Mines, annually producing from 4,000 to 5,000 tons, worth £4 per ton; the Connoree Copper Mines, annually producing from 1,000 to 1,500 tons, worth £5 per ton; the Ballyahan Copper Mine, annually producing from 200 to 300 tons, worth £4 per ton; and the Glenmalure Lead Mine, annually producing from 180 to 200 tons, worth £15 per ton.

In 1836, the mines in this Ovoca district produced a total sum of £55,818; in 1840 they produced £24,442; and in 1843, £12,917. The Wicklow Copper Mining Company paid in wages in 1841 the sum of £16,312; in 1842, £15,371; and in 1843, £10,987. The average number of persons employed was 700. Including other mines, Sir Robert Kane estimated the number of persons deriving employment from the mineral industry of the Ovoca district at about 2,000. The total value of copper ore produced by all the Irish mines in 1868 was £91,285. Of this sum, £61,472 worth was produced in Wicklow. In 1867, Luganure produced 1,165 tons of lead, and 11,650 oz. of silver; in 1868 the same mine produced 1,324 tons of lead, and 13,245 oz. of silver. Besides copper, lead, and silver, the mines of Wicklow have produced iron pyrites in the following quantities:-'In 1861, 91,803 tons, value £52,768; in 1864, 66,894 tons, value £37,320; in 1865, 81,998 tons, value £45,096; in 1866, 112,686 tons, value £59,036; in 1867, 97,143 tons, value £52,286; and in 1868, 60,384 tons, value £41,674'-(Thom.)

The town of Arklow stands at the head of the Vale of Ovoca, just at the mouth of the river, and on the boundary of the County Wexford, protected from the sea by sandhills. Near the shore is a part of the town which may be considered a fishing village, for Arklow is the head-quarters of the herring fishery on this coast. Some seasons the herrings are got in great abundance, at other times they are scarce, and the population depending on the trade are consequently exposed to great destitution. The harbour is bad, and there is no shelter for the boats, nor is the fishery conducted in a systematic manner with suitable appliances. At the other side of the bridge, which crosses the Ovoca

with nineteen arches, the town assumes a more solid and respectable appearance, and its industry rests upon less precarious resources. The parish church is a fine building, with a tower, after the designs of Mr. Johnston, architect of St. George's Church, Dublin. There is a barrack near the remains of the old Arklow Castle, which consists of only a single mutilated tower. It was erected in the 13th century by Theobald Fitzwalter; it was captured in the next century by the O'Tooles; won back for the English by Lord De Birmingham; and after other vicissitudes of a similar kind, it was battered down by Oliver Cromwell's cannon in 1649. Arklow was also the seat of a Cistertian monastery, peopled from the Abbey of Furness, in Lancashire. Its founder, Fitzwalter above-mentioned, was buried in the church. Large portions of the ruins remained in the time of Archdall, who states that the monastery consisted of a noble and extensive pile of buildings. Arklow is famous for one of the most obstinate battles fought during the Rebellion of 1798. On the 9th of June, a body of rebels, amounting to 20,000, of whom 4,000 or 5,000 had guns, with only a scanty supply of ammunition, marched upon the town from their camp at Gorey. The garrison had been retreating northward, but it was brought back and reinforced by a regiment of Durham Fencibles, ably commanded by Colonel Skerett, under General Needham. The royal force consisted of only 16,000 men, but they were supported by artillery. A column of rebels entering by the sea-shore set fire to the fishery, consisting of thatched cabins, and the mounted yeomanry on guard there saved themselves by galloping through the flames, and plunging into the broad stream of the Ovoca, which their horses swam across, not without imminent peril to their riders. The main attack on Colonel Skerett and his men lasted four hours, the rebels sometimes rushing up to the cannon's mouth. At length, General Needham advised a retreat, but the brave Colonel declined, and continued the fight until darkness set in, and the rebels retreated, carrying away their wounded.

There are a number of splendid residences near Arklow, on the Wicklow side, contributing largely to the beauty of the Vale of Ovoca. Glenart Castle, originally a shooting

lodge, belonging to Lord Carysfort, has been enlarged and made suitable for a permanent residence. It stands on the south side of the Arklow Vale, and has fine views of wood and mountain, but is too much shut in by trees to command the prospect of the Ovoca. Shelton Abbey is about two miles from Arklow, situated under a hill on the north bank of the river. The grounds are exceedingly rich, the oak and other timber majestic, and the evergreens most luxuriant. The building is a fine baronial mansion; but owing to its low situation, and the masses of trees that surround it, it is almost hid from the view, and has an aspect of closeness and confinement, which is the more to be regretted, as one of the finest sites in the county was offered on the elevated ground behind, which would have given a view of the sea, and of a wide range of wood and mountain to the south and west. Shelton Abbey is the seat of the Earl of Wicklow, and, together with the estate attached to it, was the prize contended for in the romantic case of the Wicklow peerage, lately decided by the House of Lords. The present peer, the son of the Hon. and Rev. Mr. Howard, late Rector of Swords, is nephew to the late earl, who died at an advanced age, leaving no son.

What is wanting to Shelton Hotel is possessed by Ballyarthur in the highest possible perfection. This splendid demesne, the seat of Colonel G. Symes Bayley, D.L., is situated about four miles from Arklow, a little above the second meeting of the waters to the north-west. A terrace a mile long runs on the crest of heights behind the house, from which the visitor enjoys a view of nearly the whole of the Vale of Ovoca, and a vast range of Alpine scenery beyond it. The Ovoca, increased by the tributary waters of the Aughrim, winds round this demesne in a circular sweep; its devious course is here traced through scenes of amazing variety. Arklow is the shipping port for minerals from the Vale of Ovoca for smelting at Swansea. The trucks run upon a tramway along the bank of the river. They are also conveyed by the railway to Kingstown Harbour, where they are shipped in large quantities.

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CHAPTER VIII.

THE COUNTY WEXFORD.

E enter the County Wexford at Arklow, from which the distance by rail to Gorey is ten miles. The country is comparatively bare and uninteresting, occupied generally by small farms. We leave Croghankinshella Mountain to the right—1,985 feet above the level of the sea-and having an extensive mining district. It is connected southward with the less elevated mountains of Kelkevin Hill, Ballycowran, Slievegower, and Slievboy. On the left, near Gorey, rising above the sea to the height of 826 feet, is Tara Hill. On our way we pass the demesne of Hyde Park to the left, and Ballinstra, the well-wooded demesne of Sir John Esmonde, M.P., to the right.

Gorey stands on the old line of road from Dublin to Wexford, consisting chiefly of one street. Though little more than a large village, it has some remarkable public buildings. The new parish church is a very fine structure, erected some years ago by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The Roman Catholic church is also a large and handsome building, and there is connected with it a Loretto Convent, with boarding and day schools, under the charge of the nuns. Gorey was one of the corporations created by James I. It consisted of the sovereign, burgesses, and free commons of the borough and town of Newborough. The new name did not stick to the place, and the corporation was little more than a name, except that it returned two members to Parliament, and enabled its patron, Mr. Stephen Ram, to pocket £15,000 as compensation for its disfranchisement, at the Union. The history of the town is intimately associated with that of the Ram family. When Mr. Brewer wrote in 1825, there existed a curious building, then used as a barrack, but previously occupied as a hotel, which was the original mansion of that family, and was built by Thomas Ram, Bishop of Leighlin and Ferns, in the reign of James I. Subsequently, Bishop

Ram, the founder of the house, which has been long one of the most influential in the county, built, about a mile from the town, a splendid mansion, called Ramsfort, surrounded by an extensive demesne, beautifully planted, and distinguished by its large and venerable trees. It was burnt by the insurgents in 1798. The present house is not large or elevated, but it is a very handsome, commodious residence, in the style of a French chateau, prettily situated on a terrace-like elevation, with an artificial lake in front, and beautiful pleasure grounds, adorned with flower beds in the French style, and with a number of costly statues. When we visited the place last August, it had a neglected, deserted, melancholy appearance, with all the usual marks of absenteeism. A caretaker in charge of the place, and two women weeding, were the only signs of life to be seen. On every side about the house were evidences of the fanciful and costly taste of some presiding genius. At the head of a broad avenue, formed of evergreen hedges, with every variety of floral adornment, stands an artificial island, at one side of which is a tiny chapel, an architectural gem, with an exquisitely pretty altar, a statue of the Virgin and Child, flowers in vases, and a lamp suspended from the ceiling. But all was now lonely and desolate. The flowers, indeed, bloomed as luxuriantly as ever, but there was no fair hand to cull them. The birds sang as joyously as ever, but their music was wasted on the perfumed air. The only thing in keeping with the saddened feeling of the spectator was the large wooden cross erected upon a hill called 'Calvary,' on the opposite side of the lake, facing the chapel, in a gloomy recess formed by overshadowing cypress. The people about the place deeply lamented the absence of the good old family of Ram, always regarded with pride and affection, as kind landlords and liberal employers. They are lost to the place for ever. Since our visit, everything moveable about the place has been sold by public auction; the estate soon followed, cut up into numerous lots, in order to meet the overwhelming demands of creditors. For these results the people bitterly blame the costly tastes and fantastic extravagance of Mrs. Ram; and it is a curious illustration of the vicissitudes of our landed gentry, that this great Protestant house,