William Frederick Bailey

“ Generally speaking, the centre of the country is a great plain; a patchwork of rich pasture lands and immense turf bogs, drained by sluggish rivers, while the seaboard is mostly fringed by ranges of hills and mountains. The coast-line between Dublin and Dundalk is an exception. There, the plains of Meath and Louth run to the sea unguarded by any line of hills. These geographical characteristics largely explain the difference in the holdings and the agricultural methods that have been adopted by the farming population in the four provinces of Ireland. ”

“ Wexford is mainly tillage, worked in many respects similarly to the better parts of Ulster. Much of Leinster—from Kildare to the Shannon—is covered by immense bogs, among which a poor and congested population struggles for subsistence. ”