Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Pococke's Tour in Ireland in 1752 (Author: Richard Pococke)

entry 77

On the 11th I set forward and in three miles came in the road to Wicklow and passing by Wingates a fine situation on a height near the sea, we crossed Bray Head and passed by Lord Meath's house, where in the gardens are fine hedges and plantations, and going to Bray, saw to the left Mr. Odair's, an improvement in very good taste, and at a distance Powerscourt, belonging to Lord Powerscourt, where there is a large house and great improvements, but the slopes are rather too steep and unnatural; In the Park two miles from the House, is the famous fall of Water, which is a cascade that falls in one spout without breaks for feet, the river which makes it falls into Bray river, which rises out of two Loughs up in the side of the mountain, at the west end of Glancree: The high ground on each side covered with wood in the way to it is very fine. Below Powerscourt the Dargil a hanging ground over the river covered with wood affords a beautiful scene. About three miles from this is the Glyn of the Downes, which leads from Dublin to a place called the Downs, about two miles from Altadora, it is a deep Narrow Valley, with high hills on each side, part of them covered with wood and one of them is called the Sugar loaf. All this country is most exceeding Romantick and beautiful Near Powerscourt; Mr. Monk has a pleasant country house with good plantations about it. The County of Wicklow is remarkable for wood, which grows extremely


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well in it, they have a saying that a stick put in the ground will grow: Myrtle thrives in their gardens, and is planted abroad in the natural ground.

Bray is prettily situated on a height over the river is a very small town, with a Barrack in it. Three miles further is Loughlinstown an Inn, and a few houses, near which Mr. Domville has a ruinous seat, very finely situated, over it is a hill on which Mr. Malpas erected an obelisk, to employ the Poor in the year of famine; at the foot of that hill on the sea are lead mines.59 I came by Stillorgan Lady Allen's seat, where in the Park is a fine obelisk erected on four arches of rustick Grostesque Arches, in the manner of that in the Piazza Navona at Rome, but much larger. We then came by Mirian the seat of Lord Fitzwilliam, a most glorious situation commanding a fine view which appears very beautiful from the top of the hill, through the Visto's cut in the Grove of fir trees. Butlerstown is the same kind of situation where Lord Fitzwilliam has let his land in small parcels for building country houses. From this place I came by Donnybrook to Dublin.