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Created: By Mr Dunn (c.1776)
Beatrix Färber (ed.)
Beatrix Färber (ed.)
Beatrix Färber (ed.)
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Beatrix Färber (data capture/ed.)
Map of Killarney Lakes.
To convey to the fancy a lively representation of substantial visible forms, is deemed rather the province of that artist who speaks to the eye, than of the mere verbal describer. Yet so limited are the powers of the pencil, that by it, the same object can only be represented, in one moment of its existence, and under a single point of view; whereas description ranges in a wider field, commands the several changes
- There Arthur lies, and there the Runic bard,
Here fell the hero; these sad hollow antres,
That grove, did hear his moan.
Resolving these advantages of the descriptive method, over the mere plastic, I wished to prove its excellence by an example; and meeting with a subject altogether engaging, I made the following attempt
I visited Killarney in the most favourable seasons for viewing it, when the trees resigning their foliage, were already marked with all the different colourings of decay: and when spring, repairing the winter's ravages, had again cloathed them with renewed verdure: but I preferred the autumnal prospect.
The lake is divided into two great branches, or more properly speaking, there are two distinct lakes, A, B, connected by a winding river.
The northern lake, called also Lough Lane, from its receiving a torrent of that name, is by many degrees the larger. It is divided into two branches, the one distinguished by the name of the Great Lake,
The Great Lake lies East and West, and from Mr. Herbert's park, to the mouth of the Lune, measures about seven English miles. Its breadth, from the neighbourhood of Reen Point, to the opposite side, is said to be nearly four.
Turk lake is about two miles and a half in length, and three quarters of a mile in breadth, it stretches from East to West, with an inclination to the North and South.
The southern shores of both these lakes are formed by high mountains; those of the Great Lake covered with wood, those of the other without wood. The land which bounds them to the North, the East and the West, is either a flat, or only raised from the water by gentle swellings. 'Tis generally diversified by plantations.
I shall first trace out the several bays, banks, and islands, which occur in the lakes, proportioning my detail to the importance of the objects; that passing from particulars to generals, we may, on some good grounds, establish a comprehensive character of the whole, and, with the better relish and judgment, proceed to consider the more remarkable points of view.
The angular mountain Glynnau, or Glauná, D, stands on the South side of the lake, and has two sides washed by it, for round this mountain the lake takes a turn, and so runs to a narrow point, where it receives the water from the upper or southern lake. This is a very beautiful mountain, covered for a great part of the ascent with forest trees, such as oak, ash, pine, alder, and birch, intermixed with hazel, whitethorn, yew, holley and arbutus, all perfectly wild. The forest trees are not very stately, but the yews, holleys, and strawberry-trees, are in great perfection;
Toomith, or Tomé, E, stands to the westward of Glynnau, from which it is separated by a torrent, called, in the expressive phrase of the natives, Screech Stream. It completes the Southern boundary of the lake, and in its situation, and appearance, much resembles Glynnau. The finest cascade in the neighbourhood of Killarney, falls from this mountain; which, retaining the name of its ancient possessor, is called O'Sullivan's Cascade. While the rains prevail it is amply supplied with water, and exhibits a very beautiful picture. It falls from three great stages, of nearly equal heights, disposed in such a manner, that the course of the stream which supplies it, is hid from
Towards the West, the lake washes a very rich and improveable country. The part of which it extends from Tomé, to Dunlow castle, is called O'Sullivan's Country, F; but it is now the property of Mr. Herbert. It is no where marked with very striking features; it rises in a swelling slope from the lake, and is here and there diversified by trees, particularly on the banks of the Lune. This river is very considerable at its source, being the only outlet from the lake, which receives from the surrounding mountains
The estate of Macarty-more, G, compleats the western boundary of the lake. The house is well situated upon rising gound near the river; but the improvements are much neglected. In alighting to take a view of the ancient family seat at Pallice, I gave the bridle of my horse to a poor boy, who seemed to look for it with a degree of eagerness. From his manner of answering the questions I asked him, I was led to enquire into his situation; and was not a little surprized to find, that though sunk in the most abject poverty, he was, nevertheless, a good classical scholar. He was well acquainted with the best Latin
The lands which lie along the northern shores, H, of the lake, have a very uniform character; they are such as one sees every where, hills and dales tolerably
We now come to the eastern boundary of the Great Lake, which is every where rich in wild beauties. The northern part of it is called Mucrus, I; as it stretches southerly, it gets the name of Camillan, K, and round the extremity of Camillan is the passage to Turk Lake. It is impossible to conceive any thing more charming than the shady bays, creeks, and recesses, which the lake here forms. The variety of their shapes, the smoothness of the water, the reflection of the trees with which the banks are fringed, and the fertility of the very rocks which form the points and angles, produce a mixed sensation of surprize and pleasure, which is difficult to describe.
There is a stillness and tranquility in the air of these retrats, that is uncommonly engaging, and sets the imagination to work, to conjure up forms and build castles in every one of them; the accessary ideas give new life to the scene, and the mind returns with additional ardour to contemplate it. In some places you are presented with an abrupt shore, and rocks of unchiselled marble hollowed into caverns; in others, the level beach, covered over with smooth green carpeting, seems to court your approach by a display of internal scenery. Here you meet with a promontory, rising from the lake with the majesty of a Colossus; there stands another, the Parnassus of Silvanus, adorned with every chosen shrub in which the God delights: and woe to the dull mortal that hears him not, as he passes, rustle among the thickets; for lo! even now he emerges, and the dispensing fragrance as he ascends, looks down with benign complacency upon
Mucrus Abbey is situated upon an eminence, rising over the lake, near the northern extremity of this range. It is in tolerable preservation, and still serves as a burying-place to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. A modern hermit, some years ago, pitched upon it as the place of his retirement. He chose an open cell, in one of the upper apartments, for his mansion; and formed a defence for himself against the inclemencies of the weather, from the shattered remains of the tombs and coffins. His vow was not rigldly strict; for he sometimes mixed with the world. He was communicative enough on some subjects, and, as I have heard, tolerably well informed. But at length he sullied the lustre of his character, by indulging in the sordid unmanly vice of private drinking,
- Dum vagor aspectu, oculosque per omnia duco
Calcabam, nec opinus, opes.
I observed, almost universally, in the trees springing
From the house at Mucrus to the exreme point of Camillan, there runs a winding road of near two miles in length, very judiciously calculated to unfold the interior beauties of the Peninsula: (for it is a Peninsula, and as one side encloses the Great Lake to the East, the other forms the northern boundary of Turk Lake.) Here there is a vast number of those rocks and craggs, vegetating from every pore, differing in shape and situation, and thrown without order into irregular groupes, which afford new landscapes as you advance, and every instant present different combinations and figures. They generally lie at a considerable distance from each other, and are separated
Nearer the point of Camillan the surface is less varied by detached heights, and risings, and more uniformly wooded. It is of a very stoney nature, and almost every where covered with a thick moss, which is here ornamental. As the lakes lie on both sides, with their islands and mountains, how greatly might the charms of this spot be enhanced, by introducing them judiciously in different views and situations? which, by the simple management of leading a path from one side to the other, now skirting the bays, and now ascending the heights, might easily be accomplished. And how much might the views from the lakes be improved, by here and there opening up
The side of the peninsula, which forms the northern boundary of Turk lake, so nearly resembles the other, that what Ovid says of the sisters of Phaëton is literally true of them: they have the same general air and complexion, though they differ in particular features. The whole Peninsula is the property of Mr. Herbert of Mucrus, whose estates in this country are very considerable: his ancestors were among the first English settlers; and tho' he generally resides in England, his tenantry seem to enjoy more happiness, than ordinarily falls to the share of the deserted Irish peasant; who, between intrinsic indolence and external
The eastern shore of Turk Lake, L, is distinguished by no particular beauty I know of: it is formed by the bleak side of Mangerton, and separated from Turk, the mountain which confines the lake to the South, by the Devil's Stream. This stream has its source near the top of the Mangerton, which is esteemed the highest ground in Ireland. 2 Its source is a vast cavity in the mountain, fed by the discharge of the clouds, which are daily bursting over it. The natives
Turk, M, though not so lofty as Mangerton, is a much nobler object. Its outline is free and graceful, rising to a point by easy gradations, and sinking towards the plain in such a manner as to form an irregular cone. The side towards the lake is quite inaccessible, and to the eye below has a wild air of grandeur, occasioned, as I conceive, by the uniformity of its appearance, which prevents no gaudy colourings to divert the mind from contemplating the single idea of its extent. It is entirely without trees, which as it contributes to the above effect, and affords a striking contrast to the shady banks of Mucrus, is hardly to be regretted. The river Lane rises near the summit,
Between the Peninsula, and the low land which stretches from Turk, lie the islands Brickeen and Dinish, which separte the two northern lakes. They are divided from the shores by very narrow straits: that between Brickeen, and the Peninsula, which is the widest, not exceeding twenty yards. Both these islands are richly wooded, and abound with luxuriant arbutus; they serve as resting places to the deer, which descend from Glená, at the dawn of morning, to feed in the plains and meadows of Mucrus; and here too they often shelter themselves, when roused by the hunters, and driven from their more secret haunts on the mountains.
Dinish extends to the very mouth of the river which flows from the upper or southern lake; and, by the
This remarkable rock, O, presents it principal front to the North, and the river, making an abrupt turn, passes directly under it. It has bold freedom in its general outline which sets at nought description,
The mountain which runs from the Eagle's Nest, to the upper lake, is two miles in length. It is one continued ridge without break, or rising: and from its figure, and inclination, is with singular propriety called the Great Range, P. Near the upper end of it is the seat of the musical echo. The spot where it is situated is a hollow bosom in the mountain, covered on all sides with trees. The sounds are reverberated from the several parts of it, and are softened upon every repetition, so as to terminate in the sweetest cadences. A single horn produces a concert, and is multiplied into as many instruments as there are echoes; these mellowing in their tones, from the original note of the leading instrument, to the dying falls of the last repetitions,
The southern lake, which is entered by a narrow pass called Colman's Eye, stretches East and West for above a league, but does not any where exceed three quarters of a mile in breadth. It has a different air from the others, being encompassed on all sides by high grounds and mountains.
Ghirmeen, Q, one of the most considerable of these, forms a right angle with the Great Range, and bounds the lake to the North. It is partially covered with trees, and on the whole has rather a pleasing,
McGilly Cuddy's Ricks take their rise from Ghirmeen, and encircling a valley, R, of pretty large compass to the West of the lake, from an extensive amphitheatre. These mountains are very numerous, and, as if Nature meant to exhaust their varieties, are broken into the most irregular, whimsical shapes imaginable. They seem to be quite destitute of planting, and indeed their fertility, at the distance most of them lie, would contribute little to thier beauty. They are plentifully flocked with grouse, or, in the language of the natives, the hen of the heath, notwithstanding the depredations of their joint commoners the Eagles. They furnish the lake with its principal supplies of water, which tumbling down in a
The southern boundary of the lake is formed by a range of high mountains. Cahirnee, S, which joins the Ricks, is the largest of them, and belongs to Lord Shelburne:
May no future traveller have occasion to quote here the mournful lines of Virgil!
- Itur in antiquam silvam, stabula alta ferarum.
Procumbunt piceae, sonat icta securibus ilex,
Fraxineaeque trabes; cuneis et sissile robur
Scinditur: advolvunt ingentes montibus ornos.
Crom-aglaun3, which belongs to Lord Kenmare also, confines the lake to the East, U. It extends from
The Purple Mountain, though not immediately touching upon the lakes, is an object of curiousity not to be passed over, W. It rises from behind the Great Range, in a conical shape, and is strongly characterised by its deep indigo colour. It abounds with a kind of heath, found in no other part of the country, which produces purple berries; but receives its prevailing
I have now given a general sketch of the confines of the lakes, and their most remarkable bays. The islands are no less worthy of notice; though, from their number, situation, and varieties, so difficult to describe, that I despair of conveying any distinct conception of them.
The number of islands in the lower lake exceeds thirty. They are dispersed without order, along the level shores to the East and North; for to the South and West, there is one unbroken sheet of water. A few of them lie unconnected, but the greater number is distributed into two irregular clusters, or archipels, on the opposite sides of the Ross, X, Y. This island is the largest in the lake: it lies to the East of Reen Point,
And still he reigns to bless them; and to his unseen protection do they hold themselves indebted, for every gift of fortune. Often as the hind returns to his cottage, by the favour of the moon's pale light, are his eyes blessed by the figure of the good old King amidst a train of his attendants; his silver locks floating in the breeze, his limbs invested with a robe of regal dignity, and superbly mounted, like the twin brothers of Helena, upon a milk-white courser. Such a vision is considered as the happiest omen of good; it is reported with ecstasy, and listened to with transport: there are no unbelievers; even to hesitate were heresy: and why should we wonder? O'Donahue is the Hercules and Quirinus of this retired people, their San Januario, their Julium Sidus. The ancient tribute of the kings of Munster to this prince, was ten dun horses, ten coats of mail, and ten ships 4> This gives us the idea of a powerful chieftain, possessed
Innisfallen lies at a small distance to the Westward. It is not so extensive as Ross, but much more beautiful. Its shape is triangular, and its sides, from promontory to promontory, are hollowed into bays. The soil is exceedingly rich, and the verdure perpetual. The cattle that feed upon it testify to its fertility. Its
and, looking upon the distant mountains, he might still subjoin,
- ——Hic laetis otia fundis,
Speluncae, vivique lacus; hic frigida Tempe,
Mugitusque boum,—
The Hermit I have before mentioned, frequently shut himself up here; subsisting, as he made the country people believe, upon rats and other vermin: but they were deceived as usual; for the bounty of strangers, who almost daily touched on his island, supplied him with food better suited to his palate, and his private resources made up their deficiencies.
The low island to the Westward is inferior to Innisfallen in every thing but extent. It is called Brown Island, from its colour, and Rabbit Island, from its being stored with those animals. There are no trees
The remaining islands of the western cluster, are of a less size, and more contiguous to the shore, than those I have spoken of. Lamb's Island is the largest of them: it is finely wooded, and is indeed Innisfallen in miniature. Hern Island lies South East of Lamb's: it is small, but wooded. O'Donahue's Prison, and Mouse Island, complete their cluster; and, tho' naked rocks, are not destitute of beauties: they derive their names, the one, from its resemblance in some views to a house; the other, from its diminutive size.
The islands which compose of the eastern cluster, Y, though smaller, are more numerous. Garvillan, or Rough-Island, at the east point of Ross; and Alexander's, nearer the shore; are very little raised from the surface of the water. O'Donahue's Table is a
Besides these which lie in irregular groupes, there are several single islets scattered along the shores of Mucrus. Friars Island is contiguous to the abbey; Oak Island more distant; and another, which produces junipers, still farther to the South. Cannon Island, a white rock of Camillan, is remarkably well situated for shewing the power of the echoes. A gun mounted here, and pointed against Glená, must produce a striking effect; for Turk, the Eagle's nest, and the
Brickeen and Dinish, which lie in the mouth of Turk Lake, have been already described: the only other island in this lake is Illanan-Deoul, the Devil's Island: it is lofty, steep, but not wooded.
The upper lake contains eight islands, which are all worthy of notice. The Oak Islands, or Rossburkree, separated only in winter, are the most considerable; and lie in the south-east part of the lake, opposite the mouth of the river. They are richly covered with timber, but particularly the eastern, which must yield up its oaks at the same time with the adjoining Glynn: they are rugged, and uneven, though no where hilly, and stretch away in length.
Arbutus Island lies over-against Rossburkree, half encompassed by a shady bay. Its shape is pyramidical, and its rocky sides are covered with strawberry trees. In the latter end of October, when I first visited Killarney, they were in high beauty; many of their bells and blossoms still remaining, the fruit on some just forming, and on others nearly ripe. The same bough often exhibited all these varities. The ordinary height of the tree is ten, or twelve feet; but I have seen some of happier growth which rose to eighteen or twenty. The blossom is shaped like a goblet, and the fruit nearly spherical: it is at first of a pale yellow, which deepens as it advances to ripeness, and gradually gives place to a rich scarlet. It equals the largest garden strawberry in size, but must be eaten with more caution, for those who are unaccustomed to it, and indulge too freely, are seized with an oppression little less than lethargic: This I take
’’
- Glandiferas inter curabant corpora quercus
Plerumque; et quae nunc, hiberno tempore, cernis
Arbuta, paeniceo, fieri matura, colore,
Plurima, tum tellus, etiam majora, ferebat.
Lucretius Liber V
The arbutus was no less esteemed among the ancients for its pleasant shade, than its fruit; as may be discovered from the poets, and particularly from Horace,
The remaining islands, to the number of five, lie together in a cluster, Z, at the west end of the lake, about half a mile from the shore. They are beautiful in themselves, and are so grouped as to form a delighful assemblage: They are all lofty, all wooded; and the bold broken craggs, and angles, in many places overhanging the lake, seem to forbid the approach of human footsteps, and consecrate them to their native ospreys and eagles. But man has notwithstanding intruded: for in the central one, which is only accessible in one spot, there is a cottage raised under shelter of the rocks, and trees, which is occupied every season. The cottage is composed of timber, interwoven with boughs; and so matted, and covered in, with leaves, and sedge, as to form a comfortable habitation. The gentleman to whom it belongs,
In traversing his little island, I observed it was carpeted over with a thick covering of decayed leaves, and boughs. I could easily discover the strata of the several past years, by the different degrees of putrefaction, till near the bottom, where the dissolution was more complete, they were cemented into one uniform mass, condensed by the pressure above, and so swoln by the rains and moisture, as not to be at all distinguishable. As the decay was more perfect, the colours declined more perceptibly from the original lighter tints, ending, in the bottom, in as perfect a black, as I ever saw in any of our bogs. The similitude of the contexture, as well as the colour, convinced
This inhabited islet is the centre of the groupe; to the South-west of it lie Stag, and Hind; and McCarthy's, and the Eagle's Rock, to the North and North-west.
The objects we have just taken a review of, gave me such pleasure in the contemplation, that I cannot help wondering at those, who profess themselves disappointed in them, and affect to decry them: Men should be cautious in admitting preconceptions. If they expect to see something altogether great, and stupendous, in a circuit of ten or twelve miles; the variety of objects, and the narrow limits of the scene, must necessarily disappoint them: for greatness in natural objects requires an unbroken uniformity of appearance, and that uniformity reigning over a wide extended surface. If they look for the aweful and terrible; the happy temperature of the climate, which cloaths even the rocks and precipices with a
To hazard an opinion: the prevailing character of Killarney is Variety; the second Beauty; Magnificence is subordinate. Here Beauty, by her magic, and diffusive influence, gives a grace to Variety; whilst Variety furnishes her benefactress with flattering contrasts: United, they present the fancy with the most delightful images, of repose, tranquility, unstudied order, natural wildness, and rural magnificance.
Objects, desirable in themselves, derive new beauties from their position with respect to others: and even such as excite no pleasing emotions when viewed singly, have often an agreeable effect in combination. But these relative beauties, as they result from the harmonious proportion of a number of parts, are entirely lost by an injudicious jumble of them; so
The most magnificent view of the Great Lake and its environs is that from the Yellow Mountain (1), about two miles to the Northward. The eye passing over a rich valley, meets the lake in the centre, with the Eagle's Nest, and the other mountains which stretch to the upper lake, behind it: on the side are Glená, Tomé, and McGilly Cuddy's Ricks, which lose themselves to the Westward; on the other, Turk, Mangerton, Glanflesk, and the Paps, in the opposite direction; all together forming a range of more than twenty miles. The waving outline of these mountains is uncommonly beautiful: the lake is happily placed in the centre; and there is a degree
Aghadoe (2) was of old an episcopal seat, and a place of some consequence: a ruined turret, and the shattered walls of the cathedral are the only vestiges of it remaining. It stands on an eminence to the North of the lake, near the western extremity, and commands a most extensive prospect of its borders, and islands. Innisfallin, and the Western cluster, appear from hence in perfect beauty: the shaggy sides of Glená, and Tomé, are finely opposed to the level shores; the distant islands, referred to their contiguous banks, have the air of so many promontories; and the stately mountains, Turk and Mangerton, rising from behind the peninsula of Mucrus, complete one of the most beautiful scenes in nature.
Dunlow Castle (3), the seat of Mr. Crosby, is the best station for viewing the lake from the West. It stands on a perpendicular cliff over the river Lune, about a mile from its source, and with the surrouding scenery is a very fine object. From hence the islands are seen in a different, but less pleasing situation; the view is bounded to the right by Tomé, and Glená; and, taking in the sloping bank, and the village of Killarney, to the left, terminates agreeably on Mucrus, and the high grounds beyond it: The several doublings, and turns, of the river, that winds through the rich valley beneath, have a pleasing effect: and for a contrast, the bleak sides of the Ricks, and the hollow Glynn which divides them from Tomé, afford one sufficiently glaring.
The views from the East (4) are very numerous, and beautiful: there is scarce a break, or height, along the Peninsula, that does not present a new face
To those who would have a perfect knowledge of the lakes, the top of Turk (5) is the best station. From thence they appear as distinctly, as if delineated on canvass; but the minuter beauties are lost by the height of the mountain, and at best, a prospect from such an overtopping eminence, is better calculated for the Ichnographist, than the man of taste and fancy.
From the side of Mangerton (6), about one fourth of the common ascent, there is a very commanding prospect of the Great Lake, and the adjacent country, which shews the objects more in the light of perspective than that from Turk, at the same time that it
From the top of this mountain, ascended by a tedious path of three miles, the prospect is wild, commanding, and in a manner unbounded. On one side lie the lakes, diminished almost in the scale of Shakespear's fancied simpler: On the other, at some distance, the noble river of Kenmare, along which the eye passing for near thirty miles reposes at length on the swelling bosom of the Atlantic. On all sides save one the country is mountainous; to the East the mountains trend away in an irregular ridge, till obscured and lost in the opaque vapours; to the West, and indeed
And now, traveller, having satisfied thy curiousity plod thy way downwards; for the clouds begin to marshal, the vapours to accumulate, and soon will the
The most desirable view of the upper lake is from the East, on the cliffs of the Crom-a glaun, or Bolinendra (7). The islands, and mountains, are seen from hence in a very happy arrangement; and there is a certain air of wildness in the prospect, which borders on the romantic.
These are some of the views from the banks, and eminences, in the neighbourhood of the lakes, that appeared to me the most pleasing. Those from the lake itself, though not so extensive, are no less beautiful; but they are so numerous, and it is so difficult to convey an adequate idea of their nice varities, and
Turk, when viewed from the lake below (8), has some pretensions to grandeur: it rises to a respectable height, fills the eye with an unbroken surface of two miles in extent, and is one great and uniform object: but greatness is a relative term, and that degree of it we speak of, is rather calculated to give the mind a certain taste of grandeur, than to satisfy it with a complete idea.
From the river immediately beneath (9), the rugged appearance of the Eagle's Nest inspires surprise, and awe; but the sportive hand of Nature has so managed it, that these feelings never border upon that anxious uneasiness which attends the contemplation of objects, properly speaking, terrible.
From the upper lake between Arbutea, and Rossburkree (10), the western isles are seen at a due distance,
The effect of many of these views is, in my opinion, much heightened by the hourly revolutions in the face of the heavens. The vast volumes of clouds, which are rolled together from the Atlantic, and rest on the summits of the mountains, cloath them with majesty: the different masses of light and shade, traversing the lakes in succession, as the shifting bodies above float across them, exhibit all the varities of
After all, this happy spot labours under one disadvantage, and one too I am the more averse to mention, since so celebrated a writer as Doctor Johnson has thought it sufficient, in the case of Loch Lomond, to counterbalance so many natural beauties; and this is no other than the immense rains; which fall here more abundantly, and that even in the best seasons for visiting the lake, than in all other parts of the kingdom. But surely Philosophy will suggest many topics to quiet our complainings on this head. She will tell us, that to expect perfection in things sublunary,
- With gold-embraided locks, the exulting Seasons
Received her from the hands of forming Nature;
And round her silver margin did encircle,
With never-fading forms, umbrageous hills,
Sweet vocal vallies, plains enamel'd o'er
With many a flower.