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castle of the Earl of Desmond, at the western extremity
of which is the entrance to the castle demesne, which has
been lately much improved, and forms a delightful pro-
menade open to the public. The county club and news-
room is in this street, and there are two other reading
and news-rooms, called the Chamber of Commerce and
the Constitutional Club. Races are held at the spa in
July or August, and an annual regatta in the bay has
been lately established. The barracks, at Ballymullen,
about half a mile from the town, and capable of accom-
modating 17 officers, and 456 non-commissioned officers
and privates, and 6 horses, with an hospital for 30
patients, form a substantial building, erected in I810 at
an expense of £20,000: they stand in an enclosed area
of about 15½ acres. Near the barracks is the brewery of
Mr. Bender, also the distillery of Messrs. Newell and
Grant, which manufactures upwards of 70,000 gallons
of whiskey annually. The extensive ale and porter
brewery of Messrs. Cox and Tidmarsh, producing about
2300 tierces annually, and another on a less extensive
scale, are situated in the town. The markets, which
are held on Tuesday and Saturday, are abundantly sup-
plied with meat and vegetables, and with fish from the
bays of Dingle and Tralee; there are no regular market-
places, and the dealings are carried on in the public
streets, to the great inconvenience of the inhabitants:
the provost acts as clerk of the market, in examining
the weights and measures and in correcting abuses and
deciding disputes; market jurors are sworn at quarter
sessions. The town has an extensive retail trade, Fairs
are held on May 3rd, Aug. 4th and 5th, Oct. 9th and
10th, Nov. 7th and 8th, and Dec. 13th. There are
branches of the Bank of Ireland and of the Provincial
and National Banks in the town. About 15 years since
the export of grain was confined to two or three small
cargoes annually; there is now a considerable export,
which is increasing every year; the chief articles are
wheat and oats, the barley being mostly purchased for
home consumption: butter is also exported, but not to
its former extent: coal and timber are the chief articles
imported. The improvements in the trade, commerce,
and general appearance of Tralee have been very con-
siderable of late years, and are rapidly progressing not-
withstanding the inconvenience arising from the extreme
shallowness of the water in the river, which prevents
the approach of vessels exceeding 50 or 60 tons nearer
than Blennerville, about 1½ mile distant, and obliges
large vessels to lie at the Samphire islands, off Fenit
point, a distance of about five miles. To remedy
this defect, a local act of the 9th of Geo. IV., c. 118,
was procured, creating a corporate board of commis-
sioners for the purpose of constructing a navigable
canal adequate to bring up large vessels to the town.
The canal, which is now in progress, commences at
Croompane-Rockard, near the west end of the town,
where there is a basin 400 feet by 150, on the north side of
which is to be a quay faced with hewn stone: the canal,
which proceeds thence to the Blackrock, beyond Blen-
nerville, is to be 74 feet wide and 15 feet deep: the
estimated expense is £24,000. When finished, vessels
of 300 tons burden will be enabled to discharge at the
quay. The canal commissioners are empowered to im-
pose certain dues on the imports and exports, and
on vessels coming into the port; these dues, in 1834,
amounted to £600. The amount of the excise duties
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of the district, for the year 1835, was £11,265. 9. 6.
The town is the head station of the coast-guard district
and residence of the inspecting commander: it com-
prises the stations of Castlegregory, Kilfinura, Bally-
heigue, the Cashen river, and Beale. It is also a chief
constabulary police station.
The town was incorporated by a charter of the 10th
of Jas. I., under the name of “the Provost, Free Bur-
gesses, and Commonalty of the Borough of Tralee; “to
consist of a provost, 12 burgesses and a commonalty.
The provost, elected annually, is hereby appointed clerk
of the market, justice of the peace for the county of
Kerry, and judge of a borough court of record. The
burgesses are elected for life: the charter declares all
the inhabitants of the borough freemen, together with
such others as the provost and free burgesses admit;
but as the freedom gives no privilege but that of exemp-
tion from tolls, it has never been claimed as of right.
The charter grants to the borough the right of return-
ing two members to parliament, and vests the election
in the provost and burgesses: the borough was disfran-
chised at the Union, but by the act of the 2nd of Win. IV.,
cap. 88, it is empowered to return one member, to be
elected by the £10 householders, with a restoration of
their former right of voting to the burgesses, provided
they be resident in the borough or within seven miles
of it. The borough is not co-extensive with the parish,
but comprises a portion of the country round the town,
to the extent of about seven miles in circumference.
The new electoral boundary, including part of the pa-
rish of Ratass, in which are the county gaol and the bar-
racks, comprises an area of 534 statute acres, the limits
of which are particularly described in the Appendix: the
provost is the returning officer. He also presides at
a court of record, held every Thursday, for personal
actions not exceeding five marks, Irish. The assizes
for the county of Kerry are held at Tralee; and general
sessions of the peace four times in the year: petty
sessions are held every Tuesday. The county court-
house, erected near the eastern end of Denny-street, at
an expense of £14,000, is an edifice of great elegance:
its front presents a Grecian portico approached by
a noble flight of steps and surmounted with a fine
pediment: the main building, which is circular, has the
criminal court of justice on the one side and the civil
on the other, separated by the judges’ and other
chambers in the centre of the building: the county
offices are in the rear. The county gaol, situated near
the barracks, is a large and substantial building on the
radiating principle, consisting of an octangular centre
containing the governor’s apartments, from which project
two lateral wings and one rearward containing wards for
the male prisoners; in the front are two detached build-
ings for female prisoners and debtors, and in the rear
another of semicircular form for a chapel: it affords
accommodations, with separate beds, for 209 prisoners,
and has a treadmill.
The parish contains 4393½ statute acres, as applotted
under the tithe act: it is intersected by the small rivers
Ballymullen and Leigh, which unite just before they fall
into the strait or haven at the western entrance of the
town. The soil is in general of superior quality, and
chiefly in tillage; the system of agriculture is gradually
improving: it contains some mountain pasture and
shallow bog. Limestone and black marble are found
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