A Description of Killarney by Dunn
A Description of Killarney is a topographical prose poem by an anonymous author writing under the name Dunn (published anonymously, sometimes attributed to a clergyman-tourist of the period), composed as a descriptive tour of the celebrated lakes of Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland, and dedicated to the Royal Academy as a literary rival to the painter's art. The work opens with a preface defending description over visual depiction, arguing that words can range across time, change, and cause in ways the "mere plastic" arts of painting cannot, and announces that the author visited Killarney in both autumn and spring but found the autumnal prospect, with its dying foliage, most affecting. The body of the work is organized geographically and moves in three sections through the district's three connected bodies of water: the Great Lake (Lough Lane), Turk Lake, and the Upper Lake, joined by a winding river. Section I catalogues the shores, bays, and mountains ringing the lower lakes, working clockwise from the wooded, deer-haunted mountain of Glynnau (Glena), the property of Lord Kenmare, past Toomish (Tomé) with its celebrated O'Sullivan's Cascade falling in three stages, along O'Sullivan's Country and the estate of Macarthy-more (where the author encounters a destitute but classically learned boy, prompting reflections on Irish rural poverty and neglected talent), around the northern shore near Killarney village and Lord Kenmare's seat, and along the eastern peninsula of Mucrus and Camillan belonging to Mr. Herbert. Here the author dwells at length on Mucrus Abbey, its ancient yew tree, and a disreputable resident hermit; on the abbey's poorly sited gardens and remarkable rock-rooted trees and shrubs; and on a theory that the lake's islands were once mainland outcrops later isolated by rising water, comparable to the encroachments of Lough Neagh. The tour continues past the islands of Brickeen and Dinish, the barren slopes of Mangerton (site of the "Devil's Punch-bowl"), the more graceful cone of Turk mountain, and the famous Eagle's Nest rock, celebrated for its thunderous multiplying echo when a gun is fired against it, and for the eagles that nest on its crags. The Great Range leads to the "musical echo," where a single horn multiplies into an entire concert of mellowing tones. The author then describes the Upper Lake, entered through Colman's Eye and ringed by Ghirmeen, M'Gilly Cuddy's Reeks (with their conical, whimsical peaks and grouse), the wooded Glynn of Derry-Cannihy (which Lord Kenmare is said to be preparing to clear-cut, prompting the author's regretful quotation of Virgil on the felling of ancient woods), Crom-a-glaun, and the indigo-hued Purple Mountain with its rare heath-berries and an unfamiliar black-and-red bird. Section II surveys the numerous islands of the lakes in detail. In the lower lake these cluster around Ross Island, seat of a ruined royal castle once held by the O'Donahue chieftains; the author retells at length the legendary virtues of "the great O'Donahue," a beneficent warrior-king still said to appear on moonlit nights riding a white horse over the lake as a good omen, an apparition met with unquestioning local belief. Nearby lies Innisfallen, more beautiful and fertile than Ross, with its ruined abbey and "banqueting-house," compared by the author to Virgil's pastoral retreats and to the emperor Tiberius's Capri as a haunt of the same wandering hermit. Other islets follow — Brown (Rabbit) Island, Lamb's Island, Hern Island, O'Donahue's Prison, Mouse Island, and the eastern cluster near Ross including O'Donahue's Table — each briefly characterized, along with the smaller islets off Mucrus and the solitary Illanan-Deoul (Devil's Island) in Turk Lake. The Upper Lake's eight islands include the Oak Islands (Rossburkree) and Arbutus Island, prompting a naturalist's digression on the arbutus tree's blossom, scarlet strawberry-like fruit, and classical reputation in Pliny, Virgil, and Lucretius; and a western cluster of five islands, one bearing a rustic cottage used seasonally by a reclusive bachelor gentleman, where the author examines the layered decay of leaves and boughs as evidence for the natural formation of Ireland's peat bogs. Section III turns from cataloguing to critical appreciation, defending Killarney against visitors disappointed by its lack of true sublimity, and proposing that its governing character is Variety, followed by Beauty, with Magnificence only subordinate. The author then ranks the best viewing stations: the Yellow Mountain for the most magnificent general prospect; Aghadoe, an old ruined episcopal seat, for the finest view of the islands; Dunlow Castle for the western view; the many prospects along the Mucrus peninsula for the east; the summits of Turk and Mangerton for comprehensive but distant overviews (the Mangerton ascent yielding a description of the wild summit panorama toward the Kenmare river and the Atlantic); and the cliffs of Crom-a-glaun for the Upper Lake. Further views are noted from the water itself — of Turk, of the Eagle's Nest from the river below, and of the western isles from between Arbutus Island and Rossburkree. The author closes by praising the added beauty lent by shifting clouds, light, and mist, then addresses the region's one acknowledged defect, its heavy rainfall (invoking Samuel Johnson's similar complaint about Loch Lomond), before arguing philosophically that this very rain sustains the vegetation, rivers, cascades, and lake itself that make Killarney beautiful, and ending on a note of grateful acceptance framed in verse echoing Homeric diction.
By Dunn · First published 1776 · Genre: Travel Writing, Landscape Description, Nature Writing