifully
variegated marbles. Limestone occurs on other parts
of this coast. Iron is found plentifully in the southern
baronies, where there were two manufactories of it, one
at Killarney, the other at Blackstones, but both have
been long since discontinued from want of fuel. Leadore
is found in many parts. Copper of a golden colour
was raised at Muckross, and when the mines were
worked, grey cobalt and cobalt bloom were found in
considerable quantities; purple copper at Ardfert; and
marcasites of copper in Glanerought. The marble of
Tralee has spots like that of Kilkenny, but larger and
fuller of sparry substance: it takes a high polish.
Marble of inferior quality is found in several other parts.
In some of the islands in the bay of Kenmare is a variegated
marble of red and white, interspersed with yellow,
green and purple spots. A grey marble in Cappanacoss
island was formerly extensively worked by Sir William
Petty. Near Castleisland is found the Lapis Hibernicus
auctorum, or "Irish slate:" its taste is sour, and it
abounds with common green copperas, for extracting
which works were erected at Tralee, but were relinquished
for want of a market. Pipe-clay, potters'-clay,
fullers'-earth, brown ochre, and rotten stone, like
tripoli, are met with in various places. Very fine amethysts
have been found in the cliffs near Kerry Head;
and sulphur appears on the north of Cashen river, near
Ballybunnian. A kind of whetstone used for razors is
found near the Devil's Punch Bowl. Fossil shells are
to be met with in most places where there is limestone:
they are chiefly of the cockle kind, and generally consist
of lumps of sparry matter, the shell being wholly decomposed,
and only the shape remaining. Coraloids are
also discernible. Of the plants peculiar to this county,
or only found on the ridge that separates it from the
county of Cork, the most remarkable is the arbutus,
which, with the yew and holly, gives a perpetual verdure
to the natural woods of Killarney. The prostrate juniper
occurs on the shore near Derriquin, on the Kenmare
estuary. Saxifrages in numerous varieties descend from
the summit of the Reeks to the sea shore; and those
plants that luxuriate in a moist climate are more numerous
and diversified in Kerry than in any other county
in Ireland: such are of the orders Musci, Hepaticce, and
Lichenes, and of these, several new species have been
added to the British list.
The chief manufacture, that of coarse linens, is
nearly confined to the barony of Corkaguiney, where it
was formerly much more extensive than at present; and
the word "Dingle," impressed upon the cloth, procured
for it a ready sale at foreign markets. The flax is uniformly
raised on potatoe soil, and yields abundantly;
latterly, since attention has been paid to saving the
seed, half the quantity of imported seed is found to
be sufficient. The kind of linen most in demand was
known by the name of "Box-and-trip," and owed its
character to the careful method of preparing the yarn;
but the sale has latterly declined, in consequence of the
inferior method of manufacture: it is wrought in pieces
from 140 to 200 yards in length. Another kind of linen
is also made here, called Bandle linen, from being of
the width of fourteen inches, which makes the measure
called a bandle: both sorts were in much demand, as
well for domestic consumption as for the army and
navy. The woollen manufacture is carried on for domestic
purposes only; all the wool being sent to Cork or
Limerick, where it is purchased and made up into cloth.
The Coomduffe mountains form an exception to this
remark, for the tenants there pay their rent by flannels,
which are sold at the markets of Tralee and Dingle.
The fishery is carried on chiefly from the ports of
Valencia and Dingle; the kinds taken are cod, ling, hake,
glasson, and some haddock. Along the shores of the
Kenmare river the fishery is also carried on to some
extent; and here that of pilchards was also a great
source of profit, but the fish have quitted the coast many
years since. Salmon is also abundant, though much
thinned by the seals, which frequent the shores in such
numbers that the rocks are covered with them in Summer:
these are killed sometimes with musket balls, and
sometimes by moonlight in the caverns where they sleep.
Dingle bay is famous for its crayfish, and for lobsters
on its northern side; oysters and other shell fish are to
be obtained in many places. A great disadvantage which
the entire county labours under is the want of means
for exporting its produce: there are but few quays, so
that it loses nearly all the advantages of its maritime
situation. Much might be done in this respect by opening
the mouth of the Cashen, and by improving the
harbour of Tarbert, which is capable of being made one
of the most useful ports on the Shannon. A ship canal
from Tralee to the bay of that name has been for some
time in progress.
The rivers are numerous, but none of great length.
The Feale rises in the mountains that separate Kerry
and Limerick, and receives the Gale or Galey near
Rattoo from the north-east, and afterwards the Brick
from the south. From the junction of these three, the
united stream takes the name of Cashen, and discharges
itself into the estuary of the Shannon, near Ballybunnian.
The tide flows up the whole of the Cashen, and
boats proceed as far as Lixnaw, on the Brick, at high
water. The Mang, or Maine, rises near Castleisland,
and proceeding south-west is augmented by the Fleskroe,
and after passing by Castlemaine, to which place it
is navigable, it falls into the harbour of that name. The
Lee is a small stream rising a few miles east of Tralee,
but when augmented by the mountain streams after
rain, its body of water is so considerable as frequently
to overflow a great part of that town, to which it is
navigable from the sea by boats. The Flesk, the second
river in size, rises near the eastern boundary of the
county, and flowing in a very winding course through
the valley of Glenflesk, discharges itself into the Lower
lake of Killarney. The only outlet for the waters of
these lakes is the Laune, or Lane, which empties itself
into Castlemaine harbour, after receiving the Gheestan.
The Cara rises in the mountains of Dunkerron, passes
through Glencarra, and after forming a lake, falls into the
same bay. The Fartagh and Inny, or Eeny, rise in the
Iveragh mountains and flow westward, the former into
Valencia harbour, the latter into Ballinaskellig's bay.
The Roughty empties itself into the inner extremity of
the arm of the sea called the river or bay of Kenmare,
into the northern side of which the Finihy, Blackwater,
and Sneem also fall. Most of these rivers abound with
salmon and trout. The Great Blackwater rises in the
north-east of Kerry, and after forming the boundary
between this county and Cork, flows eastward through
the latter county into the Atlantic at Youghal. The
roads have of late years been considerably improved. A
government road from Castleisland to King-William's-
Town is in progress, and another under the Board of
Public Works, from Kenmare to Glengariff, in continuation
of a line from Killarney to Kenmare (completed
about ten years since), which will open a communication
through a wild and mountainous tract. Several
other new roads are also in progress or projected.
The vestiges of antiquity scattered over the county
are very numerous, though the most common are the
traces of the military struggles of which it has been
the scene. It had formerly three of the ancient round
towers, of which the one that stood near the cathedral
of Ardfert fell in 1771; of another, at Aghadoc, there
are about 20 feet remaining; aud the third is still
standing nearly entire at Rattoo. Staigue fort, in the
parish of Kilcrohane, is an extraordinary circular building
of the most remote date: there is another stone
fort with seats around it, about three miles distant, but
in ruins, from the inferior solidity of its workmanship;
and a similar enclosure is likewise to be seen in Iveragh,
on the opposite side of the river from Cahirciveen.
Perhaps of a remoter age are the Ogham inscriptions
near the church of Kilmelchedor, near Smerwick harbour;
where there is another inscription in a running
character of various ancient letters. At Ballysteeny is
likewise a stone with an Ogham inscription; and, in
the ruined church of Aghadoe, another. Among the
most curious of the ancient fortifications is the circular
enclosure at Caherdonnel, which is attributed to the
Danes; and on the mountain of Cahirconree, or "the
fortress of King Con," is a circle of massive stones, also
piled in the manner of a Danish intrenchment. There
is also a Danish camp, called Caher Trant, on the shores
of Ventry haven; and another at Rathanane, in the
same vicinity. Clee Ruadh, or the Red Ditch, is a
singular line of defence, commencing at a place called
Caher Carbery, near Kerry Head, and carried eastward
to the Cashen river, beyond which it re-appears, and
proceeding over Knockanure mountain it enters Limerick
county, where all traces of it are lost: it is conjectured
to have been an ancient line of demarcation between
the principalities of Thomond and Desmond. The
most curious of the minor remains of the more remote
ages is the bronze instrument, resembling a kettle-drum,
found at Muckross, and now deposited in Charlemont
House, Dublin. Eighteen religious houses are said to
have anciently existed in this county; and there are
remains of those of Aghamore, or Derrynane, Ardfert,
Ballinaskellig, Innisfallen, Irrelagh or Muckross, Killagh
or de Bello Loco (in the parish of Kilcoleman), Lislaghtin,
O'Domey or Kyrie Eleison, and Rattoo or Rathtoy. There
are also the ruins of the ancient cathedrals of Ardfert
and Aghadoe; a ruined religious building, called Monaster
in Oriel, in the parish of Kilgarvan; chapels or
cells, built entirely of stone with arched roofs, on Skellig
and Blasquet Islands, from the former of which the
abbey of Ballinaskellig was removed to the main land;
a curious church and cell, dedicated to St. Finian, on
an island in Lough Currane, in the parish of Dromod;
a stone-roofed cell at Fane, in the parish of Ventry;
one also at Kilmelchedor; one near Gallerus, at the
bottom of Smerwick harbour, which is very perfect and
curious; Mac Ida's chapel, near Ballyheigue; and an
anchorite's cell in the solid rock near Kilcrohane church.
Ruined parochial churches are found scattered over the
entire county; but their features are generally very
simple. The old castles still remaining in a more or
less perfect state are those of Ardea, Barra, Ballybeggan,
Ballybunnian, Ballycarbery, Ballyheigue, Ballymalus,
Ballinaskellig, Beale, Cappanacoss, Carrigafoyle, Castledrum,
Castlefiery, Castleisland, Castlelough, Castlesybil,
Clonmellane, Doon, Dunkerron, Dunloh, Fenit, Gallerus,
Killaha, Kilmurry, Lick, Listowel, Littur, Molahiffe,
Pallis, Rathanane, and Ross, which, as well as the
modern castles and seats, are noticed in the parishes in
which they are respectively situated.
In the western part of the county the houses were built
after the Spanish fashion, with stone balconies in front; as
there was a great communication with the Spaniards and
Portuguese, who visited the coast annually in considerable
numbers to fish for cod, which circumstance also
accounts for the names given to some of the towns.
The mountainous parts are chiefly inhabited by herdsmen,
who feed and clothe themselves from their own
lands, consuming but little of the produce of other
places: their habitations are low smoky huts covered
with coarse thatch. In some parts the women have a
becoming dress, consisting of a jacket of cloth, with
loose sleeves, made to fit close round the neck and
bosom, and fastened in front with a row of buttons:
this is considered to be a relic of the Spanish costume.
They marry at a very early age. The peasants are generally
well-proportioned, with swarthy complexions,
dark eyes and long black hair, exhibiting, in the opinion
of some, strong traces of their Spanish origin. They
are a frank, honest race, of very independent spirit,
acute in understanding, and friendly and hospitable to
strangers. The Dingle mountains being dry and
healthy, are very populous: those to the south are but
thinly peopled. The state of the peasantry in the northern
part of the county is much worse than that just
described. In many places they are badly housed, the
family and the cattle, including the pig, being inmates
of the same apartment; the floors sunk below the level
of the soil; the bedding, straw, hay, or dry rushes;
their clothing scanty; nearly two-thirds of the population
bare-legged; the diet, potatoes and sour milk;
the wages, tenpence a day in spring and harvest, and
at other periods the labourers are wholly unemployed.
Between Tarbert and Listowel many of the cabins are
built of stone without cement, the doors being of wicker.
The people in general, though superstitious, querulous,
and, from want of regular employment, of an idle disposition,
are inquisitive and extremely intelligent. It
is well known that classical learning was sought after
even to a fault among the lower orders throughout the
county, many of whom had more knowledge of the Latin
language than those of the higher classes in other parts.
The practice of "keening" at funerals, which in many
parts is falling into disuse, is here retained in full force.
Mineral springs, simply chalybeate, are numerous. Of
sulphuric chalybeates the principal is that called the
Spa, about three miles from Tralee; and at Ballybeg,
north-east of Dingle, is another highly impregnated.
A saline spring at Magherybeg, in Corkaguiney, rises a
little below high water mark out of a clear white sand:
though covered twice a day by the tide, there is no
variation in it. Near Dowlas Head are several large
natural caves, one of which is of magnificent dimensions,
and in calm weather may be entered for 100 yards in a
boat; the reverberation of the human voice in the
interior sounds like a speaking trumpet. At Minegahane,
near the Cashen, the sea breaking into the cavities
of the shore produces a loud sound like the discharge
of artillery; the noise generally precedes a change of
weather, and not unfrequently occurs on the approach
of a storm. A columnar cliff, called by the country
people the Devil's Castle, stands to the north of Lick
Castle, in the mouth of the Shannon, and is inaccessible
except to the sea fowl. The whole shore hereabouts
presents a succession of romantic caverns, extending
from Ballybunnian to Kilconly Point. But the great
natural curiosities of this county are those of Killarney
and its vicinity, described in the account of that place;
besides which may be enumerated the transposed limestone
and sandstone rocks, and the fairy rock, covered
with impressions of feet, both near Kilgarvan; Lough
Quinlan, with its floating islands, in the parish of
Tuosist; and the caves and subterranean stream in the
parish of Ratass. Kerry gives the inferior titles of
Baron and Earl to the Marquess of Lansdowne, who
also enjoys the titles of Viscount Clanmaurice and
Baron of Lixnaw and Dunkerron, in the peerage of
Ireland, all derived from districts in this county.