ded S. by the
Atlantic Ocean, E. by the counties Waterford and Tipperary, N. by
Limerick, and W. by Kerry. It is the largest county in Ireland, having
an area of 1,849,686 acres, or about 2890 sq. m. The outline is
irregular; the coast is for the most part bold and rocky, and is
intersected by the bays of Bantry, Dunmanus, and Roaring Water. The
southern part of the coast projects several headlands into the Atlantic,
and its south-eastern side is indented by Cork Harbour, and Ballycotton
and Youghal Bays. The surface is undulating. It consists of low rounded
ridges, with corresponding valleys, running east and west, except in the
western portion of the county, which is more mountainous. The principal
rivers are the Blackwater, the Lee, and the Bandon, flowing generally
eastward from their sources in the high ground of the west. The most
elevated part of the county is in the Boggeragh Mountains, in the
north-west, which reach an extreme height of 2118 ft. To the south are
the Shehy Mountains, at the root of the two promontories flanking Bantry
Bay, the Caha Mountains forming the backbone of the northern of these
promontories, and the hills of the district of Corbery to the south of
the Shehy range. North of the Blackwater the country is comparatively
level, being a branch of the great plain which occupies a large part of
the centre of Ireland. Of the principal rivers the Blackwater has its
source in the county Limerick. The Lee originates in the wild and
picturesque Gouganebarra Lough, and the Bandon river rises in the
Cullinagh Lough. There are also some smaller streams which flow directly
into the sea, the more important of these being in the south-west
portion of the county. No lakes of any magnitude occur, the largest
being Lough Allua, or Inchigeelagh, an expansion of the river Lee. The
scenery of the western parts of the county is bold and rugged. In the
central and eastern parts, especially in the valleys, it is green and
quiet, and in some spots well wooded.

_Geology._--The county presents a remarkable simplicity of geological
structure. Its surface is controlled throughout by the "Hercynian"
folds, running from the Kerry border eastward to the sea at Youghal.
The Old Red Sandstone comes out in the north, forming the heather-clad
Ballyhoura Hills, which are repeated across the limestone hollow of
Mitchelstown by the western spur of the Knockmealdown Mountains. On
the west, beds as high as the Mills