It must not be thought from these remarks that old Irish glass is plentiful. The commoner wares, such as wine glasses, tumblers, and bottles, which were manufactured in such profusion during the eighteenth century, have practically disappeared; and though a larger proportion of the finer and more valuable pieces, used less frequently and treated with greater care by successive generations of owners, have survived, they are still comparatively rare. Nine-tenths of the so-called old Irish glass offered for sale have no claims to be considered as genuine, but are either old pieces from other countries or modern fakes--chiefly the latter. =GLASS FACTORIES IN IRELAND= From time to time humorists over here state that "no glass was ever made in Ireland," so that the following list of localities where a few of the best known glass-houses stood will be of interest:-- ANTRIM: (BALLYCASTLE) 1755 TO 1790. Bottles, heavy rummers, and very coarse but useful glass. BELFAST: 1781 TO 1870. Fine flint glass, heavy, rather white handsome deep cutting and very fine bold engraving. _Glass was brought here from other parts of Ireland to be decorated._ Foreign engravers were employed and excellent work done. Very fine lustres, candlesticks, etc., were made here by McDowell, following chiefly Adam and Georgian designs. CORK: 1782 TO 1844. Finely cut glass of every description, delicate engraving on blown ware, gilding; particularly famous for its rummers, heavy and light-blown decanters, and, after 1800, whole dessert services of beautiful colour and various cutting. Black glass was made here in 1785, and window glass in 1782. As the card of membership of the Cork Glass Cutters' Union (shown on Plate I.) proves, "lustre" cutting was popular here. DUBLIN: CIRCA 1630 TO 1896. Window glass was made here from about 1630 and onwards, and as early as 1729 the Round Glass House in Dublin produced choice specimens of glass, such as salvers and dessert baskets, with handles and feet, of particularly fine workmanship and design, but now exceedingly rare and difficult to find. Very beautiful glass was made in Marlborough Street, Dublin, by the firm of Williams, about 1771. They appear to have specialised in chandeliers, candlesticks, salvers, bowls, decanters, bottles, bells, and épergnes. During the last quarter of the eighteenth century and onwards there were numbers of houses here in which every kind of white and coloured glass was made. Many fine specimens still exist, of which Pugh's productions (though rather late) are worthy of note, particularly his "lustre" cutting. The early moulded pieces were very elegant and quaint, very much like Bristol, but so far as I have observed, heavier, and, of course, richer and darker in tone. DRUMREA: (DUNGANNON) 1771 TO 1776. Much the same kind of glass as Cork, but clearer; noted for fine green and amber coloured glass both in bottles, drops for chandeliers, jelly glasses, wine glasses, and épergnes.