Railway Stuff

The Bantry Line
To Baltimore and Schull
To Clonakilty and Courtmacksharry
To Kinsale

Mallow to Fermoy
Michelstown to Fermoy

Cork to Youghal and Cobh

Cork to Crosshaven

Cork to Macroom

Cork to Donoughmore and Coachford










You may have noticed that many of my earlier posts formed a tour along the rivers of Cork, of which I had made a hobby for a few years. This summer I hope to make a hobby of the railways of Cork and to post a sort of blogger tour along the railways, past and present.


1. Background to Cork and its Railways (c.1800-1850):





As a port city, Cork has always had a strong tradition of people coming and going through the ages, all striving to make a satisfactory living in the rebel city. If anything, this is reflected in the varied architecture of the buildings of the urban area, in some areas the non geometrical pattern of streets, and then there is the thousands of merchant names, local and not so local, that appear in Cork street directories through centuries.



Nineteenth century Cork had a number of urban faces, physical, social and political. By the first twenty years of the 1800s, the townscape had expanded west and east of its medieval core (North and South Main Streets), and was significant as a strong colonial port within the British Empire. There was rapid industrialisation within the British Empire, of which Ireland was apart of during the nineteenth century. Associated with this, there was a dramatic increase in the urban population in British cities. In 1800, Cork’s population stood at approximately 75,000 people. One hundred years previously in 1700, approximately 20,000 had lived and worked in the city.



Throughout the nineteenth century, the division between the middle and poorer classes in Cork became wider. In general, the rich got richer whilst the poor got poorer. For the lower socio-economic classes, unemployment, slum conditions and emigration were all part of daily life. Without any enlargement of the housing capacity in Cork’s inner city, the poor were further concentrated in the former medieval area of North and South Main Streets, around Barrack Street in the southern suburbs, and Shandon Street in the northern suburbs. Many of the impoverished homes were located in narrow and very unclean lanes. The habitations varied from cabins to cellars, all in a poor and rundown state.



Individual fortunes providing provisions to the war between Britain and France, from 1805 to 1815 (Napoleonic) meant that the middle and upper classes were able to withstand short-term economic pressure. In the city there was an increased incentive to sell houses in the central area. With an increased population and a growth in the value of building land for shops and offices, more middle and upper class people began to move out to the already rich suburbs outside the city. As the nineteenth century progressed, these new middle class residence areas comprised Douglas, Ballintemple, the Mahon Peninsula and Montenotte.



As new residence areas emerged, new modes of suburban transport were created. County and national rail links were developed. By the late 1800s, there were five county railway lines and one national line, all of which operated in and out of Cork City.


2. The Great Southern and Western Railway:





The idea for the Great Southern and Western Railway (G.S. & W.R.) began in the 1840s and initially aimed to link Dublin to the southern provinces. The network was to cover 1,500 miles and the G.S. & W.R., were to become Ireland’s largest railway company.



In 1846, William Dargan, a highly successful contractor, was awarded the contract for the Thurles-Cork section of the line. Despite the difficult landscape conditions encountered, by 1849 the line had been constructed from Mallow to Cork. High embankments were needed along with three stone viaducts over the River Blackwater at Mallow, Monad and at Kilnap near Cork City.



The railway’s approach to the city quaysides was important. The initial route proposed was along the Blackpool valley (northern suburbs) and along the Kiln River. However, it was found that property acquisition was too expensive due to the built up nature of the area. The second route proposed involved a route up the Glen River Valley, one of the rivers that flows into the River Kiln in Blackpool, in what is now the Ballyvolane area. However, the landscape there was found to be too steep. A third alternative was proposed and adopted, that of a tunnel to be bored through a sandstone ridge.



Under William Dargan and Sir John MacNeil, the boring of the tunnel began in 1847 and took seven years to complete. A temporary terminus was built at Kilbarry to accommodate the Dublin-Cork Services. The tunnel had four ventilation shafts; two sunk on either side of what is now Assumption Road, one in Barrackton and the southern most shaft at Bellevue Park. These can still be seen today in the Montenotte –St. Luke’s area, under which the tunnel runs.



Work on boring within the tunnel was slow. On average just over a metre per week was bored through day and night shifts. Work was also was hindered by fatal accidents. One such accident occurred on the morning of the 13th March 1850 when explosives, which were used to clear rock, were mistimed and the blast killed two people and left many people injured. The two killed were from the heart of Cork’s Blackpool, Michael Driscoll, aged 24 of Broad Lane and John McDonnell, aged 30 From Foster’s Lane. To mark the tragedy, a plaque was erected by Blackpool Historical Society in association with Cork City Council, and located on the North Ring Road. On the 19th July 1854, the tunnel was completely bored through and was opened in 1855.



In the early 1850s, the viaducts between Mallow and Cork were put in place along with the bridges over the old Dublin Road and Spring Lane. In July 1856, the passenger building and train shed at Penrose Quay was erected. The was designed by architect Sir John Benson. Its centre-piece was a covered way, just over 60 metres wide and was supported by twenty Doric columns. The problem of building the station on slob land was overcome by piling foundations. Six hundred beech piles, all just under eight metres in length were piled. Over these piles, concrete was laid.



In 1866, the Cork, Youghal and Queenstown Railway whose trains ran into Summerhill Station, immediately north of Penrose Quay became part of the G.S. & W.R. Quay Terminus. By the end of the nineteenth century, it became necessary to replace the original Penrose Quay terminus with a larger station, Kent Station, which opened in 1893.



The original Penrose Quay Station later became a cattle depot and its Doric colonnade was demolished sometime between 1895 and 1896. A small number of associated buildings have survived. These comprise of the former station manager’s house near Penrose Quay of the shell at the former goods shed, adjacent to the Cork tunnel entrance.



In the foyer of Kent Station, one of the original engines manufactured for the G.S. & W.R. is on public display. Bury, Curtis and Kennedy of Liverpool made it. It weighs just over 22 tons and in its lifetime covered over 350,000 miles. It was withdrawn from service in 1875. It is on display on original G.S. & W.R. cast-iron rails.


. Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway:



Among the first of the suburban railway projects to be completed in Cork was the Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway, which opened in 1850. Plans for such a railway were completed fourteen years earlier in 1836.



The year 1834 marked the opening of Ireland’s first railway, between Dublin and Kingstown. A year later in 1835, the plan for a Cork Passage railway was first, proposed by Cork based merchant, William Parker and Cork solicitor, J.C. Besnard. In that year, Passage West had its own dockyard and had become an important harbour port for large deep-sea sailing ships whose cargoes were then transhipped into smaller vessels for the journey up-river to the city. This transhipment would be faster by train. Indeed, in the summer of 1835, a committee was set up to plan the railway and the Harbour Board, the treasury and other bodies were approached for financial support. The matter was deferred as it was deemed too late in that year to apply for an Act of Parliament to authorise the line.



Charles Vignoles was appointed engineer of the venture. The initial plan in 1836 was for the railway to go through Douglas and build a tunnel underneath Langford Row. However, it was eventually decided that it was cheaper and more level to construct the line along the south bank of the Lee. The line would run close to the south of the Navigation Wall (now the site of the Marina) on reclaimed land and remain close to the river to Passage. Preparatory works immediately began at the Cork site and in 1837 the Passage Railway Bill was passed in the Westminster parliament. However, by 1838, the project was shelved due to the difficulty of raising finance and the worsening social conditions at the time. In addition, the main shareholders had lost interest and wanted their investments returned. The idea of a railway was abandoned.



In the mid 1840s, the railway project was resurrected. In 1845, legal powers were sought to establish three railways; Cork-Passage Railway, Cork, Blackrock, Passage and Monkstown Railway, and Cork-Kinsale Railway. In the case of the first two requests, their plans were amalgamated to form the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway Company in 1846. The relevant legislation was passed in 1846 and in September 1846, the company’s engineer, Sir John MacNeill was employed to complete initial survey work. Patrick Moore won the contract for the first six miles of the line between Cork and Horsehead in passage. The cost of tender was £38,000 and work began in June 1847.


One of the first problems encountered involved the acquiring of enough finance for purchasing land for the project itself. Land was expensive and it was decided by company officials that the company should also look to the future and buy land that would be used if an expansion occurred. The cost was estimated at £21,000 per mile. Nevertheless, the turning of the first sod was carried out by Lady Deane at a site adjacent to the Deane family residence at Dundanion in Mahon. In May 1847, the low embankment, which was constructed to carry the railway over Monerea Marshes (Albert Road-Marina area), was finished. In Blackrock, large amounts of material were removed and cut at Dundanion to create part of the embankment there.



Due to the fact that the construction was taking place during the Great Famine, there was no shortage of labour. Huge numbers of unemployed people were attracted to the construction areas. In fact, trouble arose on more than one occasion with people who did not get jobs. For example, on the 21st June 1847, seventy out of two thousand men were hired. A week later, six hundred of those who did not get a job entered the site in protest. A total of 450 men were taken on for the erection of the embankment at the Cork end of the line. Another eighty were employed in digging the cutting beyond Blackrock.



The entire length of track between Cork and Passage was in place by April 1850 and within two months, the line was opened for passenger traffic. The Terminus, designed by Sir John Benson was based on Victoria Road but due to poor press was moved in 1873 to Hibernian Road.



In the late 1800s, the Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway also operated a fleet of river steamers in competition with River Steamer Company (R.S.C). The Railway Company expanded its fleet in 1881 but it was only when the service was extended to Aghada that profits grew. By 1932, the increase in the use of motor cars caused a decrease in the use of the line by passenger. Consequently, the railway was forced to close. Much of the traces of the Cork-Blackrock line have been destroyed while the Blackrock-Passage section is now a pedestrian walkway with several platforms and the steel viaduct that crossed the Douglas viaduct still in public view.

4. Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway:



Apart from the Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway, which linked the city to Cork Harbour towns by rail, another railway company operated a line connecting the south-west of the county to the city. Charles Vignoles first proposed the idea of a railway that would connect Cork to Bandon in the Railway Commissioners report in 1837-38. However, in 1843, this idea was promoted strongly by Edmund Leahy who had just completed a county survey of the area and by local solicitor, J.C. Besnard. Consequently, in 1844, a provisional Bandon and Cork Railway Committee was established.



Charles Vignoles was appointed as the consulting engineer to survey and give his ideas on how to approach the proposed line. Besnard and Leahy became acting engineers and in 1845, the legislation was passed authorising the development to go ahead. In the same year work began on the Bandon to the Ballinhassig section. In July 1846, Leahy was dismissed for not ordering the right rails. Subsequently, Charles Nixon was appointed as acting engineer who had previously worked under an eminent British architect, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. A young Cork engineer named Joseph Philip Ronayne assisted Nixon. One of Nixon’s first proposals involved the adoption of cast-iron instead of timbers on the proposed Chetwynd Viaduct. He also proposed that tunnels should be bored at Goggin’s Hill and Kilpatrick instead of the deep cuttings.



The construction of the line was divided into six sections. Each section was the responsibility of different contractors. In 1849, due to financial difficulties, a decision was taken by company to open the Bandon–Ballinhassig line as fast as possible. Subsequently, it was opened in June 1849. In September 1849, the company chose a tender of £87,000 for the Cork-Ballinhassig section of line. The contractors chosen were Sir Charles Fox and John Henderson.

The Cork Bandon Railway Project was an enormous undertaking. The main parts included; the longest railway tunnel in Ireland at Goggin’s Hill; The Chetwynd Viaduct; a short tunnel bridge under old Blackrock road near the Albert Quay Terminus; 21 cuttings; 19 embankments and 15 road bridges.



One of the greatest problems was the construction of the Ballyphehane embankment. It was just over nine metres high and crossed the Tramore River’s floodplain. The track crossed the river initially on a wooden bridge, which in time was replaced by a stone culvert. On the southern approach to the city, it became necessary to cut deep through and into the limestone bedrock. The line also cut across three south-eastern approach roads which led into the city itself.



The entire stretch of line between Cork and Bandon opened to the public on 6 December 1851. The Cork terminus for the Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway was also completed in this year at Albert Quay. The main building is now the parking fines office on Albert Quay, next to City Hall. The old terminus had three passenger platforms, a carriage storage area, and sidings into the Cork Corporation’s stone yard and into the corn market. In 1869, a goods siding was added and in 1875, a siding for carriage repairs added. However, it never had locomotive sheds until later years. Feeder lines were also added in the early twentieth century to the roller-milling complex on Victoria Quay and to the Ford tractor works on the Marina.



The first locomotive to operate on the Ballinhassig-Bandon line was manufactured by W.B. Adams of the Fairfield Works, Bow in London. On the Cork –Ballinhassig line, the Vulcan foundry of Newton-Le-Willows in Britain provided the first locomotive. Between 1852 and 1894, a further 25 engines were acquired by the company. Between 1851 and 1893, the mileage of the West Cork Line extended from 20 to 94 miles. Many West Cork Towns attained their own railway stations; Kinsale (1863), Clonakilty (1866), Dunmanway (1866), Skibbereen (1877), Bantry (1881), Timoleague and Courtmacsherry (1890), Bantry Bay (1892), and Baltimore (1893).



In 1898, the Cork and Bandon Railway, the Cork and Kinsale Junction Railway and the West Cork Railway amalgamated together to form the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway. This company further amalgamated with the Great Southern and Western Railway in 1925. The last passenger service to West Cork ceased in 1961. In 1979, the track bed approaching the city was widened for construction of the South Link Road as far as the former Macroom Junction in Ballyphehane.

5. Cork, Youghal and Queenstown Railway:



Between 1854 and 1862, a rail link was constructed between Cork and Youghal. It was supposed to be the southern half of a proposed line between Waterford and Cork. The full line though was never constructed. Independent companies eventually completed the Waterford and Tramore section and the Cork-Youghal section. In the case of this latter section, work was sanctioned by Parliament in 1854 and a branch line to Queenstown was sanctioned in 1845.



The first section of line to be constructed between Midelton and Dunkettle was awarded to Moores of Dublin who proved problematic and were replaced by R.T. Carlisle of Canterbury. This line was opened in November 1859, taking three years to complete. As a temporary measure, Cork bound passengers continued their trip in horse-drawn omnibus. By May 1860, line had seen completed to Youghal and to Tivoli in September. Eventually, in December 1861, the entire line was completed and first locomotive left Cork for Youghal.

The initial location of the proposed terminus was at the corner of St. Patrick’s Hill and MacCurtain Street, then known as King Street. The selected location though was at Summerhill, on a rock cut ledge overlooking the Lower Glanmire Road. The terminus could accommodate two tracks, a simple station house, a goods shed and single passenger and goods platforms. Leaving Cork, the line ran parallel with Glanmire Road as far as Tivoli where the road crossed over it. Access to important residences on north side of line was also facilitated by three ornate cast-iron footbridges, which were supported on large brick columns. These still exist today. In addition, the Cork-Youghal line had ten locomotives. Neilson and Co. of Glasgow built them all between 1859 and 1862.



In March 1862, the Queenstown branch opened but from here on in, the profits were hindered by financial problems. Eventually, the railway was sold to the Great Southern and Western Railway in 1865 for £310,000. From 1868 onwards, the Cork Youghal and Queenstown line could be taken at Penrose Quay. A connecting line was constructed at Grattan Hill. This crossed over a specially constructed lattice girdened (check) bridge, which also spanned Hargrave’s Quay.



Until 1877, a direct route could be taken from Queenstown to Dublin – Kingsbridge. The Summerhill station closed in 1893 and in February 1963, passenger services to Cork and Youghal discontinued. In 1992, Iarnród Eireann began to remove the rails on certain sections of the Cork-Youghal line. In recent years, the Cork-Cobh line has been re-established.

6. Cork and Macroom Direct Railway:



Sir John Benson, an eminent Cork City architect and engineer, initially proposed the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway. It was incorporated in 1861 and was chaired by Sir John Arnott and Joseph Ronayne. The first eight miles was bought in 1863 under the Cork-Grange division. The foundation on part of this section comprised of logs lying beneath the track. This underlay a section of slob-land near Wilton.



Five stations lined the 37-kilometre track and the line cost £6,000 per mile. The line was opened in May 1866 and in agreement with the Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway Company utilised the terminus at Albert Quay. However, in the 1870s, the company built its own terminus. Nearly a kilometre of an extension was sought and attained from Parliament. This extension connected Cork-Macroom line’s junction with the West Cork line at Ballyphehane to the site of the proposed terminus at Summerhill South. The station was opened in September 1879 at a cost of £28,000. The station possessed two passenger platforms, an engine shed, and a repair depot. Draught horses were used for shunting wagons and carriages within the station’s precincts. This was to utilise power efficiently.



In 1925, the Cork-Macroom Railway Company amalgamated with the Great Southern Railway and the Summerhill terminus closed. Trains to Macroom ran from Albert Quay. In 1929, the station buildings were acquired by the Irish Omnibus Company and eventually by C.I.E., which still retain the site. The main brick – two storey office buildings still survive. Between 1866 and 1925, the company had six locomotives, over 27 coaches and over 117 wagons. One of the original engines was manufactured by Dubs. & Co. of Glasgow. The Cork-Macroom line eventually closed in 1953.

7. Cork and Muskerry Light Railway:



The Cork Muskerry Railway was one the city’s first narrow gauge lines. It was established with the help of the Tramways and Public Expenses (Ireland) Act of 1883, which enabled companies to obtain part or all of the finance to construct a line. The main beneficiaries were the Cork and Macroom line railways and the Schull and Skibbereen Line.



Primarily, the line was built for tourist reasons. It was to link Cork to the tourist town of Blarney with its historic castle. The supporters of the schemes also aimed to provide improved transport for passengers, livestock and farm produce between the farming area north-west of Cork and the city, and for coal and minerals in the reverse direction In 1887, Robert Worthington was awarded the contract for the near thirteen kilometre stretch, which was successfully opened as well in the same year.



A year later in 1888, the section to Coachford was added along with a line to Donoughmore in 1893. The Cork terminus was located at Bishop’s Marsh, now the site of Jury’s Hotel on the Western Road. The line crossed the South Channel via a small bridge leading to Western Road. The first four miles of the line were very like that of a tramway. The terminus was simple in nature, a single-storey building covered by a corrugated iron roof with a long platform. The iron engine and carriage shed spanned three tracks.



Known also as the Blarney Tram or the Muskerry Tram, the Cork & Muskerry Light Railway was financially successful and attracted much local use. Over its period of operation, the carriages and engines for the company were manufactured by three companies; Falcon Engine and Car Company of Loughborough, Perott’s iron Foundry, and Robert Merrick’s foundry on Warren Place (now Parnell Place).



In the 1920s, the line began to lose passengers to the Southern Motorways Omnibus Company who began to operate buses on the Western Road. The advent of motor vehicles also led to its demise and on the 29th December 1934, the line was eventually closed. As stated, the Bishop’s Marsh terminus is now occupied by Jury’s Hotel. However, the piers of the bridge spanning the south channel of the River Lee just west of Jury’s Hotel are still present and in their original position.

8. Kent Station:



Kent Station was originally built to replace the Dublin and Cobh termini, which were situated at Penrose Quay and Summerhill respectively. The deteriorating conditions of both these stations along with an increase in the use of trains by people in the city meant that a new more elaborate train station would have to be built. Hence, in the early 1880s, it was proposed by the leading railway company in Cork City, the Great Southern and Western Railway, to construct Kent Station. Originally, the plan was to have trains running right through Kent Station or as it was known the Glanmire Road Rail Terminus and not have it as a terminal but in the course of time, all passenger trains using the station either started or ended there.



Building began in the late 1880s when the present day railway engine shed was built. Next, the coal gantry line was built and the goods warehouse already situated on the proposed station site was turned around to face east instead of north and additional tracks were also laid in the new goods yard. By 1890, the marshy land at the back of the houses on the lower Glanmire Road overlooking the River Lee was filled in. In the spring of 1891, the real construction work began on the main building of the station. The contractor was a Mr. Samuel Hill, who was a native of Cork City. The architecture chosen for the station was basic and plain, primarily comprising ruabon brick faced with limestone. Two years later, this work was completed and the station was opened in February 1893, adjacent to the railway tunnel constructed under Blackpool. The local newspaper, The Cork Constitution reported the event on the morning after the opening;

” Yesterday the new Cork Passenger of the G. S. & W.R. was opened to traffic( at a final cost of £60,000 ) with the departure of the 6 a.m. train to Dublin. The last train had arrived in Summerhill around midnight, and at Penrose Quay at 2 a.m. and both these stations are now closed to regular traffic “.



The main building after construction was approximately 100 metres in length and various shops were built along with a booking area. Today this area is more noted for the ornate steam engine, which is on display. This is the oldest engine, the Number 36 on indoor display in Ireland. Another covered building was constructed at a right angle to the main edifices in which are two further platforms and an inclined subway. These are present today. In this area are offices, which can be seen a fabulous collection of rail line insignia or crests from around the world. A large mural by artist Marshall Hutson is also on display. The mural depicts an old Hibernia Locomotive, working the first commuter line in the world, which served Dublin and Kingstown - present day Dun Laoghaire.

At the eastern wing of Kent Station, two further platforms were constructed. From these platforms, Trains ran to Cobh (Queenstown in those days) and Youghal from these platforms. Today, the trains only operate to Cobh. In addition, the station itself was dedicated to the memory of Thomas Kent who fought in the Irish War of Independence in the late 1910s. Thomas Kent was executed by the British government on the 9th May 1916 and was buried at the then Victoria (Collins) detention barracks - now Cork Prison. He had been captured alongside his brothers William and David after defending their home with arms from a raiding party of British forces. Another brother, Richard, was mortally wounded in the fight. The Kent Memorial plaque which can be seen today was commissioned and erected by a committee of railway workers at Cork’s Kent station and was unveiled by Kathleen Kent, a niece of Thomas Kent in May 2000.

One of Kent Station’s famous events in the late twentieth century occurred in the 1970s, when the name ‘Kent’ was changed to “Folkstone Harbour”. This was due to the fact that a major part of the film, “The Great Train Robbery” starring Sean Connery and Lesley Anne Downes, was filmed at the station. The scenes were set in the 1850s and told the story of a train heist. Kent Station was chosen as a film location to the fact that the station possessed an old world air, which was ideal for showing the sense of time and especially since the structure of the station has not changed since 1893.










It is now more than thirty years since the good citizens of Cork were distracted by the passage of goods trains trundling through the streets of their city. A hand-bell might be ringing from the locomotive footplate; at the many road intersections there would be the man in front with the red flag. Doubtless many of our more senior members will recall this spectacle.

There were many abortive schemes in the latter part of the nineteenth century to connect by rail the main stations in the city, and a horse-drawn tramway (5’ 3’’ gauge), for passenger traffic, existed from 1872 to 1875. But it was not until the year 1911 that the Cork City Railways were constructed to connect the Glanmire Road station of the GS&WR with the Albert Quay terminus of the Cork, Bandon & South Coast Railway. Half of the total capital of £150,000 was subscribed by the Great Western Railway, which company had five years previously supported the Fishguard-Rosslare route to Cork and the south of Ireland. The opening date was 1 January 1912, the single line between the two controlling signal cabins worked under the ETS (Electric Train Staff) regulations, an overall speed limit of 5mph was imposed.

A passenger service over the line was begun in June 1914. To employ the word ‘service’ may be misleading, as the workings may have been just a through carriage off Dublin-Cork trains, thus affording passengers an easy transfer onto CB&SC services at Albert Quay. A through carriage right across Ireland from Kingstown Pier to Bantry Pier, or even from Rosslare Harbour to Bantry Pier? Now that is pure speculation! Notwithstanding the possibilities of such connections, the through passenger workings must have proved one of the least successful and shortest-lived services in Ireland, as they were withdrawn in the autumn of the same year.

The best historical account of the Cork City Railways (with several photographs) appears in Cork, Bandon & South Coast Railway by Ernie Shepherd (Midland Publishing, 2005), pages 69 to 72, to which readers of these brief notes are directed for more detail than can be presented here.

The ‘main line’ of the Cork City Railways left the GS&WR yard from the goods avoiding lines near the Dublin end of Glanmire Road passenger station and assumed street running straight away. The word tramway was seldom used. The single track crossed Railway Street and ran along the north side of Alfred Street to a point opposite St Patrick’s church (Corinthian columns), before bearing left on a long curve between buildings – the so-called ‘Clyde Cutting’ (Clyde Shipping Company’s Stores) – then traversing Brian Boru Street, to the point on the north side of the northern channel of the River Lee, where St. Patrick’s Quay gave way to Penrose Quay. Onto the latter there was a long branch, of which only 3 chains was Cork City Railways’ ownership, as shown on the accompanying Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram of 1913.

Over the two channels of the River Lee, there were Scherzer rolling lift bridges capable of being opened for the passage of craft on the river. These were constructed by Sir William Arroll & Co. Dalmarnock Works, Glasgow. They retained their very period wooden superstructure mounted over the road and railway on steel girders, until both were rebuilt as fixed bridges in 1980 – after the closure of the Cork City Railways.

After crossing the first, the Brian Boru Bridge, the line crossed Merchants’ Quay/Anderson’s Quay – another quayside branch on the downstream side – then passed near the bus station, continuing via a short portion of Deane Street to take up a position more-or-less in the centre of Clontarf Street, to reach its second crossing of the Lee by Lapp’s Quay, onto which there was a short siding.

These three branches, which in fact extended along the quaysides beyond the 3 chains of Cork City Railways’ ownership, afforded the facility of overside discharge into railway wagons from ships moored in the port, thus avoiding the need for road transfer. The second longest of the three, onto Anderson’s Quay, was the only one (in 1935) provided with a subsidiary ETS instrument, contained in a locked cabinet on the kerbside adjacent to the branch points. A train could thus be ‘locked in’ on this line, but not on the other two branches.

The second crossing of the Lee, named Clontarf Bridge, gave access to Albert Quay, where our track crossed at right angles the double-line tramway of the Cork Electric Tramways & Lighting Co Ltd, (1898 to 1931). The unusual tramway gauge of 2’ 11½’’ was employed to allow through working of 3-foot gauge rolling stock of the Cork, Blackrock & Passage Railway and the Cork & Muskerry Light Railway, a plan never realised.

After passing the gates at the entrance to CB&SCR property, our line became double track to run along the western side of the Albert Quay terminus, connecting with the main running lines just outside the station.

A final longer branch – 45 chains of City Railways’ ownership-led out from the north-eastern corner of the CB&SCR goods yard area to turn along the Victoria Quay. Just outside the CB&SC gates, the line made a diagonal crossing of the Ballintemple and Blackrock line of the electric tramway, the latter still double at this point. There was a siding off our Victoria Quay branch to the Cork Milling Company, the line finally terminating near the Ford Motor Factory (which had its own rooftop railway in the 1930s and 40s). Movements from the CB&SC yard were propelled, as noted in the Great Southern Railways Appendix entry (1935), here reproduced. For most of its length on the quayside, the line ran parallel to the site of the original line of the Cork, Blackrock & Passage Railway into Victoria Road terminus (1850 to 1873). The two never existed together.

The line along the Victoria Quays was extended to the automotive works of Henry Ford & Sons when the factory opened in 1919. Inwards traffic included coal for the boilers and cars were despatched for shipment from the Cork Quays or transported by rail to destinations in Ireland, a traffic continuing intermittently to the 1960s. 0-6-0T No. 90 (now famous as the only steam locomotive associated with the CB&SCR to have survived into preservation) was reported working the car traffic along the quays in 1952, for instance.

When the factory was first connected, an old CB&SCR 4-4-0T locomotive No. 15A was used by Fords as a stationary boiler, before going for scrap in 1921. This engine had started its life on the (Broad gauge) Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway as 0-6-0T No. 5 St Columb (Sharp Stewart 2836 of 1879). When the L&LSR became narrow gauge in 1885, she was purchased by the Cork & Bandon, rebuilt as a 4-4-0T in 1898 and laid aside after 1910, when replaced by Beyer Peacock 4-6-0T No. 15.

I am indebted to Andrew Waldron, of Bolton, for facts concerning Ford’s use of the CB&SCR 4-4-0T.

Apart from dockside traffic and ordinary goods passing to and from the CB&SC and Cork & Macroom sections, we should also mention the very substantial forwardings of sugar beet from all parts of the West Cork system, to the Beet Factory at Mallow. These were catered for by many additional timetabled workings during the Beet Campaign from October to January each year, five trains each way per 24 hours at peak times.

In later years – 1940 onwards – little use was made of the section of line serving Lapp’s Quay and Penrose Quay, and their effective closure date may be gained from an application by CIE to Cork Corporation dated 24 April 1951 to remove the connection to these sidings.

The Anderson’s Quay line continued in use, however. In December 1954, we find that an AEC Matador lorry was being used to haul wagons on and off the siding, presumably owing to the track curvature near the junction with the Cork City Railways ‘mainline’ being too severe to permit the steam locomotive to negotiate the siding. These movements were often made after dark, to minimise interference with the city road traffic.

In GSR and early CIE days, a wide variety of motive power would work the goods transfer trips over the City Railways, including 4-4-2Ts of classes C4 and C7 (former GS&WR) and C5 (former WL&WR), 2-4-2Ts of class F6, and various 0-6-0T’s, the J11 (former GS&WR) predominating. The latter were amongst the most powerful tank engines on the GSR. In later days, the J11s seemed to be the favourites, Nos. 201 and 217 being employed into the early 1960s, but J26 class (former MGWR) No. 552 was also used in the last days of steam working.

The Rocksavage locomotive depot, south of Albert Quay station, was well known to railway enthusiasts visiting in the 1950s for its wide variety of locomotive types, and many unique small specimens were to be found lying there in the open. There was no proper shed, though some protection was afforded by the Hibernian Road over-bridge. Many of these venerable ‘last of class’ engines would at some time have worked across the City Railways.

The only reference I have come across to tender engines visiting Albert Quay or Rocksavage appears in Railway World Annual – 1985, where Ian L. Wright mentions GS&WR 4-4-0s Nos. 55 (class D17) and 340 (class D4) as being at Rocksavage. There appears to be no record of the otherwise ubiquitous J15 0-6-0 at Albert Quay; perhaps the class was restricted on the grounds of clearance or curvature on parts of the City Railways. The famous ‘Bandon Tanks’ – former CB&SCR 4-6-0Ts Nos. 463 to 470 – had a short fixed wheelbase, and were regularly employed.

It might be stating the obvious to add that all locomotives and rolling stock – goods and passenger – being transferred to and from the CB&SCR section (and the Cork & Macroom section from 1925 to 1953), would have to traverse the City Railways. The spectacle of a CIE 3-car diesel unit (AEC) passing through the streets was (from 1954) not an unusual one.

There was apparently one test of an A class diesel over the CB&SCR line from Cork to Skibbereen in June 1958, further trials to Bantry and Clonakilty in September 1959 and over the City Railways to and from Albert Quay (perhaps to test the lift bridges) in August 1960. No photographs of these tests have come to light.

The only revenue earning train over the City Railways with an A-class diesel that appears to have been recorded and photographed was that for Bertram Mills Circus, arriving at Albert Quay on 11 September 1961. The circus site was in Marina Park, and the whole workforce, equipment and animals were handled at Albert Quay station and yard, 0-6-0T No. 217 being employed in addition to the A-class.

One rare type of motive power to traverse the Cork City Railways’ metals was CIE AEC railbus No. 2508, from the Thurles-Clonmel line, en route for repair at the former CB&SCR workshops at Rocksavage in November 1954.

Many of the foregoing observations of traffic over the line have been derived from The Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway – Volume 3: 1951 –1961 – 1976 by the late Colm Creedon, published in 1991.

After the closure of the CB&SCR main line from Cork Albert Quay to Bantry and branches, with effect from 1 April 1961, there was less transfer traffic across the Cork City Railways. However, the line continued to function for another 15 years, just serving the Albert Quay yards and connections to Victoria Quay on the south side of the river.

After the end of the steam era in 1963, C-class diesels worked the trips, plus the B141 and B181 classes in the late 1960s, with some shunting at Albert Quay performed by members of the E class (Maybachs), E410 and E417 being examples.

Clearly to the relief of many road users and occupiers of premises adjacent to the line of the Cork City Railways, final closure took place at the end of September 1976, when all remaining rail traffic at Albert Quay was concentrated on the yards adjacent to Glanmire Road station.


Cork and Macroom Direct Railway [Incorporated 1/8/1861. Opened 12/5/1866].
Route mileage 24 1/2. Original terminus was CBSCR's Albert Quay, with trains running for a mile on CBSCR to Ballyphephane Jct.. But then, in 1879, a new terminus was established at Capwell. Powers to extend from Macroom to Kenmare were granted but the line was never built by the company. An accident in 1878, with the loss of 5 lives, the first in Cork, damaged the company. Constituent of Great Southern Railways in 1925. Passenger traffic terminated on 12/7/1935. Last goods train ran on 10/11/1953.

Rolling stock: Employed six locos over its lifetime (4 Dubs - Wks. Nos. 17/8 of 1865, 235 of 1867 and 1505 of 1881, 1 Andrew Barclay Wks.No. 1022 of 1905, 1 Vulcan built for WLWR). 5 locos, 27 coaches and 117 wagons to GSR on amalgamation. Last coaches were built for the company in 1896.
Works:
Livery: Light green, later black with red lining. [EFC] 1903 engines light green picked out with yellow and black.
Staff: 1918 W.Gadd, 1933 M.J.Reen
Signalling:

Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Light Railway [Incorporated October 1888. Opened 21/4/1891].
A small standard gauge (originally intended to be 3 ft. gauge) railway branch off a branch (Clonakilty) in Co. Cork. Route mileage was 9 miles. There were two companies, the Timoleague & Courtmacsherry Light Railway and the Ballinascarthy & Timoleague Junction Light Railway which were both worked by the Timoleague & Courtmacsherry Extension Light Railway. Part of the railway ran alongside the road. Constituent of Great Southern Railways in 1925. Regular passenger services ended in 1947 but daily goods continued to run. Closed in 1960.

Rolling stock: Three locos, all from Hunslet (Wks. Nos. 382 of 1885 - 0-6-0ST, 520 of 1890 - 0-4-2T, 611 of 1894 - 2-6-0T). No numbers, only names - Slaney, St. Molaga and Argadeen. All were fitted with bells. 2 to GSR.
Works:
Livery: Argadeen black with cast brass makers plate raised letters against vermillion background [1901 EFC]
Staff:
Signalling:

Ilen Valley Railway [Incorporated ?1872. Opened 21/7/1877].
A standard gauge railway in Co. Cork extending from Dunmanway to Skibbereen. Leased from 1/1/1880 by the CBSCR and acquired in 1909.

Rolling stock:
Works:
Livery:
Staff: Secretary: J.W.Dorman
Signalling:

Cork City Railway [Opened 1/1/1912]
Financed by GWR (most), CBSCR, Cork Harbour Board and Government. Company office at Paddington. Begun 1906.The objective was to link GSWR terminus at Glanmire Rd. with Albert Quay and for most of the required 1/4 mile traffic ran along the streets. The River Lee was crossed by electrically operated lift bridges. Traffic was worked by the GSWR. Up to 1914 a passenger service operated between Glanmire Rd. and Albert Quay stations. Thereafter line used for goods and very occasional passenger service. Absorbed by GSR 1/1/1925. All traffic ceased from April 1976.

Rolling stock: None
Works: None
Livery: None
Staff: Office at Paddington with 3 directors from GWR and one from CBSCR.
Signalling:

Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway [Amalgamation 1888]. Originally Cork and Bandon Railway [Incorporated 1845, Opened 1851 with 6 1/2 miles to Bandon and in December 1851 another 13 1/4 mile to Cork], Bought the West Cork [Incorporated 1860, Opened 1866, 17 3/4 miles, and worked independently until 1880] and the Cork and Kinsale Junction Railway [Incorporated 1859, Opened 1863, 11 miles, and worked by the CBSCR] in 1880, as well as leasing the Ilen Valley Railway [1872, Opened 1877, 16 miles, and worked by the CBSCR]. The latter company remained independent until 1909. An extension from Drimoleague to Bantry (11 miles) opened on 1 July 1881. Another concern, the Bantry Bay Extension Railway, a separate company but worked by the CBSCR, opened on 22 October 1892 bringing the line through Bantry to the pier at Bantry Bay. The 9 mile Clonakilty Extension (from Clonakilty Jct. to Clonakilty) was opened in 1886 and worked by the CBSCR. Associated with the Clonakilty branch was the standard gauge Timoleague & Courtmacsherry Light Railway (see Other Cork railways). An extension from Skibbereen to Baltimore (8 miles) opened in 1893. The Baltimore Extension Railway was a separate company but worked by the CBSCR. Route mileage of the CBSCR was 94 miles (owning 65 miles and working 28). The continuous main line was 61 1/4 miles. A constituent in 1921 of the consortium to link Albert Quay with GSWR Glanmire Rd. across the River Lee. Became a constituent of Great Southern Railway in 1924. Completely closed in 1961.

Rolling stock: Locomotives from Dubs and subsequently Beyer Peacock was main supplier, although two US Baldwins supplied in 1900. 20 locos at amalgamation. 18 covered wagons in 1876 from South of Ireland Wagon Co..
Works: The company's Rocksavage workshops produced one loco in 1901.
Livery: Engines olive green with yellow lining. Unlined grey in GSR era. [EFC West Cork engines were olive green lined out black and vermillion. In 1880 Cork and Bandon engines were olive green. In 1914 engines and coaches were various shades of olive green with yellow lining. Engines had polished brass domes and some had copper-capped chimneys. Upper panels of some coaches were a lighter shade of green. In 1915 coaches were green and engines green. In 1921 engines and coaches were olive green lined out in yellow.]
Staff: Loco engineers included J.W.Johnstone 1921. The Secretary in 1868 was J.Hackett and in 1924 was Robert H. Leslie.
Signalling: West Cork Railway had changed from one engine in steam to train staff in 1877.




Enshrined in song and saga, set in the beautiful valley of a romantic river, Cork is one of the pleasantest places within the four shores of "the most distressful country." It is the capital of the rich Province of Munster, "the wheat of Ireland," says a Gaelic proverb, and while it preserves the characteristics of an old Irish town, here, too, the traveller, familiar with the quaint cities of the Continent, will meet with much that is suggestive of foreign scenes.

Cork sits snugly at the foot of, and leans her back up against, high hills that shelter her from the north, and the breeze that blows up from the sea is fresh and mildly bracing. From a height to the north overlooking the city a bird's-eye view can be had of the entire surroundings, and of what the poet Spenser called—

"The pleasant Lee, that like an island fayre
Encloseth Cork in his divided flood."

Away to the west the eye can easily trace the river, winding with haste to the sea, through the barony of Muskerry, "the fair country," from its fountain home over the hills and far away.

More than halfway along the Mardyke Walk there is a sidepath leading down to a ferry across the Lee. Here a good view may be had of the river looking towards the city, with Sunday's Well, Blair's Castle, and Shandon standing high on the hill.

The history of the foundation of Cork City, and its progress through the centuries, is well authenticated. Towards the close of the sixth century, the place was founded by Lochan, son of Amirgin, the great smith to Tiernach M'Hugh, the proud chief of the O'Mahonys. Lochan has since come to be called St. Finbarr. His feast day is a retrenched holiday in the diocese of Cork, and his patron day is kept by the peasantry at the shrine of Gougane Barra, by the cradle of the river Lee. The Irish name, Cork, signifies that the locality was a marsh, and in the life of its founder it is described as a "land of many waters."

For less than three hundred years the little city throve, and then came the Sea Rovers, hungry for spoil. In 820 they burned down Cork, carrying away as pillage the silver coffin wherein St. Finbarr was buried. Shortly afterwards they returned, and seized on the marshes lying beneath Gill Abbey Rock, fortified them, and founded another little city—but their own. There they sang their "Mass of the Lances; it began at the rising of the sun," and, as the Four Masters assure us, "wheresoever they marched they were escorted by fire."

But in time the Rovers were absorbed, and race hatreds died out. They paid tribute to the MacCarthys, and were married and given in marriage to the Irish. Merovingian Kings came to buy and sell in Cork, and the Sagas of the North tell of many a hardy Norseman who fell captive to the maidens of Munster. To this day the Danish blood moulds the nature of many in Cork, and among the men especially the passionate affection for the sea is a characteristic. When the Normans invaded Ireland they found Cork a Danish fortress. They broke the power of the Danes in a sea fight, and won over the allegiance of MacCarthy, the old King of Cork, through the wiles of a woman. The strangers had not been long in the city when they, like the Danes before them, were absorbed, and became more Irish than the Irish themselves. As their island city grew in opulence, they began to assert an independence similar to the free cities of the Continent. A historical writer of repute points out that they were practically independent of external authority. Their edicts had nearly the force of laws. They levied taxes, and regulated commerce. They judged, pilloried, and hanged offenders. To suit themselves they modified the English laws of property. They set up a mint of their own, and their money had to be declared by the English Parliament to be "utterly damned."

Their audacity can be imagined from the part they played in Perkin Warbeck's rebellion of 1492. They decked him out "with some clothes of silk," and John Walters, the Mayor, insisting that the poor Fleming was son to the Duke of Clarence, demanded that the Lord Deputy should declare him King. Failing in this a number of Cork merchants sent him to France, where they duped the King, and induced the Duchess of Burgundy to give them armament and money. They then sailed for Kent, and having landed there, proclaimed their foundling "Richard the Fourth, King of England and Lord of Ireland." But the sequel of all this bravura behaviour was not so happy, as Warbeck and Walters lost their heads, and Cork lost its charter.

In 1847 the city suffered fearfully from the ravages of famine and famine fever. The failure of the potato crop drove the unfortunate, hunger-stricken peasantry into the city for sustenance; and it has been estimated that upwards of a million of people emigrated in these unhappy years through the port of Cork. During the Fenian movement, 1865-67, Cork was a hotbed of treason, and more prisoners were sentenced from there than from all the other parts of Ireland put together. Thus, in the nineteenth century, the name of "Rebel Cork," which was earned so far back as the time of Perkin Warbeck, was still deserved.

The manners of the people, gentle and simple, rich and poor, are perfect. There is, perhaps, too often a tendency to adopt your view of anything or everything with the most accommodating agreeableness. This is very pleasant, if not always sincere, but in this respect a thing never to be forgotten is that Cork is only a few miles from Blarney, and

"There is a stone there, whoever kisses,
Oh! he never misses to grow eloquent.
'Tis he may clamber to a lady's chamber,
Or become a Member of Parliament.

A clever spouter, he'll sure turn out, or
An 'out-an'-outer' to be let alone;
Don't hope to hinder him, or to bewilder him,
Sure he's a pilgrim from the Blarney Stone."

Thackeray, like many another man before his time and since, has paid tribute to the loveliness of the girls of Cork. There is a graceful charm about them before which the most inveterate bachelor succumbs. The accents of the Siren singers were never so insinuating and caressing as the Munster brogue as it slips off the tongue of a gentlewoman. Blue eyes predominate, but are excelled in lustre by what Froude has been pleased to call "the cold grey eyes of the dark Celt of the south of Ireland." Edmund Spencer, when he was not busy "undertaking" Rapparees, or smoking Raleigh's fragrant weed—"than which there is no more fair herb under the broad canopy of heaven"—wooed and won and wedded a fair woman of Cork; not of the city, though, but of the county. She was a country lass, as he is at pains to point out to the Shandon belles who fain would vie with her:—

"Tell me, ye merchant daughters, did ye see
So fayre a creature in your town before?
Her goodlie eyes, like sapphyres shining bright;
Her forehead, ivory white;
Her lips like cherries charming men to byte."

There is nothing of peculiar interest about the streets of Cork but their number, their narrowness, and the irregularity of the houses. St. Patrick's-street, which is the principal thoroughfare, has many handsome shops, and winds its way in three curves through the city.

From the "Dyke," as it is locally known, through the "Band Field"—the baby park of Cork—we can cross to an entrance to the Queen's College on the Western-road. The College itself is a handsome building of white Cork limestone, in the later Tudor style, forming three sides of a quadrangle, and consisting of lecture-rooms, museum, examination hall, &c. It is built in the centre of well-laid pleasure grounds, which are open to the public, and which formerly were the site of St. Finbarr's old monastery. During the session proper, practically from November to June, visitors will not be admitted through the building without an official order, which may be had at the Registrar's office.

During the vacation the steward or assistant officials are in attendance to conduct visitors. The large palm-house is one of the most successful in Ireland, and the Crawford Observatory will repay a visit. The grounds were laid out under the personal supervision of the late president, Dr. W. K. Sullivan, a distinguished scientist. While at the south side of the city, St. Finbarr's Cathedral[2] (Church of Ireland), eastward from the College, should be seen. It is a very dignified design of the French Early Pointed style. The nave, aisles, and transepts are grouped under three lofty towers with spires.

From the foot of the street a few minutes' walk will bring us under the old bi-coloured steeple, which contains the famous Shandon Bells. The church was built in 1772. The steeple is unique, inasmuch as the southern and western sides are of white limestone, and the northern and eastern red sandstone—

"Parti-coloured, like Cork people,
Red and white, stands Shandon steeple."

But the "Bells" are the chief attraction, and the quaint inscriptions on them amuse the curious. In the stillness of a summer night their sweet chimes sound with peculiar cadence across the waters which encircle the old city of the Lee. The charter song of Cork is:—



Francis Sylvester Mahony, author of this ballad, known in the world of literature as "Father Prout," was born in Cork in 1804. He was educated for the priesthood, but spent the best years of his life in London, as a magazine writer.

Further north than Shandon is St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, an ample piece of architecture, not particularly attractive. Coming down the hill towards the city on Pope's-quay, St. Mary's Dominican Church may be seen. It is a very beautiful church, of the composite style of architecture. The Grecian portico is remarkable for the gracefulness and justness of its proportions, and is very much admired. It is, perhaps, the most chaste building of its kind in the kingdom.

Besides the churches and public buildings already enumerated, the Courthouse and the Municipal Schools of Science and Art should be seen. The Courthouse is in Great George-street. In a recent fire there many valuable records were destroyed. Courthouses seem to be ill-fated in Cork. The old Courthouse fell during the trial for treason in the Penal days of the Catholic Bishop of Cork. The present Courthouse was burnt on Good Friday, 1891.

The punning, duel-fighting, hanging judge, Lord Norbury, of whom the country people still say, "He'd hang a man as soon as knock the head off a rush," often dispensed with an escort in the most exciting times, and rode here on circuit with a brace of pistols at his saddle-bow. But he was a man of uncommon determination. Once, when his acts were unusually unjudicial, he was reprimanded from Dublin Castle and threatened with compulsory retirement. He rode instanter to Dublin, and never stopped until he drew rein at the Castle gate. He demanded to see the Lord Lieutenant, but the then Viceroy, Lord Talbot, was in England. He was ushered into the presence of a courteous official, who was a little astonished to be authoritatively asked, "Who are you?" "I, sir," said the Under Secretary, whom he addressed, "am Mr. Gregory." "Then you be d——d, and don't Sir me," said his Lordship. "Fifty-two years ago I began life at the Irish Bar with fifty guineas and a case of pistols. Here it is! I have fought my way to preferment. Within a few months I expect a letter of an unpleasant character from the Castle. Tell the writer he may take his choice of these, and send me his second." History does not record whether "the letter of an unpleasant character" was ever written.

The Municipal Buildings of Science and Art in Emmet-place can bear comparison with those of any town of the same size in Great Britain or Ireland. The sculpture and picture galleries are open to visitors. The splendid collection of casts from the antiques in the Vatican Gallery were executed under the superintendence of Canova, and sent by Pope Pius VII. to George IV. The ship which carried them by long sea from Italy put into Cork, and was there detained for harbour dues. The King, instead of paying, transferred the Papal gift to the Cork Society of Arts.

A paltry exhibit of coins, antiquities, and fossils forms the Museum. Although Cork County has been one of the richest in Ireland in "finds" of gold and metal work of the ancient Irish, they are absolutely unrepresented.
CORK DISTRICT.

The county of Cork is the largest shire in Ireland. The pleasure seeker, the artist, the antiquary, the sportsman, the invalid, will each find within its broad barriers much to meet his wants. Sir Walter Scott is credited with the statement that the history of this single county contains more romance than the history of the lowlands and highlands of his own dear land of the mountain and the flood.

The surface of the county Cork is as diversified as the people. In some places, such as Kilworth, Mushera, and Ballyhoura, the elevation is considerable, elsewhere it sinks to a low-lying plain, such as at Kilcrea, where the bog is that tradition says saw the last wolf in Ireland killed, and Imokilly, where the sea is yearly eating into the lowlands. The county is watered by no less than twenty rivers of importance.

Making the city the headquarters for a few days, there are many places of interest in the vicinity which may with ease be visited. The excellent tram system may be availed of by visitors to the sights in its immediate vicinity. A drive by Douglas and Vernamount can be recommended. Douglas was an old town, famous for its manufacture of sail cloth, and in recent years a village providence in the person of the late Mr. John Morrogh has resuscitated industry in the district by the establishment of a splendidly equipped tweed factory. With a fine day and a good "outside jaunting-car" to travel the five miles' drive to Blarney Castle will be found most enjoyable. The famous stone, which no one should miss kissing, is set in the parapet wall. The word "Blarney," meaning pleasant "deluderin' talk," is said to have originated at the Court of Queen Elizabeth. MacCarthy, the then chieftain over the clan of that name, resided at Blarney, and was repeatedly asked to come in from "off his keeping," as the phrase in the State Papers goes, to abjure the system of Tanistry by which the clan elected the chief, and take tenure of his lands direct from the Crown. He was always promising with fair words and soft speech to do what was desired, but never could be got to come to the sticking point. The Queen, it is told, when one of his speeches was brought to her, said, "This is all Blarney; what he says he never means."

By the Great Southern and Western Railway the castle can also be reached. By this route a good stretch of the Upper Lee is seen, with Carrigrohane Castle, which belonged to the M'Sweeneys, beetling high on a rock, and the line runs through the picturesque valley of the Sournagh, which may be likened to a Swiss ravine. All the remains of the former greatness of Blarney consists of the ruins of two mansions, one of the fifteenth century, and the other of the Elizabethan period. In its time the place was one of considerable strength, and was erected by Cormac MacCarthy Laider, or the Strong-handed chief of his name. Most of the outworks and defences are gone. The old square keep, ivy-crowned, rises from a huge limestone rock, around which the Coomaun or crooked river winds. The Castle is over 120 feet high; the great staircase at the right-hand side leads through the entire building, here and there small vaulted chambers being set in the massive walls, which are in places nine feet thick. The arched room, of which the projecting window with three lights overlooks the streamlet below, is known as the Earl's Chamber. The last fight in which Blarney Castle figured, was that in which the Confederates held out for King Charles in 1642. It fell before the superior ordnance of Cromwell's commander, Ireton. It was never afterwards used for a dwelling-house, being almost completely dismantled. From the summit of the Castle a good view of the surrounding country can be had. To the west lies Muskerry, with what Ruskin calls "the would-be hills" rising towards Mushera Mountain. To the north is St. Ann's Hydropathic Establishment, on a gentle slope, surrounded by well-wooded parks. In the village beneath is the well-known Blarney Tweed Factory of Messrs. Martin Mahony Brothers, through which visitors may be shown when convenient to the courteous proprietors. The "Rock Close," which is at the foot of the Castle at the southern side, is one beautiful jungle of foliage, in which myrtle, ivy, and arbutus intertwine with the rowan tree and the silver hazel.

If we have gone to Blarney on the "outside jaunting-car," the return journey may be made by Bawnafinny, Kerry Pike, and the Sournagh Valley, and Northern Lee road. Beneath Bawnafinny, "the pastures of beauty," we get a glimpse of Blarney Lake, a broad sheet of water bordered with tall trees, above which the old Castle raises its head. It would gladden the heart of Izaak Walton, as it is full of fish, among which is the famous gillaroo trout, which will not rise to the tantalising fly. The peasantry have a legend, that within the lake lies hidden the treasure and plate of the last of the MacCarthys, who hid them there sooner than allow his conquerors to gain possession of it. The secret is said to be known to three of the old family, and before one dies he tells it to the other, so that it may be recovered when the MacCarthy "comes to his own again." The milk girls also on May mornings are said to have frequently seen fairy cows along the banks of the lake, which vanish into thin mists when approached by human footsteps!

Ballincollig is a place of some interest. The powder mill is a long-established factory, and gives considerable employment in the neighbourhood. The large cavalry barracks is amongst the finest in the south of Ireland.

Blackrock is little better than a fishing village; but the suburbs between it and Cork are filled with villa residences, pleasure grounds, and market gardens. Beside the road, between the city and the village, are situated the well-known nursery gardens belong to Hartland. The daffodil farm, when the flowers are full, is a sight very difficult to surpass in the three Kingdoms. Maxwellstown House, on the slope of a southern hill, was the scene of a tragedy, not yet forgotten in Cork. After a marriage dejeuner, the bride retired to her dressing-room to don her going-away dress, but the bridegroom waited in vain for her return. She had died suddenly in the arms of those who attended her; and the story goes that the disconsolate lover dismissed the servants, shut up the house with everything just as it was, and went on his way out into the wide world alone. Long years afterwards, when news of his death came from a far-off land, his next-of-kin had the house re-opened, and found everything just as it had been left half a century before, after the wedding breakfast. The dust and cobwebs were cleared away, and all went to the hammer.

Eastward, towards the harbour's mouth, there is much to be enjoyed. Excursionists may take the train direct from the Great Southern and Western Railway terminus, or by Passage from the Albert Station, and then by steamer to Queenstown. Taking the direct line the train runs almost parallel with the promenade called the Marina, which separates from the river side the broad pasture known as Cork Park, which is the local race course. A race meeting at Cork is well worth witnessing. The gay young bucks, described long ago by Arthur Young, still are with us, and they and their lady friends make a fine flutter during race week.

Passage (West) was once the busy site of ship-building and dock-yards, but the industry is no longer of anything like its original proportions. The town is an old-fashioned place, and has not escaped the pen of Father Prout, who, in what he calls "manifestly an imitation of that unrivalled dithyramb," The Groves of Blarney—with little of its humours and all its absurdity—signs the attractions of what he styles a fashionable Irish watering-place:—

"The town of Passage
Is both large and spacious,
And situate
Upon the say;
'Tis nate and dacent,
And quite adjacent
To come from Cork
On a summer's day."

Steamers ply between the railway station at Passage and the many little towns around the port. Glenbrook and Monkstown are particularly picturesque. Above the latter, nestling in the trees, may be seen Monkstown Castle, the legend attached to which says it was built for one groat. The owner of the site, one of the Archdeckens, an Anglo-Irish family, having gone away to the wars in the Lowlands, his better-half promised him a pleasant surprise on his return. She employed a number of workmen to build the castle, a condition of the contract being that they should buy their food from her while so engaged. Truly, she was a shrewd woman. Her profits were such, that she had enough to pay the entire cost of the work, less one solitary groat.

Spike Island is mentioned in Church History as a present given by a Munster King to St. Cartach, of Lismore. In modern times it was used as a convict prison, the convicts' labour being employed in the construction of the fortifications around the harbour.

Queenstown, or, to give it its old Irish name, Cove, is built upon an island. It is the paradise of naval pensioners, and the home of all nationalities, yet Irish is still a spoken tongue not a mile away, behind "Spy Hill." The magnificent Cathedral to St. Colman, the patron Saint of Cloyne, occupies a commanding position over the harbour. It is in the later florid Gothic architecture, and within one of its transepts is buried the celebrated Dr. Coppinger, a learned writer and member of the most famous and enduring of the Danish families to whom Ireland became a native land. In an old graveyard on the island, Charles Wolfe, the writer of the elegy on Sir John Moore, and Tobin, the dramatist, are buried. The panorama from Spy Hill embraces the enchanting river and the wide harbour, which is capable of holding all the ships in the British Navy within the line drawn from the two forts, Camden and Carlisle, which guard the entrance. Of Queenstown, the Dublin Health Record says:—"The climate is remarkably mild and equable, and, at the same time, fairly dry and tonic, and is especially suitable as a winter and spring residence for persons with delicate chests, to sufferers from chronic catarrhal throat affections, and to convalescents from acute diseases. It is particularly appropriate as a seaside resort to persons requiring a soothing and sedative atmosphere. From the position of Queenstown, winds from the colder points are very little felt, and it is completely protected from the north, north-east, and north-west winds. The mean temperatures of the seasons are exactly similar to those at Torquay, the noted winter health resort in the south of England, and higher than those of Bournemouth, Hastings, and Ventnor. As a winter health resort, Queenstown possesses all the best natural and climatic advantages."

The beach presents the most varied and motley sights to be seen anywhere in northern Europe. Merchant seamen from every port of the world congregate here; military and man-of-war sailors are ever present, pleasure-seeking yachtsmen, pilots and fishers mix with the melancholy groups of emigrants, or the irrepressible vendors of impossible wares. Beyond in the blue waters, His Majesty's flagship rides at anchor, one or more of the "ocean greyhounds," with dead slow engines, are steaming out between the forts; tenders, whale-boats, small steamers, tugs, and every craft that sails the sea, down to the familiar Munster "hooker," are hurrying to ports far and near, or lying "idle as painted ships upon a painted ocean." Most of the Atlantic liners have offices here. Tenders convey the mails from the deep-water quays at the Great Southern and Western terminus out to the steamers, which usually ride in the fair way by the harbour's mouth. Queenstown is the principal port through which the emigrants leave Ireland. Young and old, when the "emigration fever" is rife, the tides of people may be seen flowing oceanwards. Sometimes they have a little money, and are going to better themselves; but most usually they are going out penniless to relatives abroad, or "just trusting in God." Not an unfrequent sight is to see bare-footed peasant children waiting for their turn to cross the gangway which leads to the New World. Perhaps they have nothing with them but "a pot of shamrock," or a little mountain thrush or orange-billed blackbird, in a wicker cage, to make friends with "beyant the herring-pond." It is very curious, but very Irish, that they do not at all seem to want the sympathy that is lavished upon them by the onlookers. When they are leaving their native place, the "neighbours" hold an "American wake," and in the morning, with heartrending embraces and wild caioning, give them the last "Bannact Dea Leat"—"God's blessing be on your way"; but when they come to Cove, the sorrow is smothered; they are buoyed up by that trusting faith in the future which is the first fibre in the Irish nature. They may look melancholy to us, but they themselves make merry, and before the "big ship" is but on the "Old Sea," as the Atlantic is called, the girls and young men are slipping through rollicking reels to improvised music "to show their heart's deep sorrow they are scorning." Perhaps, as the Gaelic proverb expresses it, "'Tis the heavy heart that has the lightest foot." But a truce to trouble. They tell a story of an emigrant and a grand trunk merchant at Queenstown which shows alike the hapless condition and happy-go-lucky heart of the Irishman. "Pat," said the merchant, "you're going to travel; will you buy a trunk?" "A trunk," answered Pat, "an' for what, yerra?" "To put your clothes in, of course." "And meself go naked, is it? Och! lave off your gladiatoring; sure it's took up I'd be if I did that!"

Crosshaven and Aghada, two watering places inside the harbour, are within easy reach of Cove by steamer, which calls at Currabinny Pier. The Owenabwee[3] river runs between Currabinny and Crosshaven; it is a beautiful, well-wooded stream which has been celebrated in a plaintive-aired Jacobite ballad, the "Lament of the Irish Maiden."

"On Carrigdhoun the heath is brown,
The clouds are dark on Ardnalee,
And many a stream comes rushing down
To swell the angry Owenabwee.
The moaning blast is whistling fast
Through many a leafless tree,
But I'm alone, for he is gone,
My hawk is flown, ochone machree."

A few hundred yards from Crosshaven river there is a fiord of the Owenabwee, known as Drake's Pool. Here the great soldier-sailor, Sir Francis Drake, with his five little sloops, hid in 1587 from a formidable Spanish fleet. The Spaniards entered the harbour, but failing to find their quarry, put to sea again in high dudgeon.

Near Aghada, at the other side of the harbour, is Rostellan Castle, formerly the residence of the Lords of Thomond. Cloyne is only four miles' drive "on the long car" through a rich countryside, and on the way may be seen a Druidical cromlech, at Castlemartyr, in a very fair state of preservation. Cloyne Round Tower "points its long fingers to the sky" above the ancient church wherein there is a fine alabaster statue of the metaphysician, Dr. Berkeley, who was Bishop of Cloyne. Ballycotton is seven miles from Cloyne. The cliffs here are high and wild, and Youghal, shining white in the sun in summer weather, can be easily seen at the mouth of the far-famed Blackwater. There are modern hotels and moderate lodgings at Ballycotton. In the season splendid deep-sea fishing can be had in the vicinity, and the opportunities of sea-bathing are enticing.

Edmund Spenser spent most of his time in Cork County, at Kilcoleman Castle in the vicinity of Buttevant. The place was well chosen as the house of a poet. The surrounding country is very beautiful, and every mountain and glen has its story.

The town of Buttevant took its name from the battle-cry of the Barrymores—"Boutez-en-avant," "push forward." The ruins of the beautiful Abbey remain. At the time of the supervision of monasteries it was described as "a nest of abbots." Buttevant is the railway station for Doneraile, and hard by is Cahirmee, where the greatest horse fair in the British Isles is annually held. The fair lasts for two days. It is held about midsummer, and attracts buyers not only from all parts of these countries, but from as far away as Vienna and Stockholm. Spenser pays tribute to the beautiful Blackwater which flows through Mallow to Youghal—

"Swift Annsduff, which of the English is called Blackwater."

Far away in the highland country between Cork and Kerry the stream rises, and comes floating and pushing down from the haunt of the fairies and the outlaw, through the wild country of Meelin. Here is a remarkable cave, the hiding place of Donald O'Keeffe, last of the old chiefs of the land of Duhallow, who was outlawed after the fall of the Jacobites.

The river flows through Newmarket, the birthplace of Curran, and Kanturk, the birthplace of Barry Yelverton, to Mallow which is the centre of the lines of railway radiating into Kerry, Fermoy, and Lismore, as well as to Cork city. The town is very beautifully situated. In the distance are the Kilworth mountains, which seem afar off to join the ample deer-park at Mallow Castle. It was once one of the liveliest and most fashionable resorts in Ireland, but its famous spas, to which gentlewomen and gallants came in the last century, are now unfrequented and almost forgotten. When abductions, duelling, and such pastimes were in vogue, "The Rakes of Mallow" were in their heyday. As Lysaght sang:—

"Beauing, belleing, dancing, drinking,
Breaking windows, damning, sinking,
Ever raking, never thinking,
Live the rakes of Mallow.

Spending faster than it comes,
Beating waiters, bailiffs, duns,
Bacchus' true-begotten sons,
Live the rakes of Mallow.

Living short, but merry lives.
Going where the devil drives:
Having sweethearts, but no wives,
Live the rakes of Mallow."

The Blackwater flows past Mallow through a rich country surrounded by soft-breasted hills and well-planted lawns, to Fermoy, a garrison town of importance, from which Mitchelstown, eleven miles away, may be reached by a light railway. The caves at Mitchelstown are described elsewhere (Waterford section). We will part the branch line here and return, via Cork, to Youghal, the point from which to become familiar with the Blackwater at its best.

Youghal, except in summer-time, when the visitors to its splendid strand enliven its appearance, is a sombre old place with an air of retired respectability. It is full of memories of other days, for here the Dane and the Christian came together; the Norman made it a walled town, and the Spaniards came into its harbour.

From here Sir Walter Raleigh, its Mayor, went forth to found Virginia—and to the scaffold. It was a chartered city, and grew in wealth and importance from 1183 to 1579, when it was sacked by Gerald, sixteenth Earl of Desmond, then out "upon his keeping." Ormonde drove the Geraldines out of the town, and hanged the then Mayor outside his own door for aiding them. He rebuilt its walls, and placed here a strong garrison. In 1641 it was again besieged, but held out for six weeks until relieved. In 1645, Castlehaven attacked it, but was repulsed by Broghill, fifth son of the Earl of Cork. Here, during the war with the Confederates, money was struck. On the execution of Charles I., Ormonde proclaimed his son King, but the Puritans in the town revolted to Cromwell, who wintered here in 1649. In 1660, the Cavaliers and broken followers of the Geraldines captured the town, and ten days before his actual succession proclaimed Charles II. King. With varying fortunes of war, the town passed into the hands of the Jacobites and Williamites. The objects of interest, besides the picturesque attractions of the strand and beautiful bay, are very many. The Clock Tower remains where the old South Gate to the town stood. Tynte's Castle was built by Norman settlers in the fifteenth century. St. Mary's Cathedral is cruciform, consisting of nave, aisle, transepts, choir, and massive tower. In the chantry of Our Blessed Saviour, or south transept, besides the memorial to the founder and his countess, is the grotesque mausoleum, in florid, glaring Italian style, to the Earl of Cork and his family. At Boyle's feet is the kneeling figure of his first wife, Joan; at his head is that of his second, Catherine. Over the arch is his mother, Joan, and along the margin of the plinth are nine diminutive effigies—his children. The tower was evidently constructed rather as a defence than simply for a belfry. The churchyard, where there are many ancient gravestones, is the chief centre of local superstition, and here all local ghostly visitations are alleged to take place. Myrtle Grove, whilom the residence of the ill-fated Elizabethan soldier, Raleigh, is an unpretentious, ancient gabled dwelling. The interior is remarkable for its beautiful oak wainscoting.

During his sojourn in Munster, "Captain Sir Walter Raleigh" performed many deeds of dering-do, albeit some of them were far from being like Bayard's, without reproach. He was Mayor of Youghal, 1588-9; and, with Spenser, was granted the greater part of the forfeited estates of the Earl of Desmond. Raleigh's grant comprised property at Youghal and along the Blackwater to Affane, already mentioned. In the garden attached to Myrtle Grove he is supposed to have planted the potato, the first planted in Ireland.

The strand at Youghal is very fine, and sea-bathers are afforded every opportunity of enjoying themselves. In summer time the watering-place is much patronized, and every year is becoming more attractive. There are good hotels, and plenty of residences and lodgings to accommodate visitors during the season. In the morning the whole fore-shore is given over to the bathers, and in the evenings it is mostly "Oh, listen to the band" along the Promenade and in the Green Park. The inroads of the sea at Claycastle are at length being successfully encountered by the Case groining system, which has been found so efficient elsewhere.

The coast-line from Youghal to Cork is indented with splendid sea cliffs, fiords, and strands. Garryvoe lies between Youghal and Ballycotton. The sea for miles along this district has been eating into the clay cliffs, and threatens to fulfil a Gaelic prophecy that it will yet reach Killeagh, a town six miles inland. Near Killeagh is a very beautiful scene of sylvan splendour, Glenbower.

The railway line runs direct from Youghal to Cork, passing the thriving market town of Midleton, the granary of Cork County, and Carrigtwohill, where there are the ruins of a Norman Castle.

A ferry from Youghal brings the passenger into Waterford County. The road above Whiting Bay leads to the fishing village of Ardmore. It was perhaps, the first place in Ireland where the light of Christianity shone, as St. Declan is generally agreed to have been a precursor of the National apostle. In the country districts surrounding, as in the fishing village itself, the language most in use is Gaelic. The round tower, said to be of later date than any other in Ireland, is unique in many respects. The Cathedral, with its exquisite chancel arch and elaborate exterior arcading, will delight the antiquary and architect. Other interesting objects are the Ogham stones in its chancel, and the narrow lintelled "Bed" of St. Declan.

The service of steamers from Youghal to Cappoquin up the River Blackwater depends at present mainly on the state of the tide. But despite this and other things, the scenery on the river side will well repay inconvenience. Having left the ferry behind, the first place of interest is Rhincrew (The Bloody Point), and on the wooded hill the ruins of a preceptory of the Knights Templars still remain. Higher up on the western bank of the Glendine tributary stands Temple Michael, an old fortalice of the Geraldines, which Cromwell battered down for "dire insolence."

There is a legend which tells that the last of the Geraldines was buried at Ardmore, far from his young bride, who lost her life during the siege by the regicides. The story says, after his burial, at night his voice could be heard clearly, calling across the river, to bring him back and bury him by his own. For seven years the awe-struck peasants heard the plaintive voice calling, in the tender tongue of the Gael, "Garault, come to me,"—"Gerald, a ferry!" At last, some young men of his clan went to Ardmore and brought his dead body to Temple Michael, where his wife was buried, and henceforth his spirit no longer troubled the silent vigils of the fishermen at night.

The bend in the waterway brings one into sight of rich pastures and fine demesnes. Ballintray, "The Town of the Strand" has in its vicinity Molana Abbey, where the warrior, Raymond Le Gros, lies buried. At the broads of Clashmore, the highest water-mark to which the inflowing tide comes, one can easily imagine themselves upon an inland lake. Beyond is Strancally Castle, beetling over the river, set firmly in a foundation of crags. The local tradition carriers will gladly point out "The Murdering Hole," a natural fissure in the rocks, and here they will tell you that the departed Desmonds destroyed their guests after robbing them! Above the confluence of the Bride with the Blackwater, Villierstown and Camphire villages are passed, then the Awbeg joins its little flood, and beyond the island Dromana Ford is reached. Near is Dromana Castle, where "the old Countess of Desmond" was born. In the table-book of Robert Sydney, second Earl of Leyicester, written when Ambassador at Paris, about 1640, there is the following reference to her:—

"The old Countess of Desmond was a marryed woman in Edward IV. time of England, and lived till towards the end of Queen Elizabeth, so as she must needes be neare one hundred and forty years old. She had a new sett of teeth not long afore her death, and might have lived much longer had she not mett with a kind of violent death, for she would needes climbe a nut-tree to gather nuts, so falling down she hurt her thigh, which brought a fever, and that fever brought death. This my cousin, Walter Fitzwilliam, told me. This old lady, Mr. Haniot told me, came to petition the Queen, and, landing at Bristoll, she came on foot to London, being then so old that her daughter was decrepit, and not able to come with her."

Dromana House, on the eastern branch of the river, is situated on a beautiful height, which commands the reaches of the river from Cappoquin to Youghal. At more than one point on the river there were opportunities of seeing in the distance the cloisters of Mount Melleray—"the little town of God," lonely above the mists and shadows of the hills. As we walk or drive, the hillside behind the river winds its way through cliffs and well-wooded lands in front, the mountains unfold themselves range behind range. No one who has ever visited Mount Melleray will forget it or the generous Brothers. The Trappists, expelled from France in 1830, first settled on the borders of Kerry, but subsequently colonised this barren hillside, and already they have transformed it into a fine farm, containing rich pastures and thriving plantations. The monastery may be visited by gentlemen visitors, and cannot fail to prove of extraordinary interest. There are two guest houses, one for gentlemen and the other for ladies. No charge is made for their bed or board, and all creeds, classes, and nationalities are received with a caed mille failté. Every week a sermon in Irish is preached to the mountaineers.

Either from Melleray or Cappoquin, Lismore may be reached by car or train. It was the home of learning of old, and to-day, not only its beautiful position but historic Castle command attention. It is the birthplace of Boyle, the philosopher. Ptolemy is asserted very confidently by some authorities to have mentioned this place and its river. It is certain, however, that the place was long in existence in 631, when St. Carthage, of Rahan, fled thither. Nothing could be prettier than the appearance of the town, and it is a comfortable, well-to-do place, monopolising the trade of a large countryside. St. Machuda's Cathedral will repay inspection. The Castle is the Irish seat of the Duke of Devonshire. It was an ancient fortress, dating back to the reign of King John. It stands in a pre-eminently commanding position, over the Blackwater, and was the scene of many a hard-fought fight, especially in the wars of the Commonwealth, when Castlehaven captured it from the Roundheads. A magnificent view of the surrounding country may be had from its higher-storied windows. The public are freely admitted. From one of the high windows, it is said, when James II. was asked to look, he accused the maker of the suggestion of desiring to throw him from the dizzy height.

From the Railway Station at Lismore, the most interesting object in view is the new Roman Catholic Cathedral, dedicated to St. Carthage, the founder of the See, and believed to occupy the site of his cell. Thickly surrounded by beautiful lime trees, the warm red sandstones of the walling, with the limestone dressing of the windows and doorways, forms a brilliant picture. The interior is richly furnished, and altogether the church is well worthy of a visit.

Back on the Rails Part VIII - Mallow to Millstreet

The course of the railway line that takes us from Mallow into Kerry follows the River Blackwater, so you will forgive me if I hold back some things for a later series on the Catholic heritage to be found along the River.

We pass the site of the old station at Lombardstown and on to Banteer, where the Newmarket Line once joined, and then on to Millstreet.  The line leaves the County just before reaching the station at Rathmore.

Cromwell In Cork

THE OATH OF THE ASSOCIATION.

I, A. B., do profess, swear, and protest before God and his saints and angels, that I will, during my life, bear true faith and allegiance to my sovereign lord, Charles, by the grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and to his heirs and lawful successors ; and that I will to my power, during my life, defend, uphold, and maintain, all his and their just prerogatives, estates, and rights, the power and privilege of the parliament of this realm, the fundamental laws of Ireland, the free exercise of the Roman Catholic faith and religion throughout this land ; and the lives, just liberties, possessions, estates, and rights of, all those that have taken, or shall take, this oath,
and perform the contents thereof.

"And that I will obey and ratify all the orders and decrees made, and to be made, by the supreme council of the Confederate Catholics of this kingdom concerning the said public cause ; and I will not seek, directly or indirectly, any pardon or protection for any act done, or to be done, touching this general cause, without the consent of the major part of the said council ; and that I will not, directly or indirectly, do any act or acts that shall prejudice the said cause, but will, to the hazard of my life and estate, assist, prosecute, and maintain the same.

"Moreover, I do farther swear, that I will not accept of, or submit unto, any peace made, or to be
made, with the said Confederate Catholics, without the consent and approbation of the general assembly of the said Confederate Catholics ; and for the preservation and strengthening of the association and union of the kingdom, that upon any peace or accommodation to be
made or concluded with the said Confederate Catholics, as aforesaid, I will to the utmost of my power, insist upon and maintain the ensuing propositions, until a peace, as aforesaid, be made, and the matters to be agreed upon in the articles of peace be established and secured by parliament. So help me God and His holy gospel."

To decapitate Charles I. was to enlarge the King of
England. The Earl of Ormond had Charles II. pro-
claimed in Youghal, Carrick, Cork, Kinsale, and in all
the other towns of this province. Prince Eupert, the
great royalist general, and nephew of the murdered
king, entered the harbour of Kinsale with sixteen
ships, displaying black jacks, ensigns and pendants.
The prince and all his officers were in deep mourning.
He came, as he stated, to prepare the way for Charles
II. He was visited by the Marquis of Ormond, and
treated with all honor and respect by the inhabitants.
His fleet succeeded in making prizes of a number of
corn vessels, of which it stood in the greatest need.
He sent a force to the relief of Scilly, and 5,000 pis-
toles to the new king. Prince Eupert's brother,
Maurice, had arrived in Kinsale about a fortnight

Cromwell advances from Wexford to Ross, which he summons in the following style. The summons is addressed to Lucas Taaffe, the brother of Lord Taaffe, who commanded the Irish at the battle of Knockninoss, near Castle Magner, in the county Cork :

" Sir, Since my coming into Ireland, I have this witness for myself, that I have endeavoured to avoid effusion of blood ; having been sent before no place, to which such terms have not been first sent, as might have turned to the good and preservation of those to whom they were offered; this being my principle, that the people and places where I come may not suffer, except through their own wilfullness. To the