*** In consequence of the difficulty of securing a 
 good Photograph of Belfast, the Publisher has 
 substituted one of the Middle, or Honeycomb 
 Causeway, rather than delay the Publication of 
 the Book. 
 

 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Getty Research Institute 
 
 https://archive.org/details/photographsofgiaOOunse 
 
PHOTOGRAPHS 
 
 GIANT’S 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CAUSEWAY 
 
 WITH 
 
 Descriptive Letterpress 
 
 Dark o’er the foam-white waves 
 The Giant’s Pier the war of tempests braves, 
 A far-projecting, firm, basaltic way 
 Of clust’ring columns wedged in dense array. 
 
 GLASGOW 
 
 ANDREW DUTHIE, 56 GORDON STREET 
 
 LONDON 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO., STATIONERS’ HALL COURT 
 
 DUBLIN 
 
 W. II. SMITH & SON, 86 MIDDLE ABBEY STREET. 
 
-$■ 
 
 ->4 
 
 A 
 
 VIEWS 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHED BY F. H. MARES. 
 
 1. Belfast. 
 
 2. General View of Causeway. 
 
 3. Great Causeway. 
 
 4. The Lady's Wishing Chair. 
 
 5. The Giant's Loom. 
 
 6 . The Giant's Organ. 
 
 7. Pleaskin Head. 
 
 8 . Dunluce Castle. 
 
 9. Carrick-a-Rede. 
 
 10. Shane's Castle. 
 
 11. Carrickfergus Castle. 
 
 12. Londonderry. 
 
 t 
 
 4 
 
 ± 
 

 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 QtpHE Antrim coast, in its whole extent from Belfast to Portrush, 
 
 is highly interesting in a scenic point of view, and very 
 
 singular in its geological character ; but the more remarkable por¬ 
 tions of this coast, and those generally visited by tourists, are from 
 Larne to Glenarm, and from Portrush to Fairhead. Basaltic rocks 
 occur over the whole northern coast of the County Antrim, but the 
 district embracing the most interesting variety of forms, ranges 
 over a space of about four miles, from Portcoon Cave, on the west, 
 to Dunseverick Castle, on the east. 
 
 To form any conception of the appearance of this extraordinary 
 work of nature, we must suppose a wild rocky shore, with here a 
 shoal, and there a beetling cliff, alternating with deposits of debris. 
 The cliffs connected with the Causeway, and which constitutes its 
 grand features, range from one hundred and forty to three hundred 
 and ninety feet; and of these, Pleaskin, one of the highest, is the most 
 beautiful, and affords the best views of this extraordinary line of 
 coast. The numerous bays which have been formed by the cease¬ 
 less action of the ocean waves, vary from one-eighth to a quarter 
 of a mile in length, and about the same in depth, have been 
 denominated ports. Thus we have Portcoon, Port-na-baw, Port 
 Ganniay, Port Noffer, Port Roestan, Port-na-Spania, Port-na- 
 Callian, Port-na-Tober, Port-na-Pleaskin, and Port-na-Trum. 
 
 It would be out of place here to enter into geological details. 
 Such as take an interest in that science, will have recourse to other 
 and more suitable sources for information. It will be sufficient for 
 the general reader’s purpose, if we state that “ these columns are 
 composed chemically of about one-half flinty earth, one-quarter 
 
 
iron, and one-quarter clay and lime; that they are formed hy the 
 perfect fusion of the ingredients into one mass, which, in cooling, 
 has cracked or crystallized into regular forms, as starch will on 
 drying.” Kohl remarks—“ We see in the Giant’s Causeway the 
 most certain and obvious effects produced by the operation of active 
 and powerful forces which entirely escape our scrutiny. Even the 
 simplest inquiries it is often impossible to answer; such, for 
 instance, as how far these colonnades run out beneath the sea, and 
 how far into the land, which throws over them a veil as impene¬ 
 trable as that of the ocean.” While photographs of the principal 
 views of the Causeway only are given, the notes on other portions 
 will be equally welcome by the tourist. Numerous traditions at¬ 
 tempt to account for this wonderful natural production. We select 
 the following from Black’s admirable “ Guide to Ireland” :— 
 
 “ The giant, Fin M‘Coul, was the champion of Ireland, and felt 
 very much aggrieved at the insolent boasting of a certain Cale¬ 
 donian giant, who offered to beat all who came before him, and 
 even dared to tell Fin that if it were not for the wetting of himself, 
 he would swim over and give him a drubbing. Fin at last applied 
 to the king, who, perhaps, not daring to question the doings of 
 such a weighty man, gave him leave to construct a causeway right 
 to Scotland, on which the Scot walked over and fought the 
 Irishman. Fin turned out the victor, and with an amount of 
 generosity quite becoming his Hibernian descent, kindly allowed 
 his former rival to marry and settle in Ireland, which the Scot was 
 not loath to do, seeing that at that time living in Scotland was 
 none of the best, and every body knows that Ireland was always 
 the richest country in the world. Since the giant’s death, the 
 Causeway, being no longer wanted, has sunk under the sea, leaving 
 only a portion of itself visible here, a little at the island and the 
 portals of the Grand Gate at Staffa.” 
 
 -H&- 
 

 
 
 0 
 

 
 
 
BELFAST. 
 
 6jH ELFAST, the second city in Ireland, in point of extent and 
 njv population, and the first in regard to trade and commerce, 
 is situated in the County of Antrim, at the head of one of our 
 finest sea bays, which, under the name of the Lough of Belfast, 
 penetrates the land for fourteen miles ; it is watered by the Lagan, 
 whose source is from Slieve-Croob, one of the higher hills of the 
 adjacent County of Down, and whose confluence with the sea is 
 under the town. 
 
 From its present commercial and manufacturing importance it 
 may well be styled the capital of Ulster. There is no town in 
 Ireland, or, indeed, in the United Kingdom, which has risen so 
 rapidly from comparative insignificance to vast importance as Bel¬ 
 fast. The history of Belfast furnishes but few materials to record 
 its fame or importance in the olden times, and even its origin and 
 the derivation of its present name is involved in obscurity. In a 
 map, laid down in the thirteenth century, it is named Beulafearsad, 
 which is interpreted by some Hurdlesfordtown, and by others as 
 the Mouth of the Pool. It is more than probable that even long 
 after the Anglo-Norman invasion nothing more than a few rude 
 dwellings of fishermen, or at most, a village, existed where Belfast 
 now stands. There is no account to be relied on that even John 
 De Courcy, who raised so many castles in Ulster, erected one here. 
 The first historical notice taken of the town is its destruction by 
 Edward Bruce in 1316 ; and it is from this circumstance inferred 
 that it must have been in the hands of the English. It is supposed 
 

 that it was after this event that the Castle of Belfast was built, as 
 there are some accounts of its having been repaired by the Irish 
 chiefs in the fifteenth century. 
 
 It would appear from the most authentic records that, in 1620, 
 Belfast was little more than a military station, and that from about 
 that period its commercial prosperity may he dated. It is now the 
 great seat of linen manufacture in these countries. Its buildings, 
 including those of its immediate suburbs, occupying an area of 
 about 600 acres. Belfast cannot fail to please the traveller who 
 visits it, after much experience of Irish towns, on account of its 
 spacious and well-arranged streets and squares, its general clean¬ 
 liness and good order, and the beautiful examples of decorative 
 architecture displayed in its public buildings. The flax mills, 
 which are the great features of Belfast, and the great source of its 
 wealth and of its importance, are generally scattered throughout the 
 town; that of Messrs. Mulholland is the largest. The firm that 
 owns this enormous factory was one of the first to start the linen 
 yarn manufacture in Belfast, and now employs, directly and 
 indirectly, 25,000 persons. Nor is it only as a manufacturing centre 
 that Belfast is pre-eminent ; she is equally noted for the position 
 gained by her inhabitants in literature and the arts, which are 
 cultivated to an extent unknown in any other city in Ireland, save 
 Dublin. The source of the prosperity of Belfast must be looked for 
 in the character of the inhabitants—their ud wearied industry, 
 their intelligence and keen-sighted sagacity. The sturdy indepen¬ 
 dence of the people has been their mighty stay. Trusting to and 
 in themselves, every adventitious circumstance has been turned to 
 advantage; and difficulties have only called forth greater effort, 
 and exhibited what latent power but waited the occasion. 
 
 
Causeway. 
 
•&+- 
 
 >&• 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE CAUSEWAY. 
 
 HETHER this far-renowned and stupendous natural curiosity 
 
 merits the high distinction of being one of what are termed 
 “ the Wonders of the World,” or otherwise, it is certainly the most 
 remarkable assemblage of basaltic columns known to exist, and the 
 most attractive object around the entire sea-board of Ireland. 
 
 If the Giant’s Causeway, as it is unmeaningly termed, yields to 
 many scenes in those picturesque qualities of which the most tender 
 minds are enamoured, it certainly resigns to none its claims to 
 pre-eminence as one of the most singular and curious specimens of 
 nature’s workmanship. 
 
 Sir J. Forbes, in his “Tour in Ireland,” says—“ The ordinary 
 notion entertained respecting the Causeway, I think, is, that it is a 
 huge and lofty rocky promontory, composed of basaltic columns, 
 and stretching out in an isolated form into the main sea. Now, the 
 truth is, that what is properly termed the Causeway is by no means 
 a scenic feature of this magnitude or grandeur, and constitutes 
 only a small portion of the sights usually comprehended under the 
 one generic name, the Giant’s Causeway. The mere Causeway has 
 neither grandeur nor scenic beauty, its charm and overpowering 
 interest being derived from quite a different source; while the 
 ranges of cliffs that bound it behind, and stretch along the shore to 
 the eastward of it, exhibit so wonderful a combination of those 
 twin charms as is hardly to be paralleled elsewhere.” The Giant’s 
 Causeway is the low rocky mole, composed of columnar basalt, 
 separating Port Ganny from Port Noffer. Its outline is very 
 irregular—the greatest length, 700 feet; the greatest breadth, 350 
 feet; the greatest height, thirty-three feet; and the area about 
 three acres. 
 
In 1814 Sir Walter Scott visited the Causeway, in a nautical 
 excursion made chiefly round the Scottish coast. He describes the 
 shores as “ extremely striking, as well as curious. They open into 
 a succession of little bays, each of which has precipitous hanks, 
 graced with long ranges of the basaltic pillars, sometimes placed 
 above each other, and divided by masses of intervening strata, or 
 by green, sloping banks of earth, of extreme steepness. These 
 remarkable ranges of columns are in some places chequered by 
 horizontal strata, of a red rock or earth, of the appearance of ochre, 
 so that the green of the grassy banks, the dark grey, or black 
 appearance of the columns, with those red seams and other varieties 
 of the interposed strata, have a most uncommon and striking effect. 
 The outline of the cliffs is as singular as their colouring. In several 
 places the earth has wasted away from single columns, and left 
 them standing insulated and erect, like the ruined colonnade of an 
 ancient temple, upon the verge of the precipice. In other places 
 the disposition of the basaltic ranges presents singular appearances, 
 to which the guides give names agreeable to the images which they 
 are supposed to represent.” The columnar beds of basalt, whether 
 appearing as continuous bands in the cliffs, or as isolated masses in 
 the intervening slopes, possess irresistible attractions for the 
 stranger. They not only impress immediately upon the mind the 
 livelier perception of outward and material beauty in one of the 
 most picturesque forms, but they modify and strengthen this 
 sentiment in a marvellous degree, by impelling the observer’s 
 thoughts to stray into the more shadowy and mysterious realms of 
 science, in search of causes, and so awaken the emotions of wonder 
 and awe to animate and deepen the impression. 
 
* 
 
 Jhe jCreat Causeway. 
 
THE GREAT CAUSEWAY. 
 
 f HE Little Causeway is first approached from the west; next 
 is the Middle Causeway, to which the guides have given the 
 name of the Honeycomb, a name which aptly explains its charac¬ 
 ter. The Great Causeway is, however, the leading object of 
 attraction. The visitor usually ascends it from the west, and 
 descends it to the east. On the eastern side of the Great Causeway 
 is a pillar with thirty-eight joints, and two have been broken off. 
 The length of the pillars vary from five feet to four inches. 
 There is only one triangular pillar throughout the whole extent of 
 the three Causeways; it stands near the east side of the Great 
 Causeway. There are hut three pillars of nine sides, one of them 
 situated in the Honeycomb, and the others not far from the 
 triangular pillar just noticed. The total number of four and eight 
 sides bear but a small proportion to the entire mass of pillars, of 
 which it may be safely computed that ninety-nine out of one 
 hundred have either five, six, or seven sides. The contiguous sides 
 of the several pillars are always of equal dimensions, although two 
 sides of the same pillar will seldom or never be found equal. In 
 one instance a pillar, with eight sides, has been surrounded by 
 those with six sides. The lowest ranges of pillars are always most 
 sharp in their angles, and close and uniform in their grain. 
 
 The number of basaltic pillars composing the Causeway has 
 been computed at about forty thousand, which vary in diameter 
 from fifteen to twenty-six inches. They sink to a depth yet un¬ 
 known, their surface presenting the appearance of a tesselated 
 pavement of polygonal stones, fitted together as close and compact 
 
as if each stone had been dressed and laid by art. Each pillar is 
 formed of several distinct joints, closely articulated into each other; 
 the convex end of the one being accurately fitted into the concave 
 of the next; sometimes the concavity, sometimes the convexity is 
 uppermost, and in some instances both ends are concave, and in 
 others both are convex. The same diversity of dimensions which 
 will be remarked in the different sides of each pillar also presents 
 itself in the different joints, two of which are seldom or never of 
 the same length in the same pillar. 
 
 The largest pillars may be seen near Eairhead (many of them of 
 much larger size than at the Causeway proper) in some instances 
 exceeding two hundred feet in length, and five feet in breadth; 
 one of them forming a quadrangular prism, thirty-three feet by 
 thirty-six on the sides, and of the gigantic altitude we have just 
 mentioned. This is said to be the largest basaltic pillar yet dis¬ 
 covered upon the face of our globe; exceeding in diameter the 
 pedestal that supports the statue of Peter the Great at St. Petersburg, 
 and considerably surpassing in length the shaft of Pompey’s Pillar 
 at Alexandria. 
 
 At the foot of this magnificent colonnade is an immense mass of 
 rock similarly formed, like a wide waste of natural ruins, which 
 are by some supposed to have been in the course of successive ages 
 tumbled down from their original foundation by storms, or some 
 more violent operation. These massive bodies have sometimes 
 withstood the shock of their fall, and often lie in groups and clumps 
 of pillars, resembling many of the varieties of artificial ruins, and 
 forming a very novel and striking landscape—the deep waters of 
 the sea rolling at their base, with a full and heavy swell. 
 
he Lady’s Wishing Chair. 
 
THE LADY’S WISHING CHAIR. 
 
 N the Middle, or Honeycomb Causeway, the principal curiosity 
 (S£) is the Lady’s Wishing Chair, a single hexagonal pillar 
 surrounded by several others of taller proportions, so as to form a 
 comfortable seat. Thence the Great Causeway is entered through 
 the Giant’s Gateway, a gap bounded on either side by basaltic 
 columns. 
 
 Sir J. Forbes, writing on the Giant’s Causeway, says, “ A dis¬ 
 tinguishing feature of this district is the frequency of dykes or 
 high veins of basalt, cutting the other strata across at a large 
 angle. Two of these are seen to cut the prism of the Causeway 
 across; and, in fact, the means of dividing them into the three ranges 
 or piers of which it is composed. Over a large space of the Cause¬ 
 way, the upper part of the dykes have been broken off, so that the 
 piers look as if they were separated by hollows rather than by 
 prominences.” He goes on to say that, “After regarding the 
 Causeway in the humble mechanical fashion we have just been 
 doing, it is not easy at once to recover and realize the feelings with 
 which it was contemplated when we first landed on it from our 
 boat, and saw all the pure, yet natural looking wonders spread out 
 in one view before our eyes and beneath our feet. 
 
 “I shall not attempt to analyze the precise nature of the com¬ 
 plex mental state experienced, nor to trace its various constituents 
 to their source ; but I think the great elemental feeling was wonder 
 —wonder at the mere outward material objects cognizable by the 
 senses—wonder, tenfold wonder, at the various and manifold 
 
conceptions and imaginations springing up instantaneously in tlie. 
 inner mind like magical creations around the one primary and 
 central emotion, What is this? How came it here? Whence 
 did it come ? How was it formed ? When was it formed ? Of 
 what was it formed ? What was this globe of ours at the time it 
 was formed ? What' before ? What since ? Was it a mere mass 
 of inorganic matter, with its elements in repose—with its elements 
 in strife ? Or was it, as now, the field and theatre of beautiful 
 life ? Of life unconscious ? Of life self-conscious ? Of both ? 
 and most awful and most bewildering thought of all—when—when 
 was this ? How long ago ? Was it at the distance of inconceivable 
 myriads of ages before its present rational lord was placed upon its 
 surface to contemplate it, to investigate it, to enjoy it ? These 
 are, I think, some of the elemental notions which, together, made 
 up the great mysterious wonder with which the mind was filled. 
 In my wordy attempt to specify them, I hope I have not conveyed 
 the idea to others that I am wilfully indulging in exaggerations, 
 if not in sheer extravagance, much less that my feelings or 
 emotions, whatever may have been their nature, extended beyond 
 the sober amount of those commonly experienced by men who are 
 lovers of nature, when they chance to be placed amid scenes highly 
 impressive. It is simply a matter of fact, that on this occasion I 
 was more deeply impressed by what I saw, and by what the scene 
 suggested, than I had ever previously been by mere scenery— 
 always excepting one entrancing sight on the Riffelberg, when 
 Monte Rosa and the Matterhorn, with all their sublimity, were 
 seen to hold scarcely more than their equal part in that skyey 
 circle of Alps, of which they form two of the snowy links. Of 
 course, I here compare only the degrees of the impressions, the 
 nature of the impressions being totally different in the two cases.” 
 

Jhe Jjiant’s Loom 
 

 
THE GIANT’S LOOM. 
 
 ^ MMEDIATELY on leaving the Great Causeway, on the right, 
 (3£) and opposite to the organ, is the Giant’s Loom, a colonnade of 
 pillars, the tallest of which is thirty-three feet in height, and about 
 two feet in diameter. At the base of this magnificent colonnade 
 are immense masses of rock, which have been dislodged from their 
 more elevated original position by storms or other more violent 
 operations of nature, and appear like the ruins of some ancient 
 fortress, toppled down with the ocean wave beating hoarsely 
 against them. 
 
 In addition to the leading features of the Causeway which we 
 have already pointed out, the guides will not fail to point out the 
 Giant’s Theatre, the Giant’s Ball-alley, the Giant’s Pulpit, the 
 Giant’s Bagpipes, the Giant’s Granny, and the Giant’s Well, a 
 little hole in the basaltic flooring of the place, which is generally 
 filled with clear water. The legends which tell of the giant or 
 giants who lived in this wild retreat have of necessity furnished 
 every means of subsistence and amusement for the portly inhabi¬ 
 tants ; and in the face of so much of the briny deep it would be 
 hard to refuse them a drink of pure cold water. 
 
 The caves to the west from the Causeway are worthy of special 
 attention. Portcoon is a cavern of very considerable dimensions, 
 hollowed out of the solid rock as a pointed arch. Into this the sea 
 rushes, even in the calmest weather, with a bold and boisterous 
 swell; but when the sea is agitated by a storm, the tremendous 
 roaring of the waters, as they break into the entrance, is terrific 
 
! 
 
in the extreme. The sides of the roof are formed, or at least coated, 
 with a number of stones of various shapes and sizes, partly rounded 
 off, as if by the action of the waves, and embedded in a kind of 
 basaltic paste or cement. The echo produced by the beating of 
 the billows, as they enter the cavern, is very great, while reverbe¬ 
 rations succeeding the report of a pistol are of a very extraordinary 
 description, much resembling several peals of thunder near at 
 hand. When the day is fine, the scene presented here is peculiarly 
 grand and interesting, the irregular basaltic side walks, with 
 the dark shading of the deeper recesses of the cavern, upon which 
 the foam-crested wave spends its last dying murmurings, forming 
 a fine contrast to the freshness and brilliancy observable outside. 
 
 A short way from this cave is Dunkerry, or the Grand Cave, 
 which can only be entered by water. The entrance is tolerably 
 regular, and somewhat resembles a Gothic arch. Perhaps the most 
 peculiar circumstance connected with this cave is the rising of the 
 water within, in response to the swell of the ocean, which, upon 
 this coast, is at all times heavy; and, as each successive wave 
 rolls into the cave, the surface rises so slowly and awfully that a 
 nervous person would be apprehensive of a ceaseless increase in the 
 elevation of the waters until they reached the summit of the cave. 
 Of this, however, there need not be the most distant apprehension, 
 the roof being sixty feet above the high-water mark. Many prefer 
 the echo of this cave to that of Portcoon. 
 
. 
 
 
JHE pr IANT ! S J) RGAN 
 

 
 
 
■Hfe- 
 
 i 
 
 THE GIANT’S ORGAN. 
 
 QwpHIS object of great interest forms no part of the Causeway, 
 
 i 
 
 qJ/ but is placed apart in the mountain, and consists of a num¬ 
 ber of larger pillars, declining on either side to shorter and shorter 
 ones, like the strings of a harp; and we might really imagine a 
 giant organist sitting playing at it, especially as the basaltic pillars, 
 when struck, give forth a metallic ring. The colonnade of pillars 
 which constitute the pipes of the organ, have evidently been ex¬ 
 posed by some landslip. Its construction may account for the 
 following conversation between two of the guides, and reported by 
 Mrs. Hall:—“ I’m thinking,” said one to another, “that the giant 
 who made that organ for his diversion had a grand idea of music.” 
 “ Well, you are not far wrong,” was the reply; “ but it must have 
 been a great treat entirely, to say nothing of the music, to hear 
 Ossian sing his own poetry to the organ built by his own hands. 
 And a fine sight to see the giants, and their wives and children, 
 listening to the white-headed old poet, shouting out the beautiful 
 verses that our grandmothers (God be good to them) used to sing 
 to their spinning-wheels, when we were bairns at the knee—those 
 were great tunes at the Causeway.” “ After all, it’s nothing but 
 the height of poetry to call it an organ, sure it’s only a row of 
 columnar basalts , the same as the rest.” “I wonder at you to say 
 so, and you a poet yourself. Wasn’t it petrified into stone; and if 
 it was disenchanted, all the music and fine ould Irish airs, that are 
 lost, would break out of it again.” 
 
 A short distance from Port Nofier Bay, is situated the Giant’s 
 Amphitheatre, about which Kohl enthusiastically writes thus :— 
 
 i 
 
 •ffi-e— 
 
 —■Hip- 
 
“ The Giant’s Amphitheatre is certainty the most beautiful 
 amphitheatre in the world, that in Rome not excepted. The form 
 of it is so exact half a circle, that no architect could have possibly 
 made it more so, and the cliff slopes at precisely the same angle all 
 round to the centre. Round the upper runs a row of columns, 
 eighty feet high. Then comes a broad rounded projection like an 
 immense bench, for the accommodation of the giant guests of Fin 
 M‘Coul; then again a row of pillars sixty feet high; then again a 
 gigantic bench, and so down to the bottom, where the water is 
 enclosed by a circle of black boulder 'stones, like the limits of the 
 arena.” 
 
 When the eye has dwelt sufficiently long upon this singular 
 “ structure,” it is directed further east, and another variety in the 
 scene is presented—“The Chimney-tops”—three pillars, the tallest 
 of which reaches to a height of forty-five feet. It stands upon an 
 isolated rock, some distance from the cliff*. These Chimney-tops 
 were, it is said, battered by one of the ships of the Spanish Armada, 
 whose crew, in the night time, mistook them for the “ chimneys” 
 of Dunluce Castle. The ship, according to tradition, was lost in 
 the small bay on the other side, called, from this circumstance, 
 Port-na-Spania. Looking seaward, from this point, we perceive 
 only a rock, which seems to be a continuation of this structure, but 
 which, we understand, is not formed of basalt. Between it and 
 the Causeway are ten fathoms of water. Beyond it, to the east, is 
 Seagull Island, a broad and high rock, generally almost literally 
 covered by the birds which have given to it a name'. 
 
PEEASKIN j’fEAD. 
 

 
 
 >> 
 
 
PLEASKIN HEAD. 
 
 f HE cliffs connected with the Causeway, and which constitute 
 its grand features, extend from Portcoon eastward to Bengore 
 Head, a distance, following the sinuosities of the shore, of three 
 and a half miles, their height above the sea ranging from 140 
 to 390 feet; and of these Pleaskin, one of the highest, is the 
 most beautiful, and affords the best views of this extraordinary 
 coast. The summit of Pleaskin is covered with a thin grassy 
 sod, under which lies the natural basaltic rock, having generally 
 a hard surface, somewhat cracked and shivered. At the depth 
 of ten or twelve feet from the summit this rock begins to assume 
 a columnar tendency, and forms a range of massy pillars of 
 basalt, which stand perpendicular to the horizon, presenting, 
 in the sharp face of the promontory, the appearance of a 
 magnificent gallery of colonnade, upwards of sixty feet high. 
 This colonnade is supported on a solid base of coarse, black, 
 irregular rock, nearly sixty feet thick, abounding in blobs and 
 air-holes ; but, though comparatively irregular, it may be 
 evidently observed to affect a peculiar figure, tending in many 
 places to run into regular forms resembling the shooting of salts 
 and other substances during a hasty crystallization. Under this 
 great bed of stone stands a second range of pillars, between 
 forty and fifty feet in height, less gross, and more sharply 
 defined than those of the upper storey; many of them, on a 
 close view, emulating even the neatness of the columns of the 
 
Great Causeway. This lower range is borne on a layer of 
 red ochre stone, which serves as a relief to show it to great ad¬ 
 vantage. These two admirable galleries, together with the 
 interjacent mass of irregular rock, form a perpendicular height 
 of 270 feet, from the base of which the promontory, covered 
 with rock and grass, slopes down to the sea for the space of 200 
 feet in height, which, in beauty and variety of its colouring, in 
 elegance and novelty of arrangement, and in the extraordinary 
 magnitude of its objects, cannot readily be rivalled by anything 
 of the kind at present known. 
 
 Bengore, or the Goat’s Promontory, which lies 330 feet 
 above the water, is the extreme headland, where there is a 
 curious stratum of fossil coal found lying between two ranges 
 of basaltic pillars, and an exceedingly fine view meets the eye 
 from its summit; it embraces all the exquisitely beautiful 
 tracts of adjacent shores—Sheep Island, the smallest, and 
 Rathlin, the largest island on the Antrim coast; Fairhead, the 
 highest and finest of the headlands. To the east, jutting out 
 into the sea in a little bay, are the ruins of Dunseverick Castle ; 
 they are situated on a rock very similar in size and height above 
 the sea to the one on which Dunluce stands. It was formerly 
 one of the strongholds of the sept of O’Cahan, by whom it was 
 inhabited till the time of Cromwell. Very little is known of 
 its origin ; but it seems pretty certain that a fortification of 
 some sort stood here some time previous to the introduction of 
 Christianity. Tradition, however, ascribes its erection to the 
 twelfth century. It is now but a melancholy fragment of its 
 former strength and grandeur. 
 

 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
DUNLUCE CASTLE. 
 
 > 
 
 f HE bold ruin of Dunluce occupies the summit of a detached 
 rock overhanging the high-swelling waves of the Atlantic. 
 It rises one hundred feet above the level of the sea, and its per¬ 
 pendicular sides appear as if forming part of the walls, while its 
 base, by the continual action of the waves, has been formed into 
 curious caverns, which communicate with the castle; they are 
 capable of containing a number of boats, and in them numerous 
 spars and crystallizations are to be seen. The first founder of the 
 Castle has left no record of his name, but its after history supplies 
 many incidents of interest in Irish story. The MacQuillians were 
 amongst its earliest proprietors; the MacDonalds of the Isles 
 succeeded to its possession, and the widow of the famous Duke of 
 Buckingham was once its mistress and inhabitant. It is now the 
 property of the Earls of Antrim. Its picturesque character is 
 superior to its architectural. In the less accomplished ages of 
 military skill this must have been an impregnable fortress; the 
 gulf which separates it from the shore was crossed by two parallel 
 walls, about fourteen feet asunder, upon which the drawbridge 
 rested. This was the only mode by which the castle could be 
 entered, the rocks on all sides being wholly inaccessible. The 
 castle is built of columnar basalt, in many instances so placed as 
 to show the polygonal sections; it contains a small court-yard and 
 several apartments of considerable dimensions. There is a small 
 vaulted room on the eastern side, called the Banshee’s Tower, and 
 
said still to be the residence of that aeriel being, who, in days of 
 yore, attended the family of the MacDonalds— 
 
 “ The banshee mournful wails; 
 
 In the midst of the silent, lonely night, 
 
 Plaintive she sings the song of death.” 
 
 In the extreme north point the caves have all the appearance of 
 overhanging the sea, into which it is said a portion of them really 
 fell during a storm in 1630, when the Marchioness of Buckingham 
 resided here. There is a most delightful prospect on every side of 
 these ruins, around which the waves of the Atlantic at times roll 
 with great violence, the entire shore being studded with huge 
 rocks, over which the sea breaks most furiously. On the land side 
 a very considerable area is covered with buildings, which were at 
 one period surrounded by massive walls, supposed to have been 
 occupied by the soldiers, or men-at-arms, who were retained for 
 the defence of the castle. From the western side of the castle a 
 magnificent prospect is obtained, embracing the “ White Bocks,” 
 a remarkably picturesque range of wave-worn cliffs, a mile in 
 length, which lie between Dunluce and the sandy beach of 
 Portrush ; of Portrush itself; of the cliffs of Magilligan; of the 
 lofty mountains of Innishowen; and of an illimitable range of 
 ocean. From the walls and towers on the other side of the castle 
 are seen the promontories of the Giant’s Causeway, and under¬ 
 neath the walls the tidal wave washes the base of the rock on 
 which the fortalice stands, and laves the beautiful green sward 
 covering the lovely banks of the lonely sea bay. 
 

 
P &RRICK-A-flEDE 
 
CARRICK-A-REDE. 
 
 f HE small village of Ballintoy is situated at the foot of the 
 furzy hill of Lannimore, about a mile from which is 
 Carrick-a-Rede, one of the most singular curiosities of the 
 north, on account of the swinging bridge which connects the 
 island with the mainland. 
 
 The headland, which projects a considerable way into the 
 sea, is divided by a tremendous rent or chasm, supposed to 
 have been caused by some extraordinary convulsion of nature. 
 The chasm is sixty feet wide; the rock on either side rising 
 about eighty feet above the level of the water. Across this 
 mighty rent a bridge of ropes has been thrown for the con¬ 
 venience of the fishermen who reside on the island during the 
 summer months. The construction of this bridge is very 
 simple; it is on the principle of the hide rope bridges of the 
 Andes and other parts of South America. Two strong ropes or 
 cables are stretched from one side of the chasm to the other, 
 in a parallel line, and made fast to rings fixed permanently in 
 the rock across; these planks, twelve inches wide, are laid and 
 secured. In addition to the main ropes upon which this airy 
 bridge rests, a slight hand-rope is placed on one side as a sort of 
 guide; in using which the utmost caution is required, for if the 
 unwary passenger should inadvertently place too much weight 
 upon it he would be precipitated from the dizzy heights into the 
 sea, or upon the rocks below. The people, notwithstanding, who 
 are accustomed to the use of this bridge, cross and recross without 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
fear or danger. Men, women, and boys, many of them carrying 
 heavy burdens, are seen walking or running, apparently with as 
 little concern as they would evince in advancing the same distance 
 on terra firma. It is awful in the extreme to witness, from a boat 
 on the water, persons passing and repassing at this giddy height, 
 and a feeling closely allied to pain is invariably experienced by 
 those who contemplate the apparently imminent danger to which 
 these poor people are exposed, while thus lightly treading the 
 dangerous and narrow footway which conducts them across the 
 yawning gulf at their feet; the path is so narrow, the height so 
 great, and the bridge apparently so insecure. The shores around 
 Carrick-a-Rede are very picturesque, and the surface, which 
 alternates with the high cliffy rocks, very beautiful, romantic, 
 and fertile. 
 
 There are several natural caves in the rock along this line of 
 coast; one in the immediate vicinity of Carrick-a-Rede may easily 
 be entered by a boat, if the water be smooth. It is thirty-six feet 
 in height and about seventeen feet wide at the entrance. The 
 sides, which are not perpendicular, but inclining inwards, are 
 composed of neatly-formed pillars, their heads being, as it were, 
 artificially fastened into the rocks above them. The roof and 
 bottom of the cave are of a construction somewhat similar to the 
 plan of the Giant’s Causeway, the same variety of formation, 
 unity of fitting, and distinctness of articulation being displayed, 
 and the entire awakening a mingled sensation of pleasure and 
 amazement in the beholder. 
 
Shane’s Castle 
 
SHANE’S CASTLE. 
 
 tjVNTRIM is situated on far the most interesting part of the 
 shores of Lough Neagh, and is the most important town 
 contiguous to that vast sheet of water. The park of the Yiscount 
 Massareene, whose mansion adjoins the town, extends for two 
 miles along the shores of the lake to the south; while that of 
 Shane’s Castle, the seat of the O’Neill’s, stretches for three miles 
 along its waters, to the west. Shane’s Castle is the oldest, the 
 largest, and the best wooded demesne in the north of Ireland; and, 
 though its surface is generally flat, it possesess, from its situation, 
 many features of beauty—nay, even of grandeur. It is enlivened 
 by the main water, which runs through the centre of the demesne 
 in its progress to the lake. In 1816, Shane’s Castle, the residence 
 of the O’Neill’s for centuries, was accidentally burned—the plate 
 and family papers only saved. A noble and very extensive library, 
 and many very valuable and rare paintings were entirely destroyed. 
 Previous to the destruction of the old building, which was a plain 
 small structure, a magnificent addition was in progress. His 
 lordship, however, fitted up a residence at a considerable distance 
 from the castle adjoining the offices, and abandoned, to the ruthless 
 hand of time, the old castle and its unfinished appendages, save 
 the large fortified esplanade and modern conservatory. Strangers 
 have access to this demesne ; and the views of the lake, the ruins, 
 the extent of young and old plantations, and the associations 
 connected with the place as the residence of the O’Neill’s, renders 
 
it interesting to the historian as well as to the admirer of rural 
 scenery. The O’Neill’s are the descendants of the royal race of 
 Ulster, whose origin is of a most remote age, and whose name is 
 intimately associated with every remarkable event that has 
 occurred in Ulster, and, indeed, in Ireland, for centuries. Any 
 attempt at a history of the family is out of the question ; a mere 
 outline of it would occupy a volume. 
 
 Shane’s Castle has for ages been the chosen realm of the 
 banshee. 
 
 “How oft has the banshee cried; 
 
 How oft has death entwined 
 Bright links that glory wove, 
 
 Sweet bonds entwined by love.” 
 
 Here from time to time, we are told, when evil threatened a 
 member of the old race, her shriek was heard among the woods— 
 upon the shore ; and now, along the ruined walls of the falling 
 castle, echoed by the vaults underneath, and wailing through the 
 nettle-covered graves of thousands who followed their chieftain 
 to battle. 
 
 Although Lough Neagh, and the country lying around it, is seen 
 to most advantage from the summits and acclivities of the Divis 
 and Cave hills, which rise from its eastern shores, yet from many 
 of the elevated points of Shane’s Castle, and of the shores around 
 Antrim, a good idea may be formed of the visual area of this, the 
 largest of our lakes, the surface of which is unbroken, save by 
 Ram’s Island, lying about a mile and a half from the shore, where 
 a boat may easily be obtained to visit the Island, which extends 
 about seven acres. There is a beautiful cottage upon it, elegantly 
 furnished, erected by the late Earl O’Neill, and now belonging to 
 his descendants. 
 
Carrickfergus Castle 
 
CARRICKFERGUS CASTLE. 
 
 f HE town of Carrickfergus is one of the oldest in Ireland, and 
 lias held for centuries a prominent place in the annals of the 
 country. Its history is full of interest, for in all the wars of ages 
 it has been made to play a conspicuous part. Of the ancient for¬ 
 tifications there still exist some interesting remains ; the walls may 
 be distinctly traced, and the u North Gate” is almost perfect. The 
 town is said to have derived its name from “ Carrig,” a rock ; and 
 “ Fergus,” an Irish king, who was lost in a storm off the coast 
 some three or four hundred years before the birth of Christ. The 
 castle is a magnificent specimen of an inhabited Anglo-Roman 
 fortress, and was built by De Courey in 1178, to protect his Ulster 
 possessions. It changed hands, however, during the invasion of 
 Bruce, who, having captured Olderfleet, occupied Carrickfergus, 
 after a long and spirited defence by the English garrison, under 
 Manderville. After Bruce’s fall, in the battle near Dundalk, the 
 castle again reverted to the English. In the unhappy civil wars 
 it was held by the Puritans. The castle occupies a strong position 
 on a rock, overlooking the Lough, and at high water is surrounded 
 on three sides, the harbour occupying the area to the south. The 
 entrance from the land side is through a fine gateway, flanked on 
 either side by a tower called a half-moon. The castle contains the 
 usual defensive appliances, such as portcullis, embrasures for fire¬ 
 arms, and the apertures for pouring down melted lead, &c., upon 
 the assailants. Within the gates is the lower yard, containing 
 guard-rooms and barracks; and to the south again is the upper 
 

 yard, containing the most conspicuous portion of the castle—the 
 great donjon or keep, a high square tower of five storeys. The 
 largest room, called Fergus’s diningroom, was in the third storey, 
 with some circular windows ; it was twenty-five feet high, thirty- 
 eight feet broad, and forty feet long ; the ground storey was bomb¬ 
 proof, and within the keep was a draw-well, thirty-seven feet 
 deep, but now nearly choked up with rubbish. The walls of the 
 castle follow the sinuosities of the rock all around. Since 1843 it 
 has been garrisoned for the Crown by a detachment of artillery and 
 pensioners, and has lately been refitted with guns of newer type 
 and calibre. The town of Carrickfergus is neat and clean; many 
 of the streets, both within and without the walls, are narrow, and 
 though a few of the houses have an antique appearance there is 
 nothing very remarkable in their style. The church, which 
 occupies an elevated site near the centre of the town, is said to have 
 been built on that of a Pagan temple. It was here William III. 
 landed when he came to head his troops in this country against 
 King James ; he landed on the 14th of June 1690, the town having 
 previously been taken from the Irish forces under M‘Car thy More, 
 after a siege and bombardment, by the troops under Duke 
 Schomberg. Until the last few years Carrickfergus was the assize 
 town of Antrim, but they are now held in Belfast. On the road 
 leading to Larne, about two miles from the town is the hamlet of 
 Eden, and near it are the ruins of Kilroot Church ; it was the first 
 living to which the celebrated Dean Swift was appointed, and 
 which he resigned, from, it is said, a natural dislike to retirement. 
 
 
ondonderry. 
 
LONDONDERRY. 
 
 LONDONDERRY, previous to James I. assigning it to tlie 
 0^ Corporation of London, was simply called Derry, derived 
 from the Irish word Doire, “ the place of oaks.” It was also called 
 Derry Calgach , “ the oak wood of Calgach.” It is situated on a 
 hill, 119 feet high, over the River Foyle, which has its source in 
 Lough Finn, and is called the River Finn until it reaches Lifford, 
 where it is joined by the Mourne, from the east; and, flowing on, 
 after forming the capacious harbour of Londonderry, falls into the 
 Lough at Culmore, about four miles from the city. It is surrounded 
 by a rampart, a mile in circumference, with six gates, which is 
 called the City Within, but the most considerable part is outside 
 the walls. Its character is remarkable from every point of view, 
 covering a gentle hill, from the summit to the base, round a 
 considerable part of which roll the waters of the Foyle, the houses 
 rising in tiers, one above another; with the time-honoured cathed¬ 
 ral, a grand Gothic structure, turreted and embattled, and 
 having a very handsome spire, crowning all. From this city a 
 very just idea may be formed of the manner in which the towns 
 and cities in this country were fortified in former times, as the 
 walls, though built in the year 1617, are in good repair. 
 
 The history of Derry, from the year 546, when, it is stated, a 
 monastery was founded by St. Columbkille, up to the commence¬ 
 ment of Elizabeth’s reign, is chiefly ecclesiastical. In 1566 the 
 first British garrison appeared in Derry. In 1568 the town and 
 fort were destroyed by an accidental explosion of the powder- 
 magazine, and abandoned by the English, but re-occupied in 1600, 
 by Sir Henry Dowcra, who erected the adjoining fort of Culmore; 
 
4 
 
and to him, in 1604, James the First granted the charter for the 
 establishment and regulation of the town. In 1608 it was again 
 reduced to ashes, and the garrison put to the sword by Sir Caher 
 O’Doherty. In 1613 the Irish Society was formed, and a charter 
 of the town, under the name of Londonderry, granted to the 
 “Society of the Governors’ Assistants, London, of the New 
 Plantation of Ulster,” who were bound to enclose the city. After 
 various complications and restorations a new one was granted by 
 Charles II., on his restoration, under which the Irish Society now 
 act. Although Derry had sustained two previous sieges—one in 
 1641, and one in 1649—it is from the third and last, which oc¬ 
 curred in 1689, that the city derives its fame. This siege, sustainde 
 against the armies of James II., continued for 105 days, during 
 which period the inhabitants were reduced to an extreme of 
 misery that has very few parallels, even in the records of civil 
 war. On one of the bastions of the wall stands an elegant 
 monument, erected to the memory of the Rev. George Walker, the 
 heroic defender of the city; it is a well-proportioned column of 
 Portland stone, eighty-one feet high, surmounted by a statue ; a 
 few of the guns used defensively during the siege are still preserved 
 in their original localities as memorials of the noble stand made on 
 that occasion by the good and the brave; the others, amounting 
 to about forty, are, to use the words of the government survey, 
 {i converted to the purposes of peace, serving as posts for fastening 
 cables, protecting the corners of streets,” &e. The vicinity of 
 Derry is fertile, and the surface agreeably varied by hills and 
 prolonged valleys. On the north the hills blend with the mountains 
 of the peninsula of Innishowen, and to the south they gradually rise 
 to the high central mountain groups of the counties of Derry and 
 Tyrone. 
 
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