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QUEENSCLIFF

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 731 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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QUEENSCLIFF , a See also:

town of See also:Grant See also:county, See also:Victoria, See also:Australia, 68 m. by See also:land and 32 by See also:sea S.W. by S. of See also:Melbourne. Pop. (1901) 2025. It lies on Shortlands See also:Bluff, a small See also:peninsula connected with the mainland by the Narrows, a contracted See also:strip of land some 400 yds. broad. Queenscliff is a favourite watering-See also:place, having a See also:fine See also:pier and excellent and safe sea-bathing. It is also a See also:pilot station; and the See also:quarantine station for vessels entering See also:Port See also:Phillip is near the town. QUEENS'S COUNTY, a county of See also:Ireland, in the See also:province of See also:Leinster, bounded N.W. and N. by See also:King's County, E. by See also:Kildare, S. by See also:Carlow and See also:Kilkenny, and W. by See also:Tipperary; See also:area, 424,723 acres, or about 664 sq. m. The See also:surface is for the most See also:part level or gently undulating, but in the See also:north-See also:west rises into the elevations of the Slieve See also:Bloom Mountains, the highest See also:summit being Arderin, 1733 ft. In the central part of the county there is a large extent of See also:bog. The See also:south-See also:east portion is included in the Leinster coalfield. Nearly the whole of the county is drained either by the See also:Barrow, which has its source in the Slieve Bloom Mountains, and forms at various points the boundary with King's County, Kildare and Carlow, or by the See also:Nore, which enters the county from Tipperary near Borris-in-See also:Ossory, and flows east and then south till it reaches Kilkenny. The lakes are few and small, the largest being Lough Anaghmore on the north-western boundary.

The See also:

Grand See also:Canal enters the county at See also:Portarlington, and runs southwards to the Barrow in Kildare, a See also:branch passing west-wards 12 See also:miles to See also:Mountmellick. The See also:limestone See also:plain prevails in this county, but the high coalfield, shared with Kilkenny and Carlow, rises from it in the south; while the Slieve Bloom Mountains, a See also:round-backed Old Red See also:Sandstone See also:mass with See also:Silurian inliers, dominate the See also:lowland west of See also:Maryborough. The limestone itself produces a range of hills near Stradbally, on which the fortress of Dunamase stands conspicuously. See also:Esker-gravels provide sandy soilsin many places. See also:Clay-ironstone was formerly raised in connexion with the See also:anthracite from the coalfield. The See also:climate is dry and healthy. Originally a See also:great extent of the surface was occupied with bog, but by draining much of it has been converted into See also:good land. For the most part it is very fertile except in the hilly districts towards the north, and there is some remarkably See also:rich land in the south-east. The acreage under pasture is not quite twice that of tillage. See also:Dairy-farming is extensively practised. See also:Agriculture forms the See also:chief occupation, but the manufacture of woollen and See also:cotton goods is carried on to a small extent. The See also:main See also:line of the Great See also:Southern & Western railway traverses the county from N.E. to S.W. by way of Portarlington! and Maryborough; from the latter town branches run N. to Mountmellick and S. to See also:Waterford, and from Ballybrophy a line runs W. to See also:Birr (Parsonstown) and to See also:Limerick.

The See also:

population (63,855 in 1891; 57,417 in 19o1) decreases in excess of the See also:average of the Irish counties, and See also:emigration is considerable. Of the See also:total about 88% are See also:Roman See also:Catholic, and almost the whole is rural. Maryborough (the county town, pop. 2957), Mountmellick (2407) and Mountrath (1304), with Portarlington (1943, partly in King's County), are the See also:principal towns. The county is divided into eleven baronies. Ecclesiastically it is in the See also:Protestant dioceses of See also:Dublin, See also:Killaloe and Ossory, and in the Roman Catholic dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin, Ossory and Killaloe. Assizes are held at Maryborough, and See also:quarter sessions at Abbeyleix, Borris-in-Ossory, Graigue (a suburb of Carlow), Maryborough, Mountmellick and Stradbally. The county is divided into the Leix and Ossory See also:parliamentary divisions. To the Irish See also:parliament two members were returned for the county and two each for the boroughs of Ballinakill, Maryborough and Portarlington. The territory now included in See also:Queen's County covered the districts of Leix, Slewmargy, Irry and part of Glenmaliry, until in 1556 it was made See also:shire ground under the name of Queen's County, in See also:honour of Queen See also:Mary, the place chosen for the county town being named Maryborough. Three miles south of Stradbally is Dun of Clopook, an See also:ancient dun or fort occupying the whole extent of the See also:hill. Aghaboe, where there are the ruins of the See also:abbey, was formerly the seat of the bishopric of Ossory.

There are no remains of the abbey of Timahoe founded by St Mochua in the 6th See also:

century, but in the neighbourhood there is a fine round See also:tower, 96 ft. high. Abbeyleix, a small See also:market town south of Maryborough, had a famous Cistercian See also:foundation of the 12th century. The See also:church of Killeshin, in the S.E. of the county, exhibits fine See also:carving of the See also:Norman See also:period. Among the principal old castles are the ruined fortress of the O'Mores occupying the precipitous See also:rock of Dunamase, 3 M. E. of Maryborough, Borris-in-Ossory on the Nore, and See also:Lea See also:Castle on the Barrow, near Portarlington, erected by the Fitzgeralds about 126o, burnt by See also:Edward See also:Bruce in 1315, again rebuilt, and in 165o laid in ruins by the soldiers of See also:Cromwell.

End of Article: QUEENSCLIFF

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