Dublin not sufficiently appreciated by some of its inhabitants--Its history--Its long Gaelic name--Danish domination in it--Many times taken and sacked by the Irish--Battle of Clontarf--Canute made no attempt to conquer Ireland--Dublin has not suffered from a siege for one thousand years--Its rapid growth in the eighteenth century--Greatly improved during the last twenty-five years--Its improvement undertaken under enormous difficulties--Its educational advantages--Its libraries-- Its museum of antiquities; disgraceful management of it-- Dublin supposed to be a dirty city--Its situation--Its public buildings--Its environs; their supreme beauty-- Glasnevin Botanic Gardens--Dublin Bay; poem on it--Variety of scenery round Dublin--The Dargle--Howth--Fingall--Dublin situated in a land of flowers--Abundance of wild flowers in Ireland--Phoenix Park--Three round towers close to Dublin; error in its census--What the author has said in its praise is true. BELFAST AND ITS ENVIRONS 357 Its rapid growth, and beauty of its environs--Its linen trade--Business capacity of its inhabitants--Its history and meaning of its name--The Giant's Ring--View from Davis mountain--Belfast Loch--Hollywood--Scenic attractions of the country round Belfast. CORK AND ITS ENVIRONS 366 Its ancient name--Its history--Its situation--Is not growing as it should--Prophecy about it--Its fine public buildings--Its noble harbour--Cork should be where Queenstown is--Environs of Cork--Its antiquities--Its sufferings from the Northmen; their ravages; Lord Dunraven's theory about them; they met stranger opposition in Ireland than in any other Country; what the Irish suffered from them; the Northmen not builders-up of nations; gruesome revelation of their cruelty found at Donnybrook--The author's theory as to the cause of their invasions. GALWAY AND ITS ENVIRONS 388 Its history--Was once a place of large trade--Frightful decline of its population--Its splendid situation and noble bay--Its environs--The Isles of Arran; their gigantic cyclopean remains the most wonderful things of their kind in Europe. THE CLOUD SCENERY OF IRELAND 394 Ireland the land of cloud scenery; its situation far out in the "melancholy ocean"; its moist climate; its sunsets; their gorgeousness in fine weather; not often seen in perfection but in autumn. SOMETHING ABOUT IRISH PLACE NAMES 396