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| CAVE HILL, CO. ANTRIM.- The above noted eminence, anciently called in Gaelic, Ben Madaghan-by some translated "the Dog's Head mountain"-derives its more modern description from three caves formed by the hand of nature in the face of the almost vertical cliff. The two lowest down are of small extent, but are easy of access, while the highest up is only to be reached at great peril of lite and limb. This one is of imposing dimensions. The hill rises into air some 1200 feet, about two miles northwest of Belfast, overlooking the sea. McArt's Fort-once held against Elizabeth's generals by one of the bravest of the brave O'Neills-now in ruins, crowns the apex of the mountain, and from it can be obtained a splendid view of the adjacent headlands of Down and Antrim, with distant visions of Scotland and the Isle of Man in clear weather. If the observer turns for amoment from the fascinating sea view, the interior of picturesque Ulster lies, virtually, beneath his gaze. It was in McArt's Fort, June 11, 1795, that the celebrated Theobald Wolfe Tone, in company with his friends Russell, Neilson, Simms and McCracken-all Protestant Irishmen-"took a solemn obligation never to desist in their efforts until they had subverted the authority of England over their country, and asserted her independence." Of this brave band, Tone and McCracken died for Ireland in 1798 and Russell in 1803. The others were exiled by the British government. |
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