The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

LEINSTEE. 417
The county of TVexkord forms the south-easternmost corner of Ireland.
The coast is for the most part lovr. The interior consists of an upland, upon
which rise isolated hUls. The river Slaney traverses the centre of the county,
whilst the Barrow hounds it on the west. Wexford, at the mouth of the Slaney,
is seated on a magnificent bay, and carries on a considerable trade, notwithstanding
that its harbour is closed by a bar admitting no vessel over 200 tons burden.
It was here that the EngUsh first secured a footing upon Irish soil, ami concluded
their first treaty, in 1169. The square keep of Carrick Castle, built about that
time, stiU remains. Enniscorthij, at the head of the navigation of the Slanej', is
built on the side of a steep hill. A little cloth is manufactured, besides which
there are breweries, distilleries, and flour-mills. Iligher up in the vallej' are the
mineral springs of Neidotm Barry. In the north-eastern part of the county are
Cortown, a fishing village, and Goreij, an inland market town. Bannow Bay,
on the south coast, is said to mark the site of a flourishing town, which was
swallowed up by the sea. There are ruins of ecclesiastical buildings at its head ;
whilst Fi-thard, a poor fishing village near its mouth, boasts the ruins of a Tintern
Abbey, founded in 1200, and named after the famous abbey in Wales, from which
it was peopled. The principal town on the Barrow is New Ross, which vessels of
800 tons burden can reach with the tide. There are distilleries and flour-mills.
It was near this place that, during the rebellion of 1798, an undisciplined crowd
of 20,000 Irishmen was routed by a handful of English troops. The atrocities
committed during this rebellion by the peasantry in the county of Wexford defy
description. Dttncannon, a fishing village on the eastern side of Waterford
Harbour, is defended by a fort.
The county of Carlow is for the most part a fertile plain, shut in between
the hills of Wicklow and Kilkenny, and drained by the rivers Barrow and Slane}'.
Carlow, on the former of these rivers, is a handsome town, with a Catholic
cathedi-al and college. Bagnakfoicn is lower down on the same river. LeUjlilin-
bridfje, with the ruins of Blackrock Castle, and Old Leighlin, with a cathe-
dral of the twelfth century, are in its neighbourhood. Tidlow is the princi-
pal town on the Upper Slaney, which lower down flows past Enniscorthy and
Wexford.
The county of Kiucexxy lies to the west of the Barrow. The K^ore traverses
its centre, and the Suir bounds it in the south. The surface is mostly hUly,
but there occur also extensive jDlains, in the midst of one of which, on the
banks of the Xore, stands the county town of Kilkenny. On a rock in its centre
rises a castle built in the twelfth century, and now the residence of the Marquis
of Ormonde. Coarse woollen stuffs are manufactirred, but the Kilkenny of to-day
is only a shadow of its former self, as is attested by its numerous ruins. Thomas-
town, also on the Nore, is the birthplace of Father Mathew. Near it are the rains
of Jerpoint Abbey. Coal is worked in the northern part of the county, near
Castlecomer. In the valley of the King's Eiver lie Kelk, founded by a follower
of Strongbow, but now a wretched village, and Callan. Johnstown and Urling-
ford lie to the north-west.