The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1916-06-30
The EMERALD ISLE:
In Area 1t Is a Little Smaller Than
Our State of Maine.
IT'S SLUMP IN POPULATION.

One of the Few Sections of the Civil
lized World That Have Decreased In
Numbers In the Past century--lts
Beautiful Lakes and Rivers
The historical and political impor-
tance of Ireland has created in the
minds of many Americans an exagger-
ated idea of the islands physical pro
portions and the density of its popula-
ton
The whole of Ireland embraces an
area slightly less than the state of
Maine, but with a population six times
as dense. In comparison with the gov
erning country it is three-ffths as large
as England and Wales, with one-ninth
the population. The island is one Of
the very few sections of the civilized
world where the population has shown
marked decrease during the last cen
tury.
The first census Of the island, taken
in 1921, recorded a population almost
30 per cent larger than at the present
time, while the census of 1911 showed
the high water mark of more than
100000, nearly twice the present pop
ulatlon. This remarkable decrease. due
largely to emigration, began after the
famine brought about by the destruc-
tive disease which attacked the potato
crop OF 1915 This calamity resulted
in the withdrawal of more than a mil
lion acres from cultivation within two
years
incidentally the potato, which has
played such an important role in the
life of Ireland during the last 300
years is not indigenous to the island
but was one Of the food gold mines
discovered by the Spaniards iii their
conquest Of Peru. The country is in
debted to Sir Walter Raleigh for her
Irish" potatoes, as it was he who
brought them from what is now North
Carolina and planted them on his es-
tate near Cork in 1885.
Ireland lies ON the western rim OF
what was once a part on continental
Europe. It has numerous mountains,
the highest being the McGnlcuddv
reeks (3,414 fee0 in the Killarney re
gion, but there is no mountain chain or
elevated backbone" There is 4 more
or less well defined plain, however, the
distinguishing feature of which Is its
bogs the black bog producing the IA
nous peat fuel, differentiated from the
brown bogs of the mountains. If the
whole island We're brought to mean
level it would rise 100 feet above the
sea.
The lakes, or lou2hs, of Ireland are
among its most widely appreciated
physical characteristics, their scenic
beauty being the Inspiration Of poets
painters and musicians Nor have tho
Irish rivers been overlooked i'm an
praisals Of the islands beauties. The
Shannon, which flows for $50 miles.
is the longest water course in the Unit
ed Kingdom. II is narigated by large
steamers for half its length and is con
nected with Dublin by means Of the
Grand and the Royal canals.
Although coal is found in most Of the
thirty-two counties into which the u.s..
land is divided and there is consider
able iron ore. mining is not an impor
tant industry. Gold was being mined
in modest way in County Wicklow at
the time Of the rebellion Of 179S. but
the works We're destroyed and the
source Of the metal has never been re-
discovered
Agriculture and stock raising are the
chief occupations of the inhabitants.
At one time the wooden manufactures
of the island We're formidable rivals Of
English factories, but hostile legisla-
ton gave the industry a check from
which it has never recovered. As the
Irish have raised flax for centuries,
the manufacture of linen early became
one of the important industries of the
country. Irish whisky is an important
article Of export, and one of the largest
breweries in the world is located at
Dublin
Shipbuilding in the great yards ait
Belfast is one of the most widely
known Irish activities, and the deep
sea and coast fisheries afford a llveli-
hood for many thousands.
Thanks to the temperate influence of
the west winds from the Atlantic, the
thermometer rarely reaches freezing
point in winter, while the average for
a summer day is 60 degrees
At Torr Head on the north the dis
tance to Scotland OIull Of Cantire) is
only thirteen and one-half miles The
Giants Causeway, a short distance to
the east of this point, is the outcrop-
ping basaltic formation which in a
former age Joined the two islands,
National Geographic Society Bulletin.