Climate, Soil, and Protium—The climate of Wicklow is uearly similar to that of Wexford; it is said to be somewhat drier than the county of Dublin. The nature of the soil varies considerably ; in the mountainous parts it is thin and poor, but dry, and there is a large proportion of bog. In a great part of the lowlands, a rather light black mould rests on a subsoil of gravel or sand, or, sometimes, of yellow clay : this is generally tolerably dry ; but a considenible quantity of the valley lande, and the low-lying bog, much requires, draining. In the north-eastern parts of the county the soil is plenti fully intermixed with small nodules of limestone, imbedded in the marl or gravel. Dairy-farming, grazing, and the growlug of corn, chiefly oats, are the principal objects of the farmer, and raising potatoes that of the farm-labourer or cottier. The land on tho whole is moderately fertile. The county has no peculiar breed of cattle, sheep, or pigs, but all these kinds of stock have been greatly improved of late years. In 1853 there were under crop 118,002 acres, of which 4733 acres grew wheat; 37,917 acres oats; 5465 acres barley, bare, rye, peas, and beans ; 9842 acres potatoes ; 5246 acres turnips ; 1507 acres other green crops; 4 acres flax ; and 53,268 acres were in meadow and clover. In 1841 the plantations covered 23,945 acres, yielding chiefly oak, ash, and fir. On 8015 holdings, in 1852, the aggregate stook was 11,501 horses, 3413 mules and asses, 67,428 head of cattle, 130,235 sheep, 19,972 pigs, 5825 goats, and 141,140 head of poultry.
The fishery along the coast is prosecuted to some extent. Oysters are taken off Arklow Bank, and herrings, cod, mackerel, and other fish, are found within a distance of from 5 to 8 miles from the shore. Arklow and Wicklow are the chief fishing-ports, but neither is good or convenient as a harbour, and the fishery is not very actively pro secuted.
Tho villas and mansions in Wicklow county are numerous, and many of them handsome; and the demesnes are highly cultivated.
Divisions, Towns, &c.—The county is in the dioceses of Dublin and Glandelagh, with small parts in those of Leighlin and Ferns, and contains 59 parishes. It is divided into eight baronies :—Arklow, Ballinacor north and south, Newcastle, Rathdown, Shillelagh, and Lower and Upper Talbotstown. The principal towns are Wiestow and AMMON, which with BALTINOLASS, RATIIDRUNE, and SITILLELACILI, are noticed under their respective names. The following are some of the towns and villages, with the population of each in 1851.
Blessington is a neat market- and post-town, on rising ground, near the banks of the Liffey, 14 miles S.S.W. from Dublin : population, 555. In the middle of the town the street expands into a market-place. The ohurch is a handsome small modem building, with a steeple. There are in the town a police barrack, a dispensary, and a loan-fund office. The market is on Thursday, and there are three yearly fairs. Petty sessions are held monthly. Blessington returned two members to the Irish Parliament, but it was disfranchieed at the Union. Bray is a market- and post-town, standing on both aides of the river Liffey, near its mouth, 12 miles S.E. from Dublin : population, 3156. It is partly in the county of Duntax, under which head a notice of the town appears, vol. ii., col. 813. Carnew is a neat little market- and post-town on the borders of Wexford county, about 8 miles S. from Tinehely : population, 932. There is a castle which tradition states to have been battered by Cromwell in his march from Dublin to Wexford, but which has since been roofed and repaired. The church is a handsome building, with an embattled tower and spire, and there are chapels for Wesleyan Methodists and Roman Catholics, a dispen sary, a loan-fund office, a police station, and a school. Petty sessions are held monthly, and there are eight yearly fairs, four of them consi derable horse and cattle fairs. Delyany is a small village and post town about 2 miles S.E. from Bray : population, 214. It is situated near the elegant mansion and grounds of Bellevue, which form one ride of the Glen of the Downs, the seat of the Latouches. The church,
a gothic edifice with a steeple 90 foot high, and the school-houses, were built by the Latouche family. In the village is a-fever hospital. Donard is a small post-town on the Slaney, near its source in Slieve Gadoe, about 4 miles N.E. from Stratford-on-Slauey : population, 328. There are a church, a Roman Catholic chapel, many good houses, and the ruins of an old church, burned during the rebellion of 1793. Dunlavin, or Dunlavan, is a market- and post-town, about 5 miles N.W. from Donard : population, 757. Several of the houses are well built, and there are a neat church of modern erection, a market-house, a Roman Catholio chapel, a school-house, a police station, and a dispen sary. Petty sessions are held monthly, and there are six annual fairs. Enniskerry is a beautifully-situated village and post-town, on a rapid mountain stream falling into the Dargle River, 12 miles S. from Dublin, on the road to Glendalough population, 380. There aro a school house, a fever hospital, and a dispensary ; also a number of cottages in the old English style erected by Lord Powerscourt. The remand() scenery of the neighbourhood draws many persons from Dublin. Powerscourt demesne, with its spacious and splendid mansion of hewn granite, adjoins the town. Near Enniekerry are the demesne and house of Tinnehinch, which were purchased by the Irish parliament and presented to the late Ifeury Grattan. Kilcoole is n small village on the road from Bray to Wicklow, near tiro sea, about 2 miles N. from Newtown-3lounteliennedy : population, 333. There are n church iu ruins, a Roman Catholic chapel, and three or four schools. Two fairs are held yearly on the village green, where is a detached rock, from the summit of which a good view of the surrounding country is obtained. Netcbridge is a hamlet and post-town on the (iece, about 5 miles N. from Arklow. There are a Roman Catholic chapel and a tourists' hotel ; and in its neighbourhood Castle 3PAdam church, the lead-mines of Ballymnrtagh and Cronbane, a number of mansions and villas, end some of the loveliest scenery of the county. Newtown is a small market- and post-town on the mail-road to Wexford, about 10 miles S.W. from Bray: population, 717. There are a church, a market-house, a dispensary, a loan-fund office, and a school-house. There are six yearly fairs. Petty sessions are held monthly. The town is chiefly noticeable as being a central station for tourists. Redcross, a village and poet-town on the road from Rathdrum to Arklow, about 6 miles N. from the latter town : population, 267. There are a church and the ruins of another church, two schools, a dispensary, and a police station. Petty sessions are held monthly, and there are seven yearly fairs. is a small manufacturing, market- and poet-town, about 4 miles S.W. from Donard population, 237. This town is of modern origin, having been founded in 1790 by the then Earl of Aldborougb, after whose family name it was called. The town chiefly consists of one principal street, having in the course of it two large open spaces, one an oval, the other a square, which latter the main street crosses diagonally; there are two or three smaller streets branching from the main street at right angles at the open spaces. It contains a neat chnrch, and chapels for Roman Catholics and Presbyterians. Near the town is a fever hospital. Tinaliely, about 52 miles S. from Dublin, is a market and post-town on the road from Rathdrum to Carnew, about 3 miles S.W. from Aughrim : population, 562. The town was destroyed in the insurrection of 1793, and has since been neatly rebuilt, partly at the expense of Earl Fitzwilliam, the lord of the manor. It consists of three streets meeting in the market-place. There are a market and courthouse, a police barrack, a bridewell, and a dispensary. There are also a large flour-mill, a tannery, and a soap mannfactory ; and 13 yearly fairs are held, chiefly for cattle and pigs. The quarter Religions for the district are held here, and petty sessions are held monthly.