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Gore, Bart., in 1762, and from him the title has des-
cended to the present Earl. The islands are now the
property of the Digby family, of whom the present
head is the Rev. John Digby, of Landerstown, in the
county of Kildare.
Their appearance, on approaching, is awfully im-
pressive; the dark cliffs opposing to the billows that
roll impetuously against them a perpendicular barrier,
several hundred feet high, of rugged masses shelving
abruptly towards the base, and perforated with various
winding cavities worn by the violence of the waves.
Arranmore, or the Great Island, which is the most
northern of the three, is about 11 miles in length, and
about 1¾ mile at its greatest breadth; and comprises
the villages of Killeany, Kilmurvey, and Onought, and the
hamlets of Icararn, Ballyneerega, Mannister, Cowruagh,
Gortnagopple, Furnakurk, Cregacarean, Shran, and
Bungowla. In the centre is a signal tower; and at
Oaghill, on the summit, is a lighthouse, elevated 498 feet
above the level of the sea at high water, and exhibiting
a bright revolving light from 21 reflectors, which attains
its greatest magnitude every three minutes, and may
be seen from all points at a distance of 28 nautical
miles, in clear weather. The island is bounded on the
south and west by rocky cliffs, from 300 to 400 feet high;
but on the north are low shelving rocks and sandy
beaches; and the passage to the northward is called the
North Sound, or entrance to the bay of Galway. There
is only one safe harbour, called Killeaney or Arran bay:
in the upper part of the bay is a small pier, erected by order
of the late Fishery Board in 1822, which has eight feet of
water. Ennismain, or the Middle Island, is separated from
Arranmore by Gregory Sound, which is about four miles
broad and navigable from shore to shore: it is of
irregular form and about eight miles in circumference;
and comprises the village of Maher and the hamlets of
Moneenarouga, Lissheen, Ballindoon, and Kinavalla.
The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in fishing and
making kelp; they have a few row-boats and a number
of canoes, or corachs, made of osiers and covered with
pitched canvas. The northern point of this island is
lofty and rugged, but terminates in a low sandy beach,
and on several sides it is boldly perpendicular.
Innishere, or the Eastern Island, is separated from En-
nismain by a rocky and dangerous passage, called Foul
Sound, which is about a league broad, with a ledge of
rocks having on it six feet of water. It is about a mile
and a half in length, three quarters of a mile in breadth,
and four miles in circumference; and comprises the
village of Temore, and the hamlets of Forumna, Castle,
and Cleganough. The tillage is chiefly for potatoes,
with a little rye; but the inhabitants live principally by
fishing and making kelp, which is said to be the best
brought to the Galway market. There is a signal tower
on the island, and near it an old castle. To the west of
Arranmore are the Branach Isles, two of which, about
eight acres in extent, afford good pasturage, and the
third is a perpendicular and barren rock of about two
acres.
The surface of all the islands is barren rock, inter-
spersed with numerous verdant and fertile spots. There
are many springs and rivulets, but these afford in dry
seasons a very inadequate supply of water, which is
either brought from the main land for the use of tthe
cattle, or the cattle are removed thither during the con-
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tinuance of the drought. The best soils are near the shore
and are sandy, with a mixture of rich loam: the prevailing
crops are potatoes, rye, and a small kind of black oats; the
inhabitants raise also small quantities of barley and wheat,
for which they apply an additional portion of sea-weed,
their only manure; and they grow small quantities of
flax; but the produce of their harvests seldom exceeds
what is required for their own consumption. The pas-
ture land is appropriated to sheep and goats, and a few
cows and horses, for which they also reserve some mea-
dow: the mutton is of fine flavour and superior quality;
but the most profitable stock is their breed of calves,
which are reputed to be the best in Ireland, and are
much sought after by the Connaught graziers. The
grasses are intermingled with a variety of medicinal
and sweet herbs, among which the wild garlick is so
abundant as to give a flavour to the butter. The plant
called Rineen, or “fairy flax,” is much relied on for its
medicinal virtues in almost all cases; the tormentil
root serves in place of bark for tanning; and there is
another plant which gives a fine blue dye, and is used in
colouring the woollen cloth which the islanders manu-
facture for their own wear. The fisheries are a great
source of profit, and in the whole employ about 120
boats; of these, 30 or 40 have sails and are from five
to ten tons’ burden; the rest are small row-boats and
canoes, or corachs. The spring and beginning of the
summer are the season for the spillard fishery; im-
mense quantities of cod, ling, haddock, turbot, gurnet,
mackerel, glassin, bream, and herring are taken here;
and lobsters, crabs, cockles, and muscles are also found in
abundance. The inhabitants rely chiefly on the herring
fishery, which is very productive; and in April and
May, many of them are employed in spearing the sun-
fish, or basking shark, from the liver of which they
extract considerable quantities of oil. Hares and rabbits
abound in these islands, which are also frequented by
plovers, gannets, pigeons, ducks, and other wild fowl;
and the cliffs are the resort of numerous puffins, which
are taken for the sake of their feathers by cragmen,
who descend the cliffs at night by means of a rope
fastened round the body, and are lowered by four or
five of their companions. In one of the islands a very
fine stratum of dove-coloured and black marble has been,
discovered; and from the various natural resources of
this apparently barren district, the inhabitants are en-
abled to pay a rental of from £2000 to £3000 per
annum to the proprietor. The most remarkable of the
natural curiosities are the three caverns called the Puff-
ing Holes, at the southern extremity of Arranmore;
they communicate with the sea and have apertures in
the surface of the cliff, about 20 perches from its brink,
from which, during the prevalence of strong westerly
winds, prodigious columns of water are projected to the
height of a ship’s mast.
The three islands form three parishes in the diocese of
Tuam, and, in respect to their vicarages, are part of the
union of Ballynakill, from the church of which they are 28
miles distant; the rectories are impropriate in the Digby
family. The tithes amount to £47. 19. 10¾., of which
£38. 8. is payable to the impropriator, and £9.11. 10¾.
to the incumbent. In the R. C. divisions they form
one parish, which is served by a clergyman resident at
Oaghill, where a chapel, a neat slated building, has been
recently erected. About 400 children are educated in