The Parliamentary gazetteer of Ireland

Each story keeps the passage it was read from. Open one to read it as the scan has it, and, where the companion has written its own telling, that too. The passages are read off photographs of the page by machine, so a word here and there comes out wrong; they are kept as the reading produced them, so you can check any of them against the scan.

1. Ruins of the royal palace of Owen Mauagh near Armagh

   near Armagh · town · Armagh

   Camden and Speed, writing in 1614, noted that the ruins of the royal palace called Owen Mauagh were still visible near Armagh. Colgan also affirmed that in his time the ruins of the ancient city were standing.

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   Armagh, by a ScoitHih prince, upMrards of two centwies, or according to O'Connor, 358 yean before the Christian era. I'bis cfty clainifl to have been the capital of Ulster, and royal seat of the kings of the north ; and is said to have been sacked and burned, in the 4th centur^r. by a chieftain of Connaught, called Caibre Liffechar. Colgan affirms that, in his time, the ruins of the city were standing. Camden says that the ruins of the royal palace of the city, which both he and Speed, who wrote in 1614, call Owen MaHgh, were still visible near Armagh. O'Halleran, a modern author, also affirms their existence at the time when he wrote. Yet legends and traditions, which nowhere show more of the voracity of the shark than ki Ireland, seem wondrous shy in gulping down a morsel so exquisitely to their tflste as this pretty story of the city Eamaiiia. St. Patrick, who very generally figures in history as the founder of Armaf^h per excellence, and the founder of the great majority of Irish towns and villages which claim a high and ecclesiastical antiquity, is alleged to have been attracted to the spot by its metropolitical importaace^ and to have selected its vicinity as the site of ecclesiastical structures, and the scene of ecclesiastical ministrations, whose inllucnce should be paramount over all Ireland. He obtained from Daire, a chief of the circumjacent eountry, a grant of the hH\ Druimsailech, changed the name of the place to Ardmagb, and planted on it, if we can believe Jocelyn, ** his ardibnhop*8 see, designing it for the primacy, metropolis, and mistress of all Ireland." Yet, even after our caveat against being regarded as assenting to the truth of every purt of our brief outline, we might mislead a raw or young reader did we not tell him that little of really authentic matter, such as would satisfy a scrupulous historian whether of Catholic or Protestant faith, is known respecting St. Patrick. His biographers. Archbishop Usher, and Jocelyn the Lancashire monk, are likely to be followed by Episcopalians, and by Catholics ; but no writer sufficiently unconcerned in * the primacy, ' or the hagiology of St. Patrick, is yet before us whom we can follow as an altogether unbiassed guide ; and original or recondite sources of information— though we have glanced at some of them are

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 138

2. The Clough: medieval fortalice with King John tradition

   Aglish · town · Waterford

   An ancient square building called 'the Clough' by the natives stands in Aglish parish, Co. Waterford. It appears to have been a fortalice constructed before the invention of firearms, with high walls, corner towers, spike-holes, and battlements. Local tradition holds it was built by King John as a halfway stage between Cork and Waterford.

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   AGLISn, a parish on the western border of the barony of Decies- within- Drum, co. Waterford, Mun- »ter. It contains the villages of Aglish and Villierstown. See Villierstuwn. Length, 5 miles ; breadth, 3 ; area, 6,856 acres. Pop., in 1831, 3,689 ; in 1841,3,783. Houses 560. Pop. of the rural dis. tricts in 1841, 2,997. Houses 436. A small afHu. ent of the Blaekwater bisects the westward decli. nation of the surface; and the Blaekwater itself traces the western boundary. Though the land is tnmulated, and to a small extent marshy or boggy, it constitutes, for the most part, excellent tillageground and pasture. A considerable proportion of wood shelters the fields, and embellishes the landscape. An ancient square building, called by the natives ' the Clough,* appears to have been a regular fortalire of the kind which were constructed previous to the invention of fire-arms. It consists of hi;:h walls, with a tower at each corner ; round the walls are ranges of spike-holes, and along the top are the remains of battlements ; and on the south is a large gateway, formerly defended by a portcullis. The towers alone appear to have been roofed. Tradition says that thb place was erected bv King John as a half-way stage between Cork and Waterford. The village of Aglish stands in the angle between the Blaekwater and its tributary, 5^ miles east of Tallow, and about the same distance south by east of Cappoquin. Area, 47 acres. Pop., in 1831,

   902; in 1841, 458. Houses 73 This parish is a

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

3. Tombs of Bishops Pococke and Montgomery at Ardbraccan

   Ardbraccan · townland · Meath

   In Ardbraccan churchyard, a small ill-designed slab serves as a monument to Bishop Pococke, while the tomb of George Montgomery, bishop of Meath and Clogher, stands nearby with rude figures of the bishop, his wife, and daughter. The Montgomery tomb bears the inscription 'Surges morieris, judicaberis' and features armorial bearings, a mitre, cups with sacramental wafers, and crossed swords intersprinkled with fleurs-de-lis. An old square tower nearby is surmounted by a spire and vane.

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   liter. It contains part of the village of Booermeen: whirli SCO. Length, 5J miles ; breadth, 4 ; area, 6,491 acres. Pop., in 1831. 3,799; in 1841, 4,596. Houses 678. Pop. of the rural districts in 1841. 3,884. Houses 536. The land is. for the most part, arable and good. The surface, in common with that of five contiguous parishes with which it is ecclesiastically united, is a luxuriant plain, skirted along the west with bog, and relieved in its flatness principally by a richly wooded and conspicirous hill, having somewhat the form of an obtruncated cone. A white limestone, quarried on the lands of Ardbraccan. is peculiarly suitable for embellished architecture : it is purely white when chiselled, and assumes a dark greyish tint when polished ; it becomes blackish when long exposed to the air, but can be restored by chi-ielling ; and, unlike much of the building-stone in Ireland, it neither absorbs water, nor contracts a green hue from nurturing the growth of lichens. Ardbraccan, *'the knoll ot' Braccan," is Raid to have been, in 650, made the site of a religious establishment by St. Braccan. The saint, whether Culdee or whatever else, is in the u^iial style represented as having made the affair both a see and an abbey ; and he currently figures in story as the first of a line of local bishops and abbots. The religious house, whether cathedral or abbey, or both, or neither, was often plundered and burned by hostile dymists and by Danes ; and is said to have partly fallen to the ground in 1170. The see was one of several small bishoprics which became consolidated into the see of Meath. A " strong castle" — at least an edifice designated such in a scarce pamphlet which details many events of the rebellion of 1641 — was, from an early period, the episcopal residence of this great diocese. Ardbraccan-house, the successor of the castle, and the present episcopal palace of Meath, was built since 1766 from designs by James Wyatt, Esq., and is regarded, for beauty and splendour, as the second edifice of its class in Ireland. It is composed of the Ardbraccan limestone; consists of a main building and two wings, connected by circular walls and niches ; and combines the magnificence of the palace with the comfort of the English mansion. The circumjacent demesne is extensive, and highly as well as tastefully embellished ; and. among various beautiful trees and shrubs, it contains some cedars of Lebanon and other exotics, planted bjr the oriental traveller Pococke during the time of his being bishop of Meath. A small, ill-designed, and ill-sculptured slab in the churchyard of the parish does burlesqueing duty as a monument to Bishop Pococke. The tomb of George Montgomery, bishop of Meath and Clogher, stands on the north side of the slab ; and strongly fixes attention by its minglement of pretension, barbarousness. and absurdity. Figures which it exhibits of the bishop, his wife, and his daughter, are the rudest productions of the chisel that can well be conceived. Beneath the figures are the words. *' Surges morieris. judicaberis." On the east side is a bust, with three plumes surmounted by a mitre ; above the mitre is a cup. with a representation of the Roman Catholic sacramental wafer; ami beneath the bust are two swords, laid across each other, and intersprinkled with fleurs-de-lis. On the west side is an angel blowing a trumpet, and a shield charged with armorial bearings, and surmounted also with a cup and the Roman Catholic wafer. An old square tower near this masterpiece of absunlity is surmounted by a spire and a vane, and forms a noticeable object in the plain.

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 121

4. Wood coal discovery at Ballintoy

   near Ballintoy · town · Antrim · 1756

   In 1756, wood coal was discovered in the hill above Ballintoy village. It was successfully worked to supply the salt-works of Portrush and Coleraine, though it was depreciated due to its disagreeable odour.

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   BALL IN TOY, a parish containing a Tillage of the same name, on the north coast of the barony of Carey, and of the county of Antrim, Ulster. It extends 5 miles along the shore, and 3 into the interior. Area. 12,753 acres, 3 roods, 22 perches. Pop., in 1631, 4,662; in 1841, 4,616. Houses 901. The coast-district consists, for the most part, of good land ; but the interior districts are, to a large extent, but decreasingly moorish and boggy. Knocksoghy hill rises behind the village ; and though partly rocky, and generally coated with much furce and heath, is all fit for pasture. Crooghmore, or ' the large stack,* rises abruptly to the height of 471 feet abo?e sea-level ; is arable on its skirts, and verdant on its sides ; consists solely of basalt, and has some basaltic columns near its summit ; is crowned by a large sepulchral cairn ; and figures conspicuousl v in a great expanse of landscape. Woods and thickets do not exist; and even niigle trees are scarce. The rirulets Dunse verick and Inover drain the surface, and drire 2 or 3 mills. Salmon fisheries exist at Port Braddon, Carickarede, and Lanybaan ; and glashen, grey^uniet, and cod, are caught in great plenty; and various other kinds of fiith, in considerable quantity, along the coast. Basalt, capable of being as neatlv dressed with the hammer as if cut with a diisel, is extenyively quarried. Indurated chalk, used as limestone, abounds in the sea-board townlands of Ballintoy, Magherabuy, Clegnagh, Limeneagh, and Balliiiastrail. In 1756, wood coal was diMcovered in the hill above the village, and worked with such effect as to supply the salt-works of Portru<»h and Coleraine ; it resembles charred wood, has a ftmell resembling that of rotten timber, and usually occurs in veins of from 2 or 4 inches to 5 feet thick, alternating with beds of basalt; but though used freely for burning chalk, and occasionally lor fuel, it \i much depreciated on account of its disagreeable odour. In the townland of Templestragh an old church, supposied to have been that of the parishes of Ballintoy and Billj^ before they were divided, stands in ruin ; and in its vicinity are two pieces of burj-ing-ground. Raths, moats, Druidical temples, caves, and other similar antiquities, exist Mr. Atkinson, after observing that the parishioners, so hr as appears from the account in Mason's Statistical Survey, had no lawyer, no physician, and only one minister, and vet were prosperous, remarks: " How it is that they have lived so long without priests, lawyers, and physicians, we beg them to expluin for the good of their wretched country ; for undoubtedly it is an anomaly in the history of Europe ; indeed the record of this parish ought to be placi'd in the museums of that quarter of the world, as a philosophical curiosity. The antiquities of this p«ri>h are no less remarkable: among them, are hatchets of stone, flint, and brass, bracelets, fibuUe, bnt.* ^-ases, and other articles of remote antiquity ; as also urns filled with burned bones ; but the most interenting to us, of all those antiquities, is that of a gold coin of Valentiuian, which was brought to the niini>ter, in perfect preservation, and was in his custody a few years since." The village of Ballintoy stands 4 miles north-west of Biillvcastle, 6 east oif Bushmills, and 44 north-north-west of Belfast. Area, 12 acres. Pop., in IftSl, 278; in 1841, 810. Houses 65. The village occupies a bold and romantic site on an impresMvely barren and denuded shore ; and the steeple of its church is a conspicuous object in so bleak a view, and has become a useful landmark to mariners. Fairs are held on June 3, Sept. 4, and

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

5. Awbeg river: Spenser's 'Gentle Mulla' and Kilcolman castle

   Kilcolman · townland · Cork

   The Awbeg rises near Ardpatrick in Limerick and flows through Co. Cork past Doneraile and Castletown-Roche to the Blackwater at Bridgetown. Celebrated by poet Edmund Spenser as 'The Gentle Mulla,' the river flows near Kilcolman, the now-ruinous castle where Spenser once resided.

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   AWBeG (The), or Awinbeg, a river chiefly of the northern division of co. Cork, Munster. It rises within the county of Limerick, 1 ^ mile west of Ardpatrick ; but in the course of less than 3 miles passes into co Cork, and thence it runs 10 miles southward to Buttevant, and 11 or 12 eastward and southward, past Doneraile and Castletown-Roche, to the Black water at Bridgetown. This river, under the name of * The Gentle Mulla,' is celebrated, by the poet Spencer, in verses "likely," says Mr. Brewer, "to prove as lasting as the flow of its own waters.' " It has a winding and desultory progress in a district replete with charms. Its course it placid, and it glides in dimpling eddies worthy the celebration of the muse.** Near its banks stands Kilcolbman [which see^ the now ruinous castle in which Spencer once resided.

   AWBEG (TnB\ Awinbeo, or Sbawnah, a rivulet of the baronies of Muskerry and Barreta, eo, Cork, Munster. Two head-streame rise at point* A miles asunder near the water-shed between the basin of the Lee and that of the Blackwater, and run 7 or 8 miles to a conftuence a little below Blarney ; and the united stream then runs about 3^ miles sinuously southward to the Lee, at a point within 3 miles of Cork. The glen traversed by the Awbeg is sequestered, romantic, and richly wooded.

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 147

6. Ballyloughan Castle and the Kavanaghs

   Ballyloughan Castle · castle · Carlow · 1500–1600

   Ballyloughan Castle features strong ruins, one about 30 feet square. It formerly belonged to the Kavanaghs and at the end of the 16th century was occupied by Donagh Kavanagh, second son of Murragh Ballagh, styled king of Leinster, before passing to the Bagenal family and then to Henry Bruen, Esq.

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   strong ruins, one of them about 30 feet square. Ballyloughan-castle formerly belonged to the Kavanaghs; and, at the end of the IGth century, was occupied by Donagh Kavanagh, second son ot Mur. ragh Ballagh, styled king of Leinster. It soon afterwards became the property of the Bagenal £imily, and is now in the possession of Henry Bruen, Esq.

   BALLYLOUGHAUN, a village in the parish of St. Nicholas, barony and county of Gal way. Connaught. Area, 8 acres. Pop., in 1841, 180. Houses 30.

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

7. Erne cataract and Ballyshannon harbour obstructions

   Ballyshannon · town · Donegal · 1783

   A cataract at the mouth of the River Erne separates sea navigation from the inland Fermanagh lakes, while two sandbanks called the Summer and Winter Bars obstruct the harbour entrance. Parliamentary grants from 1783 onward attempted to improve the harbour and open communication with Lough Erne, but largely failed.

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   still water navigation with a great portion of the north of Ireland; and it overlooks the grand seapath to America, and seems to court much of the commerce arising from the intercommunication of that great continent with Europe. Yet the cataract at the mouth of the Erne, which dissevers the navigation of the sea from that of the Fermanagh lakes, and especially the shallowness, the bars, and the open western exposure of Ballyshannon Harbour, are stubborn obstacles to prosperity. Two banks, called the Summer and the Winter Bars, obstruct the entrance of the harbour ; a vessel can with difficulty enter, even at the top of flood, when the wind blows off Teeling Head ; and only in a pool near the foot of the cataract in the river is there safe or comfortable berthage. Exertions were made a number of years ago, and a plan proposed upon the report of engineers for improving the harbour, and for opening a communication between it and Lough Erne ; and though these were partly preceded and partly forwarded by aggregately large pariiamentary grants from the year 1783 downward, they have, to a large extent, failed, and have exhibited the splendid idea of an inland navigation quite across and athwart the island from Ballyshannon to Coleraine, Belfast, Newry, and Limerick, as little better than an idle dream. But a railway up to Lough Erne has been talked of, and may partiMly prove an excellent suecedaneum for the work originally planned. In 1835^ the exports from the town consiiited of ](X764 quarters of oats, valued at £11,130; and the imports consisted of coals, iron, stones, slate, oak- bark, meal, and flour, sugar, tea, glass, earthenware, and other articles, and were valued at £9,524. The estimated amount of inland carriage to the town is 1,800 tona for exportation, 2,850 as food for the population, 1,100 for brewing and distilling, 300 of exciseable articles, and 11,350 of stones, lime, turf, &c. ; and of carriage from the town, 500 tons of imports, 800 of produce of brewing and distilling, and 760 of coals, manure, &c. With the exception of brewing, distilling, and salt-making, and of the ordinary operations of handicraft, the whole trade consists in the exchange of miscellaneous wares for agricultural produce. The salroon-fishery at the town lets for £1,000 a-vear; and its produce is sent to the Liver* pool and London markets. In the latter part of last century, this fishery was worth £1,083 and upward* a-year ; and the eel fishery was worth £%5. Faira are held on April 4, the Tuesday before June II, Sept 18, and the Tuesday after Nov. 11. A bnancli of the Provincial Bank was established in 1835. The * Ballyshannon Her»ld ' is a weekly newspaper, and evinces, by its mere existence in sncfa a locality, some spiritedness on the part of both its publishers and the population. In 1838, the public conveyaneet were a mail-coach to Enniskillen, a mail-ear to Killybegs, and a car to Sligo.

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 153

8. The Tholsel and town prison at Athlone

   Athlone · town · Westmeath · 1833

   The market-house or Tholsel on the Leinster side of Athlone was a poor edifice claimed by Lord Castlemain as private property and used by the garrison as a guard-house. A prison attached to the town-office was described as unwholesome and unfit for prisoners; the vice-sovereign stated in 1833 he never committed anyone to it for longer than 24 hours.

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   Other Public Buildings.'] — The market-house or Tholsel, on the Leinster side, is a poor edifice, claimed by Lord Castlemain as private property, and occupied by the garrison as a guard-house. A prison attached to the town-office is a place of the most unwholesome description, and utterly unfit for the reception of prisoners. The vice-sovereign stated, in 1833, that, on account of the loathsomeness of this dungeon, he had never made a committal to it for a longer period than 24 hours. A brideM'ell, on the Connaught side, contains 2 day -rooms, 4 cells, and 2 yards; and is kept in tolerable order bv the keeper, on a very small salary. ** The Sessions-house, on the same side." says Mr, Weld, •* is a wretched place, discreditable to the town, not merelv on account of the poor accommodation, but its filthy state. It was used when I saw it as a potato store; the dock was filled with vegetables, and the court strewed with putrid leaves.'* The workhouse, for the Athlone Poor-law union, was contracted for on Nov. 1, 1839,— to be completed in March 1841, — to cost £7,500 for building and completion, and £1,801 10s. for fittings and contingencies, — to occupy an area of 7 acres, 2 roods, 24 perches, purchased for £798 10s., — and to contain accommodation for 900 paupers. In 1840^1, a dispensary on the Leinster side received £46 2&., expended £lft 8s. 8d., administered to 842 patients, and had a dis« trict of 11,455 acres, with 7,396 inhabitants; and a dispensary on the Connaught side received and expended £108 4s., made 4,756 dispensations of medicine, and had a district of 34,481 acres, with a pop. of 15,405.

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 144

9. Adare Castle, seat of the Earl of Dunraven

   Adare · townland · Limerick

   Adare Castle, the seat of the Quin family, earls of Dunraven, stands on the west bank of the Maig near the village of Adare. The splendid edifice was commenced only a few years prior to publication on the site of a former mansion, imitating the later pointed style of architecture and rivalling the first residences in the kingdom for taste, beauty, and chasteness of design.

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   AD ARE, or Adair, a parish in the three baronies of Coshma, Kenry, and Upper Conello, co. Limerick, Munster. The Coshma section contains the town of Ad ARE : see next article. Area of the Upper Conello section, 1,004 acres; of the Kenry section, 4,358 acres ; of the Coshma section, 6,631 acres. Pop. of the parish, in 1831, 4.913; in 1841, 4,902. Houses 723. Pop. of the Coshma section, in 1831, 2,270; in 1841, 3,148. Houses 439. Pop. of the Kenry section, in 1831, 1,474; in 1841, 1,362. Houses 22a Pop. of the Upper Conello section, in 1831, 403 ; in 1841, 392. Houses 56. The modern name is a corruption of Athdare or Ath-daar, *the ford of oaks. The river Maig traverses the parish northward ; and luxuriates between banks which are rich in the soft and sylvan features of beauty. Most of the land is good and highly improved ; and much of it is sheeted Mrith wood, or disposed in opulent and tastefully ornamented demesne. A British traveller entering it from the north, forgets the bog and moor and miserable cultivation which had figured largely in some previous views ; and sees in joyous combination around him the luxuriousness of a warm district of merry England, with the picturesqueness of a brilliant nook of lowland Scotland. Fine crops of wheat, neat enclosures, tidy cottages, noble mansions, numerous little gardens, clumps of orchard^ and a profusion of wood, decorate an undulating and gently featured surface. Currah, the seat of De Vere, Bart, is an elegant edifice encompassed bjr a demesne, both extensive and replete with varieties of beautiful scenerv. Adare Castle, the seat ^ the Quin family, earls of Dunraven, situated on the west bank of the Maig in the vicinity of the village of Adare, is a splendid edifice, commenced only a few years ago on the site of a former mansion, anording a fair imitation specimen of the later pointed style of architecture, and rivalling the first residences in the kingdom for at once taste, beauty, and chasteness of design. The extensive plantations, gardens, and pleasure-grounds around it exhibit richness, variety,

   and extreme neatness The parish of Adare is •

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

10. Antrim town on the Six-Mile Water

    near Antrim · town · Antrim

    Antrim is a post and market town on the right bank of the Six-Mile Water, half a mile above its influx to Lough Neagh. Though well situated for commanding trade on the lough and serving as a depot for an extensive agricultural district, it has lost nearly all of its ancient consequence as a competitor with Carrickfergus for the metropolitical honours of the county.

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    ANTRIM, a post and market town, the capital of two baronies, the nominal but Unreal capital of iU county, and formerly a parliamentafy borough, stands on the right bank of the 6ix«-imlew Water, I of a mile above the river's influx to Lough Vengh, 13i north-west of Belfast, and 105 north of Dublin. It consists principally of a continuous Main-street, extending half-a-mile east and west ; a street straggling upwards of one^fourth of a Inile southward, but up the margin of the river, from near the middle of Main-street ; an alley, called Paddy V Lane, leading a furlong northward on the way to Kells ; and a street called Bow Lane, deflecting not th ward from the entrance to Antrim-castle demefine, and running ^ of a mile along the road to Bullymena. Though well situated for commanding the trade on Lough Neagh, and serving as a depot and central market to an extensive agricultural district, it enjovs little consideration, and has lost nearly all of the ancient consequence which rendered it a successful competitor with Carrickfergus for the metropolitical honours of the county. Yet it is rather a languishing than a decayed town ; and might still, with a little enterprise, retrieve much of its quondam importance. The markethouse in the centre of the main street is, at least in its uses, a sort of medley of public buildings. The old Gothic parochial church, renovated and surmounted by a steeple, draws attention. A work -house for the Poor-law union, of which the town is the head, was contracted for on November 9th, 1840, — to occupy an area of 6 acres, 13 perches, — to contain accommodation for 700 persons, and to coftt £5,680 in building and completion, and £1,473 15s. 7d. in fittings and contingencies. In 1839-40, a dispensary in the town received £72» expended £83 2s. 9d., administered to 1,700 patients, and had a district containing a population of 7,213. The bridewell of the town, though serving for a considerable circumjacent country, is a wretched little cluster of filthy barbarous cells, under the l^Iarket-house, and fronting the marketplace. An iron railing encloses it from the thoroughtare ; a narrow space between this and the (^l-doors is an apology for an airinff-yard, and serves for both males and females; the cell for male prisoners is both day- room and night .room, and has two deal bed* steads, the one over the other ; a small cell for drunkards adjoins, and holds fast for 48 hours each Convicted drunkard who cannot pay the adjudrai tue ; and the cell for females, situated at the other end, corresponds in every respect with the general character of the establishment We could copy from the Report before us some other dismal features • of the place, but are driven to forbearance by sheer disgust. The town^ has two paper-mills, an extensive brewerv, a considerable share in the luien manufacture, and some interest in bleaching and hosemaking. Its public conveyances, in 1838, were 2 caravans, and 3 cars to Belfast, and coaches, cars, and a caravan in transit from Belfast to Ahoghill, Ballymena, Coleraine« Cookstown, Rilrea, Randals^ town, PortglenonC) Magberafelt, and Londonderry. A brmnch of the Ulster bank was established here m 1636. A grain market is held on every Tuesday, a general market on every Thursday, and fairs on January 1st, May 12th, and November 12th; but both markets and fairs are of small value.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 121

11. Askeaton — ancient walled town fallen to ruin

    Askeaton · townland · Limerick

    Askeaton, anciently a large walled town and formerly a parliamentary borough, had become by the 1840s a poor village sharing the fate of its ancient lords, the Desmonds. Only about 20 of its houses were slated, though some older roofless houses retained a ghastly appearance of having once been respectable.

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    ASKEATON, a market-town, the capital of the parish iust described, and formerly a parliamentary borough, stands on the river Deel, 2^ miles above its confluence with the Shannon, 5 north-northwest of Rathkeale, 14 west-south-west of Limerick, and 15 east by north of Tarbert. Though ancientlv a large walled town, it is now a poor lumpisii village; and though advantageously situated for trade, and an object of attention in the plans of at least two great national works of improvement, it does not seem to be moving from stagnancy and inertion. Only about 20 of its houses are slated; and the rest, of course, possess the cabin or hut character so prevalent in poor Irish towns. Yet some of the older and roofless houses retain % ghastly appearance of having once been respectable. The town has shared the fate of its ancient lords, the Desmonds. Its castle, built by the seventh Earl of Desmond, is a ponderous and splendid ruin, on a considerably high rock, insulated by the Deel, and immediately above the town. Its remains are 40 feet high, contain Desmond's gaol and bam^uettinfroom, and evince uncommon strength in union wiUi fine architectural taste. Besides being fortified by

    ASK

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 138

12. Ballinasloe wool fair established 1757

    Ballinasloe · town · Galway · 1757

    A great wool fair was established in 1757 by an ancestor of Lord Clancarty and held in the month of July. For years the quantity of wool brought to market was from 560 to 700 tons, though factors in Dublin eventually drew wool to other quarters.

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    com business otherwise of some importance, has markedly increased since the opening of^the extended cut of the canal. In 1836, branch-ofRces of the National Bank, the Bank of Ireland, and the Agricultural and Commercial Bank were established. In 1838, the public conveyances — additional to the pas. sage-boats on the Grand canal, which, in 1836, conyeyed from the town 4,596 passengers — were a car to Athlone, a mail-car to Roscrea, a coach to Dublin, a mail-coach to Westport, a coach and a car to Gal way, and a coach to Tuam in communication unth the canal -boats, and a coach and a mail-coach in transit between Galway and Dublin. The extension-line of the Grand canal from the Shannon to the town was opened for traffic in 1828, is 16 miles in length, and drains nearly 12,000 acres of bog. In the improvements detailed by the Commissioners for the Shannon and its tributaries, are included plans for lowering the water of the Shannon, which will enhance the value of much low land along the river's banks, and confer marked benefit on the town. See Suck. During 10 years, preceding 1636, the quantity of grain sold in the market was 6,435 tons of wheat. 2,756 of barley, and 21,226 of oats ; and in the Ia«t of these years, it was 780 tons of wheat, 48 of barley, and 2,502 of oats. For a scries of years, the qiuuitity of wool brought to the market — chiefly at a great wool fair established in 1757 by an ancestor of Lord Clancarty, and held iti the month of July — was from 560 to 7^ tons ; yet this is said to have been exceeded fourfold or fivefold by the quantity sold under the market's influence, bat without being brought to the town for sale. The establishment of factors in Dublin and other great towns, however, has, for years past, drawn the wool to other quarters. A fair well-known to fame as ** the great fair of Ballinasloe/' is held from the 5th till the 9th of October, and not only exercises a powerful influence over the ac^acent and midland counties, but aflfects dealings for cattle even in the metropolis itself. Horses are exposed on a part of the fair green ; black or horned cattle are exposed athwart the green's broad expanse; and sheep are exposed in a spacious park within the enclosures of Garbally demesne. "Dealers in various commodities, and tradesmen of different callings from the metropolis also bring their goods and productions to the fair ; and shops and warehouses in the town are ceded to them for the occasion, the prices paid being usually very high. Lodgings, both in private houses and at the inns, are in great demand, and must be generally bespoken in advance, whilst the charges are greatly augmented beyond the ordinary current rates at other periods." The average number of sheep and black cattle brought in for sale, is computed to be respectively 90,000 and 12,000; and the greatest number of sheep sold in any year between 1790 and 1840, was 86.374, in the year 1828; and of black cattle, was 11,163, in the year 1840. Area of the Roscommon section of the town, 9 acres; of the Galway section, 131 acres. Pop. of the whole, in 1831. 4,615; in 1841, 4,934. Houses 619. Pop. of the Roscommon section, in 1831, 475 ; in 1841 , 305. Houses 48. Pop. of the Galway section, in 1831, 4,140 ; in 1841, 4,6*29. Houses 571.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 151

13. Ballyboy village and Broughall-castle on Silver river

    Ballyboy · townland · Offaly

    Ballyboy village stands near Broughall-castle, the residence of N. Fitzsimons Esq. M.P., through which the Silver river runs on its way to the Brosna. The village has a patent for markets and fairs but they exist only on paper, and it presents a poor and mean appearance.

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    on the right, Broughall-castle, the residence of N. Fitzsinmions, Esq., M. P. The stream called the Silver river runs through the village of Ballyboy and the town of Frankford, in its progress to the Brosna." Tiie chief residences within the parish are Derrinboy, Lelagh, Laughil, Williamstort, Armagh ville, Temra, Spring -garden, Colinstown, Greenhill, Barnaboy, Ridgemount, Ballywilliam, and Broughal. Ballyboy village stands 9^ miles northeast of Birr, .and 56 west-south-west of Dublin. Area, 15 acres. Pop., in 1831, 373; in li841, 348. Houses 71. It has a patent for a weekly market on Saturday, and for a fair or market on the first day of each month, from May to Nov. ; but its markets exist only on paper. The village has a poor and mean appearance. — Ballyboy parish is a vicarage, and part of the benefice of Fibcal [which see], in the dio. of Meath. The vicarial tithes are conrpounded for i:81 4s. 7^d., and the rectorial for £146 48. 3^d., and the latter are impropriate, and belong to the Marquis of Downshire. The glebe lands comprise 594 acres, 2 roods, 14 perches, statute measure, or 367 acres, 0 roods, 1 1 perches, plantation measure, aad are valued at 17s. 6a. per plantation acre. The church was built about 1815, by means of a loan of £830 15s. 44d. from the late Board of First Fruits. Sittings 300 ; attendance 14a The Roman Catholic chapel has an attendance of about 2,000 ; and, in the Roman Catholic parochial arrangement, is united to the chapel of Killoughy. In 1834, the Protestants amounted to 369, and the Roman Catholics to 3,970 ; 7 daily schools had on their books 1 17 boys and 105 girls; and 2 other daily schools were attended by from 66 to 108 children. Five of the schools were in Frankibrd, and supported wholly by fees; one at Ballyboy had £8 a-year from the National Board, and £6 from the Marquis of Lansdowne; one was parochial, and had £\0 a-year fi'om the vicar; and one at Castlewood was supported wholly by Mr. Fit2simon for the benefit of his tenants. In 1840. the National Board aided not only the school at Ballyboy, but one at BroughaL

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

14. Ballycowan Castle ruins and history

    Ballycowan · townland · Offaly · 1536–1650

    The village of Ballycowan in King's County (Offaly) has extensive ruins of an ancient castle that gave its name to both village and barony. The castle was taken from O'Melaghlin in 1536 by Lord Grey, later granted by Elizabeth I to Thomas Morres in 1589, and surrendered to Sir Hardress Waller in 1650.

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    BALLYCOWAN, a village on the Clodagh river, about 2 miles west of Tullamore, in the above barony. King's co., Leinster. Pop. not specially returned. Here are extensive ruins of an ancient, strong, and important castle, which gave name to both the village and the barony. Its ancient or uncorrupted name is Bally-Ecouan. " This structure, when in its pride of strength," says Brewer, " was taken from O'Melaghlin, a. d. 1536, by liconard Lord Grey, then lord-deputy. Queen Elizabeth having confiscated the estate of Art O'MehighUn, representative of the ancient kings of Meath, ' chief of the line of Heremon,* granted, in 1589, a portion of his property, including the castle of Bally- Ecouan and the district of Moyely, to Thomas Morres, Esq. This castle surrendered to Sir Hardrexs Waller, the republican general, in 1650, and has since sunk progressively into decay. The extent of the ruins evince its former strength and importance."

    BALLYCRAIGEY, a hamlet in the pariah of Carnmoncy, barony of Lower Belfa.«t, co. Antrim, Ulster. Pop. not specially returned. At the hamlet is an Independent meeting-house. See CARXxomsT.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

15. Ballyoughtera's leper-house tradition and ruined church

    Ballyoughtera · townland · Cork

    Ballyoughtera was anciently a village of note called Ballyouteragh, with a tradition of a copper manufactory and a leper-house. Its old church is in ruins, and the parish site was removed to Castlemartyr by act of parliament, where a new church was erected on ground given by Henry Boyle, Esq.

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    BALLYOUGHTERA, a parish in the immediate vicinity of Castlemartvr, barony of Imokilly, co. Cork, Munster. Length, 54 miles; breadth, 3; area, 4,532 acres. Pop., in 1831, 1,682; in 1841, 1,728. Houses 276. The surface is partly upland and partly champaign; and consists, in the former section, of inferior land, and in the latter, of some of the best land in the barony. On the border next Castlemartyr, and some distance into the interior, the landscape is rich, well- wooded, and gently picturesque. Dr. Smith, speaking of Castlemartyr, says, " It was anciently called Leper's-town, from a leper-house belonging to an adjacent place called Ballyouterngb, which was a village of some note ; and there is a tradition of its having been remarkable for a copper manufactory, — Ballyouteragh literally signifying, * a town of braziers ;* yet there is no copper-ore near this place, but iron-mines are almost everywhere round it. The old church is in ruins, and the site thereof removed to Castlemartyr, by act of parliament, where a new handsome church was erected on ground given by his excellency, Henry Boyle, Esq." — This parish is a rectory, and part of the benefice of Castlemartyr, in the dio. of Cloyne. See Castlemartyr. Tithe composition, £435 128. 7id. A glebe of 32 aeres, situated within the parish, but called Ballybraher glebe, appears to have been alienated, or at least is not in the possession of the incumbent. The Roman Catholic chapel has an attendance of 450; and, in the Roman Catholic parochial arrangement, is united to the chapel of Middleton. In 1834, the Protestants amounted to 51, and the Roman Catholics to 1,540; and 2 daily schools, one of which was annuallv aided with £lv from the National Board, and £10 from subscription^ hod on their books 109 boys and 00 girLi.

    BAL

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

16. Banbridge town improvements and viaduct

    near Banbridge · town · Down

    Banbridge underwent unique urban improvements where the old market-house was demolished and a central road was excavated 15 feet deep. A handsome viaduct was built to span this hollow way and connect the lateral sections of the town.

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    BANBRIDGE, a market and post town in the parish of Seapatrick, barony of Upper Iveagh, co. Down, Ulster. It stands on the mail-road from Dublin to Belfast, and on the left bank of the river Baiin, 2 miles north-east by north of Loughbrickland, 4 south-east by east of Guilford, 13 north by east of Newry, 19.^ south-south-west of Belfast, Hrui 6(>.i north of Dublin. A stone-bridge across the Baiin, at the foot of the town, gave origin to the name Banbridge, or Bannbridge. The prhicipal street commences at the bridge; climbs a long and roniparatively steep ascent; is crossed rectangularly at tijc summit by a transverse street; and, finally, makes a considerable, though gradual, descent down the opposite slope of the hill. The whole line is strai^'ijf, and very spacious; it all forms part of the gnat thoroughfare between Dublin and Belfast; and, previous to recent improvements, it was bisected at the >ummit by a rather imposing market-house, and heenied two great and very airy lines of street leading up, on opposite sides, to what fancy mright have figured as a citadel. Its appearance is now greatly changed, and has become quite unique. The old market-house is demolished, and its site is cut away ; the roadway of the street, at the summit and a considerable distance down the sides, is threefold, and consists of two side-roads on the former level, and a central road excavated 15 feet deep; and a handsome viaduct spans the hollow way at the site of the old market-house, and connects the two lateral sections of the town. The general aspect of the private houses, though not showy, is neat, regular, und indicative of comfort. Many of the houses and of the shops are much more pretending in character than in most towns of similar amount of population. The new market-house, built in 1831, at the cost of the Marquis of Downshire, the principal proprietor of the town, is a neat and even elegant structure. The parish-rhurch, two Presbyterian meeting-bouses, a Methodist chapel, and some school-houses, present no peculiar feature ; and, as to their statistics, will >»c noticed in the article Seapatrick: which see.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 156

17. Cork workhouse first to administer poor-law relief in Ireland

    Cork · city · Cork · 1840

    Under the 1838 Poor Law Act, relief to the destitute poor began to be administered at the Cork workhouse on February 15, 1840, making it the first in Ireland to do so. The workhouse erection programme had commenced across the country in June 1839.

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    The " Act for the more effectual relief of the destitute poor in Ireland," received the royal assent on July 1, 1838 ; the office operations commenced in Sept., 1838; the erection of the workhouses commenced in June, 1839 ; and relief began to be administered on Feb. 15, 1840, in Cork, and on March 25, 18^10, in Dublin. The total number of unions and of workhouses is 130; and 4 of the latter were opened in 1840, 32 were opened in 1841, 33 were opened in 1842, 2 were opened in the early part of 1643, and 49 were in progress on March 25, 1843. The number of paupers in the workhouses on Dec. 2, 1843, was 31,428 ; the total accommodation which the 130 workhouses, when finished, will afford, is for 92,860 paupers ; and, in the event of pressure, this accommodation may be increased from 10 to 20 per cent. The number of unions in operation on Feb. 6, 184^-* inclusive of 44 whose workhouses were not opened — was 125 ; and the total expenses incurred by them previous to the opening of their workhouses amounted to £126,422 Is. ll^d., and from the opening of their workhouses till Feb. 6, 1843, £366,682 Os. 5jd. Of the expenses incurred pre*

    INTRODUCTION* CXXXVU

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 94

18. Decline and revival of Ardglass

    Ardglass · townland · Down · 1641–1846

    After the 1641 rebellion and the rise of Belfast as a seaport, Ardglass declined so greatly that the historian of Down described it as consisting of a few ordinary cabins and four or five old decayed castles. By the 1840s the town had revived as a summer retreat for sea-bathers and a bustling fishing and trade centre.

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    he had marched as far as Ballykinler, he received the submission of the Savages; and that, having both parties now in his power, he grasped as his own and transmitted to his posterity the object of their contention,— Ardglass and the circumjacent country. Such history, while so far as we know the whole of what is authentic, rather obscures than enlightens the questions of the town's ancient importance, and the origin of its fortalices. Nor, after the place is viewed apart from its antiquity and early connections, is there much real history to be told. All the grand and petty customs of the ports of Ardglass and Strangford were granted by Henry VIH. in fee-farm to Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare ; and, excepting during the period of the family's attainder, they contin«ed in the possession of the Earl's descendants till 1637, when they were sold to Charles I., and said to be worth £5,000 a-year to the king ; and, by a clause in the Act of Explanation 17 and 16 Charles II., they were confirmed to Charles II. and bis successors. In the reign of Henry VIII., one of the castles of Ardglass, being garrisoned by the Crown, was so galling a check to Con O'Neil, that, in 1537, he sent a force under the command of his son into Lecale to besiege it ; but on learning that the Lord-deputy Gray was m^ng preparations to Hiarch against him, he desisted from his attempt, and caused the force to be disbanded. About the year 1578, a strong garrison was placed in some of the castles by Sir Nicholas Bagnal, marshal of Ireland ; but they were besieged by the O'Neils, and, after a stout resistance, were obliged to surrender. During three years of the Tyrone rebellion preceding June 1601, Simon Jordan valiantly defended Jordancastle against all assailants; and, when eventually relieved by the Lord-deputy Mountjoy, was rewarded for his service both out of the private bounty of the deputy, and by a concordatum from the queen. In the memorable rebellion of 1641, the castles were for some time in possession of the Irish. So greatly and rapidly did the town decline after the close of that rebellion, and the rise of Belfast as a sea-port and the seat of a chief custom-house, that a century later the historian of Down describes it as ** now in a mean condition, consisting only of a few ordinary cabins, and 4 or 5 old decayed castles." This description has been copied or imitated in most topographical notices down to the present <Iay. Yet the town has revived, experiencea great improvement, and become at once a favourite summer retreat of sea-bathers, the rendezvous of an extensive coastline of fisheries, and the scene of considerable bustle and trade.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 122

19. Dissolution of Abbeyleix monastery and grant to Ormonde

    Abbeyleix · town · Laois · 1540–1563

    At the dissolution, the lands of Abbeyleix monastery amounted to 820 acres. In the fifth year of Elizabeth, 20 acres together with the abbey were granted to the earl of Ormonde. No vestige of either the monastic buildings or the castle of the O'Mores has existed within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant.

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    1421, a serious skirmish took place at Abbeyleix, between the partisans of the earl of Ormonde and the sept of Fitzpatrick; the former were routed with considerable loss ; two distinguished gentlemen of the county of Tipperary were slain ; ten persons of rank were made prisoners ; and two hundred fled for protection to the interior of the abbey. The lands of the monastery, according to Archdall, amounted, at the dissolution, to 820 acres ; and, in the 5th year of Elizabeth, 20 of the acres, together with the abbey, were granted to the eurl of Ormonde. No vestige of either the monastic buildings or the castle of the O'Mores, has existed within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant.

    ABBEYMAHON, a parish on the north-east border of the barony of Ibane and Barryroe, 74 miles south of Bandon, co. Cork, Munster. Length, 5 miles ; breadth, 3 miles ; area, 4,482 acres. Pop., in 1831, 3,563 ; in 1841. 3,261. Houses 545. The parish lies along the west shore of the bay of Court*

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

20. Drumnasole House and the coast of Ardclinis

    Ardclinis · townland · Antrim

    The parish of Ardclinis in County Antrim features a mountainous peninsula between Carnlough Bay and Red Bay with striking coastal scenery. A major attraction for tourists is Drumnasole House, recently erected by F. Turnly, Esq., romantically situated at the base of perpendicular hills with waterfalls and cascades.

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    ARDCLINIS, a parish on the coast of the barony of Lower Glenarm, 6 miles north by west of the town of Glenarm, co. Antrim, Ulster. It contains part of the village of Carnlough : which see. Length, 7 miles ; breadth, 2 ; area, 15,691 acres, 2 roods, 24 perches. Pop., in 1831, 1,617; in 1841, 1,742. Houses 279. Pop. of the rural districts, in 1831, 1,404; in 1841, 1,439. Houses 228. The parish consists principally of a mountainous peninsula between Carnlough bay on the south, and Red bay on the north, Exceptmg belts of low ground along the coast, and up the principal glen, the surface is nearly all upland, rough, and moorish. The heights have an average altitude of 600 or 700 feet above sealevel ; they are heathy, and interpatched with forestpaved bog ; and, while thev abound in moor-game, they at the same time afford tolerable pasturage, and are usually attached in lots to pendicles of the low and arable grounds. Tbe glens and rivulets which cleave them, and the escarpments and bold acclivities which they themselves present to the sea, furnish many groupings of decided landscape. Glenariff, on the northern boundary, and the river Acre which traverses it, have numerous charms for the eye of taste ; Red Bay, at the embouch of the glen, is replete with interest; and the glen of the Carnlough rivulet, along the southern boundary, as well as some interior ravines and depressions of the hill-ground, present to the view some powerful specimens of picturesqueness and romance. See Acre, Glenariff, and Red Bat. But a main charm for the tourist is the contour of the overhanging face of hill along all the sea-board belt of low ground, and the exquisite combinations of its recessions and advances with the embellishments of the plain, and the curvatures on the edge of the sea. A traveller, just when he enters the parish from the south, descries such scenery as challenges his wonder and awe, and provokes him to hasten onward that he may gaZe upon its power. The road he treads boldly, yet giddily, overhangs the sea; and is overhung, in its turn, bv dark, lofty, and precipitous cliffs, which begin to fling their shadow over his path at an early hour after meridian. Drumnasole, tne splendid recently erected mansion of F. Turnly, Esq., soon looks out from a most romantic and sheltered site at the base of the perpendicular hills ; the ground in front of it bosky with luxuriant shrubberies, a ravine behind it mirthful with the perpetual frolics of a beautiful waterfall, and the cliffs occasionally all silver-haired and hoary with a series of long tiny cascades. From Drumnasolehouse, an expanse of plantation extends to a great distance along the base of the hills, and promise^, in a few years, to reader perfect this range of thrilling

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 121

21. Earl of Ormond's garrison at Athy, 1642

    Athy · town · Kildare · 1642

    In 1642 the Earl of Ormond arrived at Athy with 3,000 foot and 500 horse, and sent out parties from the town to relieve the garrisons of Carlow, Ballinakill, Berte, Cloghgrennan, and Ballylinen.

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    Hiatory.] — A battle is said by Keating to have been fought in the 2d or 3d century, on the site of Athy, between the people of Munster and those of Leix, under Lavighseagh Cean Mordha ; and a ford at the place was anciently a practicable and frequented passage between the principality of Leix or Lavighseagh in Queen's co., and that of Celleagh or Caelian in CO Kildare. These two circumstances may account for two ancient names of the place, — Ath- Trodain, * the ford of conflict,' and Ath-Bhiedhbha, •the ford of the adversary.' The latter of these names, as pronounced in the Erse fashion, though looking in Roman letters as if unpronounceable, is ▼ery nearly the short modern Athv. But. a name by which — in the corrupted form ot Bla-Theag, pronounced Blahai, the town continues to be known — is Bally-da-Dhae, * the town of the two houses;' and seems evidently to refer to the two monasteries built in the !3th century. The founding of these establishments is asserted to have been the origin of the town ; and as they were founded by English settlers, not only the monks, but the inhabitants of the town, were principally of that nation. In 1308, the town was burnt by the Irish. In the following year. Lord John de Bonnerille, slain near the town of ArdskuU, was interred in the church of the Athy abbey of crouched friars. In 1315, the town was plundered by the Scots under Bruce ; and Haymond le Grace and Sir William Pendergrist on the English side, and Sir Fergus Andrissan and Sir Walter Murray on the Scots side, were slain at the battle of ArdskuU, and all interred in the Athy abbey of Dominican friars. See Ardskull : see also Ardree. About the year 1424, Thomas, seventh Earl of Kildare, then Lord Offaly, obtained, by marriage with Dorothea, daughter of Anthony O'More of Leix, th«* manors of Woodstock and Rheban, including the town of Athy, and established within them a courtbaron and court-leet. Various historical passages are connected with the castle of Woodstock : which see. Athy, from the gradual contraction of the English pale, became a ifrontier and garrison town, commanding an important passage over the Barrow, and, in this connection, it received the accession of the fortalice, the remaining tower of which is called White's Castle. In 1642, the Earl of Ormond arrived at the town with 3,000 foot and 500 horse ; and sent out from it parties to relieve the garrisons of Carlow, Ballinakill, Berte, Cloghgrennan, and

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 146

22. Great church of Aghaboe, built 1234

    Aghaboe · townland · Laois · 1234–1800

    A great church was built at Aghaboe in 1234, whose chancel was later used as the parochial place of worship by Dr. Ledwich, the antiquary and incumbent. The belfry is a small hexagonal structure, with buttresses round the fabric and a carved south door with concentric arches.

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    AGHABOE, or Auohavoe,* a parish in the baronies of Clandonagh and Clarmallagh, Queen's CO., Leinster. The Clandonagh section contains the town of Borris-in-Ossory, and the Clarmallagh section the village of Balltcolla : see these articles. Length and breadth, each 8 miles. Area of the whole, 18,702 acres ; of the rural districts of Clandonagh section, 6,460 acres ; of the rural districts of the Clarmallagh section, 12,182 acres. Pop. of the whole, in 1831,6,198; in 1841,6,310. Houses, 1,031. Pop. of the rural districts of the Clandonagh section, in 1841, 2,132. Houses, 351. Pop. of the rural districts of the Clarmallagh section, in 1841, 3,189. Houses, 519. The surface gently undulates, and is part of a very rich valley which is screened or flanked at some distance by two ranges of hills. The soil is in general excellent, yet consists partly of reclaimed moor and bog. The streamlet Gully separates the parish and its diocese, on the east, from the diocese of Ferns ; the river Nore separates them on the north-west from the diocese of Killaloe ; and the river Arcany or Erkennv separates the southern border from the parishes of Aughmacart and Durrow. Granite rocks occur at Carrig and Carrigeen ; bro\vn slate occurs at Knockaruadh, or the red hill, and has been quarried ; and limestone underlies by far the greater part of the parish, and has been extensively worked for manure. The only villages are poor and tiny hamlets. Aghaboe, 5 miles south-east of Borris-in* Ossory, though now a small and humble cluster of cabins, comes into notice in the 6th century, as the seat of a Culdee establishment under St. Canice, and is mentioned in Adamnan's Life of Columba, under the name of Acheb-bou. It rose, under St. Canice, into a town ; was favoured, and probably adopted at the seat of a royal residence bv the princes of Ossorv; and firom the death of St. Canice in 598, till the erection of the see of Kilkenny in the reign of Henry IL, or during upwards of 600 years, was the ecclesiastical metropolis of the Ossory territory. Even subsequent to this period, an episcopal palace at Aghaboe was repaired and beautified; and in 1234, *a great church' was built, the chancel of which was thought by Dr. Ledwich, the well-known Irish antiquary, and long the incumbent of this benefice, to constitute the parochial place of worship in which he oflSciated, and which continued to be in use some time after the commencement of the present century. ** The belfry," says he, " is a small hexagonal structure, closed with a cap of masonry, and is on a line with the roof of the church. Round the fabric are buttresses, except to the south : on that side is a door, the arches are concentric, enriched with carving and foliage. There are three

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

23. King of Leinster granted Baldoyle manor to Dublin priory

    Baldoyle · townland · Dublin · 1166

    In 1166, Dermod Macmurrough, King of Leinster, founded the priory of All Saints in Dublin and granted the manor of Baldoyle, with all its serfs and farmers, to that monastic establishment. This was the same Macmurrough who invited the Anglo-Normans to Ireland.

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    BALDOYLE, a parish containing a village of the same name, in the barony of CooWck, co. Dublin, Leinster. Length, 2 miles ; breadth, 1 ; area, 1,236 acres. Pop., in 1831, 1,218; in 1841, 1,100. Houses 205. Pop. of the rural districts in 183 L, 209; in 1841, 265. Houses 42. The surface extends along the shores of the shallow sandy estuary of Portniarnock, immediately west of Howth,and about 16 miles north-east of Dublin. Though the immediate seaboard is sandy and bleak, the interior exhibits the fertility and lusciousness which so generally characterize the environs of the metropolis, and the aggregate quality of the land is good. Dermod Macmorough, the King of Leinster, who invited the Anglo-Normans to Ireland, aud w1k> founded, in 1166, the priory of All Saints in Dublin, granted to that monastic establishment the manor of Baldoyle, with all its serfs and farmers I In 1369, Sir WiU liam de Windsor, lord-justice of Ireland, held a parliament at Baldoyle. The village stands on the Portmarnock estuary, about half-a-miie north of the road which leads eastward from Dublin to Howth. It has a neat and comparatively comfortable ap«

    BAL

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 147

24. Knockmahon copper mines

    Knockmahon · townland · Waterford · 1837

    The Knockmahon copper mines in County Waterford employed 1,000 men and produced 4,000 to 5,000 tons per annum worth £9 per ton as of September 1837.

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    The mines and most valuable quarries, worked in September, 1837, together with the condition and produce of each, may be briefly stated : — The Derrynoose lead mine in co. Armagh was about to be deared of water by a steam-engine ; the Ballycorus smelting works, rolling and pipe mill, and shot tower, in co. Dublin, employed 20 men, and produced from 800 to 2,400 tons a-year, worth /27 per ton ; the Killaloe slate quarries in co. Tipperary, employed from 350 to 400 men, and produced from 7,000, to 10,000 tons per annum, worth £1 10s. per ton ; the Slieveardagh collieries in CO. Tipperary, employed 5 steam-engines, and from 200 to 300 men, and produced 30,000 tons per annum, worth 10s. per ton ; the Knockmahon copper mines in co. Waterford, employed 1,000 men, and produced from 4,000 to 5,000 tons per annum, worth £9 per ton ; the Glenpatrick slate quarry in CO. Waterford, employed 120 men, and produced from 2,500 to 3,000 tons per annum, worth £l IQb. per ton ; the Cairme lead mine in co. Wexford was about to be cleared of water by a steameo^e ; the Lugganure lead mine in co. Wicklow, employed from 150 to 300 men, and produced from 1,200 to 3,600 tons per annum, worth £15 per ton; the Kilcrohane copper mine near Cahirdveen in co. Kerry, employed 20 men ; the HoUyford copper mine near Cappaghwhite in co. Tipperary, employed 20 men ; the Ballysinode copper mine near Cappaghwhite in co. Tippemry, oiplojed SO men ; and Annestown lead mine neau: Tramore in co. Waterford, employed 16 men.

    Hr iNxnoDUCTioN,

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 23

25. The Horseleap Tradition of Sir Hugh de Lacy

    Ardnurcher or Horseleap · parish · Westmeath

    The hamlet, parish, and part of the fortalice at Ardnurcher are popularly termed Horseleap after a traditionary and fabled leap made by Sir Hugh de Lacy's horse over the space between the drawbridge piers. This legend gave its name to the locality.

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    is found in the two piers of the drawbridge and lower gate, vulgarly called the Horse-leap." The circumstance whence, at once, this part of the fortalice, the hamlet, and the parish, are popularly termed Horseleap, is a traditionary and faliled leap made by Sir Hugh de Lacy's horse over the space between the piers of the drawbridge. — This parish is a vicarage in the dio. of Meath. The vicarial tithes are compounded for £94 12s. 3.}d., and the rectorial for £'189 48. 7d. ; and the latter are impropriate in the Marquis of Downshirc. The vicarages of Ardnurcher, Kilcumreagh, Kilhanaghan, RanuE, and Kilbride-Langan, [see these articles,] constitute the benefice of Ardnurcher. Length, 7 miles; breadth, 6. Gross income, £850 1.5s. 9d.; nett, £612 169. IJd. Patron, the Crown. A perpetual curacy is erected within the parishes of Kilmanoghan and Kilbride-Langan. See Clara. The church of the union, situated at Horseleap, is a very ancient building, of unascertained cost and date. Sittings 150 ; attendance, about 50. The Roman Catholic chapel of Ardnurcher is attended by about 2,000 ; and shares with a chapel in Clara the core of two ofHciates. Roman Catholic and Protestant dissenting chapels exist in the other parishes. In 1834, the Protestants of Ardnurcher amounted to 1 1 6, and the Roman Catholics to 3,662 ; the Protestants of the union, but exclusive of those in Clara curacy, to

    392, and the Roman Catholics to 8,404. In the same year, 8 daily schools in Ardnurcher, one of which was parochial, and aided with £13 of salary, had on their books 132 boys and 80 girls ; and 14 in the union, but exclusive of those in Clara curacy, had 207 boys and 108 girls.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 122

26. White or Augustinian Abbey, Adare

    Adare · townland · Limerick · 1315

    The White or Augustinian Abbey at Adare, completely sheeted with ivy on two sides, features a lofty tapering steeple and marble cloisters supported by low, slender, handsomely ornamented columns in well-preserved condition. It was founded in 1315 by John, earl of Kildare, son of Thomas surnamed Nuppagh, or the Ape.

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    the right, we enter by a low Gothic door, into a well-enclosed field or park, bounded on the village side with walls, and on the other sides by deep groves. Here stands the White or Augustinian abbey, completely sheeted on two sides with ivy. The steeple is lofty, and very slender, and tapers to the battlements. The cloisters, all of marble, and supported by low, slender, and handsomely ornamented columns, are in a^ well-preserved condition. This abbey was founded in 1315, by John, earl of Kildare, son of Thomas, sumamed Nuppagh, or the Ape.* — At the extremity of the village stand the ruins of the abbey of Trinitarians, founded for the redemption of Christian captives. Of this stmeture very little remains except the steeple. Its founder was Thomas Fitzgerald, seventh Baron of OflTalv, and fiither of the first Earls of Desmond and Kildare. Very large possessions were attached to it, which, with all their premises and appurtenances, were given by Elizabeth to Sir H. Wallop. A rather curious circumstance in monastic history is, that the rectory of Adare belonged at one time to the nunneries of this abbey The Franciscan abbey,

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

27. Achill Sound: Bull's Mouth tidal current

    Achill Sound · town · Mayo

    Achill Sound extends between Achill and the mainland, occupied in one place by the island of Innisbegil. The intervening strait, called the Bull's Mouth, is swept by a careering and dangerous tidal current. The southern part near Coraan is fordable at low water and was recommended by Mr. Nimmo as a natural place for a village or seaport-town.

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    miles. It is a huge alpine mass of eonglomento sandstone, with flat bogs on the north shore; dismally barren and desolate; and peopled by about 600 mountaineers and bog-trotters of most primitive manners. The only spot on its coast where the construction of a harbour seems practicable, if at Doobeg, behind a spit of boulders at tiie mouth of two mountain-streams. See Doobeo. A strait^ less than half-a-mile in mean breadth, and extending north and south, separates the peninsula from the island. This island is proximately triangular in form, and about 30 miles in circumference ; but is so indented as to possess 80 miles of coast Its area is 35,283 acres; and its population nearly or quite 4,000. Its surfiice is, for the most part, moan* tainous and extremely wild, consisting of large flat bogs on the east, and lofty hills of quarts rock on the other two sides ; and its shores, or rather alpine sea-walls, are more mural and stupendous than those of any equal extent of coast in Ireland. Its great height, combined with its seclusion, renders its cloud-cleaving summits such fit spots for the eyrejr, that almost any stranger ignorant of its name might call it Achill Island,— * the IsUnd of Eagles.' ▲ part of the mountain which forms the western extremity, and terminates in the noted cape of Achill Head, seems as if it had suffered disseverment from a sunk continent by some tremendous convulsion of nature, and sen(u down a shelvinc precipice of about 2,200 feet right to the water^ edge. Menaan Head, on the south coast, presides over mural and projecting cliffs of 700 feet and upwards, of altitude ; and commands a sublime vietr of the entanglement of mountain and ocean, the labyrinth of islands and bays, and the intricacy of a boldly and singularly featured landscape from the Alps of Cunnemara and Joyce country, to those of Erris and the Mullet, with the intervening tracery in Clew -bay and around Croaghpatrick, ana the interior heights of Coraan, Ballycroy, and Nephin. Achill Sound, which has a common opening from the ocean with Blacksod-ba^, and extends between Achill and the mainland, is, in one place, occupied athwart more than half its breadth by the island of Innisbegil : which see. The intervening strait is called the Bull's Mouth, and is swept by a careering and dangerous tidid current The southem part of the sound, or that which washes Coraan, is fordable at low water, and '* seems," says Mr. Nimmo, *' the natural place for establishing anything like a village or seaport-town." Achill, with the exception of a small part which belongs to the marquis of Sligo, is all the property of Sir Neil O'Donnell. Its mhabitants, till within the last 8 or 9 years, were in a condition, as to manners, ideas, and arts, little if at all different from their ancestors of the 14th or 15th century. In dress, habitations^ agricultural instruments, and many other particulars which immediately meet the eye of a stranger, they were rude, poor, and outre, to a degree which pro* yoked sharp competition between wonder and com* passion. Though greatly improved by the infloeiioa of schools, of public works, and especially of the Achill mission, they still very generally possess the old peculiarities. They reside principally in hamlets, each of which has been described as ** a con* p^eries of hovels thrown indiscriminately together as if they fell in a shower from the sky." Little of their land, has yet been cultivated ; and the little that has, is chiefly manured with sea- weed and shellsand from the shores, for the rearing of a precarious potatoe crop. They possess altogether about 100 boats, and employ them principally in carrying torf to Westport. They are regarded by the nshermea of Clew-bay as quite ignorant of the craft of fish-

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

28. Affane's cherries introduced by Sir Walter Raleigh

    Affane · townland · Waterford

    The parish of Affane in Waterford has long been noted for its fine cherries, which were introduced from the Canary Islands by Sir Walter Raleigh. The lands of Affane are said to have been given by Garrett Fitzgerald to Raleigh for a breakfast.

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    AFFANE, a parish in the barony of Decieswithout-Drum, containing a small village of the same name, co. Waterford, Munster. Length, 7 miles; breadth, 5; area, 7,773 acres. Pop., in 1831, 1,879; in 1841, 2,115. Houses 301. The Blackwater runft southward along the western boundary, and the Phiiiisk runs westward to it near the village of Affane. The land in general is excellent, and in high cultivation. The parish has long been noted for its fine cherries, introduced to it from the Canary islands, by Sir Walter Raleigh. The chief seat

    is Dromana : which see The village of Affane

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

29. Aglish estate forfeited in 1641 rebellion

    Aglish · townland · Cork · 1641

    The estate of Aglish, situated on the south side of the river Lee in Co. Cork, was forfeited during the 1641 rebellion by Teige MacCormac MacCarty. The parish surface lies on both sides of the Lee and forms a luxuriant and beautiful part of the river's banks.

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    AGLISH. a parish in the barony of East Muskerry, 9^ miles west by south of the city of Cork, CO. Cork, Munster. Length, 5 miles ; breadth, 4j^ ; area, 6,771 acres. Pop., in 1831, 2,782; in 1841, 2.579. Houses 410. The three townlands of BaU lineadig, Cronody, and Fergus, which had in 1831 a population of 525, belonged then to the barony of Barretts, but, by virtue of 6 and 7 William IV., have been transferred to East Muskerry. The surface of the parish lies on both sides of the river Lee, and forms a luxuriant and beautiful part of the stream's banks and screens. The land is, for the most part, of good quality, and in a comparatively improved condition. The estate of Aglish, on the south side of the Lee, was forfeited, in the rebellion of 1641, by Tcige MacCormac MacCarty — "The soath part of this parish," says Dr. Smith, " is in the diocese of Cork, and the north in that of Cloytie.** In all our authorities, however, it figures as a vicarage wholly ifi Cork. The viciirial tithes are compounded for £310. The rectorial tithes of three denominations or townlands are compounded for £39 2s., and appropriated to the prebend of Kilbrogan ; and those of five townlands are compounded for £120, are impropriate, and, in 1836, were claimed by Alitor Philip Cross. In March, 1833, the vicarage, which had previously been united to the parishes of Moviddy and Kilmolane, was made a separate benefice. Gross income, £313 10s.; nett, £-264 19s. Patron, the diocesan. The parochial place of worship, in 1836, was a small botue licensed by the diocesan. Average attendance, about 15. The Roman Catholic chi^l is attended by from 400 to 500; and has two officiates, wbo officiate also in a chapel in the benefice of Aihnowen. In 1834. the Protestants amounted to SI, and the Roman Catholics to 2,858 ; and the dayschools, 4 in number, had on their books, 129 boys and 81 girls. One school was parochial, and received £2 a-ycar from the vicar ; one was salaried with £8 8s. from Mr. Rye ; and the other two were pay-schools.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

30. Ancient Abbeyleix razed and rebuilt by Lord de Vescy

    Abbeyleix · town · Laois · 1750–1800

    An ancient town of Abbeyleix, having sunk into insignificance, was razed by Lord de Vescy during the latter half of the eighteenth century and succeeded by a new village. The present town was patronized and beautified by his son and successor, becoming one of the neatest villages in Ireland.

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    ABBEYLEIX, a post and market town in t^e above parish, stands on the left side of the river Nore, and on the road from Dublin to Cork, 5 mile« north-north-east of Castle- Durrow, 9^ miles southsouth-west of Stradbally, and 49^ miles south-west of Dublin. An ancient town of its name, and near its site, having sunk into insignificance, was rased by Lord de Vescy during the latter half of last century, to be succeeded by a new town or village. The present Abbeyleix was patronized and beautified by the son and successor of its noble founder ; and has become one of the neatest and most pleasing villages in Ireland. Its houses have most of the ornaments which comport with the true and rustic cottage character; they possess the agreeable and useful appendage of garden-plots ; and they combine the appearance of rural beauty with that of domestic comfort. The parish-church is a commanding and seemly feature. A small bridewell in the village is kept in a creditable state, and is under the immediate control of the board, and superintendence of the governor of the county gaol. The village will be touched, at the distance of 60 statute miles from the Dublin terminus, by the Kilkenny line of railway projected by the commissioners ; and will be place<l by it at only 2| houn*' travelling distance from Dublin, and 18^ from London. Its public conveyances, in 1838, were a car to Maryborough, and a caravan in transit between Mountrath and Dublin. The town is the seat of some noticeable maimfiM« tories.

    The Abbeyleix Poor-Law Union ranks aa the 89th ; and was declared on December 3d, 1839. With the exception of part of its electoral division of Durrow, which belongs to co. Kilkenny, it all lies in Queen's co. ; and it comprehends an area of 113,400 acres, with a pop., in 1831, 35,597. Ua

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

31. Ancient mining works on rocky mountain above Corcomroe

    near Abbey · parish · Clare

    A rocky mountain overhanging the sea in the parish of Abbey, Co. Clare, exhibits curious marks of ancient and unrecorded mining operations, including two mining-shafts, one computed to be about 90 feet deep. Local tradition asserts stones were taken from a large chasm at its foot for the construction of the nearby monastic pile.

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    ABBEY, or Corcomrob-.^bet, a parish in the iHNth-weat corner of the barony of Burren, and on the north border of co. CUre, Monster. It lies 8^ nilet west-north-west of Gort; and partly skirts Ga] way-bay, directly opposite the town of Gal way. Area, 4,714 acres. Pop., in 1631, 2,493; in 1841, 1,442.* Houses 223. The surface, in a general view, H green and pastoral, boldly tumulated, much diversified ia outline, and not a little prominent among the features of the rich southern hill-screen of the brilliaiit and far-expanding ba^. A rocky mountain which overhangs the sea exhibits some curious marks cf ancient and unrecorded mining operations. At its foot it a large chasm, which appears to have been partly formed by the quarrier, and whence local traditioD asserts the stones to have been taken for the coMtniction of the well-known monastic pile of the parish ; and on the mountain's side are two miningshaflf, one of which is computed to be about 9^ feet deep, exclusive of an unknown depth of water at the bottom — In a lonely winding vale, near the northern boundary of the parish, stands the splendid ruin of the abbey of Corcomrob. A spectator who stations himseu near one of the angles at the west end of the nave, immediately under the square steeple or belfry, commands an interesting view of the mterior, and one which forms a fine subject for the pencil. The choir, in front, exhibits a groined arch, inferior, perhaps, to none in Ireland, except those of Holycroas; the north and south transepts, on the right and left, open by large plain circular arches, and show two small pointed-arched chapels, immediately flanking the choir; and the foreground, or open area, is an impressive and almost chaotic assemblage of human bones, rugged monumental stones, andearthless fra^euts of rock. A square plot of ground, about six acres in extent, and with the abbev in its centre, was enclosed with a wall ten feet high, and entered b^ an arched gateway opposite the west end of the pile. Corcomroe, the present dciiignation of the ruin, is a corruption of * Corcamrumdh,' the confluence of the three Erse words. Cor, Catm, and Ruadk, which mean, respectively, ' a dis-

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

32. Archiepiscopal Palace and Obelisk in Armagh Demesne

    near Armagh · town · Armagh

    The archiepiscopal residence in Armagh was erected by Primate Robinson as an elegant, unostentatious structure measuring 90 by 60 by 40 feet, accompanied by a private chapel. In the demesne stands a marble obelisk 157 feet high, raised at a cost of over £1,000 to give employment to operatives during a period of public distress and dedicated to the Duke of Northumberland.

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    The Palace.'] — The archiepiscopal residence, erected by Primate Robinson, is an elegant yet chaste and unostentatious structure. Its length it 90 feet ; its width, 60 ; and its height, 40. The pUe is simple, without wings or lesser parts ; and haa a light and pleasing appearance. Nearly i of a mile south-west of it, and behind a plantation, is a suite of large and commodious offices. Beside the palace, and coeval with it in erection, is a handsome private chapel. In the demesne stands the obelisk erected by Archbishop Robinson, a nicely proportioned structure of marble, 157 feet high, raised at the cost of more than £1,000. It was dedicated by the founder to the honour and memory of his friend the Duke of Northumberland ; but, having been projected and entirely constructed in order simply to give employ meut to operatives at a period of great public distress, it is justly regarded as a monument of his worth. A large lawn around the palace spreads oii every side over the undulations and gentle hills of the surface ; plantations skirt the lawn, or relieve its uniformity ; a terrace in one ef the skirting woods commands a most beautiful view of cultu vated hill and dale, and of the rich eastern suburbs and environs of the city ; and the whole demesne, tastefully laid out, well kept, and chastely luxurious, is liberally thrown open for the recreation of the dtizens.

    The College.] — Armagh figures early and prominently in the andent literature of Ireland. A college, alleged to have been founded here by St. Patrick, was long one of the most celebrated seminaries in Europe ; and received the patronage and sup|)ort of the kings of Ireland, down to Roderick O'Connor, the last of the native monarchs. 3Iany learned men, not only of the Irish nation, but from almost every part of Christendom, issued from this colloge, to mstruct their respective countrymen, and diffuse knowledge among barbarians ; and some of them figure in the aniuils of hagiology as martyrs. An ecclesiastical synod convoked by Gelasius at Cleonad or CLuie, decreed that none but Alumni oC

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 134

33. Architectural antiquity of Banagher old church doorway

    Banagher · parish · Derry · 400–700

    An antiquary writing in an extinct Irish periodical argued that the old church of Banagher displayed Etruscan-style masonry and a Pelasgic-form doorway with architrave and inclined sides, features claimed to be found nowhere else in the British Islands in any Christian edifices. He ascribed the building's origin to the 5th century.

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    between the ecclesiastical and the civil statistics of 1831, appears to be occasioned by 8 townlanda having, a few years ago, been dissevered from the parish to form, with 10 townlands from other parishes, the district perpetual curacy of Lbarmoumt: which see. The Kenaught section declines eastward from the origin and the early course of the river Roe; and the Tyrkeeran section, north-westward from the origin and the early course of the Faughan. The surface is, over a large proportion, mountainous, and, even viewed in the aggregate, is a mass of uplands dissevered by ravines and vales. Mount Sawel, on the southern boundary, has an altitude of 2,236 feet. The soil of the arable grounds is too poor to produce wheat, and rather light and gravelly to bear a rich crop of even other grains. The road from Dungiven to Strabane mns southwestward through the interior, and is overlooked in its progress by the glebe-house and church, and by the mansion of Ashpark, the seat of J. Stevenson, Esq. The other seats are Drumcovit, Taronagh, and Kilcreen. The ruins of a very ancient church and monastery in the parish possess deep interest for a judicious antiquary, and exert an influence nearly as potent as that of the intoxicating chemical gas upon an enthusiastic Hibernian believer in the thousand and one stone churches of St. Patrick and his disciples. ** After all my own researches," says the Rev. G. Y. Sampson, ** I cannot authenticate the history of one of our finest specimens of ecclesiastical architecture. It is the old church of Banagher. This is built of cut freestone, in a good and even an elegant style. Some modem characters, engraved on the west door, n>ention the foundation of the church as having been in 474, or thereabouts ; but this is not likely. Beside it stands the monastery, the only one in the county which still remains. It is entire except the roof. The door is several feet from the ground, and the building nearly square ; it appears that the stairs have been built of stone. The tradition is, that 0*Heney, a saint, was the founder, and that he used to show himself occasionally from the elevated threshold. The tomb of the saint is in the churchyard; it is 9 feet in breadth. The sand adjacent to it is reckoned sacred. In any horse-race to this day, whoever can throw the Banagher sand on the rider as he passes, insures success to the horse." A headlong, though tasteful antiquary, who wrote in an extinct Irish periodical, haa no hesitation in ascribing the origin of the building* to the 5th century ; he stoutly makitaint the high antiquity of Irish stone churches, " in despite of the assertions of Ledwich and others;" and he triumpbantly flourishes the Tripartite Life of SI. Patrick* and shows from it that, though neither Banagher nor any word like it occurs in that document, Banagher cfaurdi was one of seven which St. Patrick founded during a sojourn of seven weeks in the neighbourhood of the Faiigfaan river f Yet wild as hb daydreams are, a piece of his criticism is well worth quotation. The ** very great antiquitv " of the church, be remarks, " will be sufficiently obvioiit to the architectural antiquary, from the peculiarities of its design and masonry,— which, though common in our ecclesiastical remains, erected previoos to tb« 7th century, are not to be met with elsewhere in the British Islands, or even on the western contiaent of Europe, in any Christian edifices. In the massive but regular masonry of its walls, we find an example of that style of building usually called Etruscan; while its doorway, with architrave and inclined sides, is equally characteristic of the old Pelasgie form of architectural entrance. It was before a doorway of this kind in one of the seven churches of Glandelough, that Sir Walter Scott, with all the enthmiiMK

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 155

34. Ardmore church with carved figures and bas-reliefs

    Ardmore · town · Waterford

    The church at Ardmore is evidently very ancient, judged by the massive irregularity of its architecture and clumsiness of its buttresses. On the interior west wall are twelve defaced figures under Saxon arches, with bas-reliefs depicting the baptism of Christ, a Jewish sacrifice, the judgment of Solomon, and Adam and Eve in paradise.

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    We need hardly say that the wild popular fables to which we have alluded are very nearly on a footing of authenticity with this pretty piece of pretended hagiography ; or that such utt«r confusion pervades the whole story of Declan as to prevent the educement from it oif alnoost any portion of real history. Ardmore — we are told too, and with more probability— was anciently a Danish settlement. A short deed of the year 1197) seen by Dr. Smith, conveyed from a Dane of the name of Christiana Hy- Dorothy, a small tract of land to the family of the Memins, with whom it renmined till they sold it in 1745. In the vicinity are circular intrenchments and other Danish works. In the village, when Dr. Smith wrote, was ** the stump of a castle ;" and not long before a much larger one was taken down. In the churchyard, on a rocky eminence, near a sandv cove, stand the chief of the ecclesiastical antiquities, — St. Declan's dormitory or shrine, the church, and a round tower. The dormitory is a mere stone hut, lighted by one small square window, and derives all its interest from containing the remains of the real or supposed tomb of St. Declan. The church, judging from the massive irregularity of its architecture, and the clumsiness of its buttresses, is evidently very ancient. Only the part of it used for service is now roofed. On the interior of the west wall are twelve figures, each under a small Saxon arch, but much defaced by the attrition of weather; and beneath these, within the semicircular projections, are irregularly executed bas-reliefs of various subjects, the chief of which seem to be the baptism of Christ, a Jewish sacri6ce, the judgment of Solomon, and Adam and Eve in paradise. The round tower, immediately south of the church, is 91 feet in height, and 15 feet in diameter at the base ; the doorway is 16 feet from the ground ; and 4 windows in the highest story, each two mutually opposite, are larger than any other apertures except the doorway. The tower gradually diminishes in diameter from bottom to top; and terminates in a pyramidal roof of cut stone. '* A kind of crutch, like a cross," which formerly surmounted it, has disappeared. Four projecting belts or courses of masoiy-y carried round the tower, and separating it into a basement and 4 stories or compartments, render it unique among the curious antiquities of its class. Tiudition takes occasion from the existence of two transverse pieces of oak in the highest story, and from some other indications of the uses of a belfry, to assert that a bell once hung in the tower of so powerful a tone that its sound was heard at the distance of 8 miles, in the Gun-More^ or Big Glen. The tower is a conspicuous feature, in a landscape of n»ny miles in diameter, and occasionally serves as a landmark to mariners. About a nnle from the village, and crowning the brow of some shelving rocks which immediately overhang the bay, are slender vestiges of a place of worship, supposed

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 122

35. Askeaton constituted a borough by charter of James I

    Askeaton · townland · Limerick

    Askeaton was constituted a borough by charter of 11 James I, with a corporation of a provost and 12 free burgesses returning two members to parliament. The borough, a close borough due to self-election, continued until disfranchised at the Union, with compensation of £15,000 distributed among Lords Carrick and Massey and others.

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    its pinnacled site on the rock, and its encinetarcment with the divided stream of the Deel, it was surrounded by a lofty wall, and accessible only by a drawbridge. During the last E}irl of Desmond's rebellion in 1580, when the King's forces, under Sir George Carew, were approaching Askeaton, the garrison of the castle, being unpronded to sustain a siege, placed a train «f gunpowder within the walls, evacuated the place, fired the train, and blew up a considerable part of the building. The Earl, after three years of ceaseless warfare and various success, was driven from his castles, spoiled of his army, chased to the fastnesses of Kerry, and compelled to Ke perdu in mean apparel, much distress, and almost total unattendance. Kelly of Morierta eventually tracked the footsteps of a few kerns who had Tentnred to seize some cattle for the Earl's subsistence ; he found the hunted and fallen noble lying languidly before a fire in a ruined house ; he assailed him, wounded him, and drew from him the faint cry, '* Spare me, I am the Earl of De$>mond ;" and, heedless of theappeal, he struck off the Ekirl's head, and carried it to the Earl of Ormond, to be sent to Queen Elizabeth, and impaled on London bridge. Thus perished a family who, for four centuries, had flung rude splendour and magnificence around them, and frequently measured swords with the supreme civil power of the country. The EarFs forfeited lands amounted to 574,628 Irish acres. — About 30 yards from the castle, the Deel is spanned by an old bridge of 9 arches. About ^ of a mile from the town, and on the east brink of the river, stand the ruins of Askeaton abbey. This pile was founded in 1420, b3r James, the seventh Earl of Desmond, for friars roinorets ; and, long after its dilapidation, it ranked as one of the finest ecclesiastical ruins in Ireland. The cloisters, which are the chief part now remaining, form a square arcade of about ICO feet ; they are entirely composed of black marble; and they exhibit some beautiful and richly ornate chisellings. Askeaton was constituted a borough by charter of 11 James I. The limits included only a small space round the edificed area. The charter directed that the corporation should consist of a provost and 12 free burgesses ; that the free burgesses should hold their office for life, and annually elect from among their own number the provost ; that vacancies in the free burgess-ship should be filled up by the corporation from among ** the better and more honest of the inhabitants ;** that the provost might hold every Monday a court of record for the trial of all actions personal to the amount of 5 marks ; and that the corporation, in prosecution of the chief object of their beuig constituted, should return two members to parliament. The borough, owing to the prindple of self-election in its constitution, became at once a close borough ; it continued to act as such till it was disfranchised at the Union ; and it was then under " the patronage " of Lords Carrick and Massey. Of the sum of £15,000, which was awarded as compensation for the loss of its franchise, £6,580 was given to the Earl of Carrick, £6,580 to the trustees of the will of Hugh, Lord Massey, £1,100 to Sir Vere Hunt, Bart., and £200 to Sir Joseph Hoare, Bart. So extinct did the corporation become after the borough's disfranchisement, that the Commissioners on Municipal Corporations, when making inquiry a few years ago on the spot, could with difficulty obtain any evidence of its former existence. Power was given by James I. to Sir Francis Berkeley to hold in Askeaton weekly markets on Wednesday and Saturday, and a fiur on 20th and 21st July. Fairs are now held on dOth July and 9th Oct. Some tolls which are collected are private property. A seneschal's court, whose

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 138

36. Ballintemple burial ground and Croker's tale

    Ballintemple · townland · Cork

    The cemetery at Ballintemple near Cork, though the church has disappeared, is still in use for burials. Mr. Croker described it as overgrown with dock leaves and nettles, recording the names of villagers who died in more opulent circumstances, along with one grave containing a pair whose melancholy fate is told in his 'Researches in the South of Ireland.'

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    BALLINTEMPLE, a village in the parish of St. Finbar's, barony and co. of Cork, Munster. It stands on the south side of the river Lee, about 1 ^ mile east of Cork, on the road thence to Blackrock. A church was erected here by the Knights Templars in 1392, and was afterwards given to the prior and friars of Gill Abbey. Though the church long ago disappeared, its burying-ground is still in use. '* The situation of this cemetery," says Mr. Croker, *' is retired and romantic; and the few tombstones that rise above the large dock leaves and nettles with which it is overgrown, record the names of such villagers as have died in more opulent circumstances than their neighbours. The remains of the humble farmer and the poor fisherman occupy this seduded spot, with the exception of one grave, containing a pair whose melancholy fate and early death throw an interest over the simple tablet that marks their abode." He then narrates a pathetic tale which any curious reader may see on pages 213 — 215 of his ** Researdies in the South of Ireland." Area of the village, 24 acres. Pop., in 1841, 455. Houses 77*

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

37. Bally bog reclamation survey, Kenmare river, Kerry

    near Kilcrohane · parish · Kerry · 1814

    Mr. Nimmo's 1814 survey for reclamation described the Bally bog district on the north side of the Kenmare river as containing nearly 9,000 acres of boggy land requiring drainage. The principal tract formed a large basin around the head of Sneem harbour, with narrow rock ridges creating former lake beds now filled with deep fibrous bog.

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    BALLY, a large boggy district on the north side of the Kenmare river, comprehending most part of the parish of Kilcrohane, biEurony of Dunkerron, co. Kerry, Munster. It extends from the stream of Castlecove to some rocky ground near the Blackwater ; though, as seen from a low situation, it looks like a congeries of rocky heights, yet, as seen from a commanding point of view, it appears to be a continuous range of bog ; and, according to the details of Mr. Nimmo's survey for its reclamation, it contained, in 1814, a boggy area requiring drainage of 8,997i English acres. ** The principal tract of bog," says Mr. Nimmo, ** is a large basin lying at the foot of the mountains, around the head of the harbour of Sneem, and nearly embraced by the two lower rid^s of Aska and Dirreenavurrig, which severally divide it from two other smaller basins. Down these hollows flow various clear quick-running streams, which have usually a little green land along their edges. The lower part of the basin is entirely occupied by bog : round the upper edge of it is a narrow cone of patches of cultivation ; and above that, a boggy and rocky mountain. The bogs are traversed by numerous narrow ridges of hard rock, forming a succession of long narrow basins, which seem formerly to have been lakes, but are now mostly filled with deep masses of fibrous bog. These bogs subside greatly after drainage, and render it necessary sometimes to crosscut the rock in order to lay their level free. There is little other subsoil than the bare rock, and no calcareous manure of any kind in Bally bog. Shell sand is washed ashore in the western part of it, at the Green Isles and near Cove. It contains 40 per cent, carbonate of lime ; and coralline sand, which is nearly pure carbonate, may be had in the bay by dredging." Estimated cost of reclamation, £8,223 18s. 4d.

    BALLY, CO. Down. See Ballee.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

38. Ballybrood church built with Board of First Fruits grant

    Ballybrood · townland · Limerick · 1807

    The church in the parish of Ballybrood was built in 1807 with a gift of over £738 from the late Board of First Fruits. It seated 100 but attendance ranged only from 12 to 15.

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    B ALLYBROOD, a parish in the south -east comer of the barony of Clanwilliam, and 4 miles north-east of Six-mile-Bridpe, co. Limerick, Munster. Length, 2 miles; breadth, }; area, 2,355 acres. Pop., in 1831, 1,120; in 1841, 1,121. Houses 166. Excepting a small portion of boff, all the land is profitable, and b disposed in arable grounds and pasturage. The surface is drained westward, along the southern boundary, by one of the afl3uents of the Maig ; and traversed southward by the road from Abington to Cahircorney. Fairs, toll free, are held on June 12, and Oct. 13 — Ballybrood is a rectory in the dio. of Emly. Tithe composition, £150. This rectory, the rectories of Kilteelt, Aglishcormick, and Rath- JORDAN, and the vicarage of Isertlaurence [see these articles], constitute the benefice of Ballybrood, and corps of the precentorship of Emly cathedral. Length, 8| miles; breadth, 3|. Pop, in 1831, 4,973. Gross income, £870 7s. 7id. ; nett, £641 68. 8d. Patron, the diocesan. The church is situated in Ballybrood, and was built in 1807, by means of a gift of £738 9s. 2|d. from the kte Board of First Fruits. Sittings 100 ; attendance, from 12 to 15. The Roman Catholic chapels within the union, are in Kilteely and Isertlaurence. In 1834, the Protestants, both of the parish and of the union, amounted to 26, the Roman Catholics of the parish to 1,141, and the Roman Catholics of the union to

    5,154 ; and 4 daily schools in Kilteely, Isertlaurenoe, and Aglishcormick, had on their books 169 boys and 147 girls.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

39. Ballymore garrisoned and burnt in 1642

    Ballymore · town · Westmeath · 1642

    In 1642 the town of Ballymore was garrisoned by royalists under Sir James Dillon, but upon the approach of the parliamentarian army it was burnt and abandoned by Sir James.

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    BALLYMORE, a market and post town, chiefly in the above parish, and partly in that of Killare, barony of Rathconrath, co. Westmeath, Leinster. It stands on the road between Athlone and Mullingar, about 12 miles west-south-west of Mullingar, and 50 west by north of Dublin. Area of the town, 94 acres ; of which 23 acres are in Killare. Pop., in 1831, 663; in 1841, 574. Houses 107. Pop. of the Killare section, in 1831, 153; in 1841, 181. Houses 29. It is a long, irregular, ill-built town, remarkable only for some historical associations, and for its horse and cattle fairs. In 1388, Theobald de Vernon, lord of the manor, obtained a grant of a weekly market, and of an annual fair of 15 days* continuance. A market is now held on Saturday ; and fairs are held on Whitmonday, and Oct. 14^ In the cemetery attached to the parish-church is a decayed chapel, the ancient place of sepulture of the Magan family of Emo and Togherstown ; and around the cemetery is a double and very ornamental line of elm trees. In 1642, the town was garrisoned by the royalists under Sir James Dillon; and, on the approach of the parliamentarian army, it was burnt and abandoned by Sir James. It was fortified anew for James II., underwent a^ siege from General de Ginkle, and made a stout resistance ; but, on Jane 8th, 1691, its garrison surrendered at discretion; and, on the conclusion of a peace, its fortifications were destroyed. Ballymore, with an extensive drcurojacent territory, was, after the settlement of the Anglo-Normans, assigned to Sir Theobald de Verdun, in right of his wife, Margaret, eldest daughter of Walter de Lacy, lord of Meath; and it after* wards passed by marriage into the possession of Englishmen who resided m their own country. In consequence of the absence of these proprietors, the estates around the town, and at some distance from it, were seized by the septs of D* Alton, Dillon, 0*Melaghlin, and Macgeoghegan. In 1600, Sir Francis Shaen was in |>osses8ion of the town and

    BAL

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

40. Ballymote Abbey built by MacDonough for Franciscan friars

    Ballymote · town · Sligo

    Ballymote Abbey was built by the MacDonough sept for Franciscan friars of the third order. At the suppression it was granted to Sir Henry Broncard and later passed to Sir William Taafe; its east window is described as remarkably curious.

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    BALLYMOTE, a small town in the parish of Emlyfadd, barony of Corran, co. Sligo, Connaught. It stands 2 miles east of the river Owenmore, 4 west of the Dublin and Sligo mail-road, 12 northwest of Boyle, and 98 north-west by west of Dublin. It is surrounded by a considerable tract of beautiful fertile hills, whose most conspicuous summit is Kish- Coran. Adjacent to the town are Earlsfield, Ballymote-castle, and the ruins of a small abbey. Earlsfield is the lodge of Sir Robert Gore Booth, Bart., the proprietor of the town. Ballymote-castle, though a ruin, is very regular, and both handsome and strong. It forms a square upon a line of 150 feet; is 60 feet hi^h ; and is flanked and quointed by towers 6 feet thick in the wall, with a strong rampart and parapet all round. It was built in 1300 by Richard I>e Bourg, second Earl of Ulster; and, along with the castle of Sligo, it was in the hands of the Irish during the civil war of the 17th century, and offered considerable resistance to the reduction of co. Sligo; but it was eventually captured, in 1652, by the united forces under Ireton and Sir Charles Coote. Ballymote Abbey was built by the sept of MacDonougn, for Franciscan friars of tne third order ; and, at tho suppression, it was granted to Sir Henry Broncard; and from him it passed to Sir William Taafe. The building seems to have been originally and always small. Its workmanship is in general artistic; and the east window is renwrkably curious. — The town has a considerable interest in the linen manufifictttre ; and serves as a depot of general wares for a comparatively large tract of agricultural country. Fain are held on the last Monday of Jan., May 11, first Monday of June and Nov., Old Style, Sept. 3, and second'Monday of Dec, Old Style. The bridewell contains 2 day-rooms, 2 cells, and 2 yards, and it kept clean and regular. The dispensary is wHhin the Sligo Poor-law union, and has a district of 40,022 acres, with a population of 15,415; and, in l83iM0» it received £143 I2s. 6<1., expended £134 Is. IM., and administered to 1,273 patients. The town giyea name to a Roman Catholic parish in the dia of Achonry. Sec Emltpadd. Area of the town, 40 acres. Pop., in 1831,875; in 1841, 839. Houses 190. BALLYMOTE. a village in the parish of I>on. aghta, and not far from Eyrecourt, barony of Longford, CO. Galway, Connaught. Fairs are held on May 22, Oct. 21, and Nov. 16. Pop. not spedally returned.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

41. Ballymote Castle built by Richard de Bourg in 1300

    Ballymote · town · Sligo · 1300

    Ballymote Castle in County Sligo was built in 1300 by Richard de Bourg, second Earl of Ulster. Though now a ruin, it remains a regular, handsome, and strong square fortification flanked by towers with thick walls and a rampart parapet.

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    BALLYMOTE, a small town in the parish of Emlyfadd, barony of Corran, co. Sligo, Connaught. It stands 2 miles east of the river Owenmore, 4 west of the Dublin and Sligo mail-road, 12 northwest of Boyle, and 98 north-west by west of Dublin. It is surrounded by a considerable tract of beautiful fertile hills, whose most conspicuous summit is Kish- Coran. Adjacent to the town are Earlsfield, Ballymote-castle, and the ruins of a small abbey. Earlsfield is the lodge of Sir Robert Gore Booth, Bart., the proprietor of the town. Ballymote-castle, though a ruin, is very regular, and both handsome and strong. It forms a square upon a line of 150 feet; is 60 feet hi^h ; and is flanked and quointed by towers 6 feet thick in the wall, with a strong rampart and parapet all round. It was built in 1300 by Richard I>e Bourg, second Earl of Ulster; and, along with the castle of Sligo, it was in the hands of the Irish during the civil war of the 17th century, and offered considerable resistance to the reduction of co. Sligo; but it was eventually captured, in 1652, by the united forces under Ireton and Sir Charles Coote. Ballymote Abbey was built by the sept of MacDonougn, for Franciscan friars of tne third order ; and, at tho suppression, it was granted to Sir Henry Broncard; and from him it passed to Sir William Taafe. The building seems to have been originally and always small. Its workmanship is in general artistic; and the east window is renwrkably curious. — The town has a considerable interest in the linen manufifictttre ; and serves as a depot of general wares for a comparatively large tract of agricultural country. Fain are held on the last Monday of Jan., May 11, first Monday of June and Nov., Old Style, Sept. 3, and second'Monday of Dec, Old Style. The bridewell contains 2 day-rooms, 2 cells, and 2 yards, and it kept clean and regular. The dispensary is wHhin the Sligo Poor-law union, and has a district of 40,022 acres, with a population of 15,415; and, in l83iM0» it received £143 I2s. 6<1., expended £134 Is. IM., and administered to 1,273 patients. The town giyea name to a Roman Catholic parish in the dia of Achonry. Sec Emltpadd. Area of the town, 40 acres. Pop., in 1831,875; in 1841, 839. Houses 190. BALLYMOTE. a village in the parish of I>on. aghta, and not far from Eyrecourt, barony of Longford, CO. Galway, Connaught. Fairs are held on May 22, Oct. 21, and Nov. 16. Pop. not spedally returned.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

42. Ballyshannon as a close borough under Connolly and Belmore

    Ballyshannon · town · Donegal

    Ballyshannon became a close borough long before the Union, wielded first by the Connolly family and then by the Earl of Belmore. Upon disfranchisement at the extinction of the Irish parliament, the Earl received £15,000 in compensation.

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    reeve and free burgesses ; it became a elote borough long before the union ; it was wielded at will first by the Connolly family, and next by the Earl of Belmore ; and when it was disfranchised at the extinction of the Irish parliament, the Earl received the whole of the £15,000 of compensation. Certain lands are spoken of by tradition as having been borough property ; but no evidence exists to authenticate or even countenance the claim. Two open spaces of no great extent, the one the site of the barrack, and the other used as the fair green, are still called commons. The very quondam existence of the corporation is now almost totally forgotten by the inhabitants. A seneschal's court — apparently created by a charter granting large possessions to Henry Ffolliott^ Baron of Ballyshannon, in 1622 — is held under the lord of the manor, and has jurisdiction within the town, and without it, about two miles in one direction and somewhat less in another, to the amount of 40s. — Bally shannon appears from its history to have been scourged witli many of the feuds which, in former times, arose from the unsettled condition of the country ; and it has still a fragment of the ancient castle of the Earls of T^rconnel, who were long chieftains of a large circumjacent district. George Farquhar, the comic dramatist, was a native. About a mile from the town stand the ruins of the abbey of Asheroe, by the side of a limpid stream, and crowning a very curious limestone rock. Area of the town, 352 acres ; of which 180 acres are in the Kilbarron section. Pop., in 1831, 3,775; in 1841, 4,307. Houses 597. Pop. of the Kilbarron section, in 1831, 2,385 ; in 1841, 2,423. House8409.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 153

43. Carrigafoyle Castle: O'Connor stronghold forfeited to Trinity College

    Carrigafoyle · townland · Kerry

    A castle, the ruins of which still exist on the south-west of the strait between the mainland and Carrigafoyle, once belonged to the O'Connors of Kerry. Along with all Iraghticonnor, it was forfeited by them in 1666 and bestowed upon Trinity College, Dublin.

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    AGH A V ALL AH. or Agbatallin. a parish on the northern border of the barony of Iraghticonnor, 4i^ miles west-south-west of Tarbert, co. Kerry, Munster. It contains the town of Balltlong- FORD : which see. Length, 4^ miles ; breadth, 2 ; area, 16,743 acres. Fop., in 1831, 5,698 ; in 1841, 6,606. Houses 1,072. Pop. of the rural districts, in 1831, 4.398 ; in 1841, 5.463. Houses 862. The surface declines northward to the Shannon, and skirts P|art of its noble and far-prolonged estuary. A considerable proportion of the land is marsh, beg, and coarse mountain pasture. The parochial area includes the island of Carrigafoyle : wliich see. A castle, the ruins of which still exist on the southwest of the strait between the mainland and Carrigafoyle, once belonged to the O'Connors of Kerry ; and, along with all Iraghticonnor. their peculiar territory, was forfeited by them in 1666, and bestowed upon

    Trinity College, Dublin This parish is a ncarage

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

44. Dominican friary at Ballinegall founded by the Roche family

    Ballingarry · town · Limerick · 1300–1597

    Ballinegall, a decayed hamlet near Kilmallock, was once a town of note built by the English. The Roche family founded a Dominican friary there in the 14th century, later granted by Queen Elizabeth to the University of Dublin.

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    BALL IN EG ALL, a decaved hamlet in the liberties of Kilmallock, co. Limerick, Munster. ** This," says Archdall. ** was a town of some note, and was built by the Englit^h : at present, it is only a poor vilhH^. The fiimily of Roche founded a monastery here for Dominican friars, in tbe 14ih century ; and

    BAL

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 151

45. Early monastery tradition at Antrim, c.495

    near Antrim · town · Antrim · 495–766

    Antrim claims an early monastery or church founded around 495 AD, attributed variously to St. Patrick, St. Aodh, or St. Durtract. If any such religious establishment existed, it is not traceable in record later than the year 766.

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    Antrim, like almost every other old town in Ireland, affects to begin its history with a monastery, or diurch, founded either by St. Patrick, or by one of his disciples. The date claimed in its case is 495, or some such high antiquity ; and the founder is now St. Patrick, now St Aodh, and now St. Durtract. If any early religious establishment existed — and very probably there did — it is not traceable in record later than the year 766. A periodical writer, who follows Camden as his authority, views St. Durtract as the founder, and seems disposed to connect the ecclesiastical edifice with the round tower described in our notice of the parish, says, '* A few years ago, in removing some old houses in the vicinity of the tower, extensive foundations and many human bones were discovered, which would lead us to conclude this to have been the site of the abbey mentioned by Camden. This is the more likely, as our towers always stand near some ancient place of worship." From 1665 tiU the Union, the town sent two members to parliament ; but it was simply a pocket-borough of the SkeflSngton or Massareiie family ; and the Union compensation of £15,000 for the loss of its franchise, was, without the annexation of any condition, divided in equal shares among four of the Skeffing-

    tons Sir Robert Savage, at the head of a small

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 121

46. Galley Head and old castle on the peninsula

    Ardfield · parish · Cork

    The peninsula of Ardfield parish extends into Ross bay and is crowned by the Galley Head (Dundeedy), an islet separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. Several caverns surround its base, and an old castle crowns its summit; mariners often mistook it for the Old Head of Kinsale.

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    ARDFIELD, a parish on the coast of the Ibane section of the barony of Ibane and Barryroe, co. Cork, Munster. It lies 4} miles south by east of Clonakilty; and runs out to the extremity of the peninsula on the east side of Ross bay. Part of the surface is upland and unproductive; but most if champaign, arable, and moderately fertile. A freshwater lake of about 52 acres is well stored with fish. The coast is bold, dentated with creeks, and occasionally perforated Mrith caves. The peninsula, like that 01 Kinsale, extends a considerable distance beyond the average coast-Kne ; is conspicuously high ; and suffers furious buffetings from the tempestuous wave. An islet at its extremity, separated from the mainland by a verv narrow channel, is regarded by seamen as the real headland, and used often to be mistaken by them for the old head of Kinsale. Several caverns worry the waves around its base ; and an old castle crowns its summit. The headland is the Dundeedy of topographists, and the Galley- Head of mariners. Length of the parish, 3 miles ; breadth, 2^; area, 2,645 acres. Pop., in 1831, 2,023: in 1841, 2,460. Houses 4l2.^This parish is a vicarage and separate benefice in the die. of Ross. Vicarial tithe composition, £92 6s. 1^. Gross income, £102 6s. l|d. ; nett, £95 10s. 9jd. Patron, the diocesan. The rectorial tithes are impropriate, compounded for £110 15s. 44d., and in the possession of Messrs. Foot and Roberts. A curate has a stipend of £50. A licensed school-house serves as the parochial place of worship. Attendance 28. The Roman Catholic chapel is attended by 1,500; and, jointW with the chapel of Rathbarry, u under the care of one officiate. In 1834, the Protestants amounted to 39, and the Roman Catholics to 2,039 ; a Sunday school was attended by 9 children ; and 3 daily schools, one of which was aided with £17 from the National Board, had on their books 147 boys and 177 girls. In 1840, a boys'

    ARD

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 121

47. Jemmy Anthony's parlour in old mill of Ballymahon

    Ballymahon · town · Longford

    The parlour of Jemmy Anthony in the old mill of Ballymahon, occupied by himself or his ancestors for a century, was ornamented with violins, hautboys, flutes and a French horn. He and his brothers made sonorous melody on the banks of the Inny about forty years before, delighting villagers on the bridge.

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    inhabitants. " His description of the alehouse/* says a writer, long and minutely acquainted with the locality, *' may be considered as applicable to mor^t of the habitations of the farmers in the neighbourhood of Lissoy and Ballymahon, where, until the late introduction of modern expensive habits, every parlour-floor was sanded or flagged, had ' its bed by night, a chest of drawers by day,' and exhibited either on a chimney-board, or in an open cupboard, a parcel of broken or unbroken pieces of china, glass, or stained earthenware ; while the walls were covered with gun-racks, fishing-tackle, and homely prints, anaong which latter ornaments, * the twelve good rules, and royal game of goose,' always obtained a conspicuous place. Thus was Jemmy Anthony's parlour once ornamented in the old mill oi Ballymahon, which had been by himself or his ancestors occupied for a centurjr ; but in his early days it boasted the addition of violins, hautboj^s, flutes, and a French horn, with which he and his ingenious brothers often made sonorous melody on the lovely banks of the Inny, about 40 years ago, and delighted the villagers who assembled in the summer evenings on the bridge to hear them." — The ancient castle of Ballymahon stood in the vicinity of the site of the present bridge, and was a place of considerable strength. The only vestiges of it are some vaults beneath a modern dwelling-house. Area of the Noughaval section of the town, 10 acres ; of the Shruel section, 47 acres. Pop. of the whole, in 1831, 1,081 ; in 1841, 1,229. Houses 197. Pop. ot the Shruel section, in 1841, 1,12S. Houses 179.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

48. Medieval burnings of Ballysadare

    Ballysadare · townland · Sligo · 1179–1188

    The village of Ballysadare was burned by the men of Moylisha and Moyltenary in 1179, and was a second time reduced to ashes in 1188. Despite these attacks, it remained a place of note in the sparsely inhabited ancient country of northern Connaught.

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    BALLYSADERE, a village, or small town, in the above parish, co. Sligo, Connaught. It standa at the foot of the cataracts noticed in the preceding article, and at the head of Ardnaglass Harbour, Ij^ mile north-northwest of Collooney, and 3 southwest of Sligo. It was a place of some note in those ancient times when the naturally wild and barren country of northern Connaught was thinly inhabited, and the towns, or even villages, were consec^uently few. In 1 179, it was burned by the men ot Moylisha and Moyltenary ; and in 1 188, it was a second time reduced to ashes. But though it possibly rose like a phcenix from the flames, it was prevented bjr the badness of its harbour, and by its vicinity to Sligo, from ever becoming a town of modern consequence. £. J. Cooper, Esq., its munificent proprietor, whose mansion and demesne nearly adjoin it, has of late years done much for its improvement, and appears to be successfully removing some serious obstacles to its prosperity. Its mills, its salmonfishery, and the clearance of the debouch of the Unshion into Ardnaglass bay, are features which indicate a new and prospering character. Fairs are held on Aug. 4, Nov. 12, and Dec. 15. Communications to the east, west, and south are enjoyed by the coaches in transit between Sligo and Ballina, and Sligo and Dublin. In 1842, the Ballysadere Loan Fund had a capital of £550, circuUted £2,605 in 650 loans, and both cleared in nett profit and expended for charitable purposes, £46 16s. lid — The abbey of Balhrsadere is described as consisting, at the period of the dissolution, of a church partly thatched, a dormitory, and the ruins of two othitr buildings; and it now exists in nearly the same state, N

    BAL

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

49. Monastic ruins of Bonamargy near Ballycastle

    Bonamargy · townland · Antrim

    The scenery south of Ballycastle includes Culfeightrin, dotted with white houses and interspersed with the monastic ruins of Bona-Marga and Churchfield. These ruins form part of the rich landscape visible from the town, described as superior to that from almost any other town in Ireland.

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    To the east, the sea-view is terminated by the lofty mountains of Argyleshire, above whose summits the steep crags of Arran are faintly seen, softened by distance into a delicate and almost ethereal tinge of blue. South-east, the basaltic promontory of Fair Head projects its grave and impressive outline to the sea. Culfeightrin, dotted with white houses, and interspersed with the monastic ruins of Bona- Marga, Churchfield, &c., extends its beauties to the south. South-west, Knocklead rises in a graceful waving line on the horizon ; while Danish raths, distant cottages, and the spire of Ballycastle church, glittering above the trees, give an admirable finish to the picture." — [Atkinson's Ireland Exhibited to England.]

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

50. Royal School of Armagh

    near Armagh · town · Armagh

    The Royal School in Armagh was founded by Primate Robinson at a cost of over £4,000. He wished to enlarge it into a university but was frustrated by government inaction, though he bequeathed £5,000 toward the project.

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    Armagb should be permitted to deliver prelections on theology. Florence Macarthy, as quoted by Sir Jamfcs Ware in his Antiquities of Ireland, asserts, though with little probability, that the nuDfiber of students at one time exceeded 7*000. The departments taught in the college were the vernacular tongue, grammar, rhetoric, logic, music, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and theology. — The present college, or grammar-school, or royal-school, was founded by Primate Robinson, and cost him upwards of £4,000. He wished to have ver^ greatly enlarged it, and rendered it an university ; and, had government co-operated with him, or afforded him the requisite facilities for the attainment of his object, he would have endowed the institution with the larger part of his great fortune. Even after being wearied with prolonged and final disappointment, he bequeathed £5,000 toward the extension of the college into an university, provided the foundation-stone were laid within 5 years of his decease ; but this last and affecting effort of his generosity, like every previous one, was defeated. The insti< tuUon, even on the limited Academy scale on which be was compelled to leave it, is great and influential. The building is situated at the base of a hill, nearly a furlong east of the north end of the Mall, on the road from College-street to the deanery. It is a spacious, regular, and handsome edifice ; admirably contrived for its purpose ; containing apartments for a master, a schoolroom of 56 feet b]^ 28, a large dining-room, and spacious airy dormitories ; and having appended to it every requisite accommodation, and an extensive enclosed play-ground. During the incumbency of Dr. Carpendale, who was appointed to its preceptorship by the founder, the institution was regarded as the Eton or Westminster of Ireland. An endowment, granted to it by Charles I. out of forfeited lands, yields nearly £1,400 a-year.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 135

51. St. Patrick founds archbishopric at Druimsailech

    near Armagh · town · Armagh

    St. Patrick obtained a grant of the hill Druimsailech from a local chief named Daire and changed the name of the place to Ardmagh. He planted his archbishop's see there, designing it for the primacy and metropolis of all Ireland.

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    Armagh, by a ScoitHih prince, upMrards of two centwies, or according to O'Connor, 358 yean before the Christian era. I'bis cfty clainifl to have been the capital of Ulster, and royal seat of the kings of the north ; and is said to have been sacked and burned, in the 4th centur^r. by a chieftain of Connaught, called Caibre Liffechar. Colgan affirms that, in his time, the ruins of the city were standing. Camden says that the ruins of the royal palace of the city, which both he and Speed, who wrote in 1614, call Owen MaHgh, were still visible near Armagh. O'Halleran, a modern author, also affirms their existence at the time when he wrote. Yet legends and traditions, which nowhere show more of the voracity of the shark than ki Ireland, seem wondrous shy in gulping down a morsel so exquisitely to their tflste as this pretty story of the city Eamaiiia. St. Patrick, who very generally figures in history as the founder of Armaf^h per excellence, and the founder of the great majority of Irish towns and villages which claim a high and ecclesiastical antiquity, is alleged to have been attracted to the spot by its metropolitical importaace^ and to have selected its vicinity as the site of ecclesiastical structures, and the scene of ecclesiastical ministrations, whose inllucnce should be paramount over all Ireland. He obtained from Daire, a chief of the circumjacent eountry, a grant of the hH\ Druimsailech, changed the name of the place to Ardmagb, and planted on it, if we can believe Jocelyn, ** his ardibnhop*8 see, designing it for the primacy, metropolis, and mistress of all Ireland." Yet, even after our caveat against being regarded as assenting to the truth of every purt of our brief outline, we might mislead a raw or young reader did we not tell him that little of really authentic matter, such as would satisfy a scrupulous historian whether of Catholic or Protestant faith, is known respecting St. Patrick. His biographers. Archbishop Usher, and Jocelyn the Lancashire monk, are likely to be followed by Episcopalians, and by Catholics ; but no writer sufficiently unconcerned in * the primacy, ' or the hagiology of St. Patrick, is yet before us whom we can follow as an altogether unbiassed guide ; and original or recondite sources of information— though we have glanced at some of them are

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 138

52. Three Pigeons alehouse at Lishoy

    Lissoy · townland · Westmeath

    An alehouse at Lishoy called the 'Three Pigeons' is cited as evidence supporting the identification of Lishoy with Goldsmith's Auburn, since the poet showed fondness for that name on multiple occasions.

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    AUBURN, LisHOY, or L^ssut, a hamlet or decayed village, in the parish and barony of Kilkenny- West, CO. VVestmeath, Leinster. It stands in a picturesque tract of country, not far from the beautiful arm of Lough Ree, called Killymore Lough, about 6 miles north-east of Athlone, and 3 southwest of Ballymahon, on the direct road between these towns. Lishoy is the proper name of the place ; and Auburn a name, first imposed by Goldsmith, and now generally adopted from admiration of his poetry. Both the village, and various places in its vicinity, are celebrated in connection with the family, nativity, history, and writings of the poet. See Ardach, Ballymahon, and Kilkenny- West. Topographists, tourists, and critics seem all to agree with the belief of the local populace, that Lissoy is Goldsmith's Auburn. *• I do not," says Mr. Inglis in 1834. whom we quote in preference to other writers, on account of his being more pleasingly minute, " I do not entertain the least doubt that the village of Lishoy is the Auburn of Goldsmith, though it in equally certiin that he has grafted upon its scenery English pictures of rural things and country life. Here are still the remains of *the busy mill ;' there the decent church still tops the neighbouring hill ; here is the village preacher's * modest mansion ;* and there the arch of stones within which stood the * hawthorn bush.' Lishoy was Goldsmith's favourite village ; he mentions it often, and always with enthusiasm, in his letters ; he passed his early years in it, or in its immediate neighbourhood, and could therefore say, 'Scenes of my youth.* All the scenery of the poem connects it with this village ; for although the perishable has perished, yet all is remembered to have l>een as Goldsmith painted it. The preacher's man&ion, now a roofless and windowless tenement, is known to have been the minister's hou<e ; and that minister is known to have been the poet's brother, and to have been, not the rector, but the curate,* on a small salary — perhaps £40 a-year, and, moreover, to have been loved and respected. The church— not in the viiWe, or its immediate neighbourhood, where a church generally is — but topping * the neighbouring hill,' is t>till seen as it it described. It is otdy a few years since the hawthorn bush was in its place ; and opposite, ' near yonder thorn,* stands the alehouse, though not the identical house with the ' nicely sanded floor' of which Goldsmith speaks. At some little distance from the village rises a mansion which belonged to a General Naper, who, some time after 1730, [1738?^ is known to have enclosed a domain, and to have ejected the tenantry. I had nearly omitted to observe, that in the name of the house where * news much older tbaii the ale went round,' there is strong evidence in favour of the claim of Lishoy. The alehouse is, and always has been, called the * Three Pigeons.' Now, Goldsmith has shown on more than one occasion, great fondness for this name. There is no doubt, however, that Goldsmith has grafted English life upon Irish scenery, and that rural life in an English village,

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 146

53. Two 13th-century monasteries as origin of Athy

    Athy · town · Kildare · 1200–1299

    The founding of two monasteries in the 13th century by English settlers is asserted to have been the origin of the town of Athy. The name Bally-da-Dhae ('the town of the two houses') seems to refer to these establishments, and both monks and inhabitants were principally of English nation.

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    Hiatory.] — A battle is said by Keating to have been fought in the 2d or 3d century, on the site of Athy, between the people of Munster and those of Leix, under Lavighseagh Cean Mordha ; and a ford at the place was anciently a practicable and frequented passage between the principality of Leix or Lavighseagh in Queen's co., and that of Celleagh or Caelian in CO Kildare. These two circumstances may account for two ancient names of the place, — Ath- Trodain, * the ford of conflict,' and Ath-Bhiedhbha, •the ford of the adversary.' The latter of these names, as pronounced in the Erse fashion, though looking in Roman letters as if unpronounceable, is ▼ery nearly the short modern Athv. But. a name by which — in the corrupted form ot Bla-Theag, pronounced Blahai, the town continues to be known — is Bally-da-Dhae, * the town of the two houses;' and seems evidently to refer to the two monasteries built in the !3th century. The founding of these establishments is asserted to have been the origin of the town ; and as they were founded by English settlers, not only the monks, but the inhabitants of the town, were principally of that nation. In 1308, the town was burnt by the Irish. In the following year. Lord John de Bonnerille, slain near the town of ArdskuU, was interred in the church of the Athy abbey of crouched friars. In 1315, the town was plundered by the Scots under Bruce ; and Haymond le Grace and Sir William Pendergrist on the English side, and Sir Fergus Andrissan and Sir Walter Murray on the Scots side, were slain at the battle of ArdskuU, and all interred in the Athy abbey of Dominican friars. See Ardskull : see also Ardree. About the year 1424, Thomas, seventh Earl of Kildare, then Lord Offaly, obtained, by marriage with Dorothea, daughter of Anthony O'More of Leix, th«* manors of Woodstock and Rheban, including the town of Athy, and established within them a courtbaron and court-leet. Various historical passages are connected with the castle of Woodstock : which see. Athy, from the gradual contraction of the English pale, became a ifrontier and garrison town, commanding an important passage over the Barrow, and, in this connection, it received the accession of the fortalice, the remaining tower of which is called White's Castle. In 1642, the Earl of Ormond arrived at the town with 3,000 foot and 500 horse ; and sent out from it parties to relieve the garrisons of Carlow, Ballinakill, Berte, Cloghgrennan, and

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 146

54. Whaley Abbey ruins on alleged monastic site at Ballykine

    Ballykine · parish · Wicklow

    An abbey was traditionally said to have been founded at Ballykine by a brother of St. Kevin, probably St. Dagan. Whaley Abbey was erected on the ancient site but is now in ruins; the proprietor Mr. Whaley resides in a nearby cottage.

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    BALLYKINE, a parish in the barony of South Ballinacor, co. Wicklow, Leinster. Area, 11,054 acres. Pop., in 1831, 2,634; in 1841, 2,755. Houses 433. "An abbey," says Archdall, ** was founded here by a brother of St. Kievin, — probably St. Dagan ; and the seat of Mr. Whaley, called Whaley Abbey, has been erected on the ancient site." This alleged abbey of " a brother of St. Kievan.'* had, in all likelihood, about the same claim to a really monastic character as WhaUy Abbey. Even the latter is now in ruins ; and the proprietor, Mr. W^haley, resides in a neat cottage in the vicinity. The site is near the village of Ballinaclash. See Ballina- CLA8II, Rathdru3I, and Acghrim. A large proportion of the parochial surface \& moorish and waste. The highest ground has an altitude of 1,318 feet. The hamlets are Aughrim, Ballinaclash, and Macreddin — This parish is ecclesiastically treated as one of four denominations, which constitute the pahsh of Rathdrum: see that article.

    BALLYKINLER, a parish in the barony of Lerale, 2 miles south-east by south of Clough, co. Down, Ulster. Area, 2,039 acres. Pop., in 1841, 793. Houses 133. It lies on the east side of Dundrum Harbour, and is traversed by the road from Dundrum to Downpatrick. An extensive rabbitwarren occurs on the shore. — This parish is a wholly impropriate rectory, in the dio. of Down.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

55. 1641 siege of Athlone by insurgents

    Athlone · town · Westmeath · 1641

    During the civil war of 1641, insurgents besieged the Lord-president Jones Lord Ranelagh in Athlone. They abandoned the siege upon the approach of the Earl of Ormond.

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    Such passages in the history of the town as possess interest, though few in number, have, for the most part, prominent connection with the general history of the island. In the reign of Elizabeth, Athlonecastle was the frequent retreat of the Earl of Essex during his sojourn in Ireland, and the place where he wrote several of his letters to the queen. In the civil war of 1641, the insurgents besieged the Lordpresident, Jones Lord Ranelagh, in Athlone; but abandoned their enterprise on the approach of the Earl of Ormond. In 1690. after the battle of the Boyne, Colonel Richard Grace, who had long been in James II. 's service, and was now at the head of 3 regiments of infantry, 9 troops of cavalry, and 2 troops of horse, fortified Athlone in the cause of his fallen master ; be set fire to the Leinster division of the town as indefensible, destroyed the central arches of the bridge, raised breastworks, redoubts, and other strengths in the bridge's vicinity, repoired the old fortifications of the Connaught town, aiMl both enlarged and augmented the batteries of the castle ; and when General Douglas, one of the ablest of King William's officers, appeared at the head of 4 regiments of horse, 2 of dragoons, and 10 of foot, and summoned Grace to surrender, the latter, firing a pistol at the messenger, said, ** These are my terms ; these only will I give or receive; and after n>y provisions are consumed, I will defend it till I eat my old boots." Douglas commenced and plied a siege with great vigour and bravery; but he eventually discovered his train of artillery to be insufficient for the enterprise, — he saw his best gunners killed, his most skilful engineers desponding, bis whole array crest-fallen and sickly, — and, says Leland, ** he decamped at midnight unmolested, and, in his terror of the enemy, marched by devious and painful routes to join the royal arm^, leaving the Protestant inhabitants, who had enjoyed the benefit of Irish protection till forced to join the besiegers, expo^^ed to the danger of experiencing the utmost severities." In his despatch to the Earl of Portland, just when about to abandon the siege, Douglas says, ** I have done my best endeavours at Athlone. All my powder is shot off except three barrels, and it has become absolutely .necessary to retire to Mullingar. Thhi place [Athlone]. I do assure your Lordship, is of the greatest consequence of any in Ireland." The Irish^ after Douglas's retreat, resumed possession of the Leinster town, repaired such of its fortifications as had not been destroyed, placed the bridge in a condition practicable for themselves but unavailable for an enemy, and adopted various measures to render their entire position in Athlone, as far as they could, impregnable. On the i8th June, 1691, the main division of William's army, under General De Ginckle, marched within bight of the town ; on the two following days, they battered the walls of the Leinster town, and drove the Irish within their fortifications; and, on the 2 1st, they rushed in a victorious torrent through breaches which they had maiie, and swept the besieged so impetuously before tliein that numbers were crushed to death in mutual pri'S-

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 146

56. Achill Head: 2,200-foot sea precipice

    near Achill Head · promontory · Mayo

    Achill Head is a noted cape forming the western extremity of Achill Island, where the mountain appears to have suffered disseverment from a sunk continent by some tremendous convulsion of nature. It sends down a shelving precipice of about 2,200 feet right to the water's edge.

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    miles. It is a huge alpine mass of eonglomento sandstone, with flat bogs on the north shore; dismally barren and desolate; and peopled by about 600 mountaineers and bog-trotters of most primitive manners. The only spot on its coast where the construction of a harbour seems practicable, if at Doobeg, behind a spit of boulders at tiie mouth of two mountain-streams. See Doobeo. A strait^ less than half-a-mile in mean breadth, and extending north and south, separates the peninsula from the island. This island is proximately triangular in form, and about 30 miles in circumference ; but is so indented as to possess 80 miles of coast Its area is 35,283 acres; and its population nearly or quite 4,000. Its surfiice is, for the most part, moan* tainous and extremely wild, consisting of large flat bogs on the east, and lofty hills of quarts rock on the other two sides ; and its shores, or rather alpine sea-walls, are more mural and stupendous than those of any equal extent of coast in Ireland. Its great height, combined with its seclusion, renders its cloud-cleaving summits such fit spots for the eyrejr, that almost any stranger ignorant of its name might call it Achill Island,— * the IsUnd of Eagles.' ▲ part of the mountain which forms the western extremity, and terminates in the noted cape of Achill Head, seems as if it had suffered disseverment from a sunk continent by some tremendous convulsion of nature, and sen(u down a shelvinc precipice of about 2,200 feet right to the water^ edge. Menaan Head, on the south coast, presides over mural and projecting cliffs of 700 feet and upwards, of altitude ; and commands a sublime vietr of the entanglement of mountain and ocean, the labyrinth of islands and bays, and the intricacy of a boldly and singularly featured landscape from the Alps of Cunnemara and Joyce country, to those of Erris and the Mullet, with the intervening tracery in Clew -bay and around Croaghpatrick, ana the interior heights of Coraan, Ballycroy, and Nephin. Achill Sound, which has a common opening from the ocean with Blacksod-ba^, and extends between Achill and the mainland, is, in one place, occupied athwart more than half its breadth by the island of Innisbegil : which see. The intervening strait is called the Bull's Mouth, and is swept by a careering and dangerous tidid current The southem part of the sound, or that which washes Coraan, is fordable at low water, and '* seems," says Mr. Nimmo, *' the natural place for establishing anything like a village or seaport-town." Achill, with the exception of a small part which belongs to the marquis of Sligo, is all the property of Sir Neil O'Donnell. Its mhabitants, till within the last 8 or 9 years, were in a condition, as to manners, ideas, and arts, little if at all different from their ancestors of the 14th or 15th century. In dress, habitations^ agricultural instruments, and many other particulars which immediately meet the eye of a stranger, they were rude, poor, and outre, to a degree which pro* yoked sharp competition between wonder and com* passion. Though greatly improved by the infloeiioa of schools, of public works, and especially of the Achill mission, they still very generally possess the old peculiarities. They reside principally in hamlets, each of which has been described as ** a con* p^eries of hovels thrown indiscriminately together as if they fell in a shower from the sky." Little of their land, has yet been cultivated ; and the little that has, is chiefly manured with sea- weed and shellsand from the shores, for the rearing of a precarious potatoe crop. They possess altogether about 100 boats, and employ them principally in carrying torf to Westport. They are regarded by the nshermea of Clew-bay as quite ignorant of the craft of fish-

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

57. Allihies copper mine

    Allihies · townland · Cork

    A copper mine near Castletown-Berehaven was highly productive, yielding 6,000 to 7,000 tons annually. The output was valued at £9 per ton.

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    All the preceding were worked by the Mining Companj of Ireland; and the following were worked by other parties : — ^Moneypoint quarry, within 4 miles of Eilrush, on a cliff overhanging the Shannon, in co. Clare, produces a fine, hard, close-grained, gritty flag, varying from 1^ to 4 inches in thickness, and containing from 10 to 20 superficial feet, and it yielded about 60,000 yards per annum, worth £2,250 at the quarry; the Clounderlough quarry, at Cloonderlough bay. Lough Berg, co. Clare, produces a fine Bourdella marble, and was open only for specimens ; the lead mines near Ennis, co. Clare, were of unascertained condition ; the Rockfarm limestone quarries, situated on Little Island, opposite to West Passage, and thence a mile along the verge of the Cork river in co. Cork, annually produced 12,000 tons of manufactured, and 44,000 tons of rough limestone, the former worth 13s. per ton, and the latter worth Is. 4d. ; the Irish dove marble and limestone quarries at Carrigacrump near doyne, in co. Cork, produced 2,000 tons and upwards per annum, the value of which depended on the mode of manufacture ; the Allihies copper mine, near Castletown-Berehaven, in co. Cork, produced from 6,000 to 7,000 tons per annum, worth £9 per ton ; the Audley copper mine, near Skibbereen, in co. Cork, was of unascertained condition ; the Dromagh collieries, near Kanturk, co. Cork, were of unascertained condition ; the lead mines near Newtown- Ardes, in co. Down, were of unascertained condition ; the black marble quarry, situated chiefly bn the estate of Sir Valentine Blake, on the verge of Lough Corrib, in CO. Galway, produced about 1,000 tons per annum, worth from £1 to £% per ton at London and New York ; the quarry of very fine sienna and dove marble at Shannon Harbour, in co. Galway, was of unascertained condition ; the Yalentia quarry, on the Island of Yalentia, co. Kerry, yields 4t>ofing slate and flagging — the latter stronger, larger, and more handsome than almost any other flagging which even the London market can command, — and annually produced to the value of about £\ ,800 in flags, and ;£650 in slates ; the Castlecomer, Clough, and Newtown collieries, in co. Kilkenny, annu* ally produced 42,544 tons of coal, and 53,354 tons of cubn, the former worth from 15s. to 20s. per ton, and the latter from 48. to 5s. ; the Faroda colliery, in co. Kilkenny, produced 2,500 tons per annum, worth 6s. 8d. per ton ; the Callylihane, Wolf hill, Clogrenna, and Camafea collieries, in co. ' Kilkenny, produced 16,000 tons per annum, worth 4s. per ton ; the Rushes, Dromagh, TaUerton, Ardategle, and Courleane collieries, in co. Kilkenny, were, for the time, not worked ; the Clonmacnoise marble quarry, in King*s co., produces a shell-grey marble, variously tinted, and of a sound and useful description, but was of unascertained condition ; the Arigna mines, extending over the western side of Lough Allen, in counties Leitrim and Roscommon, produced about 2,340 tons of iron ; a quarry near the Askeaton road, about 7 miles from the city of Limerick, produces a fine maroon coloured marble, but had not been worked to any considerable extent ; Lyons, Ballysimon, and Guillogue quarries, in the vicinity of the city of Limerick, produce black marble in blocks of any size, but were of unascertained condition ; the Dromineer quarry, on the shores of Lough Derg, CO. Tipperary, produces a dove-coloured shell marble, in great quantity ; the Castlebegs quarry, on the shores of Lough Derg, co. Tipperary, produces a dull black marble, but was of unascertained condition ; the Slieveardagh collieries, near Killenaule, in co. Tipperary, annually produced 20,000 tons, worth 10s. per ton ; the Dromglass colliery, near Dungannon, in co. Tyrone, was of unascertained condition ; the Coal-Island colliery, near Dungannon, in co. Tyrone, was also of unascertained condition ; the Ballymurtagh copper mine, near Rathdrum, in co. Wicklow, annually produced from 5,000 to 6,000 tons, worth ;£4 per ton ; the Cronebane and Tygroney copper mines near Rathdrum in co. Wicklow, annually produced from 4,000 to 5,000 tons, worth £A per ton ; the Connoree copper mine near Rathdrum, in co. Wicklow, annually produced from 1,000 to 1,500 tons, worth £6 per ton ; the Ballygahan copper mine near Rathdrum, in co. Wicklow, annually produced from 200 to 300 tons, worth £A per ton ; the Glenmalure lead mine near Rathdrum, in CO. Wicklow, annually produced from 180 to 200 tons, i^rorth £15 per ton,

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 23

58. Allua (Allo) river and Spenser's poetic associations

    Kanturk · town · Cork

    The romantic river Allua rises among the Mulloghareirk mountains and washes the town of Kanturk before joining the Blackwater. Spenser sang this river but inaccurately placed it tumbling from the distant mountains of Slievelogher.

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    " And AUo, Irr fam'd Spenser styled the Strang Irapetuoas from her mountains rolls along ; Kanturk's proud ruins soften in her course. And Joins her sister hut «rith half her force."

    ^ ALLUA, or Lca, a lake formed by the expaii* tion of the river Lee, and terminating a mile west of Inchegeelagh, co. Cork, Munster. It is about 3 miles^ in length, but, in many places, is inconsider* able in breadth. The new road to Bantry winds beautifully along the shore ; and the Berehaven line of railway, as projected by the Commissioners, will pass along the northern margin. The scenery of the lake is mountainous and naturally imposmgi but has been grievously impaired, and stnpped almost to savageness, by the destruction of woods whidi sheeted its shores and islets.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

59. Ardbraccan white limestone quarry

    Ardbraccan · townland · Meath

    A white limestone quarried on the lands of Ardbraccan is peculiarly suitable for embellished architecture, being purely white when chiselled and assuming a dark greyish tint when polished. Unlike much building-stone in Ireland, it neither absorbs water nor contracts a green hue from lichen growth. The stone was used in the construction of Ardbraccan House itself.

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    liter. It contains part of the village of Booermeen: whirli SCO. Length, 5J miles ; breadth, 4 ; area, 6,491 acres. Pop., in 1831. 3,799; in 1841, 4,596. Houses 678. Pop. of the rural districts in 1841. 3,884. Houses 536. The land is. for the most part, arable and good. The surface, in common with that of five contiguous parishes with which it is ecclesiastically united, is a luxuriant plain, skirted along the west with bog, and relieved in its flatness principally by a richly wooded and conspicirous hill, having somewhat the form of an obtruncated cone. A white limestone, quarried on the lands of Ardbraccan. is peculiarly suitable for embellished architecture : it is purely white when chiselled, and assumes a dark greyish tint when polished ; it becomes blackish when long exposed to the air, but can be restored by chi-ielling ; and, unlike much of the building-stone in Ireland, it neither absorbs water, nor contracts a green hue from nurturing the growth of lichens. Ardbraccan, *'the knoll ot' Braccan," is Raid to have been, in 650, made the site of a religious establishment by St. Braccan. The saint, whether Culdee or whatever else, is in the u^iial style represented as having made the affair both a see and an abbey ; and he currently figures in story as the first of a line of local bishops and abbots. The religious house, whether cathedral or abbey, or both, or neither, was often plundered and burned by hostile dymists and by Danes ; and is said to have partly fallen to the ground in 1170. The see was one of several small bishoprics which became consolidated into the see of Meath. A " strong castle" — at least an edifice designated such in a scarce pamphlet which details many events of the rebellion of 1641 — was, from an early period, the episcopal residence of this great diocese. Ardbraccan-house, the successor of the castle, and the present episcopal palace of Meath, was built since 1766 from designs by James Wyatt, Esq., and is regarded, for beauty and splendour, as the second edifice of its class in Ireland. It is composed of the Ardbraccan limestone; consists of a main building and two wings, connected by circular walls and niches ; and combines the magnificence of the palace with the comfort of the English mansion. The circumjacent demesne is extensive, and highly as well as tastefully embellished ; and. among various beautiful trees and shrubs, it contains some cedars of Lebanon and other exotics, planted bjr the oriental traveller Pococke during the time of his being bishop of Meath. A small, ill-designed, and ill-sculptured slab in the churchyard of the parish does burlesqueing duty as a monument to Bishop Pococke. The tomb of George Montgomery, bishop of Meath and Clogher, stands on the north side of the slab ; and strongly fixes attention by its minglement of pretension, barbarousness. and absurdity. Figures which it exhibits of the bishop, his wife, and his daughter, are the rudest productions of the chisel that can well be conceived. Beneath the figures are the words. *' Surges morieris. judicaberis." On the east side is a bust, with three plumes surmounted by a mitre ; above the mitre is a cup. with a representation of the Roman Catholic sacramental wafer; ami beneath the bust are two swords, laid across each other, and intersprinkled with fleurs-de-lis. On the west side is an angel blowing a trumpet, and a shield charged with armorial bearings, and surmounted also with a cup and the Roman Catholic wafer. An old square tower near this masterpiece of absunlity is surmounted by a spire and a vane, and forms a noticeable object in the plain.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 121

60. Ardee burned by O'Niel in 1538

    Ardee · town · Louth · 1538

    Due to its location on the northern frontier of the English pale, Ardee was exposed to attacks from the northern Irish. In 1538, the town was burned by an invading force from Ulster under O'Niel.

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    Lords of Athirdee; they were not only wealthy, but greatly distinguished in Leinster and in several of the midland counties of England ; and having adopted Athirdee as their chief residence, and made it the site of two monastic establishments, they could hardly fail to attract to it a large population. The manor was surrendered by Ralph de Pipard to Edward I., and was granted by Edward II. to Sir John Birmingham, whom he created Earl of Louth. The town severely suffered, in common with its Carmelite friary, from the sanguinary assault of the Scotn and Irish under Edward Bruce ; and, owing to it* position on the northern frontier of the English pale, it was exposed to frequent and fierce attacks froin the northern Irish. In 1538, it was burned by an invading force from Ulster under O'Niel ; ana in 1641, it was captured by the joint force of the troops of Sir Phelim O'Niel, and the disaffected in the north of Leinster. On the latter occasion. Sir Henry Tiehburne marched to its relief, and after a sharp contest about a mile from the town, and a skirmish at the foot of the bridge, succeeded in expelling the enemy. Ardee gives the title of Baron m the Irish peerage to the family of Brabazaii, EarU of Meath.

    ARDEE, CO. Kildare. See Ardree.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 121