parish, or at least an union, without a church, a glebe, house and land, and an enforcement of residence by the incumbent.

There has been a great improvement in many of the Roman Catholic chapels; the generality of which, however, are disgraceful to the clergyman and his congregation: though the parish priest may not be able to have his chapel fine, he may have it clean and dry. I much fear it may be imputed to that indolence which prevents them from having any thing in their gardens but potatoes and cabbages, instead of setting an example to their flocks, like the priests on the continent, who generally have neat gardens, and every thing clean and comfortable about them. I cannot conceive why a priest may not say his prayers amidst good vegetables and sweet flowers, as well as amongst potatoes, cabbages, and all sorts of weeds. I presume to throw out a hint, that an arrangement in the College of Maynooth for giving the students a taste for, and knowledge of the cultivation of a garden, would be useful as well as healthful: probably an hour every day, would not interfere with their duties. There have been lately several handsome and comfortable chapels erected in this county; one at Galway; two at Loughrea; one at Oranmore; one at Laban near Ardrahan, towards the building of which Mr. Lambart of Creggclare gave £50. and the ground rent free; one at Mount Bellew, in a very superior style of finishing and arrangement. Mr. Bellew gives to the Catholic incumbent 10 acres of land rent free. The old churches, and many of the new, though the elevation may be beautiful, are most uncomfortable in winter, both from want of studding the walls, without which no building of limestone can be dry, and from want of fires, and not frequently opening the windows on every fine day; instead of this

they are usually shut up until a short time before service, and though some have fire places, the clergyman and church wardens seem to forget for what purpose they were erected. I really think that country churches are in general places of penance, especially in winter. I can see no reason why a church, and a chapel too, should not be as comfortable as any room in a private house: a few hundred weight of Kilkenny coal would obviate every cause of complaint, and it would not in some measure countenance the hurried and incoherent manner of performing the service, in which some young gentlemen, and old ones too, indulge. I can not resist the temptation, whilst on this subject, to give the following excellent advice to parents and guardians from the Rev. Mr. John's introduction to bishop Massillon's address to his clergy. "What possible advantage can a congregation derive from having a young man, who "is entirely unacquainted with the art of public speaking, read for fifteen or twenty minutes an elegant

66

66

essay, or an ingenious disquisition equally adapted, "with a few verbal alterations, to an assembly of Ca"tholics, Jews, or Mahometans, ashamed all the time "of looking them in the face? Such a one might have "been active as a shopkeeper, skilful as a farmer, di"ligent as a tradesman, and may perhaps be dis

66

tinguished as a philosopher; but it is with difficulty "we can bring ourselves to believe that he was moved "by the Holy Ghost to preach the gospel." I shall only add, that the irritability of the congregation would be much increased in some of our country churches with wet walls and broken windows.

SECTION XXVI.

WHETHER THE COUNTY HAS BEEN ACTUALLY SUR-
VEYED.

In addition to the Surveys of Dr. Beaufort and Major Taylor, made many years since, there has been an actual Survey of the county of Galway made by the late Mr. Larkin, under the auspices of the grand jury of the county. It supplies many omissions and errors of Dr. Beaufort's map, to which, as being chiefly an ecclesiastical one, it is probably liable, in the lines of roads, &c. and the multitude of alterations and additions made since the publication of the other, which is principally a map of roads, makes that of little use at present, especially on so small a scale. The map by Mr. Larkin will be sufficiently large, not only to supply the omissions of the former maps, but considerably to facilitate any change in the lines of roads and the adoption of new ones. As I have not seen the map, which is now engraving in London, I can only write from report.* It is intended by the grand jury to have maps of each barony, which will be highly useful in assisting in the detection of jobbing, if any such thing exists in this county. If the different changes in the mineral regions of the county, especially those of Cunnamara, as delineated by the very scientific Mr.

* This map has been finished, but, I regret to state, that there are so many errors, that it is in contemplation to have another and more correct one made. It will require great circumspection in the appointment, and particular care taken that the executive part of the Survey may not be made by young lads, to whom, if I am not misinformed, the Survey was mostly entrusted by the late Mr. Larkin, whose professional avocacations probably prevented a more constant personal superintendance than it received,

Nimmo, in his luminous report to the commissioners for improving the bogs of Ireland, were distinguished by colouring, it would be highly useful. Several maps of the town have at different periods been published; I have a very small one of ancient Galway, very curious. There is also a very large and extremely interesting map of the town of Galway in the reign of Charles II. in the possession of colonel Browne of Castle Mountgarret; it would be highly desirous to have it copied, as it had a narrow escape from the flames when the house was consumed in 1812. I understand there are but two copies in existence, this, and another in a convent on the continent.* There is a remarkable map in the possession of Major Prendergast of the Tipperary militia, of the soundings and anchoring places on the coast of Ireland, taken from the French at Ballynamuck, on the 8th of September 1798. The place where they landed at Killalla is thus marked, -A Frenchman, Monsieur De Latocnaye, published his travels through Ireland, and was in this county; he says Loughrea is superior to Galway: he mentions also near Ardrahan, a round fort, called the palace of Dunderlass, where tradition says Goora, king of Connaught, resided, and it was near the celebrated city of Ardrahan. Also a Cromlech, near the road of the plates, or Boher lac dana mias, of which he published a ridiculous legend not worth repeating. In another place, "On digging the ground of a little eminence, the only one in this stony place, a hideous statue, supposed to be that of Baal, has been found." He says

* Mr. Hardiman discovered another copy in the College library in Dublin, of which he has given a fac simile, on a reduced scale, in his history of the town of Galway, highly interesting. If the scale had been the same as the modern map of Galway it would have been very desirable.

that he met more barbarians in Paris, London, and Dublin than in Cunnamara. As a match for this marvellous account, I was favoured by a friend with the following, from the manuscript of a natural history of the county of Galway intended to have been published. "The islands in the lakes in Cunnamara are wooded "with the largest timber trees;" again," amongst which 66 may be ranked the twelve pins in the barony of Cunnamara; they form what may be popularly called an "Irish stone henge, much more stupendous than the English; they stand at no great distance from each other, " and are disposed in an irregular line; they are not "strictly pyramidal, not being acute at the top, but "ending in rather an abrupt manner; they have an appearance of so many steeples when seen at a dis"tance; they are of so rude workmanship, that it is truly

66

unaccountable, even miraculous, how such structures, "monstrous as an Egyptian obelisk, or Roman column, "each composed of a single stone, could be elevated by "such ignorant artificers, and fixed so accurately on "their centres of gravity, &c." What a public loss that those enlightened and accurate travels were not published! Baron Munchausen might have turned them to some account; he might have tied his horse to one of those steeples. Those who have never seen those stupendous mountains called Binabola, or the twelve pins, must be informed, that one of those structures, monstrous as an Egyptian obelisk or Roman column, is a mountain upwards of 2400 feet high, and the twelve pins altogether occupy seven or eight miles square.