CORK. miles, or 1,840,333 Ben .<, of which 1,308,882 are arable, 465,889 ' *. 0,515 in towns, ami 1- water. Thu population in 1851 hut in 1861 haddecroasod to 544,818, showing a diminution of 104,490 persons. The rv of the county dates back to a remote period. It was originally peopled, according to I'tolcmy, l>y the ', or as called by others, thu 1 occupied th<; district alii rwords held by Uie Desmond lamily, in the southern part, and from the name are sup- posed to have bcin ..I Spanish or Iberian origin, t.'onti m- porary with this tribe were the /'orfi'i, who inhabited the eastern portion of the district, whilst the Curiondi held possession of the northern and middle districts. The tint i - cannot be accurately given, but prior to the English settlements the w d the king- dom of D< with u portion ot Waterford and the county of K. ny. In th> year 1177 llcnry II. of England grant. ,--,ry t'> Milo do Cogun and Robert Fit/Stephen, except the city of ( .>rk and some of the surrounding country. In 1210 it was shire ground. The next important change took place in 1583, when Sir Walter Raleigh, the Boyles, and others obtained the for! s of the Desmonds. Subse- quent changes took place in 1642 and 1G01, during the troubles which occurred at each of those periods respec- tively. Kinsale Head is famous as being the spot where the Spaniards obtained a temporary footing ; and Ban try Hay as l.cing the rendc/vousof the French fleets in 1689 and 1790. By the statute of the 4th George IV. cap. 93, this large county was divided, for the purpose of more frequent holding of general sessions of the peace, into two districts. <.:11. d the East arid West Hidings ; these have been again subdivided for quarter sessions pui'i imer into three, the latter into two dis- tricts. The East Riding contains the bars, of Bin IJarryni'ii-e, < > melons and Clangibbon, Cork, Duhallow, !'. rmoy, Imokilly, Kerrycurrihy, Kinaloa, Kinnatal- loon, part of East Muskerry, Orrery and Kilmore, Kinsale, and Youghal libs. The West Riding con- tains the bars, of Bautry, Bear, East and West Car- bery, Ibane and Barryroe, Kinalmeaky, West Mus- kerry, part of East Musketry, and Courceyg. The county returns eight members to parliament, which are divided as under : two for the county, two for city, and one for each of the boroughs of Youghal, Bandim, Kinsale, and Mallow. Before the Union the iv sent twenty-tour members to the Irish parlia- . of which two were for the county, two lor the county of the city of Cork, and two for each borough. The constituency for the county in 1859 numbered 15,710, and the county members are elected at the ' mt-house in the city of Cork, though each riding constitutes a separate jurisdiction tur the purposes of registration. The county is included in the Munstcr circuit ; the assizes ure held in ( 'oik city, and by an Act 4 George IV., it is enacted that i 1 sessions of the peace shall be held in alternate months in each of the two ridings, so that in the county at large a session Id every month, except the two months in which the general sessions arc in Id for the entire countv sessions for each division arc directed to be held lor the East Riding alternately in the city of Cork and at Jl . and Kanturk ; and lor the Y.t Uiding alternately a: llandon. .Mar m, llantiv, skih- bereon, andClonakilty. These 23 baror _.">! separate parishes, constituting the who!,, of the dioceses >rk, Cloyne, and Ross, and a small part of Ai . On the deathof Dr.Brinkley, Bish"p..l cloyne, in that see was added to Cork and Ross hy the ( lunch Ti-injmnili: .d William IV. The. unit, d diocese is one of the < Icveii which constitute tin . iiasti co of Caahcl ; it is entirely within the i hunt "4 miles in length and 1'. in brc.idth, and contains an estimated superficies of
- ilO acres. The majority of the population, how-
tholica ; there being, according t" ' i;i f only 26,736 members 1.1 Omrch of England in the diocese of Cork, II, 746 in the diocese of Cloyne, 4,746 in that of Rosa, and 6,42 part of Ardfert comprised within tin county of ( -.crnminl is vi .-ted in a l.nd-lieir deputy-lieutenants, and -JsJ i . besides wht I re the usual county officers, including 4 coront | and a constabulai. itly paid l.y gm rtly liy the grand jury pi. military distil, t ot tl. comprising i . it, l-'enuoy, Kn lisle l-'oit, Spike Island, Youghul, Kocky Islan Jl.iwllmwline, Mitchelstown, llutt. w, Bu don, Dunmanway, HilUtrect, and < A dep for convicts has been established at Spike Island, wh< .. persons sentenced to transportation of being sent as formerly to Western An-: Dicuuiu's Land. The county gaol and hou rcctiou are situated in the city of Cork, besides i there are seventeen bridewells in dillcient parts* county. Tin net annual value of pro]>erty in theo under the Tenement Valuation Act is il, U'.!;), 5 triluiti-d between town and countiy. ! of Cork, which, with an forms a county of itself, Cork conta market, and seaport towns of Youghal boroughs and market towns of Bundon and '. seaports and market towns of Cove or (, Bautry ; the market and post tov bereen, Macroum, and Dunmanway; the ant fxauchised boroughs 1. 1 Raltim. and the small towns or villages of Italiu vant, (.'a-tle-Lyons, Ca,-! Roche, Cloyne, Crookhaven, Innisluun Kildorrery, Kilworth, Liscurrol, West -M chelstown, Passage, Boescarl of which are post towns. In a county of so lai a great variety of soil and scenery is t but the general aspect of the country is pk-.. well cultivated, notwithstanding t In r and of hedgerows and p vuttta part is bold, rocky, and inountaiiiou and eastern portions arc distinguish' and fertility ; it is, however, in the southern and south western portions of the county that the grandest Bcaitr occurs, where the stupendous mat are raised like adamantine barriers the Atlantic waves, which t< year are dri. .nain-t i the prevailing winds. Tin i limati mildness of tcmpcratni
- orcold, couip.in d with oth rplao
in about the same degree of la; . . s it moist, like most of : ml. but drainage has iin nt in this respect, as well as in t. <-neo; the land. The soils may be classed calcareous, found in the Iin . 1 produce good i loamy, not calcareous, generally i these lands an- i. i ted tracts in ti which in wet seasons produce good c ure, tin- i Mid in dry seasons land or peut, tin . ard rock or coarse I.;- nine , difficult ; these lands when suscep: .i. ted iii i<at-, potati.es, or grass. on the coast and in the large bays.- It are iron, which was lor;: cipally at the Allahies hands
- and l,i~.
- ii-t/, on tin
Cork, KOM, Queonstown, and Yoiigh.il ; . in the liinesione near Itantry ; hi fullcr's-earth, and brick-clay. The pn
