Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Pococke's Tour in Ireland in 1752 (Author: Richard Pococke)
entry 26
On the 20th I went with this family by invitation five or six miles to the south-east to Mr. Wray's and saw in the way Doe Castle, it is a fine square turret of five stories and near sixty feet high, it is encompassed with an inner Wall and Turrets and with a second almost all round. This
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was the strength of the MacSwines, who were masters of this Country; and after the wars the head of them being offered part of his lands, as they say, refused them, unless he had all, and the books being shut he lost all. Near this Castle are some small remains of a Convent of Minorites, which must be that Monastery called by the Historians Baley MacSuine near Doe: They also mention another called Beleaghan, which I could not hear of, no more than of Muckish Abbey put down in the Maps. To the north of this, is what they call the Marble rock, it is a bad white, with large spots of a sort of Ash-colour: what they have raised does not polish well, but if they dug deeper, they might probably find a better vein; it is a very uncommon marble. I went on to Mr. Wray's called Ards, on a rising ground on the north side of the bay, which is formed by an inlet of the sea, half a mile to the east of it, the gardens are on the descent to the bay, that forms a beautiful basin before the house, which is well shelter'd not only by the hills to the north, but by the fine plantations about it, and from those hills there is a beautiful prospect of the sea, and of the Country and the bays that are near, here I saw Melons ripe, and fruit in great perfection. This gentleman is married to a daughter of Archdeacon Hamilton mentioned before who in the troubles went to Magdalen College in Oxford, and is above eighty years old with all his senses and understanding in great perfection: To the publick spirit and activity of Mr. Wray those fine roads are owing, which are made over Lough Salt Mountain and in other parts, laid out so as to be finished in about seven years: by allotting such a measure of road yearly to each house, according to the value of the land they hold: they are twenty one feet broad, with a margin on each side of green turf about
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two feet wide; they are first raised with the earth that is thrown up to make a fossee on each side, then they lay a coat of broken quarry stone; on that some earth and then gravel at top. These roads considering the cheapness of carriage on little truckles drawn by one horse, almost answer the end of water carriage, for they will draw a hogshead of wine, or anything not exceeding 600 lb. weight and one man will attend three or four of them; they commonly feed their horses on the grass they find in the road, so that they will carry a hundred and fifty miles for about three shillings a hundred.