. The earth and its inhabitants ... in the north, is also one ofthe rivers whose regimen has become regulated, whilst the Bann only traverses asingle lake, Lough Neagh. Very striking is the contrast between rivers such asthese, and those which traverse the plain, sluggishly wandering from lake to these latter are the rivers that drain the lakes of Connaught—the Erne,which is a lake-like expansion for the greater part of its course, and the Shannon,the most considerable river of all Ireland. The Owenmore, which drains the valley lying between Cuilcagh on the north IRELAND. 391 and Sl
. The earth and its inhabitants ... in the north, is also one ofthe rivers whose regimen has become regulated, whilst the Bann only traverses asingle lake, Lough Neagh. Very striking is the contrast between rivers such asthese, and those which traverse the plain, sluggishly wandering from lake to these latter are the rivers that drain the lakes of Connaught—the Erne,which is a lake-like expansion for the greater part of its course, and the Shannon,the most considerable river of all Ireland. The Owenmore, which drains the valley lying between Cuilcagh on the north IRELAND. 391 and Slieve Nakilla on the south, and which flows into the head of Lough Allen,is the real head-stream of the Shannon, but popular tradition looks upon theShannon Pot as the veritable source. This is a copious fountain rising in a lime-stone caldron, and fed by a subterranean channel which connects it with a louffhat the base of Tiltibane. Scarcely formed, the river is lost in Lough Allen Fig. 197-—Upper LotGH 1 : 200, 7°|30 Gr. _ 2 Miles. (160 feet above the sea), and thence to its mouth, for a distance of 209 miles,the Shannon is navigable. On issuing from Lough Allen the river flowssluggishly for 80 miles over the central plain, passing through Lough Eee(122 feet) and Lough Derg (108 feet), when it enters the gorge of Killaloe,separating Slieve Bernagh from Slieve Arra, and with a rapid fall reachesLimerick, where it becomes a tidal river. We may fairly ask how it happens 392 THE BRITISH ISLES. that the Shannon, instead of flowing straight into Galway Bay, from which nonatural obstacle separates it, strikes across a mountain range formed of hard andsolid rocks, through which it had laboriously to cut itself a passage. It is quiteclear that the gorge of the Shannon is not a work of recent date ; it was scoopedout long before the great central plain had been denuded of the masses of softerrocks which formerly covered it. Then this mountain range formed no ob
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
