Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

WEX
name of lake, except Lady’s Island lake, in Forth, which
claims notice, not from its extent or beauty, but from
the singularity of its formation, receiving several small
rivulets and having no natural outlet, so that once in
every three or four years an opening is cut through the
sand bank which separates it from the sea. The sea-
coast on the eastern side presents no opening for
shelter from foul weather from Arklow to Wexford
harbour, and is rendered still more dangerous to
shipping by a range of sand banks parallel to the shore,
the most northern of which is marked by a light-ship.
Towards the northern extremity of this line of coast a
harbour has been formed for small craft at the inlet of
Courtown, in Kilbride bay, consisting of two rough
piers forming a floating dock. Wexford harbour is
large and capacious, but its entrance is obstructed
by a bar, and the navigation is in other respects dan-
gerous. The Tuscar rock lies about seven miles south-
east of Greenore Point: it is marked by a revolving
light of three faces, two bright, the third a deep red;
a bell also rings in foggy weather. In the northern
part of Wexford harbour are the islands of Beg Erin, or
Little Ireland, and Great Island, both inhabited: the
former is of very small extent, but ancient fame; the
latter contains about 80 acres. On doubling Carnsore
Point, the Saltee islands, two in number, the larger and
the smaller, present themselves off the southern coast.
A late return from the resident incumbent of the ad-
joining parish on the mainland states that these islands
are considered to form part of the county of Tipperary.
The larger is a mile long and half a mile broad, but not
more than one-third of it consists of arable land: the
lesser is about a mile in circuit: both are high and
contain some rocky pasture. From the lesser island to
the mainland is a ridge of rocks called St. Patrick’s
bridge, extremely dangerous, having not more than
from 7 to 10 feet of water above them at low tide.
Farther westward is Bagenbon Head, and near it the
small dry harbour of Fethard. What was formerly
called “Slade Island” is connected with Bannow by a
narrow isthmus of sand. The extreme south-west point
of the county is marked by a lighthouse at Hook head,
140 feet high, with a steady fixed light. On doubling
this point the navigator finds himself within the grand
and safe estuary of Waterford harbour, into which the
united streams of the Suir, Barrow, and Nore are re-
ceived.
In the eastern and southern districts, which lie open
to the sea, the temperature is milder than that of the
adjoining counties of Carlow and Kilkenny. Snow sel-
dom continues on the ground, and the lands may be
tilled, and the surface is verdant, while those ten miles
inland are frost-bound, and their elevated parts covered
with snow. The southern district is subject to storms
in spring and autumn, and to heavy rains in winter;
but the harvest is as early, if not earlier, than in the
opposite Welsh counties of Pembroke and Carmarthen,
which lie more southerly. It is even earlier here than
in the north of Devonshire; and the climate is altoge-
ther eminently favourable to the perfection of grain
crops. The soil is mostly of a cold clayey nature, being
deficient in the substrata of limestone and limestone
gravel, universally found in the midland counties. On
the whole, the maritime districts are superior to those
in the interior, as to fertility. The whole of the eastern
703
WEX
and southern borders has a deep alluvial soil, abounding
with various kinds of marl and calcareous sand, with
some limestone. The western and inland baronies con-
tain little marl, but in compensation for this defect they
have abundance of bog, which affords an adequate sup-
ply of turf for burning the lime imported from the
neighbouring counties, while the southern baronies are
extremely deficient in this useful article. The prevail-
ing clayey and gravelly loam, though apparently stub-
born and untractable, when judiciously under-drained
and limed, is productive of abundant crops. In the
Hook, a peninsula entirely open to the ocean, and little
elevated above its level, the subsoil is of a compact
limestone, overspread with a thin layer of vegetable
mould: it produces grasses of wonderful luxuriance,
and both wheat and barley of superior excellence.
The parishes along the sea coast, particularly in the
baronies of Forth and Bargy, are divided into small
farms of from five to twenty acres, the competition for
which produces high rents, and on which is exhibited
that wonderful exertion of industry which seldom fails
to shew itself in Ireland where the inhabitants are
secured in the enjoyment of the fruits of their labour.
The crops consist of wheat, oats, barley, and beans;
also tares, rape, and turnips. Barley is the principal
corn crop throughout the county, and, though uncer-
tain, it generally repays the cultivator by a luxuriant
produce. Beans are sown on the lea after it has been
manured with marl; the kind sown is the small horse
bean, and the produce is generally exported to the West
Indies: in seasons of scarcity, this crop has been found
of great utility in diminishing the severity of famine.
The potato, however, is the staple crop here, as in all the
other counties, and all the manure is used for its culture:
the seed is planted with the plough in small ridges,
three rows in the ridge, and covered with the spade.
The general succession of crops is potatoes, barley,
and oats; but, in the barony of Forth, beans are intro-
duced. The sowing of clover, which has been for some
time increasing, is now very general; but the English
green crops for winter feeding are still chiefly confined
to the lands of the resident gentry or experimental agri-
culturists. In some parts, particularly in the peninsula
of Hook, the natural grasses are very luxuriant: in the
interior, on the cold clay soils, they are thin and of little
value: the farmers in general depend upon artificial
grasses. Dairies are numerous, but they are not man-
aged with the attention to neatness requisite for ensuring
the best kind of butter; nor is sufficient pains taken in
the selection of a suitable stock of cows; yet neverthe-
less there is a large annual export of that article. In
Forth and Bargy the farmers manure with marl found
in abundance in the interior of those baronies; also
with calcareous sand, which is procured in the vicinity
of Duncannon fort; floating sea weed is much used in
some parts: by these kinds of manure the land is kept
permanently in a state of great fertility. In Carne,
where the tillage grounds are so overspread with large
stones that the superficial observer would think that the
plough could hardly be used at all, the land has been
kept, from time immemorial, under alternate crops of
barley and beans, affording abundant returns. In the
eastern district, where also marl is abundant, use is made
of it. In this tract, particularly on both sides of the
Slaney, pebble limestone is burned, and applied to the