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| LION ARCH, VALE OF AVOCA, CO. WICKLOW. -Near the point where Glenmalure and the Vale of Clara, melting together in the landscape as it were from the Vale of Avoca, in the vincinity of Castle Howard, is the Lion Arch, which spans the narrow stream and receives its name from a fanciful formation popularly supposed to bear some distant resmblance to the King of Beasts. The arch is wreathed in ivy and other creeping plants, and the surroundings are chiefly remarkable for the purity of the water and the luxuriance of the foliage. The castle itself is built on a great elevation above the river and makes a splendid appearance from the opposite bank. After passing the bridge, the road enters the grounds through a handsome castellated gateway, and the ascent to the mansion, two hundred feet higher then the span across the stream, is through a superb umbrageous woodland. The view from the castle includes the junction of the Avonmore and Avonbeg rivers-Moore's "Meeting of the Waters," so declared to be in one of his writings, which settles the point raised about his famous song having been written in regard to the lower confluence near the "Wooden Bridge." He says the ballad was "suggested" by the view from Castle Howard. |
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