are destroyed by the disgraceful riot of the patron, a meeting that seems established only to profane all that is impressive, simple, and pious.

On my second visit to Gougaun, in 1815, I perceived a large stone which had been set up on the island, with a long inscription stating the number of prayers to be repeated at each of the cells, or chapels, and other directions of a similar kind: but about this time, these meetings were publicly discountenanced by the Roman Catholic clergy, and in 1818, Dr. Murphy, the titular Bishop of Cork, expressly forbad that of Gougaun. This special interference became necessary, from the fatal consequences attendant on them, as one seldom concluded without the loss of many lives; and patrons were professedly selected for the purpose of contest, by hostile factions or clans that met, and, when the rites of devotion were ended, fought—

" in all the rage

Of family dissension kindled fell,

Through wide-extended consanguinity!"

The rocky outlet of the water of the lake, in some places, is not more than three or four feet wide

"Amid heaps

Of mountain wreck, on either side thrown high,
The wide-spread traces of its wintry might,
The tortuous channel winds o'er beds of sand:
Here silently it flows-there from the rock
Rebutted, curls and eddies-plunges here
Precipitate-there, roaring among crags,

It leaps and foams and whirls and hurries on."

This stream is increased by the accession of several mountain rills, which after heavy rains become formidable torrents, and proceeding over a tract of low ground spreads into a large sheet of water, called Lough Allua or Lua, extending nearly four miles in

length, and in some parts about a mile in breadth. The new road to Bantry winds beautifully along the shore of this lake, but the want of wood and cultivation give an air of savageness to the scenery. Having a boy with us who carried a blunderbuss, we tried the effect of several discharges at Gougaun Lake, and found the echo produced by the reverberations astonishingly fine; the sound rolling like peals of the loudest thunder around the whole amphitheatre of mountains, again and again returning, until at last it died away in the distance. We proved the power of the echoes from almost every position on the surrounding hills; the best appeared to be from the point whence we first saw the lake.

It is remarkable, that the river Lee, as far as Inchegeela, is never muddy, even in the most violent floods; the cause is probably owing to the rocky nature of the ground through which its course lies. The little village of Inchegeela, as nearly as I can judge, is distant from Gougaun Lake ten English miles, and is the usual approach to it. The walls of a barrack, which has been long disused, are all that speak the former consequence of Inchegeela; its church and parsonage are inconsiderable and ruinous, and at the distance of a mile, on a small height above the river, stands the Castle of Carrinacurra, now called Castle Masters, being the property of Mr. Masters, who built a dwelling house close by. It is backed by considerable mountains; the most prominent is Sheehy, whose blue peak

"A doubtful object mingling with the clouds!"

towers above all the others, the chief of which are Douse, an enormous and heavy lump, and Coolnagreenane, or the mountain unknown to the sunbeams, a name highly descriptive of its general gloomy appearance: behind these, the rugged points of Carrigaprehaun, or the Raven's Rock, may be distinguished boldly eminent over Lough Lua.

Carrinacurra Castle belonged to the O'Learies, and the barony of Ivelary, in which it is situated, has received its name from this family, notwithstanding the Learies were a dependent or minor clan, having neither numbers nor possessions sufficient to render them important.

Dermot Oge O'Leary, of Carrinacurra, was accused of being concerned in the Earl of Desmond's rebellion; and, in 1588, was attainted, amongst others, by act of parliament: and Conogher O'Leary again forfeited this castle and estate in 1641, when it was garrisoned by order of Cromwell.

Following the course of the river Lee, in its progress nearly due east towards the ocean, the ruins of Drumcaragh Castle may be seen, another fortress erected by the O'Learies; and not far distant is Toomb Bridge, a long and narrow pass over an extensive and swampy flat, through which the Lee meanders, embracing numerous little islands covered with the bog myrtle and stunted timber. Rising above Toomb Bridge is a steep and considerable hill, on the top of which stands Dundarerk Castle, built by the Mac Carthies, and forfeited by Dermot Mac Carty in 1641. It commands a view of an immense tract of country, in which the appearance of cultivation is scattered and unequal.

"To the extended gaze

Is seen the river wandering far away

Through sun and shade, with peopled bank or bare,
Verdant, or brown.".

Leaving the Lee for a short space, as its course here becomes less interesting, and descending the opposite side of the hill, the river Sullane, which falls into the Lee below Macroom, appears winding through the low ground beneath, and not far from its craggy channel the ruin of a large square tower becomes an imposing and important object. This ruin is the Castle of Carrig a Phooky, or the