The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-04-26 00:00:00

a qusrter of a mile. We landed on a wooden stage, running
parallel with the river, and alongside of which, built on an
island, are sheds, &c., for the reception of goods and the ac-
commodation of the passengers, also a toll-house or lodge.
Portumna Bridge, a wooden structure, of great length,
(nearly 2,000 feet, including the abutments,) is an interesting
object. It bad fallen into decay some years ago, and was
long neglected, but one of the most important, and almost the
only communication between Munster and Connaught for a
distance of 37 miles, though a foot passenger was required
to pay for each time of going over and returning the sum of
3d., half the amount of the day's wages of a labouring man
in those districts. By an arrangement with the authorities
under whose jurisdiction it was, Mr. Williams, to whose
name I have frequently had occasion to revert, reduced the
tollage from 14d. to ld. ' • and from his representations a new
and more commodious bridge is now constructed. It was
approaching towards completion when I passed it, and is a
handsome piece of architecture, supported by square piles of
wood, with metal tops, forming the piers. The cornicing
and ballustrade are neat and classical, and the span or
"arch" between each set of piles is about 15 or 16 feet. At
the north end is a draw bridge for the passage of vessels.

The government lent £20,000 for the erection of the new
bridge, to be repaid
_by assessment on the two counties.

There are two small harbours or basins close to it, one on
each side of the river, for the use of which a toll and wharf-
age is required. These belong to the Dublin Grand Canal
Company.
At the upper end of the bridge we embarked, in continua-
tion of our voyage to Shannon Harbour, on board of "the
Avanmore," a small steamer, about 60 tons burthen and 32
horse-power, with the paddle-wheels at the stern—one over
each counter—the narrowness of portions of luteral canal,
and particularly of the locks upon them, requiring this or
some other construction not involving the projection of the
usual paddle-boxes. The funnel is pretty close to the bow,
and serves also, when required, the purpose of a mast. The
paddle wheels are cased over, yet such is the force of custom
on the eye, that this vessel—though after the plan of several
of the original steamers—presents a clumsy and somewhat
ludicrous appearance. We proceeded up the river at a fair
rate—about six-and-a-half knots an hour. The country on
leaving the bridge has a fresh and inviting aapect, with villas
and comfortable-looking cottages, and sloping woodlands.
Portland, the residence of R. Stoney, Esq., is a fine man-
sion on the right bank, surrounded by thriving plantations.
Beyond this point the land becomes lower, resembling the
low marshy meadows bordering some of the rivers in Eng-
land, and with long grass or sedge growing at the margin.
These lands are covered with water in the winter. There are
several islands in the middle of the stream. We passed
Redwood Castle, in Tipperary, a fine ruin, and soon after-
wards Meeleck Monastery, in Galway. Here, on one of a
range of islands extending to a considerable distance in the
middle of the river, and commanding the stream, are two Mar-
tello towers, of the line of military stations on the borders
of Connaught. These islands are in King's County. We
here entered the Cloonehoghue Canal, on the east bank, at
the mouth of the river Brusna, which forms the boundary
between Leinster and Munster, and again merged into the
river on the same level. On the right is Lismore Castle, on
an eminence, and as we proceeded, now in a more easterly
direction, several seats on the Galway side—on which we
passed a short length of lateral canal, entering it by a single
lock. Here, in the south side (in King's County) the neat
town of Bannagher, a steam station, running eastward in a
single long principal street, on a slope rising to the east, with
white-washed houses and a neat church and parsonage. The
river is here spanned by a rough stone bridge of 15 arches,
of somewhat irregular construction, and protected on the
Galway side by batteries. Steaming a little further we
reached Shannon Harbour, (King's County,) a small station
for canal and river vessels, with several warehouses. The
distance from Limerick is about 57 miles. This is the point
of junction of the Grand Canal to Dublin, and the canal to
Ballinasloe, 13 miles from the spot, and at which terminates
the steam navigation to the westward. There is here a long and
handsome wooden bridge from shore to shore. From Shan-
non Harbour another steamer, the Wellesley, proceeds by
the river to Athlone and Lough Ree, almost in the heart of
the island, and the navigation might be opened out thence
by Longford and Leitrim, to the very rise of the river in
Lough Allen, a short distance from Sligo, and, as before
stated, 234 miles from its confluence with the ocean.
At Shannon harbour we immediately transferred ourselves
and our luggage to a canal boat, dragged by horses, which
was in waiting, belonging to the Grand Canal Company, and
took a final leave of the noble Shannon, with feelings of ad-
miration, qualified by deep regret that its capacities should
so long have been neglected ; but not without a pleasing hope
that private enterprise, with the pecuniary aid given by the
government of a considerable annual sum for the accomplish-
ment of that great object, might ere long redeem it. Its
adaptation for a commercial highway of the utmost value is
so well developed in a recent number of the Dublin Penny
Journal, in an article printed since the first of these sketches
was published, that I cannot refrain from quoting a few
passages therefrom, as corroborative of my own opinion.
The writer states :

" The extent of the country which would be immediately
affected by the completion of this great line of communica-
tion, has been estimated at two million acres, in the heart
of the island, rich in its various soils and numerous produc-
tions ; yet, when the peasantry are in the most miserable
atate of destitution, scarcely sustaining life by the wretched
resources of poverty, numbers of them annually emigrating
to England to obtain that employment denied them at home.
Many districts of this country have been amongst the most
disturbed and disorderly in Ireland. The providing of occu-
pation, and of profitable markets for the produce of the soil,
will vastly promote the peace and wealth of the country,
and the increased comforts of the people will dispose them
to habits of order and civilization. The introduction of
British manufactures must greatly tend to elevate the
condition of the people, and to enrich the English
merchant, very important considerations in the discussion
of the subject. The imports from Great Britain increase
progressively every year, and must be much advanced by in-
troducing so extensive a tract to all the wants of civilized
society. The advantages of a great home market, where de-
mands are unaffected by political circumstances, cannot but
be appreciated by the manufacturer. The benefits attending
the completion of the Shannon navigation cannot be antici-
pated, depending, as they must, so much upon the concur-
rent circumstances of the general state of the country, as re-
spects the condition and habits of the people, as well as the
progress of other public improvements. The opening of the
river will have but a partial influence unless followed by the
formation of roads on its banks, and the execution of other
works to facilitate the transport of the productions of the
country, and to promote the intercourse between the Shannon
and the districts more remote from its shores. As the intel-
ligence, the habits, and the comforts of the people, and their
mode of agriculture improve, the trade of the Shannon will
advance, and in the present and disgraceful condition of the
inhabitants, we cannot form any reasonable estimate of the
valuable consequences of the too long delayed completion of
the great work."
With regard to the romantic beauties of the Shannon, and
the historical reminiscences with which they are interwoven,
I do not altogether concur with the same talented writer,
who conceives that the following elegant sonnet of Sir Aubrey
de Vere paints them too flatteringly. On the contrary,
judging from my own impressions of its scenery and struc-
tural remains, the picture is, I think, by no means over-
charged :
" River of billows ! to whose mighty heart
The tide-wave rushes of the Atlantic Sea—
River of quiet depths ! by cultured lea,
Romantic wood, or city's crowded mart—
River of old poetic founts ! that start,
From their lone mountain cradles, wild and free,
Nursed by the fairies, lulled by the woodlark's glee,
And cushat's hymeneal song apart—
River of chieftains ! whose baronial halls,
Like veteran warders, watch each wave-worn steep,
Portumna's towers, Bunratty's regal walls,
Carrick's stern rock, the Geraldine's gray keep—
River of dark mementoes ! must I close
My lips with Limerick's wrongs—with Aughrim's
woes ? "
The boat by which we left Shannon Harbour, was what is
called the slow or night boat, and the passage was tedious
and uncomfortable, from the crowded state of the cabin, the
moderation of the speed, and the generally uninteresting
appearance of the country for many miles together. The
passengers were ao numerous—both ladies and gentlemen—
that we had scarcely room to sit. An excellent dinner was
served up shortly after our embarkation, for those who chose
to partake of it, and bottled porter and whisky (the latter,
however, of very inferior quality) were to be had as at an
inn. I would strongly recommend those travellers who have
sufficient leisure, and to whom a few extra shillings is not an
object, to wait at Shannon Harbour, or Banagher, for the
day or swift boat, which proceeds at a much more rapid rate.
The distance by this canal from Shannon Harbour to Dublin
is 79 miles, and a great part of the line is through the dreary
and (to the weary voyager) monotonous Bog of Allen, in
which nothing is to be seen, as far as the eye can penetrate
round the horison, but bog—bog—interminable bog. This
is one of those tracts of uninviting moss with which the sur-
face of Ireland is here and there disfigured, but which are
not altogether unprofitable, as they supply fuel, and here and
there, where drained, a few potatoes, for the scattered cot-
tiers whose clay-built cabins, covered with turf or decaying
thatch, are scarcely distinguishable, in their dingy aspect
and slight elevation, from little kindred eltivations of the
dingy expanse that surrounds them.
We past a rather uncomfortable night, the only accommo-
dation in furtherance of repose, in addition to the privilege
of " sitting," being a pillow provided for each by the stew-
ardess, and that so hard and compact that it appeared to be
stuffed with peat. It was imperative, as a matter of gal-
lantry, to allow the ladies sufficient room to rest in some-
thing like a recumbent position, so that as regarded our-
selves, sleep in the strict sense of the word was out of the
question, and we had recourse during the greater part of the
time to chatting in our floating omnibus, or smoking cigars
on the deck. We passed Tullamore, and afterwards Philips-
town, but saw little of them. The dawn was truly welcome,
and at six o'clock we got out of the immense bog, and the
country—we were now in Kildare county—began to assume
a cultivated and pleasing appearance, forming a remarkable
contrast to the dreary region through which we had passed.
We left Robertstown on the South bank, in which we ob-
served two hotels in ruins. The morning was beautifully
fine and sunny, with a sharp invigorating air ; and the dis-
comforts of the night were soon forgotten over a substantial
breakfast. Splendid mansions rose on every side, and the
country, particularly to the south, presented a variety of hill
and dale, cultivated lands and wooded slopes, with here and
there a castellated ruin—the whole bounded on the south by
the Wicklow mountains. The hill of Lions, whence Dublin
is distinctly seen at a distance of fifteen miles, formed a pro-
minent object, and anon the fine seats of Lord Cloncurry and
Lord Leitrim rose on view on opposite sides of the canal.
Vast numbers of hares frisked about the banks, whence they
occasionally gazed upon us in groups, and having satisfied
their curiosity set off in undisturbed and sportive speed
across the dewy meadows.
We now began to descend rapidly from the level we had
navigated, by locks, single and double, and frequently so
near each other as to form a succession of steps. These
locks are of somewhat rude construction, but the passage
through each occupied, by good management,' a very short
space of time. We passed a ne avenue of trees, of nearly a
e
mile in length, on the south side. When the locks were
proximate, several of us " dismounted," and walked an oc-
casional mile or two, at a brisk '
of pace, along the broad plea-
sant path, on the side, by way stretching our limbs—again
embarking, when the boat overtook us at convenient points
below.

metropolis, as We now rapidly approached the Irish
indi-
cated by the increasing numbar of hamletsm clustersof houses,
tasteful villas and homesteads, and the growingl of busy
life. About two miles from the city we entered an
mall of noble lime trees, extending on each side in aysetnrll4;)irt
line, a length of about four miles, and seeming to meet in the
distant perspective. The occasional walk was here delight-
ful. A beautiful country, richly wooded, delights the eye
equal to the richest spots of English landscape, while the ea;
was charmed by the joyous songs of the birds. At length,
Pheenix-park,
.the seat of the Lord Lieutenant, burst up-
on the view, with the Wellesley Testimonial—surrounded by
extensive lawns and woods of stately growth,—and in few
minutes, we entered the busy town. passed under several