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Ulster Roads on the Eve of the Railway Age, c. 1800–40

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2017

Ivor J. Herring
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Extract

Arthur Young's judgment on Irish roads is well known; that indefatigable traveller who had many hard words for the highways of his native country, asserted: ‘ For a country so very far behind us as Ireland, to have got suddenly so much the start of us in the article of roads, is a spectacle that cannot fail to strike the English traveller exceedingly ’ A quarter of a century later his views received general corroboration from the statistical surveys of the counties and from other commentaries and travel-journals of the time. Sampson, who found little to criticise in the county Derry roads, remarked: ‘ I have seen no country more intersected by good roads than the neighbourhood of Kilrea and Magherafelt’.

Type
Articles
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 2 , Issue 6 , September 1940 , pp. 160 - 188
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 1940

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References

1 Young, Arthur, A tour in Ireland, 1776-1779 (1780), pt. II, p. 39 Google Scholar.

2 Sampson, G. V., Statistical survey of the county of Londonderry (1802), p. 321 Google Scholar.

3 McEvoy, J., Statistical survey of the county of Tyrone (1802), p. 118.Google Scholar

4 M'Parlan, J., Statistical survey of the county of Donegal (1802), p. 66.Google Scholar

5 Dubourdieu, J., Statistical survey of the county of Down (1802), p. 218.Google Scholar

page 161 note 1 Carr, J., The stranger in Ireland (1806), p. 210 Google Scholar.

page 161 note 2 Colt Hoare, R., Journal of a tour in Ireland (1807), pp. 335-6Google Scholar.

page 161 note 3 Quoted in S. and B. Webb, English local government: the story of the king's highway (1920), p. 165.

page 161 note 4 Reid, T., Travels in Ireland in the year 1822, p. 276 Google Scholar.

page 161 note 5 Bicheno, J., Ireland and its economy (1830), p. 40 Google Scholar.

page 161 note 6 Barrow, J., A tour round Ireland through the sea-coast counties in the autumn of 1835 (1836), p. 155 Google Scholar.

page 161 note 7 Young, op. cit., pt. II, p. 102.

page 162 note 1 Coote, Charles, Statistical survey of the county of Armagh (1804), p. 259 Google Scholar.

page 162 note 2 Hardy, P. D., The northern tourist (1830), p. 130 Google Scholar.

page 162 note 3 See Map I.

page 162 note 4 Sampson, as above.

page 162 note 5 Journal of a tour in Ireland, 1804 (1806), p. 20. McEvoy corroborated this evidence.

page 162 note 6 Lord George Hill, Facts from Gweedore (1845), p. 36. Note that S. Lewis, (A topographical dictionary of Ireland (1837), i. 475) tends to contradict M'Parlan, saying that Donegal roads were badly made though good materials were everywhere available, but admitting that recent laws had led to new and improved roads.

page 162 note 7 Coote, op. cit., p. 334.

page 162 note 8 Colt Hoare, op. cit., p. 241. Also E. Wakefield, Account of Ireland, statistical and political (1812), i. 658.

page 164 note 1 Dubourdieu, op. cit., p. 218. Coote, Statistical survey of the county of Monaghan (1801), p. 131. Hardy, op. cit., p. 5. A. Atkinson, Ireland exhibited to England (1823), i. 281.

page 164 note 2 Anne Plumptre, Narrative of a residence in Ireland, 1814-15 (1817), p. 95.

page 164 note 3 S. and B. Webb, op. cit., pp. 167-82.

page 164 note 4 Wakefield, op. cit., i. 657. T. Newenham, A view of the natural, political, and commercial circumstances of Ireland (1809), app. xxi.

page 164 note 5 O'Connell, M. J., Charles Bianconi (1878), p. 35 Google Scholar.

page 165 note 1 J. Dubourdieu, Statistical survey of the county of Antrim (1812), p. 360.

page 165 note 2 Dubourdieu, Survey of Down, p. 182.

page 165 note 3 W. S. Mason, Statistical account or parochial survey of Ireland (1814-19), ii. 193, 233.

page 165 note 4 Dubourdieu, Survey of Antrim, p. 360.

page 165 note 5 Young, Tour, pt. II, p. 41.

page 166 note 1 For Scottish carts, see most of the Ulster statistical surveys. For post office mail-coaches, see Copy of memorials to the treasury, and correspondence, relating to the new contract for the supply of mail coaches for the use of the post office in Ireland (1843 ; hereafter cited as Mail coach contract, Ireland).

page 166 note 2 Mason, op. cit., ii. 524 (Seagoe parish, co. Armagh). See also Dutton, H., Statistical and agricultural survey of the county of Galway (1824), p. 378 Google Scholar.

page 166 note 3 Wakefield, op. cit., i. 659.

page 166 note 4 Hill, Facts from Gweedore, p. 18.

page 166 note 5 Ordnance survey of the county of Londonderry : memoir of the city and north western liberties of Londonderry (1837), p. 130. Barrow, Tour, p. 109. Cox also built the bridge at Waterford.

page 166 note 6 Sampson, Survey of Londonderry, p. 325.

page 167 note 1 McEvoy, Survey of Tyrone, pp. 127-8.

page 167 note 2 Coote, Survey of Armagh, p. 260. Coote, Survey of Monaghan, pp. 84, 87.

page 167 note 3 Lewis, Topographical dictionary, i. 316.

page 167 note 4 See for instance Allen's new and correct pocket map of Ireland (1815), which purports to show the great roads. Actually only the chief roads radiating from Dublin are shown, and important highways such as Belfast to Derry via Coleraine, and Newry to Castleblaney are ignored.

page 168 note 1 H. J. St. J. Clarke, Thirty centuries in south-east Antrim (1939), p. 179.

page 168 note 2 Sampson, op. cit., pp. 211, 305.

page 168 note 3 Ibid., pp. 303-4.

page 168 note 4 Dubourdieu, Survey of Antrim, p. 228.

page 168 note 5 Dubourdieu, Survey of Down, p. 216.

page 169 note 1 Coote, , Survey of Armagh, p. 272 Google Scholar.

page 169 note 2 Sampson, op. cit., pp. 302-3.

page 169 note 3 McEvoy, Survey of Tyrone, pp. 119, 125.

page 169 note 4 Sampson, op. cit., p. 66.

page 169 note 5 Hardy, The northern tourist, p. 5. Lewis, op. cit., i. 317. For the cut at Banbridge in 1819 see J. H. Rea, ‘ Banbridge and its postal memories’, in Post Office Magazine, August 1939, p. 348.

page 170 note 1 S. and B. Webb, English local government: the story of the king's highway, p. 169.

page 170 note 2 Account of Ireland, i. 658.

page 170 note 3 See Map I.

page 171 note 1 [G.] Taylor and [A.] Skinner's maps of the roads of Ireland, surveyed 1777 (1778). In 1834 a toll bridge was opened on the site of the present Albert Bridge, Belfast. The famous Derry bridge took tolls. See James Johnson, A tour in Ireland with meditations and reflections (1844), p. 334. The author had to pay a double toll for his carriage, when crossing en route for Coleraine. He asked the reason. ‘ Oh, sir, if you come back again, we will refund you half the money ’.

page 171 note 2 T. W. Moody, ‘ The Irish parliament under Elizabeth and James I ’, in Proc. RIA, vol. xlv, sect. C, p. 64.

page 171 note 3 Young, Tour, pt. II, p. 39. Bicheno, Ireland and its economy, p. 40.

page 171 note 4 Mason, Parochial survey of Ireland, ii. 234.

page 172 note 1 W. M. Thackeray, The Irish sketch book (1843), ii. 241.

page 172 note 2 Hill, Facts from Gweedore, p. 18.

page 172 note 3 For a modern description, see Hayward, R., In praise of Ulster, p. 89 Google Scholar.

page 172 note 4 Lewis, Topographical dictionary, i. 296.

page 172 note 5 Mason, op. cit., ii. 11.

page 172 note 6 See appendix.

page 172 note 7 Tour, pt. II, p. 41.

page 173 note 1 Account of Ireland, i. 662.

page 173 note 2 J. Lambert, Observations on the rural affairs of Ireland (1829), p. 11.

page 173 note 3 Ireland and its economy, p. 43.

page 173 note 4 There are, however, the comments of John M'Carten, linen-manufacturer and land-agent of Waringstown, before the Devon commission (Report of the commissioners of inquiry into the occupation of land in Ireland (1845) ; hereafter cited as Report of the Devon commission), i. 469.

page 173 note 5 Survey of Down, p. 218.

page 173 note 6 See F. J. Bigger, The Ulster land war of iyyo (1910), pp. 46-51. Lecky, Ire. (1908), ii. 1-51.

page 173 note 7 Bicheno, Ireland and its economy, p. 40. This invigilation system was later changed to one in which the grand jury nominated a body of cess-payers to attend the sessions (Report of the Devon commission, i. 208-9).

page 173 note 8 Newenham, View of Ireland, appendix xxi.

page 173 note 9 Bicheno, op. cit., p. 43.

page 174 note 1 John Foster to Fitzgerald, 25 Jan. 1818 (PRONI, Massereene MSS., bundle 27).

page 174 note 2 McEvoy, Survey of Tyrone, p. 122. Report of the Devon commission, i. 38, following Report of the select committee on the state of the poor in Ireland (1823 and 1830), and Report of the committee on grand jury presentments (1840).

page 174 note 3 Newenham, op. cit., pp. 34-5.

page 175 note 1 Lecky, Ire. (1908), ii. 49.

page 175 note 2 Tour, pt. II, p. 41.

page 175 note 3 Newenham, op. cit., p. 36.

page 175 note 4 Ibid.

page 175 note 5 Thom's Irish almanack, 1848, p. 146.

page 175 note 6 PRONI, Schedule of applications for presentments, co. Armagh, 1834, 1835.

page 175 note 7 Averaged from the figures in Thom's Irish almanack, 1848, p. 146. See Map III, for the early ’forties (Report of the Devon commission, i. 54-5).

page 175 note 8 In Young's time, the average daily wage for labourers was 6½d., in Newenham's over Iod.

page 175 note 9 Newenham, op. cit., p. 38.

page 177 note 1 Report of the Devon commission, i. 11-11, 36-9.

page 177 note 2 S. and B. Webb, op. cit., p. 199.

page 177 note 3 Report of the Devon Commission, i. 208-9. The ‘ special sessions’ were those in which the grand jury was engaged on presentment work.

page 177 note 4 Report of the select committee on the state of the poor in Ireland (1823). Recommendations followed by subsequent commissions including the Devon commission (Report, i. 31).

page 177 note 5 H. D. Inglis, Ireland in 1834 (1834), ii. 182.

page 177 note 6 Second report of the commissioners … on the manner in which railway communications can be … promoted in Ireland (1838), p. 128.

page 178 note 1 Dubourdieu, Survey of Down, p. 169.

page 178 note 2 The traveller's new guide, 1815, p. 520.

page 178 note 3 Wakefield, op. cit., ii. 732.

page 178 note 4 J. Gamble, View of society and manners in the north of'Ireland, (1812), pp. 86-7.

page 178 note 5 Wakefield, Account of Ireland, i. 657.

page 179 note 1 R. Twiss, A tour of Ireland in 1775 (1776), p. 53.

page 179 note 2 Wakefield, op. cit., ii. 668.

page 179 note 3 Tour, pp. 335-6.

page 179 note 4 Bicheno, Ireland and its economy, p. 45. The inns were not always efficient in this respect: see A narrative of an excursion to Ireland…of tke Irish Society (1825), p. 62, where Miss Hannah Neill of the Antrim Arms, Ballymoney, was unwilling to provide horses for which the travellers had written.

page 179 note 5 Wakefield, op. cit., i. 657.

page 179 note 6 Ibid., i. 669. See Map II. Wakefield's list omits the mail-coach between Belfast and Derry, started in 1809. It does not pretend to give a comprehensive list of ordinary stage-coaches in Ireland. Tke traveller's new guide, 1815, contains many additions.

page 179 note 7 Ordnance survey of Londonderry, p. 201.

page 180 note 1 Survey of Antrim, p. 553. The first stage-coach between Belfast and Dublin ran in 1752. The service between Belfast and Newry was discontinued two years later. It was re-started in 1788 after the Belfast citizens had petitioned the government for a mail-coach to Dublin (G. Benn, History of the town of Belfast (1877-80), i. 497-9).

page 180 note 2 Ordnance survey of Londonderry, p. 201.

page 180 note 3 Ibid.

page 181 note 1 Ordnance survey of Londonderry, p. 201. Belfast Almanack, 1803, 1815, 1827.

page 181 note 2 Mail coach contract, Ireland, pp. 20-1. Thackeray, , Irish sketch book, ii. 303 Google Scholar.

page 181 note 3 I. J. Herring, ‘ The Bians’, in UFA, 3rd series, ii. 133, fig. 1. See Maps IV-VI.

page 181 note 4 Mail coach contract, Ireland.

page 181 note 5 O'Connell, Charles Bianconi, p. 87. In 1830 the English and Irish post offices were amalgamated.

page 181 note 6 Wakefield, , Account of Ireland, ii. 672 Google Scholar.

page 181 note 7 J. G. Kohl, Ireland (1843), p. 50.

page 182 note 1 Journal of a tour in Ireland (1806), pp. 25-6.

page 182 note 2 Belfast Almanack, 1803.

page 182 note 3 Dubourdieu, Survey of Antrim, p. 554. Belfast News-Letter, 24 Jan. 1809 (Belfast to Newry, Dublin and Armagh coaches), 27 Sept. 1808 (Belfast to Lurgan, Armagh and Newry), 18 July 1809 (Belfast to Dungannon). Benn, History of Belfast, ii. 67-8.

page 183 note 1 RIA, Ordnance Survey Letters, county Fermanagh (MS. 14 C 25, pp. 1-4)

page 184 note 1 Herring, as above, p. 134, figs. 1-4.

page 184 note 2 Clarke, Thirty centuries in south-east Antrim, p. 203.

page 184 note 3 See Map V.

page 184 note 4 Barrow, Tour, p. 6.

page 184 note 5 Inglis, Ireland in 1834, i. 25.

page 184 note 6 Second report… on … railway communications … in Ireland (1838), p. 33. At the same date, canal passenger fares were : 1¼d. per mile, first cabin, ⅞d., second cabin, by the 4 m.p.h. night boats; by the 7 m.p.h. day boats, the fare was 1 ½d. (ibid., p. 67). For the private hire of an outside car the fare was usually 6d.—8d. in the north—(Barrow, Tour, p. 120 ; Inglis, op. cit., i. 25 ; Kohl, op. cit., p. 21).

page 185 note 1 Herring, ‘ The Bians’, in UFA, 3rd series, iii. 116-18. R. J. Welch, ‘ Primitive transport in Ireland ’, in Ir. Nat. Journ., i. 34.

page 185 note 2 McEvoy, Survey of Tyrone, p. 48. Slide-cars cost 3s. 9d. to 5s. 5d.; Irish wheel-cars, 4 to 6 guineas; cars with wheels turning on the axles, 6 to 8 guineas ; carts 8 to 17 guineas (Dubourdieu, Survey of Antrim, p. 156).

page 185 note 3 Ibid., p. 153.

page 185 note 4 Ibid.

page 185 note 5 Belfast Almanack, 1803, 1815. Inglis, Ireland in 1834, ii. 226. Young, Tour, pt. I, p. 141.

page 186 note 1 D. A. Chart, Ireland from the union to catholic emancipation, p. 277.

page 186 note 2 Newenham, op. cit., appendix v. Note also that the county Galway millers, despite the greater expense, preferred to send their flour to Dublin by land-carriage, owing to the uncertainty of the time of arrival by canal (H. Dutton, Statistical and agricultural survey of county Galway (1824), p. 96).

page 186 note 3 Newenham, op. cit., appendix viii.

page 186 note 4 Wakefield, Account of Ireland, i. 638. McEvoy, , Survey of Tyrone, p. 133 Google Scholar.

page 186 note 5 Coote, Survey of Armagh, p. 371.

page 186 note 6 Second report … on … railway communications … in Ireland, pp. 15-6.

page 187 note 1 Ibid. Note that the commissioners added a note praising the reliability and punctuality of the carmen.