Ireland/Irish > Black's guide to Killarney and the south of Ireland

ROSS CASTLE.
83
[ _ KOSS ISLAND, situated on the eastern shore of the lake,
is not properly an island, but a peninsula, though at high water,
it is difficult to reach it from the shore without having recourse
j to the bridge. It is well planted and intersected with beauti-
; ful walks. On the southern point we come upon a copper
! mine opened in 1804 by Colonel TIall, father of the talented
i S. C. Hall. The position was very unfavourable, being close
I to the margin of the lake ; but notwithstanding this, the labour
1 proceeded and was rewarded for a time by an abundance of
? rich ore. Crofton Croker asserts that, “ during the four years
i that Ross mine was worked, nearly £80,000 worth of ore was
’ disposed of at Swansea, some cargoes producing £40 per ton.”
j “But this very richness,” he adds, “was the ultimate cause of its destruction,
:! as several small veins of pure oxide of copper split off from the main lode, and
' ran towards the surface. The ore of these veins was much more valuable than
; the other, consequently the miners (who were paid by the quality as well as
quantity) pursued the smaller veins so near the surface, that the water broke
I through into the mine in such an overwhelming degree, that an engine of thirty
K horse-power could make no sensible impression on the inundation.”
j, There can be no doubt that these mines had been worked
| at an early period, whether by the Danes or not, it is difficult
to say. Colonel Hall’s miners found several rude stone ham-
! mers of a very early make, besides other unequivocal proofs of
\ the pre-occupation of the mines.
f Boss Castle is a conspicuous object from some positions on
: the lake, but is generally visited from land. From the summit
j is obtained a most delightful view. Admission may be ob-
itained by applying at the cottage close by; a small gratuity is
^expected. The castle was built by one of the O’Donaghues.
In 1652 it held out against the English, and was the last to
j surrender in Munster. . On the 26th July, Lord Muskerry had
Sheen defeated in the county Cork, and many of his followers
.■slain, among whom was a Kerry chieftain, Macgillicuddy,
jwho held a commission as colonel. Retreating to Ross Castle,
i he held out against the repeated attacks of General Ludlow,
; and not until “ ships of war ” were seen upon the lake did the
"garrison give in. An old prophecy had declared Ross impreg¬
nable till ships should surround it; and the Irish soldiers,
i looking upon the prophecy as accomplished, would not strike
;a blow. Ludlow in his memoirs thus narrates the incident:—
“ When we had received our boats, each of which was capable of containing
120 men, I ordered one of them to be rowed about the water, in order to find out