By Samuel Lewis, 1837
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EAGLE ISLAND.--See KILMORE-ERRIS.
EARLSTOWN, a parish, in the barony of SHILLELOGHER, county of KILKENNY, and province of LEINSTER, 2 3/4 miles (E.) from Callan, on the road from Desart to Thomastown; containing 679 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the King's river, here crossed by a stone bridge, and comprises 2916 statute acres. Kilcoran is the residence of J. Baker, Esq.; and Newtown House, of the Rev. B. Morris. It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Ossory, forming part of the union of Kells: the tithes amount to £197. 9. 9 1/4. In the R. C. divisions it is part of the union of Callan, and contains a chapel. Here is a private school of about 100 children. At Castle-Eve are the remains of an old castle, with a moat and fortifications; in the Newtown demesne is a square tower castle, in a good state of preservation; and there are some small remains of the old church, with a burial-ground.
EASKEY, a parish, in the barony of TYRERAGH, county of SLIGO, and province of CONNAUGHT, 11 1/2 miles (N. N. E.) from Ballina, on the old road to Sligo; containing 6124 inhabitants, of which number, 289 are in the village. This parish is situated on the north-west coast, between the entrances to the bays of Sligo and Killala; it includes the Point of Kinesharrow, called also Rathlee Point, and comprises 12,977 statute acres, principally under an improving system of tillage; there is a large quantity of bog. Limestone, which abounds with fossils, is found on the sea shore: much sea-weed is collected for manure. The village consists of one long street of 76 houses, and has petty sessions once a fortnight, a market on Wednesday for provisions, fairs on June 3rd and Nov. 18th, and is a chief constabulary police station; fairs are also held at Rosslee in July, and on Oct. 28th. Fortland, pleasantly situated on the banks of the river Easkey, is the residence of R. Jones, Esq., proprietor of the salmon fishery here; Castletown, of T. Fenton, Esq., and Rathlee, of T. Jones, Esq. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Killala, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the rectory is appropriate to the see. The tithes amount to £586. 14. 5., equally divided between the bishop and the vicar. The glebe-house, on a glebe of nine acres, was built by a gift of £300, and a loan of £500 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1815. The church is a neat building with a square tower, erected by aid of a loan of £1342, from the same Board; the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £130 for its repair. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church, and contains a chapel. Here is also a place of worship for Baptists. About 600 children are educated in five public schools; and at Killenduff is a school supported by Col. Irwin, who built the school-house, and endowed it with three acres of land. In the village are the ruins of the old parish church; and there are considerable remains of the old castle of Rosslee, formerly belonging to the O'Dowds, and, on the opposite side of the river, the remains of another, on the lands of Castletown. There are several Danish forts, and on the lands of Townamodagh is a cromlech, seven feet high, and supported by four square pillars. The shores of the parish are bold and rocky, and abound with curiosities. At Alternan is a station, holy well, and saint's bed, named after St. Ernanus, and much frequented by pilgrims; the patron is held on the last Sunday in July. Near Fortland is a chalybeate spring.
EASTERSNOW, a parish, in the barony of BOYLE, county of ROSCOMMON, and province of CONNAUGHT, 3 1/2 miles (S. S. E.) from Boyle, on the new line of road from Tulsk, through Shankill; containing 1951 inhabitants. It comprises 3199 statute acres, of which the greater part is under tillage, and there are several large grazing farms; about one-tenth is bog, and there are some quarries of good limestone. To the west of the church are the Cavetown loughs, bounded by hills and plantations. At the head of the largest is Croghan House, the seat of the late R. Mahon, Esq., now the property of Guy Lloyd, Esq., and on a hill beyond it is an obelisk, forming a conspicuous landmark. On the opposite shore is Clogher, the seat of J. Dick, Esq. The other seats are Camlin, that of J. Irwin, Esq., and Granny, of T. Irwin, Esq.; and on the road to Elphin are several neat residences, on the property of Viscount Lorton. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Elphin, episcopally united, in 1813, to the vicarage of Kilcola, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the rectory is impropriate in Lord Crofton. The tithes amount to £60. 16., one-half payable to the impropriator, and the other to the vicar; and the tithes of the benefice amount to £62. 14. 2., to which is added £39 per ann. from the Augmentation fund. The glebe-house was erected by aid of a gift of £337, and a loan of £70. from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1821. The church, a very plain edifice, is situated in a deep hollow near the southern extremity of the "Plains of Boyle," of which this parish is considered to be the limit. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Croghan and Ballinameen. The parochial school, and a school under the patronage of Mrs. Irwin, of Camlin, afford instruction to about 80 children; and there is also a private school, in which are about 30 children. In Cavetown are some caves partially filled up; they are said to extend to a very great length. There are also some scarcely perceptible vestiges of an old castle, called Moylerg, which is said to have belonged to the Mac Dermotts.
EDDY ISLAND, in Galway bay, parish of DROMACOO, barony of DUNKELLIN, county of GALWAY, and province of CONNAUGHT, 5 miles (S. by E.) from Galway: the population is returned with the parish. It comprises 95 acres of land, and is a prebend in the diocese of Kilmacduagh, and in the patronage of the Bishop, endowed with a portion of the tithes of Dromacoo, amounting to £6. 6. With other lands it was granted by Chas. II., in 1667, to Dr. Robert Georges, at a rent of £1. 2. 10 3/4. Here are the ruins of an old castle.
EDENDERRY, a market and post-town, in the parish of CASTROPETRE, barony of COOLESTOWN, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 9 miles (E.) from Philipstown, and 32 1/2 (W.) from Dublin, on the mail coach road from Conard, and close to the bog of Allen; containing 1427 inhabitants. This place, in the 16th century, obtained for a time the name of Coolestown from the family of Cooley, or Cowley, who had a castle here, which in 1599 was defended by Sir George Cooley against the insurgents in the Earl of Tyrone's rebellion, and in 1691 was sacked by a part of the army of Jas. II., under Lieut.-Col. O'Connor. It is near the right bank of the Grand Canal, from which a branch has been carried for nearly half a mile close up to the town; the late Marquess of Downshire gave the ground, and contributed £1000 towards the expense. The town consists of one wide street, from which diverge several smaller streets, and contains 214 houses, well built of stone and slated; it is well paved and supplied with water, and is rapidly improving. Adjoining, and now forming a part of it, under the name of Downshire Row, on the road to Monasteroris, are several tenements, formerly the small village of Glann, which the Marquess of Downshire has greatly improved and let to occupiers with about one rood of garden to each, at a nominal rent of one shilling per ann. A coarse kind of worsted stuff is made here, affording employment to 30 families, and there are a tanyard and a brewery. The market, in which considerable business is transacted, particularly in the corn trade, is on Saturday; fairs are held on Shrove-Tuesday, the Thursday after Whitsuntide, and Nov. 4th. A constabulary police force has been stationed here, and petty sessions are held on alternate Saturdays. The town-hall, a handsome building of stone, recently erected at an expense of £5000 by the Marquess of Downshire, proprietor of two-thirds of the town, affords in the lower part accommodation for the corn-market; and the upper part contains a large handsome room for assemblies and public meetings, with several offices, and in which the sessions and other courts are held. In the town is the parochial church, also a place of worship for the Society of Friends; and about 3/4 of a mile distant is a R. C. chapel. There are some remains of the old castle, and about half a mile from the town are the ruins of the old abbey of Monasteroris, formerly a place of great strength; it held out for a considerable time against the Earl of Surrey, in 1521.--See CASTROPETRE.
EDERMINE, a parish, in the barony of BALLAGHKEEN, county of WEXFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 2 1/2 miles (S. by E.) from Enniscorthy, on the mail coach road from Wexford to Dublin; containing 213 inhabitants. This parish comprises 4015 statute acres, chiefly under tillage: the soil, which is productive, contains a great quantity of blue and red marl, and the state of agriculture is improving. The gentlemen's seats are Edermine, the residence of Laurence Toole, Esq.; and Rochfort, of J. Jervis Emerson, Esq. Fairs are held at the village of Oylgate on March 1st, May 21st, and Aug. 15th, chiefly for cattle. The projected canal from Pool Darragh to Enniscorthy will pass through the parish. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Ferns, united in 1806 to the vicarage of Ballynaslaney, together constituting the union and corps of the prebend of Edermine in the cathedral of Ferns, and in the gift of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £276. 18. 5 1/2., and the entire tithes of the union to £332. 6. 1 3/4. The church, a neat edifice in the later English style, with a square tower surmounted with pinnacles, was built in 1811 by a gift of £200, and a loan of £600, from the late Board of First Fruits. It is beautifully situated on an eminence near the Slaney, and being surrounded by a thriving plantation, forms a picturesque object. A grant of £134 has been lately made by the Ecclesiastical Board for its complete repair. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Oylgate, which also comprises the parishes of Ballynaslaney and Ballyhuskard; and contains the chapels of Oylgate and Glanbryan. The former has been recently rebuilt, and adjoining it a residence for the parish priest, and a public school, have been erected. In this school, and in a school supported by the Protestant clergyman, and two private schools, about 80 children are educated. A holy well, dedicated to St. Coorawn, is chiefly resorted to by the peasantry for the cure of diseases of infants.
EDERNEY, a village, in the parish of MAGHERACULMONY, barony of LURG, county of FERMANAGH, and province of ULSTER, 2 miles (N.) from Kish, on the road from Enniskillen to Derry; containing 32 houses and 132 inhabitants. It is the property of the Rev. Mr. West, who is about to erect a market-house and some good dwelling-houses. Fairs are held on March 1st, May 16th, July 18th, Oct. 6th, Nov. 28th, and the 17th of every other month.
EDGEWORTH'STOWN, or MOSTRIM, a market and post-town, and a parish, in the barony of ARDAGH, county of LONGFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 6 3/4 miles (E. by S.) from Longford, on the road to Mullingar, and 52 (W. N. W.) from Dublin; containing 4744 inhabitants, of which number, 1001 are in the town, which takes its name from its proprietors, the family of Edgeworth, distinguished for their literary talents. In 1798 it was entered by a party of the insurgents, after the landing of the French in Kilcummin bay, when the mansion, from which the family had hastily retired, was left untouched. It contains 167 houses, and has a neat and improving appearance, the greater part having been rebuilt. It has a constabulary police station, and a dispensary. The market is on Wednesday; and fairs are held on the day before Shrove-Tuesday, May 5th, July 2nd, Sept. 12th, Nov. 5th, and the third Wednesday in December. The parish comprises 8126 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. Edgeworth'stown House, the seat of Lovell Edgeworth, Esq., is a handsome mansion in tastefully disposed grounds, laid out in lawns and plantations; it is also the residence of Maria Edgeworth. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Ardagh; the rectory is partly impropriate in Messrs. Greville and Kearney, and Sir J. B. Piers, Bart., and partly united with the vicarage, which is in the patronage of the Bishop. The tithes amount to £329. 10. 9., of which £117. 4. 7. is payable to the impropriators, and £212. 6. 2. to the incumbent. The church is a handsome edifice, with a spire of iron framework covered with Welsh slate; it was erected by aid of a gift of £150, and a loan of £500, from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1811, and contains a mural tablet to the memory of the late R. Lovell Edgeworth, Esq., who died in 1817. In the R. C. divisions the parish is united to part of Killoe; the chapel is a large handsome building. There are two schools supported by subscription, and one by Miss Edgeworth; in these about 25 boys and 60 girls are instructed, and there are six private schools, in which are about 270 boys and 110 girls.
EFFIN, a parish, partly in the barony of COSTLEA, but chiefly in that of COSHMA, county of LIMERICK, and province of MUNSTER, 1 3/4 mile (S. S. W.) from Kilmallock, on the road to Charleville; containing 2090 inhabitants, and comprising 8281 statute acres, of which 5138 are applotted under the tithe act. The land is excellent and much under tillage, and the mountain pasture good; the meadows attached to dairy farms are very productive. Newpark is the residence of J. Balie, Esq,; and Maiden Hall, of R. Low Holmes, Esq. It is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Limerick, constituting the corps of the prebend of Effin in the cathedral of Limerick, and in the patronage of the Earl of Dunraven; the tithes amount to £320, and there is a glebe of seven acres. The church is in ruins, and the inhabitants attend that of Kilmallock. In the R. C. divisions it is united with those of Kilbreedy-minor and Kilquane; there are two small chapels, one at Effin, the other at Kilbreedy. About 90 children are taught in two hedge schools.
EFFISHBREDA, an extra parochial district, in the barony of ENNISHOWEN, county of DONEGAL, and province of ULSTER, 2 miles (N. W.) from Buncrana, on the road to Clonmany; containing 32 inhabitants. It comprises a wild mountain district lying between Desertegney and Lower Fahan, chiefly occupied by small farmers, and is nominally in the parish of Desertegney.
EGLISH, a parish, partly in the barony of ARMAGH, but chiefly in that of TURANEY, county of ARMAGH, and province of ULSTER, 4 1/2 miles (N. W.) from Armagh, on the road from Caledon to Charlemont; containing 5419 inhabitants, and comprising, according to the Ordnance survey, 10,574 3/4 statute acres, of which 7146 are in the barony of Turaney; 9840 acres are applotted under the tithe act, of which about one-fifth is pasture; 526 are tithe free; and there is a small portion of waste land. Agriculture flourishes, the land is excellent, and the country much ornamented by the plantations of Elm Park, Knappagh, and Glenaule. There are quarries of limestone, which is much used for building and burning for manure. The Ulster canal passes through this parish: the inhabitants combine with husbandry the weaving of linen cloth. The seats are Elm Park, that of the Earl of Charlemont; Knappagh, of James Johnston, Esq.; Glenaule, of Joseph Johnston, Esq.; the glebe-house, of the Rev. W. Barlow; and the modern residences of B. Eyre and R. Cross, Esqrs., bordering on the county of Tyrone. It is a rectory and perpetual cure, in the diocese of Armagh; the rectory forms part of the union of Armagh, and the perpetual cure was instituted under the act of the 7th of Geo. III., cap. 17, and is in the patronage of the Rector. The tithes amount to £469. 0. 10.: the income of the perpetual curate is £200 per ann. arising from £100 paid by the rector, and £100 derived from the glebe lands. The glebe-house is commodious, and is situated on a glebe of 64 statute acres, given for that use by the late Joseph Johnston, Esq., of Knappagh, to Primate Robinson, who built the house. The same benefactor also gave the ground on which the old church and parish school-house were built, and six acres for the use of the schoolmaster. The church is a large handsome edifice, having a square tower with pinnacles; it was erected in 1821, 1 1/2 mile south-east from the site of the old one, at a cost of £2000, partly by subscription, and partly from a loan of £1000 from the late Board of First Fruits. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Armagh, and contains a chapel. There is a parochial school on the glebe, aided by private subscriptions; two are supported by Lord and Lady Charlemont; one by endowment of seven acres of land and a house for the master, by Primate Robinson; one by the perpetual curate: Ballymartrum school, built and supported by Mr. Johnston, who has endowed it with an acre of land; and one, the school-house of which was built by Mr. Jackson. In these schools about 330 children are instructed. There is also a private school, the master of which has a house rent-free. The strongholds and palaces of the Hy Nials, Kings of Ulster, stood in this parish, mention of which is made in the 6th century by St. Fiech, and some traces exist on the townland of Crieve-Roe; they are called "the king's stables" by the country people. The extensive and nearly perfect fort of Navan, with its deep fosses and earthworks, occupies the entire summit of a hill. Not far from Navan is Lisdown, or "the city of forts," which gives name to the townland on which it stands. The ruins of the old church form a picturesque object on the summit of a hill near the western confines of the parish.
EGLISH, a parish, partly in the barony of LOWER ORMOND, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, but chiefly in that of EGLISH, or FIRCAL, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 3 miles (N. E.) from Parsonstown, on the road to Tullamore; containing 3290 inhabitants. This parish is six miles in length by four in breadth, and comprises 7722 statute acres: there is a great deal of bog, and some limestone for building and burning. Eglish Castle is the residence of Capt. English; Tullinisky, of Handy Dynelly, Esq.; Whigsborough, of R. Drought, Esq.; and here is the residence of the Rev. W. Parsons. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Meath, forming part of the union of Fircall; the rectory is impropriate in the Marquess of Downshire. The tithes amount to £148. 12. 3., of which £96. 18. 5. is payable to the impropriator, and the remainder to the vicar: the glebe comprises 116a. 2r. 38p., the annual value of which is £99. 8. The church is a very old building. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also Drumcullin parish, in each of which is a chapel. There are six private schools, in which about 240 children are instructed.
EGLISH, county of TIPPERARY.--See AGLISHCLOGHANE.
EGMONT.--See CHURCHTOWN.
EIRKE, a parish, partly in the barony of UPPER OSSORY, QUEEN'S county, but chiefly in that of GALMOY, county of KILKENNY, and province of LEINSTER, 85 miles (S. W.) from Durrow, on the road from Rathdowney to Johnstown; containing 5565 inhabitants, and comprising 15,750 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, valued at £10,370. 6. per annum. About 2000 acres are bog. Two fairs are held at Bawn for cattle and horses; and here is a constabulary police station. Livally is the seat of -- Fitzgerald, Esq. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Ossory, and in the patronage of the Crown; the tithes amount to £692. 6. 1 3/4. The glebe-house was built by aid of a gift of £100 and a loan of £800 from the late Board of First Fruits; the glebe comprises 15a. 25p. The church is a plain building, erected in 1823, towards which the late Board lent £650. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also those of Fartagh and Glashane, and containing three chapels, two in Eirke and one in Fartagh; to the chapel at Moninamuck, in this parish, Lord Courtown gave an acre of land and £50 towards the expense of its erection; it is in contemplation to rebuild the other. The parochial school is aided by the rector, and has a house and an acre of land rent-free: about 50 boys and 50 girls are taught in it. There are also nine private schools, in which are about 500 children.
ELPHIN, a market and post-town, the seat of a bishoprick, and a parish, in the barony and county of ROSCOMMON, and province of CONNAUGHT, 8 1/2 miles (S. by E.) from Boyle, and 80 1/2 (W. N. W.) from Dublin, on the road from Roscommon to Boyle; containing 6643 inhabitants, of which number, 1507 are in the town. . This city appears to have arisen as a dependency on the religious establishment that was founded by St. Patrick in the fifth century: it was burned in 1177 and destroyed by the English in 1187. Its name appears to be derived from Ail Fin, "the white stone or rock," though connected by vulgar tradition with the giant Fin MacCoul. About the year 1450, Bishop Cornelius converted the conventual church of St. Patrick into a Franciscan monastery, to which the canons and inhabitants of Elphin were likewise benefactors. Bishop King who presided over the see from 1611 to 1638, erected a castle for himself and his successors, and attached to it lands which he had purchased. This castle, in 1645, was delivered into the hands of the Lord-President of Connaught by Bishop Tilson, who retired to England: his son was then governor of Elphin and had just declared for the parliament. The town, which consists of about 260 houses, is on a ridge, and presents a pleasing appearance on entering it from the south. The main street is wide, and in the centre is a covered fountain which supplies pure water. A market has been established by the bishop on Wednesdays, for which a market-house will be erected; and fairs are held on May 3rd, June 27th, Sept. 26th, and Dec. 10th. Petty sessions are held every Wednesday, and it is a chief constabulary police station. The parish comprises 8962 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. It is partly under tillage, but principally in pasture, and large quantities of butter are exported by the river Shannon, Here are quarries of limestone and a considerable tract of bog. The principal seats are Smith Hill, that of the Rev. J. Lloyd; Cloonyquin, of W. French, Esq.; Foxborough, of P. Taaffe, Esq., and Raheen, of Major Fawcett.
 Arms of the Archbishoprick |
The rectory of Elphin is united time immemorially with the rectory of Ogulla, forming the corps of the deanery of Elphin, which is in the patronage of the Crown. The tithes of Elphin amount to £221. 10. 9., those of Ogulla to £93. 16. 5 3/4., and the annual value of the deanery, including 238 acres of glebe land, is £532. 12. 9. The glebe-house, or deanery, is a good residence on the western side of the town, built by aid of a gift of £100 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1816. The cathedral, which has for more than a century been used as the parish church, is dedicated to St. Mary: the late Board of First Fruits gave £300, in 1759, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners recently gave £121 for repairing it. It is a plain modernised building, about 80 feet long by 28 feet broad, with an ancient square tower: the interior is very neat, and at the eastern end are the bishop's throne and the dignitaries' stalls; several tombstones of bishops interred here are built in the wall of the vestry, and in the body of the church a handsome monument has been recently erected to the memory of the late Rev. Wm. Smith, V. G., and master to the diocesan school, by his pupils. In the R. C. divisions this parish is the head of a union or district, comprising Elphin, Shankill, and Kilmacumsey, and containing chapels at Elphin, Ballyroddy, and Flask. Besides the diocesan school, in which the celebrated Oliver Goldsmith was educated, there are two public schools, to which the bishop contributes £20 and the dean £7 annually: about 230 children are educated in these schools, and about 570 in nine private schools. The children who attend the public schools are clothed annually by the bishop, who also contributes largely to the support of a dispensary. Here is a loan fund, with a capital of £700. A cromlech which stood here has been thrown down, and a patron that was held at Tubbermurry is almost discontinued. Here are Rath Croghan and Rilickna Riagh, places remarkable for their caves and ancient burial-grounds, as well as for some rude remains connected by tradition with the history of the kings of Connaught, who are said to have been crowned at the former and buried at the latter place.
EMATRIS, a parish, in the barony of DARTRY, county of MONAGHAN, and province of ULSTER, 3 miles (N. E. by E.) from Cootehill, on the roads to Clones and Monaghan; containing 7541 inhabitants; and comprising, according to the Ordnance survey, 12,297 3/4statute acres, of which 590 1/2 are under water, and 10,793 are applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £8985 per annum. The soil is a rich shallow loam, on deep stiff clay, very difficult of cultivation: there is some bog, and about 400 acres of underwood. The weaving of linen to a small extent is combined with agriculture. Petty sessions are held on alternate Wednesdays at Rock Corry. Dawson Grove, the noble mansion of Lord Cremorne, stands in a demesne of more than 1000 acres, embellished with lakes adorned with islands, on which grows the finest timber; some of these islands embrace remarkable views, particularly that of Bellamont forest: in one of the woods is a temple containing a beautiful group of marble statuary to the memory of Lady Ann Dawson: on a rising ground in the demesne, and close to the public road, is a handsome column, erected by public subscription, to the memory of Richard Dawson, Esq., who represented the county of Monaghan in five successive parliaments. The other seats are Freame Mount, the residence of R. Mayne, Esq.; Glenburnie Park, of C. Stewart Corry, Esq.; Tanagh, of Capt. C. Dawson; Dromore Lodge, of Lieut. Dawson, R. N.; New Park, of Dacre Hamilton, Esq.; and Cremorne Cottage, of the Rev. N. Devereux. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Clogher, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £365. The church, picturesquely situated in the demesne of Dawson Grove, is a handsome building with a tower, and was recently repaired by a grant of £100 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church;' there is a chapel at Edergole, and another at Coravockan, a neat slated building. There are a place of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Seceding Synod, of the second class, and three for Wesleyan Methodists. The parish school is aided by an annual donation from the rector, and £10 from Lady Cremorne, with grass for a cow and a house rent-free; in this school about 60 children are instructed. There are seven other public schools, one of which is an infants' school with a sewing school attached, under the patronage of Mrs. Devereux. There are also three hedge schools, in which are about 120 boys and 50 girls; and four Sunday schools. A Clothing Society, for supplying the poor with blankets, &c., is aided by Lady Cremorne, T. C. S. Corry, Esq., and the rector; and a lending library is supported by general subscription. Near Freame Mount is a very large rath, occupying an acre of land, and commanding a number of Toghers, or bog passes, flanked by two smaller ones.
EMERICK.--See IMPHRICK.
EMLAGH, or IMLAGH, a parish, in the barony of LOWER KELLS, county of MEATH, and province of LEINSTER, 4 miles (N. E. by E.) from Kells, on the road from Moynalty to Navan; containing 349 inhabitants; and comprising 2964 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The river Borora runs through the parish, and joins the Blackwater at Bloomsbury. Here is a large bog, which supplies the surrounding country with fuel. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Meath, forming part of the union of Newtown: the tithes amount to £90. In the R. C. divisions it is part of the union or district of Stahalmock.
EMLY, a parish, and the seat of a diocese, in the barony of CLANWILLIAM, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 7 miles (S. W.) from Tipperary, and 15 (W.) from Cashel, on the confines of the county of Limerick; containing 3838 inhabitants, of which number, 701 are in the village. This place, noticed under the name of "Imlagh" by Ptolemy, as one of the three principal towns of Ireland, is of very remote antiquity, and was formerly an important city and the seat of a diocese. A monastery of canons regular was founded here by St. Ailbe, or Alibeus, who became its first abbot, and dying in 527, was interred in the abbey. His successors obtained many privileges for the inhabitants. The abbey and town were frequently pillaged and burnt. King John, in the l7th of his reign, granted the privilege of holding markets and fairs in the town, which, since the union of the see of Emly with that of Cashel in 1568, has gradually declined, and is now comparatively an insignificant village, containing only 115 houses. It has a constabulary police station, and fairs are held on May 21st and Sept. 22nd.
Among the successors of St. Ailbe in the SEE of EMLY, previously to the landing of the English, and who were styled indifferently abbots or bishops, were several who exercised sovereign power at Cashel, as Kings of Munster. Olchobhair Mac Cionoatha, who in 847 succeeded to the prelacy, and to the throne of Munster, aided by Lorcan, son of the King of Leinster, killed 1200 of the Danes who had plundered the monastery during the preceding year; and 1700 were slain in a subsequent battle, in which Olchobhair was killed. In 1123, during the prelacy of Moelmorda, the abbey was plundered and the mitre of St. Ailbe, which had been preserved for many ages, was burnt. Bishop Christian, who succeeded to the prelacy in 1236, was a great benefactor to the cathedral church, in which Bishop Henley, who died in 1542, erected a college of secular priests. The last bishop of this see, prior to its union with that of Cashel, to which the archbishoprick had been previously transferred, was Reymund de Burgh, after whose death, in 1562, it remained vacant till 1568, when it was united by act of parliament to the archbishoprick of Cashel, during the prelacy of Archbishop Mac Caghwell. The diocese is one of the eleven that constitute the archdiocese, or ecclesiastical province, of Cashel: it comprises an estimated superficies of 138,050 statute acres, of which 86,150 are in the county of Limerick, and 51,900 in that of Tipperary. The chapter consists of a dean, precentor, chancellor, archdeacon, treasurer, and the four prebendaries of Dollardstown Killenellick, Doon, and Lattin. It comprehends 17 benefices, of which nine are unions of two or more parishes, and eight are single parishes; of these, four are in the patronage of the Crown, and 13 in that of the Archbishop of Cashel. The total number of parishes is 44, of which 39 are rectories and vicarages, three perpetual curacies, and two without provision for the cure of souls; there are eleven churches and four other places in which divine service is performed, and nine glebe-houses. In the R. C. divisions the diocese is united with the archdiocese of Cashel, and contains 31 chapels.--See CASHEL.
The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Emly, and in the patronage of the Archbishop of Cashel; the rectory is appropriate to the economy fund of the cathedral of Emly. The tithes amount to £450, of which £300 is payable as rectorial tithes, and the remainder to the vicar. The glebe-house is a neat building, and the glebe Comprises 10 acres. The cathedral, which serves also as the parish church, is a handsome structure of hewn stone, in the later English style, with a lofty spire, erected in 1827, at an expense of £2521. 11. 9., defrayed from a surplus of the economy fund, which had been for several years accumulating for that purpose. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church, and contains a chapel. . There are two private schools, in which are about 80 children. In the churchyard is a large cross of rough stone, also a well, called St. Ailbe's well, which are held in veneration by the peasantry, who assemble here on the 12th of September, the anniversary of that saint's death. A very ancient canoe, resembling those of the South Sea islanders, was dug up some time since near the village; and very rich armlets of gold and brass swords have also been found in the adjacent bogs.
EMLYFADD, a parish, in the barony of CORRAN, county of SLIGO, and province of CONNAUGHT, on the road from Boyle to Coolaney; containing, with the post-town of Ballymote (which is described under its own head), 4645 inhabitants; and comprising 9915 statute acres, chiefly pasture, with some bog. Agriculture is improving: there are quarries of good limestone in the parish. The gentlemen's seats are Carrowkeel, that of F. Mac Donagh, Esq.; Drimrane, of J. Taaffe, Esq.; Temple House, of Col. A. Percival; the glebe-house, of the Rev. J. Garrett; and Earlsfield, the property of Sir R. Gore Booth, Bart. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Achonry, united by act of council, in 1807, to Kilmorgan, Kiltora, Tumore, and Drumratt, together forming the union of Emlyfadd, in the patronage of the Bishop; the rectory is impropriate partly in Sir H. C. Montgomery, Bart., and partly in the Earl of Kingston. The tithes amount to £407. 7. 7 1/2., of which £168. 1. 6. is payable to Sir H. Montgomery, and £239. 6. 1 1/2. to the vicar, from which latter sum the Earl of Kingston claims £40; and the gross amount of the tithes of the benefice is £710. The glebe-house was built by aid of a gift of £100 and a loan of £600, in 1810, from the late Board of First Fruits; the glebe comprises 20 acres. The church, at Ballymote, is a good building in the early English style, remarkable for the beauty of its tower and spire; it was erected by aid of loans of £550, in 1818, and £1000, in 1831, from the late Board, and donations of £300 from the Earl of Orkney, and £100 each from the Bishop of Killala and E. S. Cooper, Esq. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £190 for its repair. In the R. C. divisions this is the head of a union or district, also called Ballymote, comprising this parish and that of Kilmorgan, in each of which is a chapel; that in Ballymote is a large building. There is also a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. In the parish are four public schools, of which the parochial school is aided by Sir R. G. Booth, Viscount Lorton, and local subscriptions, and in which about 420 children are instructed. There are also two private schools, in which are about 100 children. The ruins of the old church, with its steeple, form a conspicuous object, from their elevated situation. An abbey is said to have been founded here by St Columb, over which his disciple, St. Enna, presided. On the edge of Temple House lake are the ruins of an old house, once inhabited by the Knights Templars; and near Ballymote is a fort of considerable elevation.
EMLY-GRENAN, or ST. MALO, a parish, in the barony of COSTLEA, county of LIMERICK, and province of MUNSTER, 4 miles (E.) from Kilmallock, on the old road to Galbally. It comprises 2372 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The land is in general good, resting for the greater part on a substratum of limestone; about two-thirds are under tillage, and the remainder meadow and pasture, of which latter about 180 acres are rough mountain. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Limerick, and part of the corps of the treasurership of the cathedral of Limerick: the tithes amount to £150. The glebe, consisting of lands formerly belonging to the college, which was dissolved at the Reformation, comprises 39 acres. The church, formerly collegiate, was destroyed in 1641, and has not been rebuilt; the members of the Establishment attend the church of Kilmallock. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Ballinvana; there is a large modern chapel at the Red-bog.
EMO, a post-town, in the parish of COOLBANAGHER, barony of PORTNEHINCH, QUEEN'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 5 miles (E.) from Maryborough, and 34 3/4 (W. S. W.) from Dublin, near the high road to Maryborough; containing 14 houses and 102 inhabitants. Here are the R. C. chapel (a neat building), a public school, and a constabulary police station. Adjoining the town is Emo park, formerly Dawson's Court, the splendid mansion of the Earl of Portarlington.-- See COOLBANAGHER.
EMYVALE, a post-town, in the parish of DONAGH, barony of TROUGH, county of MONAGHAN, and province of ULSTER, 5 3/4 miles (N. by W.) from Monaghan, and 71 1/2 (N. W. by N.) from Dublin, on the road from Monaghan to Aughnacloy; containing 123 houses and 571 inhabitants. This town, which is nearly on the confines of the counties of Armagh and Tyrone, consists principally of one street, and is skirted by a stream tributary to the river Blackwater, which, descending from the mountains on the west, frequently, becomes a rapid and dangerous torrent after heavy rains. On its banks is a large flour-mill, and in its bed above the town is a quarry of greenstone. There is a constabulary police station, and petty sessions are held every fortnight in the town, in which is also a branch of the Glasslough dispensary. In the vicinity are several gentlemen's seats, which are noticed in the account of Donagh, which see.
ENERILEY.--See ENORELY.
ENFIELD, a post-town, in the parish of RATHCORE, barony of LOWER MOYFENRAGH, county of MEATH, and province of LEINSTER, 5 1/2 miles (W.) from Kilcock, and 20 (W.) from Dublin, on the mail road to Kinnegad: the population is returned with the parish. The Royal Canal passes close by the town, which comprises about 50 houses, the property of J. H. Rorke, Esq. of Johnstown, in the immediate vicinity. Here is a station of the constabulary police.
ENNIS, a borough, and market-town, in the parish of DROMCLIFFE, barony of ISLANDS, county of CLARE, (of which it is the chief town), and province of MUNSTER, 18 miles (N. W.) from Limerick, on the mail road to Galway, and 111 3/4 (S. W.) from Dublin; containing 7711, and within the new electoral boundary, 9747 inhabitants. This place derives its name, formerly spelt Innis or Inish, signifying an island, from the insulation of a considerable plot of ground by the river Fergus. According to the Ulster Annals, it was anciently called Inniscluan-ruadha, and one of its suburbs is still called Clonroad. Mac Curtin states that it was eminent as a seat of learning, upwards of 600 scholars and 350 monks having been here supported by O'Brien, prince of Thomond, after the arrival of the English. About the year 1240, Donogh Carbrac O'Brien erected a noble monastery at Ennis for Franciscan friars, which in 1305, according to the Annals of Innisfallen, was rebuilt or repaired and much adorned by another branch of that family. It was for a long period the place of sepulture of the princes of Thomond, and occasionally of the chiefs of the sept of Mac Namara; and its prosperity appears to have been in these times dependent on this circumstance. In 1306, Dermot, grandson of Brien-Roe, at the head of a body of native and English forces, entirely destroyed the town. In 1311, Donogh, King of Thomond, bestowed the whole revenue of his principality for the enlargement and support of this monastery, and some time after the refectory and sacristy were built by Mathew Mac Namara. It is recorded in the Ulster Annals that Terence O'Brien, bishop of Killaloe, was here barbarously slain, in 1460, by Brien O'Brien. The friary was reformed by Franciscans of the Strict Observance: it remained in the Crown for some time subsequent to the Reformation, and was granted, in 1621, to Wm. Dongan, Esq. In 1609, Donogh, or Donat, Earl of Thomond, obtained a grant of a market and fairs to be held here; and in 1612 "the town of Inish," was created a borough. In 1661, the goods of some of the townspeople were seized in payment of salary due to Isaac Granier, one of their representatives in parliament, but were released on their stating, that he had agreed to serve gratuitously as their representative.
It is situated nearly in the centre of the county, on the principal or south-western branch of the river Fergus, which surrounds a portion of the town and its north-eastern suburbs; two of the principal streets form a continuous line following the winding of the river, and a third branches off from the court-house towards Limerick. The most populous of these is very narrow and irregularly built, and the entrance from Limerick is rendered equally inconvenient by a projecting angle of the court-house, which, from its dilapidated state, requires to be rebuilt. In 1831 the town comprised 1104 houses, and within the new electoral boundary, 1390; the suburbs, which are very extensive, consist chiefly of cabins. A new street of superior houses has been lately built between the county infirmary and the river; and a handsome bridge of a single arch, with parapets of hewn stone, has been recently completed, at an expense of £800, on the site of a former one nearly opposite the abbey. The town is not lighted, and the police perform the duty of a nightly patrol. A county club-house has been established; there are also two subscription news-rooms; and races are held annually in the autumn, which generally continue five days. The numerous seats in the vicinity are noticed under the head of Dromcliffe and the adjacent parishes, in which they are situated. The woollen manufacture, which formerly flourished here, has greatly declined; but the trade in corn, butter, and other produce has much increased. About 60,000 barrels of wheat, 100,000 of oats, and 30,000 of barley, are annually sold in the market, and chiefly shipped at Clare, about two miles distant, to which place the Fergus is navigable for lighters, and thence to the sea for vessels of considerable burden. A plan for improving the navigation between Ennis and Clare, is noticed in the account of the latter town, which is considered the port of Ennis. A weighing-house for butter, of which a large quantity is annually exported, was built in 1825, and there are several large corn stores. Ennis Mills, which have been recently enlarged, are capable of producing 30,000 barrels of flour annually: the produce is much esteemed in the Limerick market. At Clonroad is the extensive brewery of Messrs. Harley and Co., who are also about to re-establish a distillery formerly carried on at that place; and there is a smaller brewery in the town; the Ennis ale is in great repute. Branches of the Provincial and Agricultural Banks, and a savings' bank, have been established. A market for the sale of country produce is held daily, but the principal markets are on Tuesday and Saturday, and are abundantly supplied with provisions of every description. Fairs are held in the town on April 9th, and Sept. 3rd, and at Clonroad on May 9th, Aug. 1st, Oct. 14th, and Dec. 3rd; of the latter, the first three are large fairs for cattle and horses, and the last is chiefly for pigs.
By the charter of the 10th of Jas. I. (1612), the corporation, under the style of "The Provost, Free Burgesses, and Commonalty of the Town of Ennis," consists of a provost, twelve free burgesses, and a town-clerk, with power to admit an unlimited number of freemen to constitute a "commonalty;" but no freemen have been appointed for many years. The provost is elected by the burgesses from their own body, on the 24th of June, and sworn into office on the 29th of Sept.: until lately he appointed a deputy, called the vice-provost. The burgesses are elected for life by the provost and burgesses, who also appoint the town-clerk. The provost is empowered by the charter to hold a court of record, with cognizance of debts not exceeding £3. 6. 8. late currency, arising within the limits of the borough: this court was held until within the last 12 years, by the vice-provost, who also acted as weigh-master. By the charter the provost is a magistrate within the old borough, and the vice-provost formerly acted as such; but latterly no exclusive jurisdiction, either civil or criminal, has been exercised. The borough sent two members to the Irish parliament prior to the Union, since which period it has returned one to the Imperial parliament: the right of election, formerly limited "to the provost and free burgesses, was, by the act of the 2nd of Wm. IV., cap. 88, extended to the £10 householders; and a new boundary was formed for electoral purposes, comprising an area of 469 statute acres, and comprehending the entire town and suburbs, which is minutely described in the Appendix. The number of voters registered, in March 1836, was 254, of which 7 were free burgesses, and the remainder £10 householders; and the number polled at the last election was 194: the provost is the returning officer. The spring and summer assizes, and the January, April, and October quarter sessions for the eastern division of the county, are held in the court-house. Petty sessions are held every Friday; and a court for the manor of Clonroad, which was granted by Jas. I. to the Earl of Thomond, and now belongs to the Earl of Egremont, is occasionally held by the seneschal, for the recovery of debts not exceeding £10 late currency. The county gaol, situated on the south side of the town, is an extensive modern building on the radiating principle, with detached prisons for females and debtors, lately erected in front: it contains 10 day-rooms and airing-yards, 73 sleeping cells, and 12 other bed-rooms, and has a treadmill. The total expense of the establishment, for 1835, was £2522. 7. 10. The constabulary police force, including an extra force called the peace preservation police, is under the control of a resident stipendiary chief magistrate and a sub-inspector; the barrack is a commodious building, formed out of the old county gaol. A party of the revenue police is also stationed in the town.
The parish church, which forms part of the ancient abbey, was much injured by lightning in 1817; the abbey tower was also damaged and the bell destroyed. The late Board of First Fruits granted £2000 for its renovation, and the tower was subsequently heightened by the addition of battlements and pinnacles: a grant of £146 has been recently made by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for the further improvement of the church. The organ was presented, in 1825, by the Earl of Egremont. The R. C. district of Ennis comprises the eastern part of the parish of Dromcliffe, including the whole of the town and suburbs: the R. C. chapel is an old building, situated in an obscure part of the town. A chaste and elegant cruciform structure, from a design by Mr. Madden, was commenced in 1831, on a more eligible site, under the superintendence of the Very Rev. Dean O'Shaughnessy, P. P., which is intended for the cathedral of the R. C. diocese of Killaloe: the tower will be surmounted by a spire rising to the height of 140 feet. The estimated expense is £5000, towards which Sir Edward O'Brien, Bart., of Dromoland, contributed £100: the site was presented by Francis Gore, Esq. A small society of Franciscans has a chapel which is open to the public; and to the east of the town is an Ursuline convent, established about seven years since. There are meeting-houses for Primitive Methodists and Independents; and a congregation of Separatists meet in the court-house: the Methodist meeting-house is a modern building, erected chiefly at the expense of Mr. Leach. Ennis college is one of the four classical schools founded by the munificent bequest of Erasmus Smith. The school-house, which is situated at a short distance north of the town, was built about 70 years since by the trustees, who have recently added wings and out-offices, and made other extensive improvements, at an expense of nearly £1200: it is now capable of accommodating more than 100 boarders, and a large number of day scholars. The building, which presents an imposing front, is approached from the extremity of the promenade called the "College walk" by a handsome gateway of four octangular pillars, and, together with the extensive play-ground, is surrounded by a high wall. The head master receives a salary of £100 from the trustees, and is allowed the full benefit of the establishment as a boarding and day school; the second master also receives £100; and the third, £80. The course of instruction comprises the ancient and modern languages, mathematics, and English composition, and there are usually ten free day scholars on the foundation. The parochial school, in Jail-street, is supported by subscription; a school is held in Cook's-lane meetinghouse, and a Sunday school in the church. Near the town is a large and substantial school-house, built in 1830, at an expense of £800, of which £200 was contributed by the National Board, by whom the school, in which are about 400 boys, is partly supported, and partly by collections at the R. C. chapel. About 200 girls are instructed by the nuns of the convent, by whom they are also taught every description of useful and ornamental needlework. Connected with the nunnery-school is a preparatory establishment for very young girls, under the patronage of Dean O'Shaughnessy, who contributes £6 per ann. towards its support. The County Infirmary, situated on the north side of the town, is a substantial building, containing four wards for male and two for female patients, with a dispensary, and accommodations for a resident surgeon and apothecary. The Fever Hospital is situated in a confined part of the town, but one for the county is now being erected in a more appropriate situation and on a larger scale, to which a cholera hospital will be attached. The House of Industry immediately adjoins the infirmary, and contains three male and four female wards; it was built by subscription about the year 1775, and is governed by a corporation under an act of the Irish parliament. A loan fund, for the benefit of the poorer classes of tradesmen and farmers, has been for some time in operation, and a mendicity society was established in 1832. The remains of the Franciscan abbey, founded by the Kings of Thomond, of whom several were interred in it, still present many traces of its ancient grandeur. Of these, the principal is the grand eastern window, upwards of 30 feet high, consisting of five lancet-shaped compartments, separated by stone mullions, and universally admired for its exceedingly light proportions and beautiful workmanship. In the chancel is the "Abbot's chair," which, with the altar, is richly sculptured with figures in high relief; and some of the ancient monuments, also profusely sculptured, still exist.--See DROMCLIFFE.
ENNISBOFFIN.--See INNISBOFFIN.
ENNISCOFFEY, a parish, in the barony of FARTULLAGH, county of WESTMEATH, and province of LEINSTER, 5 miles (S. S. E.) from Mullingar, near the road to Kinnegad; containing 939 inhabitants. A battle was fought at Gaybrook, in this parish, between the forces of Wm. III. and the Irish adherents of Jas. II., in which the latter were defeated and pursued to Killucan. The parish comprises 4167 statute acres, principally grazing land, and a large proportion of bog. The chief seats are Gaybrook, the residence of Mrs. A. Smith, a handsome mansion in a fine demesne, richly planted and diversified with artificial lakes; Enniscoffey House, of M. A. Levinge, Esq.; and Birmingham, of G. Rochfort, Esq. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Meath, united by act of council, in 1818, to the rectory of Kilbride-Pilate, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the rectory is impropriate in the Misses Blundell. The tithes amount to £112. 12. 3 1/2., the whole payable to the impropriators; the annual value of the benefice, including glebe, is £106. 8. The glebe-house, situated in the parish of Kilbride-Pilate, was built by aid of a gift of £450 and a loan of £200, in 1821, from the late Board of First Fruits; the glebe comprises 16 acres, valued at £6. 8. 0. per ann. The church is a neat edifice, built by aid of a gift of £900, in 1818, from the same Board. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Fartullagh. About 45 children are taught in the parochial school, which is aided by the incumbent, and Mrs. Smith, and an infants' school of 50 children is entirely supported by the latter.
ENNISCORTHY, a corporate, market, and post-town, and a parish (called St. Mary's, Enniscorthy), in the barony of SCARAWALSH, county of WEXFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 11 3/4 miles (N.) from Wexford, and 62 3/4 (S. by W.) from Dublin, on the river Slaney, and on the road from Wexford to Dublin; containing, within the parish, 4938, and in the entire parish and town, which latter extends into the parish of Temple-shannon and barony of Ballaghkeen, 5955 inhabitants. This place probably derives its name from a beautiful island in the bed of the Slaney, which here divides that river into two channels. It is said by Seward to have been originally the capital of the Coriondi, and by other writers to have been called "Corthae," and subsequently given as a portion to Basilea, sister of Strongbow, on her marriage with Raymond Le Gros, to whom is attributed the erection of its ancient castle. In 1227, the town was surrendered by Philip de Prendergast to the Bishop of Ferns, who asserted a superior claim; and in 1231 it was confirmed to that prelate by Gerald de Prendergast, the son of Philip, to whom the bishop restored it in exchange for other lands, on condition of his holding it under the see. The castle and manor afterwards came into the possession of the McMurroughs, or Kavanaghs, and were granted by Donald, surnamed Fuscus, to the Franciscan monastery which he had founded, after the dissolution of which they were given by Queen Elizabeth to John Travers, who conveyed them for a term of years to the poet Spenser, by whom they were assigned to Sir Henry Wallop, Knt., ancestor of the Earl of Portsmouth. In 1649, the town and castle were taken by Cromwell, and soon after became the property of an ancestor of the Carew family, but were subsequently restored to the Wallop family, in exchange for other lands, by Robt. Carew, Esq. In 1798, this place was the scene of much hostility: the town, which was garrisoned by 300 of the King's troops, and by several corps of yeomanry, both horse and foot, was attacked on the 28th of May by nearly 7000 of the insurgent forces, who, after a sanguinary conflict, compelled the garrison to retreat to the market-place, where, making a resolute stand, they ultimately repulsed the assailants. But the town being on fire in several places, and surrounded by an overwhelming number of the insurgents, the king's forces retreated to Wexford, and the enemy plundered the town, damaged the interior of the church, and converted the castle into a prison. On the 29th the insurgents took their station on Vinegar Hill, an adjoining eminence, where, being joined by the disaffected from the surrounding country, the numbers increased to upwards of 10,000 men. Many of the loyal inhabitants of the town, who had not been able to escape with the garrison to Wexford, were brought prisoners to the insurgents' camp, tried by a court martial, and put to death. Gen. Johnson, with a party of the royal forces, succeeded in making himself master of the town; and on the 21st of June, Gen. Lake, commander-in-chief of the royal army, attacked the insurgents in their camp, and routed them. The enemy fled with precipitation towards Wexford, leaving behind them great numbers of slain and thirteen pieces of ordnance.
The town is built on the acclivities of the hills on both sides of the Slaney, and in 1831 contained 1047 houses: the streets are in general narrow and in some parts inconveniently steep for carriages. The principal portion is on the south-west side of the river, which is connected by a substantial stone bridge of six arches with the other portion, which lies at the base of Vinegar Hill, and comprises the suburbs of Templeshannon and Drumgoold. The bridge is now being widened and its roadway lowered, partly at the expense of Lord Portsmouth's trustees and partly by a Grand Jury presentment; and a plentiful supply of spring water, from Sheill's well at Templeshannon, will be conveyed, by pipes inserted in the new work of the bridge, into several parts of the town, which is at present but badly supplied, and only partially paved. A small woollen manufacture is carried on near the town; and at Carley's bridge, on the river Urrin, which runs into the Slaney, is a manufactory for coarse pottery. In the town are a distillery, three breweries, two flour-mills, three tanyards, and a rope-factory. Flour-mills are also being erected by Mr. Pounder on the site of an extensive iron-foundry long since discontinued; and at Fairfield, about a mile and a half distant, on the road to Killan, is an extensive distillery, belonging to Mr. A. Jameson, the working of which has been suspended for the last few years. The river Slaney abounds with excellent salmon and trout, with which the markets are well supplied during the season. The trade principally consists in the exportation of agricultural produce, and the importation of coal, timber, slates, iron, salt, and various other commodities, for which its central situation and river navigation to the port of Wexford are very favourable. Large quantities of corn and butter are sent hence by lighters to Wexford, and also by land carriage, by way of New Ross, to Waterford. Two spacious quays have been lately constructed, at an expense of £9000, defrayed partly by the trustees of the Earl of Portsmouth's estate, and partly by subscription: the quay on the Templeshannon side is 450 feet, and that on the opposite side, which it is in contemplation to extend, is 500 feet in length. The tide flows up to the town, which is accessible to barges of large tonnage, and it is intended to apply for an act of parliament to construct a ship canal for vessels of 200 tons' burden from Pooldarrag, on the eastern bank of the Slaney, to the bridge of Enniscorthy, a distance of nearly seven British miles. It is also in contemplation to establish a communication by steam between this place and Wexford, and a subscription is in progress for building an iron steam-boat of 12-horse power, for the conveyance of goods and passengers. The facility of land carriage has been greatly increased by a new line of road to Wexford, avoiding the hills and shortening the distance by nearly a mile; a new road from the bridge along the western bank of the river has also been completed, communicating at Black-stoops with the Dublin road, and greatly improving that approach to the town. A branch of the National Bank of Ireland has been lately opened here; and a savings' bank has also been established. The market days are Thursday and Saturday; on the former day, which is the principal, there is an abundant supply of provisions, but corn and butter are brought to market daily. An ancient market on Tuesday, granted to Sir Henry Wallop, has been discontinued. Fairs for cattle, hogs, and various articles of merchandise are held on Jan. 20th, Feb. 21st, March 21st, April 25th, May 10th, June 7th, July 5th, Aug. 26th, Sept. 19th, Oct. 10th, Nov. 15th, and Dec. 21st. A corn market and shambles have been recently erected near the site of the ancient Franciscan monastery, and the open area, called the abbey ground, is intended to be laid out for the erection of new streets; but from some misunderstanding between the market people and the proprietors, they are not at present used, the general markets being still held in an irregular area in the centre of the town.
By the charter of incorporation granted by Jas. I., in the 11th of his reign, the government is vested in a portreeve, 12 free burgesses, and a commonalty, assisted by a recorder, town-clerk, two serjeants-at-mace, and other officers. The portreeve, who may appoint a deputy, is chosen from the free burgesses by a majority of that body on the 24th of June, and sworn into office on the 29th of September; he is a justice of the peace within the borough and liberties, in which the county magistrates have concurrent jurisdiction. The burgesses fill up vacancies in their body by a majority, either from the freemen or the inhabitants at large, and appoint all the officers of the corporation; the freemen are admitted only by favour of the corporation. The borough returned two members to the Irish parliament till the Union, when it was disfranchised, and the £15,000 awarded in compensation was paid to Cornelius, Lord Lismore, and Robert Cornwall, Esq.; to the former, £12,300, and to the latter £2700. A court of record, for debts and pleas to the amount of £3. 6. 8. late currency, is held every Tuesday before the portreeve. The Easter and Michaelmas quarter sessions for the division are held here, and petty sessions every Thursday. There is a chief constabulary police station in the town. The court-house, a neat building, erected at the expense of the county, contains also one of the two newsrooms. The market-house, built and kept in repair by the Portsmouth family, contains a large room occasionally used for concerts and public meetings.
The parish of St. Mary, Enniscorthy, comprises about 2916 statute acres, with very little wood, and no waste land. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Ferns, united by act of council in 1778 to the vicarage of Clonmore, and to the rectories of Templeshannon, Ballyhuskard, and St. John, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the rectory is impropriate in Caesar Colclough, Esq. The tithes amount to £247. 10. 8., of which £71. 1. 11. is payable to the impropriator, and the remainder to the vicar; the aggregate tithes of the benefice amount to £1559. 13. 11 1/2. There is a handsome glebe-house at Templeshannon, rebuilt by the present incumbent, with a glebe of 23 acres, and there is also a glebe of 20 acres at Ballyhuskard. The church is a plain edifice without tower or spire; in repairing it, after the disturbances of 1798, a six-pound shot fell from one of the rafters; the chancel was rebuilt a few years since. There are also churches in the parishes of Clonmore and Ballyhuskard, which have been erected into perpetual cures. In the R. C. divisions this parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also the greater part of the parish of Templeshannon, part of St. John's, and a small portion of that of Templeshambo: the chapel, a spacious and handsome edifice, erected by subscription in 1808, is the cathedral church of the R. C. diocese of Ferns: a house has been lately erected by Dr. Keating, R. C. Bishop, as a permanent residence for his curates. There is also a convent for nuns of the order of the Presentation, established in 1826 as a branch from the convent at Wexford. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends and Primitive Methodists; and another class of Methodists assemble in the market-house. About 550 children are taught in the public schools of the parish, of which the male and female parochial schools, forming a handsome range of building, erected in 1831 on the glebe, are aided by a grant of £52 from the funds of Erasmus Smith's charity, and £20 from Lord Portsmouth's trustees; a school for girls is gratuitously superintended by the ladies of the Presentation convent, by whom the children are taught reading, writing, Catechism, and every description of useful and ornamental needlework, and is supported, together with a large Lancasterian school for boys, by subscription; and an infants' school, established in 1831, is also supported by subscription. There are 11 private schools, in which are about 420 children, and one Sunday school. Bishop Vigors, in 1721, bequeathed £900 for the endowment of some alms-houses, which were rebuilt in 1830 by the trustees, in a neat cottage style, at Summer Hill, near the town; they contain apartments for seven Protestant widows, who now receive £3 per annum each. Miss Toplady, late of Dublin, left £80 per annum for poor widows whose husbands were killed, or otherwise sufferers in the disturbances of 1798, ten of whom now receive £8 per annum each; and Miss Grenville left the impropriate tithes of the parish of Ballyvalloo, now amounting to about £60 per annum, for the endowment of an alms-house for the poor of this parish, which bequest is at present the subject of litigation. A fever hospital, affording accommodation for 40 patients, was erected in 1829, on an acre of ground given for its site by Lord Portsmouth's trustees, and attached to it is a dispensary, with a surgeon's ward. The ancient castle, now the property of the Earl of Portsmouth, is a venerable quadrilateral building with a round tower at each angle, and is surrounded with a high wall of more modern date. Of the Franciscan monastery the only remains are a lofty square tower on four pointed arches, a great portion of the conventual buildings having been removed in order to furnish a site for the new market; a curious brooch of gold, enriched with emeralds and garnets, was found in clearing away the ruins. About three quarters of a mile below the town, on the west bank of the Slaney, and in the parish of St. John, was a monastery for canons regular of the order of St. Victor, founded by Gerald de Prendergast in 1230, and subsequently made a cell to the abbey of St. Thomas-juxta-Dublin, by John St. John, bishop of Ferns, on which occasion it adopted the order of St. Augustine.
ENNISCRONE. -- See KILGLASS, county of SLIGO.
ENNISKEEN, a parish, partly in the baronies of LOWER KELLS and LOWER SLANE, county of MEATH, and province of LEINSTER, but chiefly in the barony of CLONKEE, county of CAVAN, and province of ULSTER, on the road from Carrickmacross to Bailieborough; containing, with the post-town of Kingscourt (which is described under its own head), 10,368 inhabitants. This place, anciently the principal seat of the Danes, was called Dunaree, and still retains that name; it is surrounded by Danish forts, and on the summits of the neighbouring hills great quantities of money and of ancient military weapons have been dug up at various times. The parish comprises 23,814 statute acres, of which about 500 are woodland, from 200 to 300 bog, and the remainder under tillage; the system of agriculture is greatly improved, and great quantities of bog and waste land have been reclaimed. Limestone abounds; there are excellent quarries of every kind of building stone, and near the rock at Carrickleck is very superior freestone, which is extensively worked for flagstones and pillars of large dimensions. On the estate of Lord Gormanstown, in the Meath district, are coal, lead and iron ore, but none is raised at present; a coal mine and an alabaster quarry were formerly worked, but have been discontinued. The principal seats are Cabra castle, the handsome residence and richly planted demesne of Col. Pratt; Corinsica, of J. Pratt, Esq.; Northlands, of the Very Rev. Dean Adams; Newcastle, of J. Smith, Esq.; Woodford, of J. Armstrong, Esq.; Lisnaboe, of -- Jackson, Esq.; Plantation, of -- Irwin, Esq.; Larchfield, of W. Pratt, Esq.; and Cornakill, of -- Moore, Esq. An annual fair is held at Muff on the 21st of August, and there are several at Kingscourt, noticed in the account of that town, where petty sessions are also held. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the diocese of Meath, and in the patronage of the Bishop, to whom the rectory is appropriate: the tithes amount to £900. The glebe-house is a neat residence, erected by a gift of £450 and a loan of £50 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1831; the glebe comprises 28 1/2 acres. The church, at Kingscourt, is a neat plain edifice, to the repair of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £173. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church, and is called Kingscourt; the chapel in that town is a spacious and handsome edifice, in the later English style, and there is also a chapel at Muff. There is a place of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, of the third class, and one for Wesleyan Methodists. About 130 children are taught in the public schools, and there are 16 private schools, in which are about 960 children. Between Bailieborough and Kingscourt, about two miles from the former, is a pool called Lough-on-Leighaghs, or the "healing lake," which is much resorted to by patients afflicted with scorbutic complaints; it is situated on the summit of a mountain, rising, according to the Ordnance survey, 1116 feet above the level of the sea. On a lofty eminence, about a mile from the lake, is a remarkable cairn; and about two miles from Kings-court, on the Dublin road, is the singularly beautiful and romantic glen of Cabra. There are ruins of Muff and Cabra castles, and some remains of an old bridge.
ENNISKERRY, or MUTTON ISLAND, in the parish of KILMURRY, barony of IBRICKANE, county of CLARE, and province of MUNSTER, 1/2 a mile from the shore, on the western coast: the population is returned with the parish. It lies off that part of the coast which, from its rocky and dangerous character, is called the Malbay; and contains about 210 statute acres of excellent land for feeding oxen and sheep, particularly the latter; hence the name "Mutton island," from the fine flavour of the mutton. On its shores are some curious natural caves, formerly used by smugglers for storing contraband goods. Here are an old signal tower and the ruins of an ancient structure, said to have been an abbey, founded at a very early period by St. Senan of Inniscattery: the ancient name of the island was Inniscaorach.
ENNISKERRY, a post-town, in the parish of POWERSCOURT, barony of RATHDOWN, county of WICKLOW, and province of LEINSTER, 3 miles (W. S.W.) from Bray, and 10 (S. by E.) from Dublin, on the road from Dublin, by Dundrum, to Roundwood; containing 497 inhabitants. This place, which is of modern origin, and has risen chiefly under the auspices of the noble family of Wingfield, Viscounts Powerscourt, occupies a beautiful situation on the acclivity of a hill rising from the bank of a mountain river called the Kerry. It contains about 70 houses, most of which are tastefully built in the cottage style and inhabited by families of respectability; and from its vicinity to the beautiful scenery of the Dargle, the Powerscourt demesne, the waterfall, the Scalp, and other objects of general attraction, is a favourite resort for strangers and visitors from Dublin, for whose accommodation two very comfortable hotels and lodging-houses have been fitted up. The air is extremely pure and mild, and the equability of its temperature is highly favourable to persons affected with pulmonary diseases; a mail and a stage coach and jaunting cars ply daily between it and Dublin. The environs are very pleasing, and, exclusively of the seats and villas noticed under the head of Powerscourt, there are several handsome villas in the immediate vicinity of the village, of which the principal are Summer ,Hill, that of P. Flood, Esq.; Sea View, occupied by the Rev. A. Wynne; Enniskerry Lodge, of Capt. T. Mason, R.N.; and Wingfield Terrace, of J. Gason, Esq., M.D. A constabulary police force is stationed here, and petty sessions are held on alternate Fridays. Near the bridge is a neat school-house, with apartments for a master and mistress, erected by the late Lord Powerscourt; it has lately merged into an infants' school, supported by the present lord, and part of the building is appropriated to the use of a lending library. A girls' school, a very neat building on the Scalp side of the Kerry, was erected by the late Lady Powerscourt, in 1828, and is also supported by his lordship. Here is a dispensary, and in 1828 a fever hospital was erected by subscription, towards which Lord Powerscourt contributed £200. Alms-houses for six aged and infirm women were built partly by the late Lord Powerscourt and the Rev. R. Daly, the rector of the parish. A district society has been established for selling clothing to the poor at reduced prices.--See POWERSCOURT.
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On the breaking out of the war in 1641, the town was defended by its founder and governor, then Sir William Cole, who despatched the first intelligence of that event to the English government; and so active were the inhabitants in opposing the enemy, that they not only repulsed the insurgents with great loss, but also made themselves masters of the castle of Maguire. While the Earl of Ormonde acted in concert with the royalists, this town opposed the parliamentarian interest and firmly resisted every attack made upon it by the forces of that party; but it was finally compelled to surrender to Sir Charles Coote. During the war of the revolution the inhabitants firmly adhered to the cause of Wm. III., whom they proclaimed king; they chose Gustavus Hamilton as their governor, and bravely defended the town, which became a refuge for the Protestants of the north-west, from all assaults of the adverse party; and from the embarrassment they caused to James's forces during the siege of Londonderry, the Protestants assembled in the town soon became celebrated as the "Enniskillen men." Lord Galmoy was sent with a detachment of James's army to reduce them, and for this purpose invested Crom castle, their frontier garrison, situated on Lough Erne; after an unsuccessful stratagem to produce intimidation, by ordering two painted tin cannons to be drawn by eight horses towards the fort, the garrison, being reinforced from Enniskillen, made a vigorous sally upon the besiegers, drove them from the trenches, and returned in triumph with considerable booty and the mock cannon which had with so much apparent difficulty been drawn up and planted against them. So successful and formidable were the frequent excursions of this band, that the ruling party in Dublin actually expected them speedily at their gates; and at length a plan was formed for attacking the town at once by three different armies. For this purpose, Macarthy, an experienced officer, who had been recently created a peer, encamped at Belturbet with 7000 men; Sarsfield, another general equally distinguished, led an army from Connaught; while Fitz-James, Duke of Berwick, prepared to attack it from the north. The Enniskilleners, aware of the movements of the Connaught army only, marched out of the town with great rapidity, surprised the camp and routed the forces with much slaughter. On the approach of the Duke of Berwick, some companies sent from the town to seize a post which they might have defended against his numbers, ventured beyond the prescribed bounds and were cut to pieces; but on the approach of Hamilton, the governor of the town, the Duke of Berwick retired with his forces. Macarthy, at the head of an army which had already defeated Lord Inchiquin in Munster, marched towards Enniskillen and invested Crom castle; a detachment under an officer named Berry was sent to the relief of the castle, but finding it necessary to retreat before a very superior force, which had been detached by the enemy to intercept him, he was pursued and a skirmish followed, in which the townsmen were victorious. The arrival of the main bodies respectively under the command of Macarthy and Wolsley, the latter, one of Col. Kirk's officers, brought on a general engagement near Newtown-Butler and Lisnaskea, from both which places the battle has taken its name. The inferiority of the Enniskilleners in numbers was counterbalanced by superior resolution and energy; they defeated and pursued the assailants, granting quarter to none but officers; about 2000 were killed in the engagement, and of 500, who plunged into the lake, only one escaped drowning; about the same number of officers were taken prisoners, among whom was their general Macarthy.
The town is situated on an island in the narrowest part of Lough Erne, or rather in a strait several miles in length, which connects the great northern and southern expanses of the lake, and in which are numerous inlets. It is remarkable for its respectable and thriving appearance, and for the advantages it possesses in the navigation of the lake and the facility afforded for excursions among the rich and beautiful scenery for which it is distinguished; it has increased considerably of late, and is still improving. The principal street takes an irregular course across the island, from the bridge which connects it with the main land, on the east, to that which crosses the opposite channel on the west, which two bridges form the only outlets. Several smaller streets diverge from the main street; and contiguous to the eastern bridge, in the townland of Toneystick, and parish of Enniskillen, is a suburb in which is an old redoubt, called the East Fort; and beyond the western bridge is another suburb, in the parish of Rossory, in which is the West Fort. The total number of houses is 1036, of which 375 are slated and the remainder thatched. Here are barracks for artillery and infantry, and a constabulary police station. Among the buildings that have recently been erected, is a range of respectable houses, called Brook-place, built by Mr. Richard Kirkpatrick, on the mail coach road to Ballyshannon; a very neat house, called Brook View Lodge, pleasantly situated on the side of a hill commanding an extensive view of Lough Erne and the surrounding country; and a number of respectable houses, called Willoughby-place, which, when completed, will add much to the beauty of the town.
The chief trade is in timber, coal, and slates, imported from Ballyshannon to Belleek, at the lower extremity of the lough, 18 miles distant, and brought by water to the town. The manufacture of leather is carried on upon a limited scale, and there are two distilleries and a brewery A considerable trade is also carried on in corn, of which great quantities are sold, partly for the supply of the town and of the distilleries here and at Belturbet, and partly for exportation to Sligo and Strabane; this is also the chief retail market for a very large surrounding district. The patent granted to William Cole, in 1612, authorised the holding of a market on Thursdays, and a fair on Lammas-day, with tolls; and in 1813 a patent was granted to the Earl of Enniskillen for holding fairs on the 10th of each month, except March, May, and August. Besides the general market on Thursdays, a butter market is held on Tuesdays. A butter and grain market have been built on land belonging to the Earl, at an expense of upwards of £900; there is another market-house under the town-hall, also a pig market; and convenient shambles have been erected at an expense of £750, which was advanced by the Earl to the corporation. A linen-hall was built a few years since at an expense exceeding £400, but has never been used as a hall, and is lent gratuitously to the conductor of a private school.
By the charter of Jas. I., granted in 1613, the corporation consists of a provost, 14 burgesses, and all the inhabitants of the island as a commonalty. The provost is elected by the free burgesses on Midsummer-day, and is sworn into office on the 29th of Sept.; he is a justice of the peace for the borough, and also usually for the county. The government is vested in the provost and free burgesses, who elect members of their own body, admit freemen, appoint officers, and manage the property of the corporation. The borough court, held every Thursday, has jurisdiction to the amount of £3. 6. 8. late currency, and proceeds by attachment. The same charter conferred upon the entire corporation the privilege of sending two members to the Irish parliament, which they continued to do till the Union, since which time they have returned one to the Imperial parliament. By the act of the 2nd of Wm. IV., cap. 88, the right of election is vested in the resident burgesses and £10 householders, amounting, in 1836, to a constituency of 220, of whom 211 were £10 householders, and nine resident burgesses; the provost is the returning officer. The electoral boundaries comprehend an area of 156 statute acres, and are described in the Appendix. The assizes for the county and quarter sessions of the peace are held in the county court-house, which is a plain building near the eastern bridge. The county gaol, built about 20 years since, is near the town, on the Dublin road: it is on the radiating plan, with the governor's house in the centre, and will contain 120 prisoners; the number of cells is 36, of which four are for females; and there are five day-rooms, seven airing-yards, a treadmill, hospital, and school. The prisoners are regularly employed in breaking stones for repairing the roads: the expense of maintenance, &c., for 1835, was £1334. 8. 1.
The parish comprises, according to the Ordnance survey (including islands), 26,440 1/2 statute acres, of which 26,387 are in the barony of Tyrkennedy, and 681 3/4 are water. The residences of the nobility and gentry are numerous, among which are Ely Lodge, that of the Marquess of Ely; Florence Court, of the Earl of Enniskillen; Castle Cool, of the Earl of Belmore; Rosfad, of J. Richardson, Esq.; Rockfield, of J. Irvine, Esq., D.L.; Castle Archdall, of Gen. Mervyn Archdall; Riverstown, of C. Archdall, Esq.; Prospect, of J. Nixon, Esq., Gran, of A. Nixon, Esq.; Levaghy, of Jason Hassard, Esq.; Dunbar, of T. Nixon, Esq.; Crocknacrieve, of Col. T. Stewart; Cork Hill, of the Rev. A. H. Irvine; and Bellview, of G. Knox, Esq. On the border of Lough Erne stands Bellisle, the beautiful and romantic seat of the late Earl of Rosse, now in the possession of the Rev. J. Grey Porter; it is in a dilapidated state, but is about to be rebuilt, together with the bridge leading to its extensive demesne. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Clogher, forming the corps of the precentorship of the cathedral, in the patronage of the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin: the tithes amount to £550; and the glebe, consisting of 315 acres, with the glebe-house, is valued at £293. 4. 6. per annum, making the income of the precentor £843. 4. 6. The church is a plain building, erected in 1637; and there is a chapel of case at Tempo. Divine service is also performed in the school at Derryhean. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, including the town of Enniskillen, the parish of Rossory, and parts of Derryvullen, Cleenish, and Derrybrusk; there is a very large chapel in the town, in which are also a meeting-house for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, of the third class, and places of worship for Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists. About 670 children are educated in nine public schools, and about 900 in 25 private schools, exclusive of those taught in eight Sunday schools. The royal school of Enniskillen was founded by Chas. I., in 1626, and endowed with lands near the town, which, according to a survey made in 1795, comprise 3360 statute acres. The school-house in the town being too small, about 1777, the Rev. Mark Noble, who was then head-master, and had the absolute disposal of the school funds, built a spacious house for it at Portora, in the vicinity, capable of accommodating 70 boarders. The school contains about 65 children; the head-master has a salary of £500 per annum, late currency, besides the payments from the pupils and the house and grounds, which include 33 acres; the first classical assistant has £250, and the second £100 per annum. Four scholarships of £20 per annum each are conferred by the Commissioners of Education on those scholars who are most distinguished for proficiency in study and propriety of conduct, and are held during their stay at the school; and the Rev. -- Burke bequeathed three sums of £110, late currency, for the use of three of the pupils on their entering Trinity College, Dublin. The Commissioners of Education appropriate £400 per annum of the funds of this school to the endowment of five king's scholarships of £50 each, and five of £30 each in Trinity College, Dublin, to be held for five years by scholars elected by the board of Trinity College, out of those who have been three years at least in either of the royal schools of Enniskillen, Armagh, or Dungannon. The charitable institutions are a mendicity society, a dispensary, and a county infirmary, which is a large building on an eminence outside the town, on the Dublin road. Enniskillen is the birthplace of Lord Plunket, and gives the titles of Earl and Viscount to the family of Cole, by which it was founded.
ENNISMACSAINT.--See INNISMACSAINT.
ENNISMAGRATH.--See INNISMAGRATH.
ENNISMAIN.--See ARRAN ISLANDS.
ENNISNAG, a parish, in the barony of SHILLELOGHER, county of KILKENNY, and province of LEINSTER, 5 1/2 miles (S.) from Kilkenny, on the King's river, and on the road from Kilkenny to Waterford; containing 550 inhabitants. It comprises 1200 statute acres, of which 10 are woodland, 950 arable, 200 pasture, and about 40 waste. There are two flour-mills. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Ossory, and the corps of the treasurership of the cathedral of St. Canice, Kilkenny, in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £169. The glebe-house was built by aid of a gift of £400 and a loan of £400 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1821; the glebe comprises 18 acres. The church, a neat modern structure, was erected by aid of a gift of £900 from the same Board, in 1815, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £124 for its repair. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Danesfort.
ENNISTRAHULL, an island, in the parish of CLONCHA, barony of ENNISHOWEN, county of DONEGAL, and province of ULSTER, 8 miles (E.) from Malin Head, on the northern coast; the population is returned with the parish. It is situated in lat. 55° 26' 20", and lon. 7° 14' 10". Here is a lighthouse, built by the corporation for improving the port of Dublin, exhibiting a bright revolving light, which attains its greatest brilliancy every two minutes; the lantern is elevated 167 feet above the level of the sea at high water, and may be seen from all points 18 nautical miles in clear weather. About a quarter of a mile to the north is a rocky shoal, and further northward lie the Tarmore rocks, around which are always from 11 to 18 fathoms of water. In the channel between this island and the small isles called the Garvilans the stream of tide does not flow eastward until nearly five hours after high water, nor westward until five hours after low water, when its velocity is nearly four miles an hour.
ENNISTUBRET. -- See KILDYSART, county of CLARE.
ENNISTURK, or INNISTURC, an island, in the parish of OMEY, barony of BALLYNAHINCH, county of GALWAY, and province of CONNAUGHT, 4 miles (N. W.) from Clifden, on the western coast: the population is returned with the parish. It contains 85 statute acres. The sound between it and the mainland is deep and forms a harbour, within which is Kingstown, a good harbour for small vessels, but difficult of access on account of the rocks at its mouth.
ENNISTYMON, a market and post-town, in the parish of KILMANAHEEN, barony of CORCOMROE, county of CLARE, and province of MUNSTER, 165 miles (W. by N.) from Ennis, and 128 (W. by S.) from Dublin, on the river Inagh, and on the mail road from Ennis to Miltown-Malbay; containing 241 houses and 1430 inhabitants. The town, though irregularly built, has a picturesque appearance. A little below the bridge the river, which has its source in the mountains to the south-east, rushes over an extensive ridge of rocks and forms a beautiful cascade, at a short distance from which it joins the river Derry: the latter forms a junction with the river Inagh, and the united streams fall into the Atlantic at Liscanor hay, about 2 1/2 miles west of the town. Races are occasionally held at Lahinch, on the bay of Liscanor, for the amusement of visiters during the bathing season. This place had formerly a considerable market for strong knit woollen stockings, which were purchased in large quantities by dealers for supplying Dublin and the north of Ireland; but since the improvement in the stocking machinery this trade has gradually declined, and is now chiefly confined to the immediate neighbourhood. The market, which is held on Saturday, is well supplied with provisions, and is also a good mart for the sale of corn and pigs; and fairs are held on March 25th, May 15th, July 2nd, Aug. 22nd, Sept. 29th, Nov. 19th, and Dec. 17th, for general farming stock. Sea-sand for manure is brought up the river, and in the vicinity are raised thin flags, used for roofing and other purposes: a body of manganese appears on the edge of a bog near the river. Coal was found in the neighbourhood several years since, and some of it sent to Galway and Limerick, but from its inferior quality the works were discontinued. Quarter sessions are held here four times in the year; also petty sessions weekly on Monday. The sessions-house and district bridewell form a neat and commodious building, considered one of the best in the county. A seneschals' court for the manor of Ennistymon is held about once in each month, for the recovery of small debts. Here is a chief constabulary police station. The church, erected in 1830, is a handsome cruciform structure, in the later English style, with an octagonal tower on its south side resting on a square base: it is advantageously situated at the northern entrance of the town; and on an eminence to the east are the ruins of the old church. The R. C. chapel is a large and substantial building, erected about 12 years since; the old chapel has been converted into a school. The male and female free schools are supported by subscriptions, and by the proceeds of an annual charity sermon at the chapel; a school is also supported partly by Archdeacon Whitty, and partly by the pupils' fees; and there is a public dispensary. Immediately adjoining the town is Ennistymon Castle, formerly a seat of the O'Brien family, descendants of the Earls of Thomond, and now the residence of Andrew Finucane, Esq.; it is boldly situated on the north bank of the river, is surrounded by a richly wooded park, and contains some fine old family pictures. At a short distance is the glebe-house, the residence of the Ven. Archdeacon Whitty, a handsome and substantial mansion of recent erection, situated in a pleasing demesne, which is ornamented by young and thriving plantations. An abbey is said to have formerly existed here, over which St. Luchtighern presided.--See KlLMANAHEEN.
ENORELY, or ENERILEY, a parish, in the barony of ARKLOW, county of WICKLOW, and province of LEINSTER, on the road from Arklow to Wicklow, and on the eastern coast, opposite the Arklow sand-bank, 4 miles (N. by E.) from Arklow; containing 874 inhabitants, and comprising 4574 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, with a considerable tract of sandy coast. The gentlemen's seats are Buckroney House, the residence of M. McDonald, Esq.; Kilpatrick, of J. Byrne, Esq.; and Ballyrogan, of E. Byrne, Esq. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, separated from Arklow, by act of council in 1833, and now forming part of the union of Kilbride: the tithes amount to £110. A small part of the parish is included within the perpetual curacy of Redcross. In the R. C. divisions it is part of the union or district of Newbridge and Baronisky. On the grounds of Kilpatrick are two raths or moats. The church is in ruins.
ERRIGAL, or ARRIGLE, a parish, in the barony of COLERAINE, county of LONDONDERRY, and province of ULSTER; containing, with the post-town of Garvagh (which is described under its own head), 5401 inhabitants. A monastery was founded here by St. Columb in 589, which flourished until the ninth century, when it was plundered and destroyed by the Danes. The parish is bounded on the south by the Agivey water, and comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 19,625 1/4 statute acres, of which 18,113 are applotted under the tithe act and valued at £5163 per ann.; about 7500 acres are arable, 5500 pasture, 100 woodland, and the remainder hog and mountain; the latter affording good pasturage to large herds of cattle. The vale of Glenullen, and all the lands around Garvagh and on the banks of the Agivey water, are fertile, and even many of the more elevated lands produce excellent crops, though agriculture has been but little improved. The mountain range consists principally of the eastern slopes of Ballyness and Donald's hill, extending to the boundary of the barony, and are exclusively basalt, but everywhere produce sweet herbage. The inhabitants unite with agriculture the weaving of linen cloth. There are several handsome houses in the parish, the principal of which are Garvagh, the seat of Lord Garvagh, adjoining which is the picturesque vale of Glenullen; Ballintemple, of Mrs. Arthur Heyland; Woodbank, of Capt. Orr; Garvagh Cottage, of Capt. Crossley; and Meetigan glebe-house, of the Rev. W. Smith. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Derry, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £353, of which £300 are payable to the rector, the per centage to the landlord being about £53. The glebe-house, a small old building, is delightfully situated near the top of Glenullen; the glebe comprises about 254 acres. The church is a low plain building, adjoining the town of Garvagh, to the repairs of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently made a grant of £201. In the R. C. divisions this parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also parts of Desertog hill and Balteagh, and containing two chapels, one at Ballerin, and the other in Glenullen. There are places of worship in Garvagh for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster and the Seceding Synod, and for Separatists from the Seceding Synod, also one for Wesleyan Methodists. There are parochial and five other public schools, some of which are aided by donations from Lord Garvagh, R. McCausland, Esq., Mrs. Heyland, the rector, and the Ironmongers' Company; they afford instruction to about 400 children. A school founded by Dr. Adam Clarke is supported by the Wesleyan Methodists; and about 120 children are educated in four private schools. Here are numerous forts, particularly in Glenullen, evidently constructed to protect the pass into the mountains. The old church at Ballintemple is a very interesting ruin. The Rev. G. V. Sampson, author of the Map and Memoir of Londonderry, and the Statistical Survey of the same county, was rector of this parish, and died at the glebe-house; he was buried at Aghanloo.
ERRIGAL-KEROGUE, a parish, in the barony of CLOGHER, county of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER, on the river Blackwater and on the road from Aughnacloy to Omagh; containing, with the greater part of the district parish and post-town of Ballygawley, 9782 inhabitants. This parish, which is also called Errigal-Kieran, from the supposed dedication of its ancient church to St. Kieran, comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 21,139 3/4 statute acres, including 18 townlands, which now form part of the district parish of Ballygawley. The greater portion is rich arable, meadow, and pasture land, with a large extent of profitable mountain, and a considerable tract of waste. The hills towards the south are low and fertile, but towards the north they rise into mountains, the flat summits of which are bog and heath; the mountain of Shantavny rises, according to the Ordnance survey, 1035 feet above the level of the sea. The valleys are watered by streams which, in their descent from the mountains, form numerous picturesque cascades; and in one of them are found fossils and shells, washed down from the beds of limestone. There are extensive quarries of limestone and freestone, from the latter of which was taken the stone for building several of the churches and gentlemen's seats in the neighbourhood; and thin veins of coal have been found near Lismore, but though lying very near the surface, they have not been worked. The scenery is strikingly diversified; the glen called "Todd's Leap" abounds with romantic features, and at the southern extremity of the parish is a very handsome bridge of one arch over the Blackwater, which river is also crossed by two other bridges. The principal gentlemen's seats are Ballygawley House, the residence of Sir H. Stewart, Bart., situated on a rising ground, sheltered in the rear by the conspicuous precipice called the "Craigs;" Cleanally, of G. Spier, Esq.; Bloom Hill, of T. Simpson, Esq.; and Ballygawley Castle, of R. Armstrong, Esq. There are several large corn-mills and a tuck-mill for finishing the woollen cloths made in the various farm-houses. The manors of Donoughmore, Favour Royal, Cecil, and Ballygawley, are in this parish; in the first a court is held monthly, in which debts to any amount may be recovered; and in the three others are held similar courts every three weeks, with jurisdiction limited to £2.
The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Armagh, and in the patronage of J. C. Moutray, Esq.: the tithes amount to £380. The glebe-house is at Richmount, near Ballygawley, on a glebe of 266 acres, and there is another glebe of 297 acres, constituting the townland of Gort. The church, a handsome edifice in the later English style, with an embattled tower, was erected in 1831, near the site of the ancient structure at Ballinasaggard, at an expense of £1300, of which £1100 was a loan from the late Board of First Fruits. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church; the chapel is a small plain edifice, and there are two stations or altars, where service is occasionally performed. There are places of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster of the third class, Independents, and two for Wesleyan Methodists. About 700 children are taught in the public schools, of which the parochial school is chiefly supported by the incumbent, one by Miss Montgomery, and another by Mr. Leslie; and there are three private schools, in which are about 180 children. There are some remains of the old church, in which are several of the carved stones of an ancient friary, founded by Con O'Nial; in the churchyard is a large stone cross, and near it a holy well. The friary was of the third order of Franciscans, and near it was an ancient round tower. There are many conical raths in the parish, of which the most remarkable is that on the steep height called the Craigs; it is supposed that the native chiefs of Eirgal, or Uriel, had their seat in this parish, near which a monastery was founded by St. Macartin. In the townland of Sess-Kilgreen is a carved stone, part of a kistvaen, and in that of Lismore are the ruins of a square bawn, with round towers at the angles.
ERRIGAL-TROUGH, a parish, partly in the barony of CLOGHER, county of TYRONE, but chiefly in that of TROUGH, county of MONAGHAN, and province of ULSTER, 3 miles (S. S. W.) from Aughnacloy, on the road to Emyvale, and on the river Blackwater; containing 9321 inhabitants. It comprises 24,792 1/4 statute acres, according to the Ordnance survey, of which 21,174 1/4 are in Monaghan, and 102 1/4 are under water; 21,834 acres are applotted under the tithe act. About four-fifths of the land are arable and pasture, and there is a great deal of mountain land used for grazing, and some bog on the western boundary: agriculture is improving. There is abundance of limestone and sandstone; and coal is supposed to exist in the Sleabea mountains, though it has not been worked. On the north-western confines of the parish is Lough More. A small factory for weaving linen has been recently erected here. The gentlemen's seats are Fort Singleton, that of T. Singleton, Esq., situated in a well wooded demesne of 200 acres; Favour Royal, the handsome residence of J. Corry Moutray, Esq., erected near the site of the ancient house, which was destroyed by fire in 1823, and surrounded by a richly wooded demesne of 740 acres; and Laurel Hill, of W. H. Mayne, Esq. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Clogher, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the rectory is appropriate to the see of Clogher: the tithes amount to £400, of which £215. 7. 8 1/4. is payable to the bishop, and the remainder to the incumbent. The glebe-house stands on a glebe of 40 acres. The church is a very neat modern structure. A handsome cruciform church, in the later English style, with a square tower at the north-east angle, was erected in the demesne of Favour Royal, in 1835, at an expense of £1000, by J. C. Moutray, Esq., who has endowed it with £50 per annum, augmented with £30 per annum by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners; it is open to the public, there being no other church within three miles of Favour Royal, and is called St. Mary's, Portclare; the living is a donative, in the patronage of the founder. There is also a chapel in the eastern part of the parish. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church, and contains three chapels, one at Knockconnan, built in 1820, at an expense of £700; another on the townland of Drimbriston, built in 1823, at an expense of £500; the third, built in 1787, is in the townland of Mullyoden: the two first were erected, and the last repaired, through the exertions of the Rev. C. McDermot, the parish priest. There is a national school at Moy; and there are three other public schools, of which one at Fort Singleton is supported by T. Singleton, Esq., who built the school-house, in which the curate of the parish performs divine service twice every Sunday. There are also four hedge, three Scriptural, and four Sunday schools. In that portion of the parish which is in the county of Tyrone is a remarkable place called Altadawin, where it is said that St. Patrick assembled the first of his followers: it is a valley, 150 feet deep, through the centre of which a tongue of land of considerable altitude extends, and on the summit stands a large rock in the form of an altar, adjoining which is another rock, in the form of a chair. The valley is covered with trees, and a beautiful stream runs nearly through its centre. A royal residence of an independent prince of the O'Nial family is reported to have stood here formerly.
ERRY, a parish, in the barony of MIDDLETHIRD, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 3 1/2 miles (N. by E.) from Cashel, on the mail coach road from Dublin to Cork; containing 772 inhabitants. It comprises 1605 statute acres, and is a rectory, in the diocese of Cashel; the tithes, amounting to £77. 1. 1., are sequestrated in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who pay a stipend to the curate of an adjoining parish for performing the occasional duties. In the R. C. divisions it is part of the union or district of Boherlahan. There is a private school, in which are about 50 children.
ESKER, a parish, in the barony of NEWCASTLE, county of DUBLIN, and province of LEINSTER, 3/4 of a mile (E.) from Lucan; containing 1075 inhabitants. This place constitutes one of the four manors in the county which formerly belonged to the Crown. By an inquisition taken in the 15th of Henry VII. (1499), John Brownunsinge was found seized in fee of eight messuages, eight gardens, and 35 acres of land in Esker and Ballyowen, held of the Crown at an annual rent, which he bequeathed to the church of Esker, "in pure and perpetual alms." There are quarries of good building stone in the parish. The gentlemen's seats are Esker Lodge, the residence of Major Wills; Esker, of J. Cash, Esq.; St. Helen, of W. Gorman, Esq.; Esker Cottage, of J. Spring, Esq.; Esker House, of G. Clarke, Esq.; Ballyowen Lodge, of J. Cathrew, Esq.; Finstown Lodge, of S. Bell, Esq.; and the Glebe-house, of the Rev. W. Stewart. The parish is in the diocese of Dublin: the rectory forms part of the union and corps of the deanery of St. Patrick's, and the vicarage part of the union of Leixlip, under which head the tithes are stated. In the R. C. divisions it is part of the union or district of Palmerstown, Clondalkin, and Lucan. About ten boys are educated in a private classical school. The ruined church forms a conspicuous and picturesque object, appearing, from its extensive remains, to have been originally a large structure. In the vicinity are the ruins of the ancient castellated mansion of Ballyowen.
ETTAGH, a parish, partly in the barony of CLONLISK, and partly in that of BALLYBRITT, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 4 miles (S. E.) from Parsonstown, on the road to Roscrea; containing 1770 inhabitants. This parish comprises 6531 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £3440 per annum; the soil is generally a rich loam, and the land principally under tillage, with a small proportion of bog. The gentlemen's seats are Gloster, the residence of Hardress Lloyd, Esq., an ancient mansion situated in a fine and rather extensive demesne; and Golden Grove, of W. P. Vaughan, Esq., the demesne of which, comprising 400 Irish acres, is richly wooded, and is intersected by a small river, which separates this parish from that of Roscrea, in the adjoining county of Tipperary; it contains the hill of Knocknamace, from which are some fine views. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Killaloe, united to the vicarage of Kilcoleman, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £148. 12. 3 3/4., and the tithes of the union to £217. 16. 11. There is no glebe-house; the glebe comprises 24 acres. The church is a plain small edifice, erected by aid of a loan of £600 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1831, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £100 for its repair. There is a R. C. chapel at Coolderry; and there are schools at Kilcoleman, noticed in the account of that parish.
EVELEARY.-- See INCHEGEELAGH.
EYRECOURT, a market and post-town, in the parish of DONONAUGHTA, barony of LONGFORD, county of GALWAY, and province of CONNAUGHT, 11 1/4 miles (N. W.) from Parsonstown, on the road by Banagher to Loughrea; containing 1789 inhabitants. This town, which takes its name from the Eyre family, lords of the manor, contains 342 houses, which are neat and well built. There are some seats, which are noticed in the article on Dononaughta, which see. The market is on Saturday, and fairs are held on the Monday after Easter-Monday, June 29th, July 9th, Sept. 8th, Dec. 20th, and one in October. Here are a court-house (in which quarter and petty sessions are held), gaol, and a constabulary police station; also the parish church, which is in bad repair, and a R. C. chapel, built chiefly at the expense of C. B. Martin, Esq. A dispensary is supported in the usual way, and a decayed school-house is about to be restored by the Rev. Mr. Eyre, the incumbent of the parish.
EYRKE-- See EIRKE.