Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/231

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GEOGRAPHY.] IRELAND 215 that of the Old Red Sandstone. The highest summit is Lugnaquilla (3039 feet), composed of altered Silurian rocks lying on the granite. In the south-western districts of Kerry, Cork, and Waterford, the mountains are composed of broad bands of Old Red Sandstone, the valleys being formed of narrow bands of Carboniferous rocks. The lie of the strata is nearly east and west, since they have been plicated by forces acting in a transverse direction, the time of disturbance being some unknown date between the Carboniferous and the Permian periods. This district includes the rugged range of Macgillicuddy s Reeks, which rise abruptly from the Carboniferous Limestone surround ing the Killarney lakes, and, occupying the greater part of the peninsula between Dingle Bay and Kenmare River, attain at Carntual a height of 34li feet above sea-level. Many of the most conspicuous mountain groups in the southern half of the island consist of central cores of Siluriin strata wrapped round with thick folds of Old Red Sandstone. Such are Slieve Aughty, Slieve Bernagh, the Silver Mine mountains, and Slievenaman in Clare and Tipperary, Galtymore in Limerick, which has an elevation of 3015 feet, and the Slieve Bloom mountains in Queen s county. The principal mountain groups in the north-east are the Carlingford mountains, composed of felspatluc and pyroxenic rocks, and attaining in Slieve Fuy a height of nearly 2000 feet ; the Mourne mountains to the north of Carlingford Longh, composed of granite, with veins of basalt, felstone, mica trap, and porphyry, the highest summit being Slieve Donard (279G feet); and the Slieve Croob mountains, to the north of the Mourne range, composed of granite of a mucli_ earlier origin. Both the Mourne and Carlingford mountains are of intrusive origin, and probably belong to the Permian period. A considerable extent of low country in Down, Armagh, and Cavan is occupied by Silurian rocks in the form of grits and slates. The estuary of Belfast Lough lies in Triassic rocks, containing beds of rock salt. Rocks of similar age extend west of Lough Xeagh, and thence north to Lough Foyle. They are overlaid by Jurassic and Cretaceous strata, which, however, are almost wholly concealed under the great basalt flood of the north eastern counties. The greater part of Antrim and the eastern portion of Derry are occupied by basalt rock forming an elevated plateau, for the most part bounded towards the sea by precipitous escarpments, consisting of Upper Green- sand and Chalk, surmounted by the black basalt which, , often crowning their summits, stands in striking contrast TABLE I. Area and Distribution of Land in 1880, and Pojmlation in 1881. Area in Statute Acres. Distribution of Land in Acres. Population 1881. Lund. Large Lakes, Rivers, and Tideways. Total. Under Tillage. Pasture. Plantations. Towns. Bogs. Mountains, and Roads. Ireland 20,327,764 494,730 20,822,494 5,096,490 10,259,108 339,858 4,632,308* 5,159,839 Leinsfcr. Carlow 221,293 226,895 418,497 507,254 493,019 257,221 201,618 578,247 424,854 433,769 575.700 499,894 50 2,478 966 12,188 506 1,614 19,700 3,388 284 221,343 226,895 418,497 509,732 493,985 269,409 202,124 579,861 424,854 453,469 579.088 500,178 77,916 88,808 117,832 157,281 114,648 72,876 97,954 138,916 136,523 93,695 207,074 105,307 116,383 104,300 239,406 293,252 238,677 131,321 74,944 395,159 216,851 271,891 304,706 261,393 3,400 4,192 7,332 10,799 8,551 3,823 4,55 10,839 11,634 8,688 10,886 20,826 23,594 29,595 53,927 45,922 131,143 49,201 24,135 33,333 59,846 59,495 53,034 112,368 46,508 418,152 76,102 99,064 72,668 60,790 78,228 86,301 72,598 71,513 123,587 73,679 Dublin Kildare Kilkenny King s County Longford Louth Month Queen s County "Westineath Wexford Wicklow Total for Leiuster .... Munster. Clare 4,838,261 41,174 4,879,435 1,408,830 2,648,283 105,555 675,593 1,279,190 768,265 1,838,921 1,159,358 662,973 1,048,969 456,198 59,729 10,764 26,562 17,869 12,762 5,354 827,994 1,849,685 1,185,920 680,842 1,061,731 461,552 141,362 412,029 160,326 176,994 266,550 85,169 481,536 1,001,322 586,600 415,107 598,326 239,515 8,500 32,957 18,348 8,407 28,412 19,771 136,867 392,613 394,084 62,465 155,681 111,743 141,210 492,810 200,448 177,203 199,004 113,235 Cork Kerry Limerick Tipporarv Waterford Total for Munster .... Ulster. Antrim 5,934,684 133,040 6,007,724 1,242,430 3,322,406 116,395 1,253,453 1,323,910 711,276 313,036 466,261 1,190,269 611,936 417,665 513,388 318,806 778,943 50,804 15,051 11,134 6,885 473 39,705 8,927 935 27,714 762,080 328,087 477,395 1,197,154 612,409 457,370 522,315 319,741 806,657 244,685 163,473 145,326 230,152 298,441 104,717 181,588 131,506 249,334 349,172 115,871 254,347 356,809 225,349 243,066 206,044 152,474 307,026 7,420 4,665 5,443 7,275 14,086 6,286 5,305 4,688 9,736 109,999 29,027 61,145 596,033 74,060 63,596 120,451 30,138 212,847 423,171 162,823 129,008 205,443 269,927 84,633 164,714 102,590 197,233 Armagh Cavan Donegal Down Fermanagh Londonderry Monaghan Tyrone Total for Ulster Connaught. Gal way 5,321,580 161,628 5,483,208 1,749,222 2,210,158 64,904 1,297,296 1,739,542 1,502,362 376,212 1,318,129 585,407 451,129 67,142 16,151 42,601 22,284 10,710 1,569,504 392,363 1,360,730 607,691 461,839 211,936 82,011 181,528 133,090 87,443 752,737 212,374 542,853 839,922 230,375 24,282 3,497 11,123 7,163 6,939 513,407 78,330 582,625 105,232 126,372 241,662 89,795 243,030 131,755 110,955 Leitrim Mayo lioscommon Sligo Total for Connaught 4,233,239 158,888 4,392,127 696,008 2,078,261 53,004 1,405,966 817,197 Including 133,035 acres under the smaller streams and lakes.