By Samuel Lewis, 1837
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NAAS, an incorporated market, post, and assize town (formerly a parliamentary borough), and a parish, partly in the barony of SOUTH SALT, but chiefly in that of NORTH NAAS, county of KILDARE, and province of LEINSTER, 17 3/4 miles (N. E. by N.) from Athy, and 15 3/4 (S.W.) from Dublin, on the great southern road to Cork; containing 4777 inhabitants, of which number, 3808 are in the town. This place, which is of very great antiquity, was at a very early period the residence of the Kings of Leinster; and after the invasion of Ireland by the English, was granted by John, Earl of Morton, to William Fitzmaurice, together with the adjacent territory and various important privileges, with a market and a very extensive jurisdiction in all pleas except those of the crown. It was soon after surrounded with a wall and strongly fortified; several castles were erected and many houses built; and from its central situation within the English pale, it rapidly rose into importance. A priory was founded here in the 12th century by the Baron of Naas, for Canons Regular of the order of St. Augustine, and dedicated to St. John the Baptist, which flourished till 1316, when the town was sacked by the Scots; but it was soon restored. In 1355, a convent for Dominican Friars was founded here by the family of Fitz-Eustace. Hen. V., in the 2nd year of his reign, granted to the "Portreeve, Burgesses, and Commonalty of the town of Naas" certain tolls for 20 years, to enable the inhabitants to wall their town. In 1419 a parliament was held at this place, and in 1484, a convent for friars eremites of the order of St. Augustine was founded, but by whom is uncertain. The lord-Deputy Skeffington, in 1534, took the town from Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, who was then in open rebellion and had made himself master of it. In 1569, Queen Elizabeth granted a charter, which, without reciting or alluding to any previous charter, declares that the town of Naas shall be a free and undoubted borough. In 1577, between 700 and 800 thatched houses were burned on the night of a festival, by Roderick Oge O'Moore and Cormuck O'Conor, at the head of a party of insurgents from the country to the west of the English pale. The charter of Elizabeth was confirmed and extended by Jas. I., in 1609; and the borough, which was supposed to have existed only by prescription, was incorporated by the designation of the "Sovereign, Provosts, Burgesses, and Commonalty of Naas." A new charter was afterwards granted by Chas. II., in 1628, but the town has been always governed by the charters of Elizabeth and Jas. I. It was garrisoned by the Earl of Ormonde in 1648, and after experiencing many vicissitudes, in which it suffered severely, was finally taken for Cromwell by Cols. Hewson and Reynolds, in 1650. During the disturbances of 1798, this place was the scene of the first open act of insurrection; a party of insurgents attacked the town on the 24th of May, but were repulsed by the garrison, commanded by Lord Gosford, which, in anticipation of an assault, had been previously reinforced. The insurgents sustained for some time the attack of the Armagh militia and of Sir W. W. Wynne's fencible corps, but retreated after the loss of about 150 of their men.
The town is pleasantly situated in a fine, open, and fertile tract of country, gently undulating and enriched with wood, and beautifully contrasted on the southeast by the varied outline of the Wicklow mountains. It consists principally of one main street, extending about half a mile along the great southern road, which at one extremity of the town divides into two branches, forming respectively the mail coach roads to Kilkenny and Limerick; and, at the other extremity, of a street at right angles to the former, continued along the road to Kilcock and Maynooth; and of several smaller streets. The total number of houses is about 600, of which only a few are handsomely built and the remainder of indifferent appearance; the streets are neither paved nor lighted, but the inhabitants are amply supplied with water from wells. The infantry barracks, about a quarter of a mile from the town, a handsome pile of building with a cupola above the principal range, are adapted for 17 officers and 412 non-commissioned officers, with stabling for four horses and an hospital for 30 patients. Races are annually held on a course about a mile from the town, on the Limerick road, and continue five days, usually preceding the Curragh Midsummer meetings. The principal trade is in corn, which is generally bought by the neighbouring millers; in the neighbourhood are several extensive flour-mills, each capable of producing from 8000 to 10,000 barrels annually. A considerable traffic is also derived from its situation on a great public thoroughfare, and from the influx of persons attending the assizes and quarter sessions. A branch from the Grand Canal, commencing about a mile below Sallins, passes through the town and terminates at Corbally, in the parish of Carnalloway; it was completed in 1789, at an expense of £12,300, and affords great facility of conveyance for corn, coal, culm, and turf, and various articles of merchandise, which are brought to the town in great quantities for the supply of the surrounding neighbourhood. The markets are on Monday and Thursday, and are abundantly supplied with corn and with all kinds of provisions, and with abundance of poultry, which is sold in large quantities for the Dublin market. Fairs are held on March 17th, Ascension-day, Whit-Monday, Aug. 10th, and Nov. 22nd, for cattle, sheep, and pigs. The market-house is a neat and well-arranged building, erected by the Earl of Mayo, who is proprietor of the town. In the centre of the town is a large barrack for the chief constabulary police force stationed here.By the charters of Elizabeth and Jas. 1st, the corporation consists of a sovereign, two provosts, and an indefinite number of burgesses and freemen, assisted by a serjeant-at-mace, a town-serjeant, a billet-master and three weigh-masters. The sovereign, who is a justice of the peace, and master of the say for leather; and the two provosts, who with him are clerks of the market, are annually elected, on the feast of St. Michael, by the burgesses and freemen, who are themselves elected by the corporation at large, as vacancies occur, the latter by favour only; and all the other officers are similarly appointed: no coroners have been appointed by the corporation since the act for making county coroners. The corporation sent two members to the Irish parliament till the Union, when the borough was disfranchised. It was impowered to hold a court of record for determining all personal pleas arising within the borough, which has long since fallen into disuse. The Lent assizes are held here, and the quarter sessions for the county in April and October, in rotation with Kildare, Athy, and Maynooth; petty sessions are also held every Monday before the county magistrates. The county court-house, in the High-street, is a neat building, consisting of a centre and two wings faced with granite, and having a receding portico of four columns, supporting a cornice and pediment. The county gaol, completed in 1833, at an expense of £14,000, is a substantial and well-built edifice of hewn limestone, on the radiating principle, consisting of four detached ranges of building, one of which contains rooms for debtors and an hospital, and the other three, 60 cells and 7 day-rooms, ten airing-yards, and a neat chapel; it is well adapted for classification; the entrance is between two semicircular bastions.
The parish, which is also called St. David's, comprises 5027 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act; the land is of good quality, and, with the exception of some extensive pastures, is chiefly under tillage; the system of agriculture is improved, and the surrounding district is in a high state of cultivation. The environs abound with diversified scenery, and are embellished with several handsome seats, of which the principal are Palmerston, the seat of the Earl of Mayo, an extensive pile of building, with a family chapel attached to it, and situated in a pleasing demesne, the grounds of which are tastefully laid out and kept in excellent order; Oldtown, the family residence of the Very Rev. T. J. Burgh, Dean of Cloyne; Furnace, of E. Beauman, Esq.; and Forenaghts, of the Rev. R. Wolfe. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Kildare, united to the adjoining rectory of Carogh, and in the patronage of the Very Rev. T. J. Burgh; the rectory is appropriate to the funds of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, to provide for the perpetual curacy of Belfast. The tithes amount to £290. 1. 9., of which £126 is payable to the perpetual curate of Belfast, and the remainder to the vicar. The glebe-house is a very ancient building, and all that remains of one of the numerous castles of Naas; the glebe comprises 33 3/4 acres; and the gross value of the benefice is £300. 15. 1. per annum. The church, for the repair of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £276, is a neat edifice, in the early English style, with a massive square tower, which was added to it after its erection. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church; the chapel, dedicated to St. David, is a spacious and handsome edifice, in the early English style, erected by subscription in 1833; adjoining it is a convent for nuns of the order of the Presentation, with a spacious school-room attached. There is a place of worship for Independents. About 270 children are taught in four public schools, of which the parochial school is supported by subscriptions, aided by the vicar; and the Diocesan school, of which the master has a salary of £70, by the bishop and clergy of the diocese. There are ten private schools, in which are about 320 children. There are a dispensary and fever hospital; and an almshouse, originally built by Patrick Lattin, Esq., in 1590, and twice rebuilt by his descendants, who allow the inmates a small annual sum of money. The late Gen. Thomas bequeathed £20 per annum to the poor; and in 1782, Lord Naas bequeathed to the inhabitants a burial-ground, which is subject to burial fees, situated about , half a mile from the town, on the road to Dublin. The only remains of antiquity are the moat and St. David's Castle, the present glebe-house. Near the old gaol is a modernised house, now a baker's and butcher's shop, which was formerly one of the numerous castles of this place, of which all the others have long since disappeared in the progressive improvements of the town. There are no remains of any of the monasteries, all of which subsisted till the dissolution. The rath, in the centre of the town, is a high conical mount, where the states of Leinster are said to have held their general assemblies; at the foot of it was a religious house, of which only the cemetery is now remaining. About a mile from the town, on the Limerick road, is Jigginstown, a spacious brick mansion, commenced by the unfortunate Earl of Strafford, but never finished, the walls of which and the vaulted cellars, from the excellent quality of the bricks and cement, are still in a very perfect state. Naas gives the title of Baron to the Earl of Mayo.
NALTEEN.--See NILTEEN.
NANTINAN, a parish, in the barony of LOWER CONNELLO, county of LIMERICK, and province of MUNSTER, 3 miles (S. E.) from Askeaton, on the road to Rathkeale; containing 2869 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the eastern bank of the river Deel, comprises 3814 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The land in some parts is of good quality, but generally rocky and covered with great numbers of stones, which greatly retard its cultivation and improvement, except by the resident gentry and the more opulent farmers. The principal seats are Nantinan House, that of T. H. Royse, Esq., on the lands of which very interesting improvements have been made at a great expense; Stoneville, of H. Massy, Esq.; and Ballinvirick, of T. Royse, Esq., on all of which great improvements are in progress. Near the church is a spacious green, on which fairs are held on July 10th, Aug. 5th, and Nov. 12th, for cattle, sheep, pigs, and pedlery. The living is a rectory and perpetual curacy, in the diocese of Limerick; the rectory was united at a period unknown to the rectories and vicarages of Kilfenny and Loughill, the rectories of Shanagolden, Knocknegaul, and Dromdeely, and the vicarage of Morgans, together constituting the union of Nantinan, and the corps of the precentorship of the cathedral of Limerick, in the patronage of the Bishop, who is also patron of the perpetual curacy. The tithes amount to £461. 10. 9 1/2. per annum: the glebe-house, towards the erection of which the late Board of First Fruits contributed a gift of £450, and a loan of £50, in 1819, is a handsome residence; the glebe comprises six acres, purchased by the same Board; and the gross value of the benefice is £1071. 12. 3. The stipend of the perpetual curate is £100, of which £75 is paid by the rector, and £25 from Primate Boulter's augmentation fund. The church, towards the repair of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £123, is a neat edifice, in the early English style, with a square embattled tower surmounted with an octagonal spire; it was rebuilt in 1817, for which purpose the late Board of First Fruits granted a loan of £800. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union of Stonehall and Cappagh. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. About 30 children are taught in the parochial school, which is chiefly supported by Lord Southwell and the rector. Near the Green is a well, dedicated to St. James, enclosed by ancient massive stone walls, the water of which issues from a limestone rock; it is much resorted to on festivals by the peasantry of the neighbourhood. Numerous forts are scattered over the parish, of which that of Feigbeg is the most curious.
NAPPAGH, an island, in the parish of KILCUMMIN, barony of MOYCULLEN, county of GALWAY, and province of CONNAUGHT, 22 1/2 miles (W.) from Galway: the population is returned with the parish. It is situated at the entrance to Casheen and Kilkerrin bays, on the western coast, and comprises about 65 statute acres of arable and pasture land.
NARIN, or NAIRN, a post-town, in the parish of INNISKEEL, barony of LOWER BOYLAGH, county of DONEGAL, and province of ULSTER, 5 1/2 miles (N. N. W.) from Ardara, and 140 (N. W.) from Dublin: the population is returned with the parish. It consists of a few scattered houses on the north-western coast, and has a sub-post-office to Ardara. A pier has been built for the accommodation of the fishermen.
NARRAGHMORE, a parish, partly in the barony of KILKEA and MOONE, and partly in the barony of WEST, but chiefly in that of EAST, NARRAGH and RHEBAN, county of KILDARE, and province of LEINSTER, 2 miles (N. N. W.) from Ballitore; containing 3125 inhabitants, of which number, 173 are in the village. This place, which is of great antiquity, has been the scene of many historical events. According to Keating, a desperate battle was fought here in the third century between the men of South Leinster and Carmar Cas, King of Munster, in which the latter was defeated with great slaughter and pursued to Athbrodain, or "the bloody ford," where the town of Athy now stands. The Naasteighan, or assembly of the states of South Leinster, was held here on the "Hill of Carmen," consisting of a high rath, on the summit of which were sixteen conical mounds, upon which the elders sat in council; it is situated on the brow of a gently sloping eminence, about six miles from Athy. This rath was afterwards known by the name of the moat of Mullimast, or "the hill of decapitation," in consequence of the act of some English adventurers in the 16th century, who being resisted in their encroachments by some of the Irish chieftains, to whom the district belonged, having invited the latter to a conference on this hill on New Year's day, fell upon them unawares, slew them, and buried their bodies here. The parish, which is situated on the river Griese, a branch of the Barrow, and on the road from Dublin to Castledermot, comprises 11,564 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The lands are chiefly under tillage and pasture; the soil is good, and the system of agriculture is improving; the chief crops are potatoes, oats, wheat and barley; there is no waste land, but a large tract of bog. The manor was originally granted to Robert Fitz-Richard, one of the earliest English settlers, who was created Lord of Narragh, and built the castle, in the reign of Hen. II. It formed for some time a palatine barony belonging to the Wellesley family; and at a later period became the property of the Keatings. During the disturbances of 1798, the mansion-house of Col. Keating, a modern building not then finished, was burnt by the king's troops in their operations against the insurgents. The manor is now the property of Robert Latouche, Esq., of Harristown: the house has never been rebuilt, and is in ruins; the demesne is very extensive and richly wooded. The village contains 23 houses. An extensive cotton manufacture is carried on at Inchiquin mills by Mr. Leonard Greenham, who of late years has greatly improved the concern, so as considerably to increase the number of persons employed in spinning and weaving by hand and power looms. A fair is held in the village on the 28th of March, and a constabulary police station has been established there. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin, and in the patronage of the Archbishop: the tithes amount to £646. 3. 1. The glebe-house, built in 1818, by a gift of £100 and a loan of £1275 from the late Board of First Fruits, is a handsome modern house in tastefully disposed grounds; the glebe comprises 12 acres of cultivated land, near the church. The church is a small building, for the repair of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £127. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district comprising the parishes of Narraghmore and Davidstown, and parts of those of Fontstown and Dunlavin: there are two chapels, one at Crookstown and the other at Kilmead. The parochial school, in which are about 100 children, is aided by private subscriptions; a school at Skerries is supported in connection with the Board of National Education, for which a school-house was built by Mr. Lappen, and there is another in connection with the same Board at Calverstown, for which a building was erected by Robert Borrowes, Esq. There is also a private school, in which are about 40 children.
NATHLASH, or ST. NICHOLAS, a parish, in the barony of FERMOY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 1 mile (S.) from Kildorrery, on the mail car road from Fermoy to Limerick; containing 862 inhabitants. It is situated on the western bank of the river Funcheon, which flows for nearly a quarter of a mile through a romantic glen formed by two precipitous limestone rocks, apparently rent asunder by some convulsion of nature. It comprises 1009 statute acres, as rated for the county cess, and valued at £863 per ann.: the land is generally good, and chiefly in tillage, and the state of agriculture is gradually improving. Good marble is found at Ballymahan: there is no waste land or bog. Near the village of Rockmills are the extensive flour-mills from which it derives its name, erected by the late R. Aldworth, Esq., of Newmarket; they are propelled by the Funcheon, and are capable of manufacturing nearly 12,000 sacks of flour annually: adjacent is Rockmill Lodge, the beautifully situated residence of Mrs. Oliver. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Cloyne, united to the vicarage of Kildorrery, and in the gift of the Bishop, which union is held by faculty with that of Ahern. The tithes of Nathlash amount to £120, and of the union of that name, to £279. 11. The church, a small neat structure with a tower and spire, is at Rockmills: it was erected in 1811, by aid of a gift of £800 from the late Board of First Fruits. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Kildorrery. The school, for which a good plain building was erected by the late Mr. Aldworth, at an expense of £100, is chiefly supported by subscription; in it and in a private school about 40 children are instructed: there is also a Sunday school.--See ROCKMILLS.
NAUGHAVAL .--See NOUGHAVAL.
NAUL, formerly called The NAULE, a parish, in the barony of BALROTHERY, county of DUBLIN, and province of LEINSTER, 14 miles (N.) from Dublin, on the road to Drogheda by Ballyboghill; containing 758 inhabitants, of which number, 216 are in the village. The parish comprises 1600 acres, of which two-thirds are arable, one-third pasture, and about 40 acres are woodland. The ancient castle, sometimes called the castle of Roches, is supposed to have been built by the family of De Geneville, from which it passed to the Cruises; and having passed through various hands since 1641, has become the property of Col. Tennison, of Castle Tennison, in the county of Roscommon. It is boldly . situated on a rocky precipice on the brow of a chain of hills, commanding a fine view of the vale of Roches, above which it towers at a height of upwards of 150 feet. Through this vale, which is a romantic glen, bordered in many places with rocks of various size and form, and broken into caves, flows the winding Delvan rivulet, which separates the counties of Dublin and Meath, and after forming a waterfall of the same name as the glen, falls into the Irish sea at the village of Knockingin. A fine view of this picturesque glen is obtained from Westown House, the seat of Anthony Strong Hussey, Esq., a respectable mansion of antiquated character, apparently erected early in the last century, and standing in a highly improved demesne, embellished with some fine old timber, at a short distance from the village: in the demesne is a rath, which has been thickly planted. Reynoldstown, the residence of Wm. W. Yates, Esq., is the only other seat in the parish. By an act of the 1st of Geo. I., £2000 was granted to Arthur Mervyn to enable him to complete the mills at Naul, by the addition of granaries. Agriculture is not in a forward state: the principal crops are wheat, oats and potatoes; limestone is raised from quarries in the parish. In 1824, after several previous trials, a trial for coal was made by boring to the depth of 160 feet, but without success. There is a station of the constabulary police in the village. Fairs, established in 1832, and in which black cattle, horses, and pigs are sold, are held on March 16th, April 26th, Whit-Tuesday, and Oct. 2nd. It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin, forming part of the union of Hollywood; the rectory is impropriate in W. Dutton Pollard, Esq. The church, which serves for the union, is a plain neat building, and adjoining it is a chapel in ruins, built, as is stated in an inscription on a stone over the western entrance, by the Hon. Col. E. Hussey, of Westown, in 1710. Mr. Pollard agreed, in 1833, to take £200 per ann. for his share of the tithes of this and the adjoining parishes of Hollywood and Grallagh. Naul forms part of the R. C. union or district of Naul or Damastown; a neat chapel was erected at the former of these places in 1822, by subscription, on a site given by A. S. Hussey, Esq. A commodious school-house was erected, in 1835, near the entrance to Westown demesne, on a site given by Col. Tennison, at an expense of £238, of which £138 was a grant from the Board of National Education and the remainder was defrayed by subscription; it is supported by an annual grant of £20 from the same Board, between £50 and £60 by subscriptions, and by the fees of the pupils. Here is a private school, in which 20 boys and 25 girls are educated.
NAVAN, an incorporated market and post-town (formerly a parliamentary borough), and a parish, in the barony of LOWER NAVAN, county of MEATH, and province of LEINSTER, 7 miles (N. N. E.) from Trim, and 23 (N. by W.) from Dublin, on the road to Enniskillen; containing 5292 inhabitants, of which number, 4416 are in the town. It is one of the first boroughs established by the English in the palatinate of Meath, and appears to have arisen under the patronage of the family of the Nangles, barons of Navan, who, towards the close of the 12th century, founded here an abbey for Canons Regular of the order of St. Augustine. The town is said to have been walled round by Hugh de Lacy, and to have attained such importance that, in the reign of Edw. IV., the inhabitants received from that monarch a charter of incorporation, which was confirmed, with additional privileges, by Hen. VII., in the 9th year of his reign. In the time of Hen. VIII. it had become of so much military importance, that an act was passed, in the 34th of that reign, providing that every ploughland in Meath and Westmeath, liable to subsidy, should be charged for four years with the payment of 3s. 4d. towards building the walls of Navan. In 1623, the inhabitants received from Jas. I. a new charter, confirming all previous grants and incorporating them under the designation of the "Portreeve, Burgesses, and Freemen of the Town or Borough of Navan," which was confirmed after his restoration by Chas. II., who also granted them four fairs.
The town is situated in the centre of the county, and at the junction of the rivers Blackwater and Boyne; it consists of three principal streets, from which several smaller branch off in various directions, and contains about 850 houses, many of which are well built; altogether it has a neat, cheerful, and thriving appearance. The cavalry barracks, on the site of the ancient abbey, are adapted for 4 officers and 52 non-commissioned officers and privates, with stabling for 50 horses. The chief trade is in provisions, which is extensively carried on with Drogheda, and seems to have been consequent on the opening of the Boyne navigation from that part to Navan, a line of 15 miles in extent; and its further extension inland, which has been attempted but not yet carried into effect, would contribute greatly to its increase and to the general prosperity of the neighbourhood. There is also a considerable retail trade with the surrounding districts. In the immediate vicinity of the town, and closely connected with its trade, though locally within the limits of the adjoining parish of Athlumney, are flax-mills on the river Boyne, affording regular employment, on the average, to about 260 persons, and in the same parish, but close to the bridge of Navan, are some very extensive flour-mills, the property of Mr. Delany. Of these mills, one has five pairs of stones used for grinding wheat only; and the other, called the New Mill, which has been recently erected and fitted up with the most improved machinery, has ten pairs of stones, of which six are used in grinding wheat, and four for oats; attached to these mills is a steam-engine of 30-horse power. There are also some smaller mills in the town, chiefly for oatmeal; and a paper-mill upon a small scale, chiefly for the coarser sorts of paper. The distillery belonging to Mr. James Morgan is capable of producing 30,000 gallons of whiskey annually; and on the river Blackwater, and close to the town, was formerly a very extensive distillery, with a mill and corn stores, employing a large number of persons; but the establishment has been for some time discontinued, and the buildings are fast going to decay. The manufacture of sacking, of which this place is the principal seat, is extensively carried on: it is made of tow brought from the North of Ireland, and in the town are from 200 to 300 looms in constant operation, each producing annually about 40 pieces of 60 yards in length. The market, which is the best attended in the county, is on Wednesday, and is abundantly supplied with corn, large numbers of bacon-hogs and porkers, and with coarse linen, yarn, frieze, and country merchandise. Fairs for store cattle, horses, sheep and hogs, are held on Easter and Trinity Mondays, and on the second Monday in September and the first Monday in December for beef, store bullocks, sheep, horses, and hogs. A savings' bank, in which are deposits to the amount of more than £5000, and a chief constabulary police force, have been established in the town.
By the charters of Jas. I. and Chas. II., the corporation consists of a portreeve, twelve burgesses, and an indefinite number of freemen, assisted by a town-clerk, two serjeants-at-mace, and other officers. The port-reeve, who is also justice of the peace, is annually elected on the 13th of September by the corporation at large, and may appoint a deputy, who is also a justice of the peace; the burgesses, as vacancies occur, are chosen from the freemen, who are admitted only by favour of the corporation, by whom also the town-clerk and serjeants-at-mace are appointed. The corporation continued to return two members to the Irish parliament till the Union, when the borough was disfranchised. The borough court, formerly held before the portreeve or his deputy; has issued no process since 1820, and has since fallen into total disuse; the borough officers exercise no municipal jurisdiction, and though a portreeve is annually chosen, the corporation may be considered as virtually extinct. General sessions are held twice in the year, and petty sessions on alternate Mondays before the county magistrates and the portreeve, who acts also as a magistrate for the county. The court-house, or Tholsel, contains the requisite apartments for holding the courts, and a suite of assembly-rooms, and previously to the erection of the present bridewell, the basement story was used as a prison; the bridewell has separate wards and day-rooms, with airing-yards, for the classification of prisoners.
The parish comprises 3498 3/4 statute acres, of which 2802 are applotted under the tithe act. The land is of middling quality, and about two-thirds of it are under tillage; the system of agriculture is much improved, and there is very little waste land or bog. Limestone of good quality abounds, and is quarried both for burning into lime and for building. The principal seats are Boyne Hill, the residence of Lieut. Col. T. Gerrard, beautifully situated on the bank of the river; Belmont, of J. Goggan, Esq.; and a handsome residence recently erected, near the road to Dublin, by L. Byron, Esq., M.D., commanding some pleasing views. In the immediate vicinity of the town, though within the limits of Donaghmore parish, is Black Castle, the handsome seat of R. R. Fitzherbert, Esq., beautifully situated in a tastefully improved demesne. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Meath, united by act of council, in the 17th century, to the rectories of Ardsallagh and Donaghmore, and in the patronage of the Crown. The tithes amount to £275: the glebe of the union comprises 15 1/2 statute acres, valued at £23. 15. per ann.; and the gross revenue of the benefice is £728. 15. The church, towards the repairs of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £226, is a neat modern edifice, rebuilt, with the exception of the old tower, which is of elegant design, in 1818, at an expense of £1700, of which £600 was a gift and £1100 a loan from the late Board of First Fruits; it contains a handsome organ, presented to the parish by Mrs Savage. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also the parishes of Donaghmore, Ardsallagh, and Bective: the chapel is a handsome Grecian edifice, now in course of erection upon an extensive scale; there is also a chapel at Bective, Near the R. C. chapel is the convent of the Ladies of Loretto, a handsome edifice, attached to which are two schoolrooms, one in connection with the National Board, in which are 200 girls, who are gratuitously instructed by the sisters of the convent; and the other a private seminary for young ladies. The Navan endowed school was founded by Alderman Preston, of Dublin, who by will bequeathed 800 plantation acres of land in Queen's county, of which he appropriated seven-sixteenth parts to this school, five to a similar school at Ballyroan, and four-sixteenths to the Blue Coat school in Dublin; the course of education includes an efficient preparation for the University, for which the charge must not exceed one guinea per quarter; the appointment of the master is vested in the Rev. Joseph Preston, of Bellinter. There is also an extensive R. C. seminary for students intended for the priesthood or for any of the learned professions: the school is under the direction and superintendence of three R. C. clergymen; the premises are extensive, and annexed to them is a private chapel. About 400 children are taught in the public schools of the parish; and there are nine private schools, in which are about 450 children. The County Infirmary is a plain building, not well adapted to its purpose; the fever hospital is of modern date, and contains ample accommodation of a superior kind. There are also a charitable loan society, entirely supported by Mrs. Fitzherbert, and a society for the relief of the destitute sick poor. At the western extremity of the town is a large moat of considerable elevation, commanding from its summit a very extensive and interesting prospect.
NEALE, a village, in the parish of KILMOLARA, barony of KILMAINE, county of MAYO, and province of CONNAUGHT, 2 1/2 miles (S.) from Ballinrobe, on the road to Cong; the population is returned with the parish. This place, which is usually called "The Neale," is a constabulary police station, and has fairs on Feb. 5th, May 6th, Aug. 4th, and Nov. 5th. Immediately adjoining is Neale Park, a seat of Lord Kilmaine: the grounds, which are very extensive, contain some curious monuments, noticed under the head of Kilmolara. In the R. C. divisions Neale gives name to the union or district, comprising the parishes of Kilmolara and Ballinchalla, and contains the only chapel in the district.
NEDDINS, a parish, in the barony of IFFA and OFFA WEST, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 6 1/4 miles (S. W.) from Clonmel, on the river Suir; containing 616 inhabitants. This parish comprises 1461 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Lismore, forming part of the union of Ardfinnan: the rectory is impropriate in Mrs. Emily Cudworth. The tithes amount to £185, of which £105 is payable to the impropriator, and the remainder to the vicar. In the R. C. divisions also it forms part of the district of Ardfinnan.
NENAGH, a market and post-town, and a parish, partly in the barony of UPPER ORMOND, but chiefly in that of LOWER ORMOND, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 19 miles (N. E.) from Limerick, and 75 (S. W.) from Dublin, on the mail road between these cities; containing 9159 inhabitants, of which number, 8446 are in the town, which is the largest (except one), as to population, that does not return a member to parliament. It was one of the ancient manors of the Butlers, by whom the old castle now in ruins is supposed to have been founded. In 1200, an hospital was founded here for Augustinian canons, who were to admit into it the sick and infirm: it was dedicated to St. John the Baptist, whence it was usually called Teacheon, Tyone, or St. John's house, and was endowed by Theobald Walter, the first Butler of Ireland, with lands for the maintenance of thirteen beds for strangers: after the dissolution of religious houses, the building and its possessions were granted by Elizabeth, in the fifth year of her reign, to Oliver Grace. In the reign of Hen. III., a member of the Butler or of the Kennedy family founded a Franciscan friary in the town, which was one of the richest foundations belonging to that order in the kingdom: it was finally leased by Elizabeth to Robert Collum for a term of years. In 1550, O'Carroll burned both the town and the friary, but the garrison saved the castle. In 1641, it was taken by the Irish under Owen Roe O'Nial, from whom it was afterwards wrested by Lord Inchiquin. Ireton, in his march against Limerick in 1651, invested the town and compelled the garrison to surrender at discretion. In the war of 1688, it fell into the hands of Anthony Car-roll, an active leader under Sarsfield, who made it the centre of his operations, until compelled to abandon it on the approach of a force under Gen. Leveson, when he burned the town in his retreat.
The town stands on a stream to which it gives name, that descends from the Keeper mountain to Lough Derg. It consists of four streets meeting in the centre. The market for corn and cattle, which is well attended, is held on Thursday: fairs are held under a grant by Hen. VIII. to the Butler family, on April 24th, May 29th, July 4th, Sept. 4th, Oct. 10th, and Nov. 1st. The first fair held here was called Eanaugh Airoon, that is "a Fair in Ormond." General sessions are held twice a year, and petty sessions weekly: there is a courthouse for the meetings of the magistrates; also an old bridewell, consisting of 3 day-rooms, 9 cells and 2 yards. Application is about to be made to procure an act of parliament to make Nenagh an assize town. It is the residence of a stipendiary magistrate, and a chief constabulary police station. A seneschal's court for the manor was formerly held here. A fever hospital and dispensary are maintained in the usual manner: three physicians attend the former in monthly rotation, at a salary of £25 each. There is a small library of works of a religious and charitable tendency. An infantry barrack has been built on an eminence at the east end of the town, on the principle of a field fortification, with accommodations for a field-officer, 12 commissioned officers, 208 non-commissioned officers and privates, and 4 horses, with hospital accommodation for 21 patients and a magazine. The ruins of the old castle, commonly called "Nenagh Round," on one side of Castle-street, consist of a lofty and massive circular donjon, or keep, with a yard attached, surrounded by high walls, which were originally flanked by four circular towers, and entered by a gate with a portcullis: the building appears to be of the age of the first Anglo-Norman proprietor. A brewery is carried on in the town; and at Tyone, in its immediate vicinity, is a flour-mill, from which large quantities of flour are sent to Dromineer, the nearest steamboat station on the Shannon, about five miles distant. There is also a small stuff manufactory. The town is supplied with water from wells, and is neither paved nor lighted. Near it, on the Dublin road, is a spring of excellent water, with a covering of masonry, on which are inscribed these words: "Erected by voluntary contribution, to commemorate the unparalleled benevolence of the English nation to the poor of Ireland at a season of extreme distress. A.D. 1822." The fee of the land in and about the town, amounting to 500 acres, is vested in the Holmes family.
The town is in a populous and well-cultivated district, in which are a considerable number of resident gentry. The seats in its immediate vicinity are Richmond, the residence of R. Wells Gason, Esq.; Salisboro', of T. Poe, Esq.; Riverston, of John Bennett, Esq.; Smithfield, of Capt. Boucheir; Wellington, of W. Smithwick, Esq.; and Brook Watson, of F. Watson, Esq. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Killaloe, united by act of council, Feb. 16th, 1798, to the rectory and vicarage of Knigh, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £350, and the gross tithes of the benefice are £636. 3. 1. The glebe-house was erected by a loan of £1200 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1812; there are two glebes in the union, together containing 18a. 3r. The church, which is in the town, is a plain structure, built by a loan of £1300 from the same Board, in 1809; and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have lately granted £101 for its repair. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising this parish and that of Lisbunny; it contains one chapel, situated in the town, where is also a meeting-house for Wesleyan Methodists, and another for Independents. There are a parochial free school, a school under the trustees of Erasmus Smith's charity, and one under the Board of National Education, in which are about 290 boys and 150 girls. There are also six private schools, in which are about 170 boys and 80 girls.
NEWBAWN, a parish, partly in the barony of BANTRY, but chiefly in that of SHELMALIER, county of WEXFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 6 miles (S. E.) from New Ross, on the road to Wexford: containing 1618 inhabitants. During the disturbances of 1798, the insurgents encamped on Carrigburn hill, in this parish, for a few days before the battle of New Ross, and remained there until the evening of the 4th of June, when they marched to that town, leaving some prisoners (among whom were a few Catholics) in the barn belonging to the mansion of Scullabogue, which is situated at the foot of the rocky hill. Some fugitives from the field of battle perceiving that the day was lost, in order to escape the carnage of that desperate conflict, hurried back to Carrigburn under pretence of bringing orders from the commander-in-chief to put the prisoners to death, which being believed, the barn was set on fire, and the prisoners, with the exception only of one or two, perished in the flames. The mansion has never been occupied by the proprietor, Lieut.-Gen. Browne Clayton, since it became the scene of this memorable tragedy; but a neat cottage, called Carrigburn Cottage, has been fitted up as a summer residence for the family. Carrigburn is a remarkable rocky eminence, chiefly composed of hard flint, rising abruptly from an extensive plain to a height of about 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and commanding from its summit an extensive prospect of the surrounding country and of the Irish sea, studded along the coast of Wexford with several islands, among which the Saltees are the most conspicuous. The parish comprises 7316 statute acres, chiefly in tillage, and well cultivated. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Ferns, forming part of the union of Adamstown, and the corps of the archdeaconry: the tithes amount to £360. 4. 8. In the R. C. divisions it is the head of a union or district, comprising also the parish of Adamstown, and parts of Donowney and Horetown, and containing the. chapels of Newbawn, Adamstown, Raheen, and Cullinstown: that of Newbawn is a spacious modern cruciform structure. About 50 children are educated in two private schools; and there is a dispensary for the parishes of Newbawn and Clongeen. On Newbawn farm, now in the occupation of Mr. Tobias Rossiter, are the remains of an ancient castle, apparently of Norman foundation, consisting chiefly of a tower, of which the staircase leading to the summit is still in tolerable preservation. Several ancient raths or forts are scattered over the parish.
NEWBLISS, a market and post-town, in the parish of KILLEEVAN, barony of DARTRY, county of MONAGHAN, and province of ULSTER, 4 miles (E. S. E.) from Clones, and 66 (N. W.) from Dublin, on the road from Clones to Dublin; containing 497 inhabitants. It is situated on the estate, and contiguous to the fine demesne and plantations, of Andrew Ker, Esq., M.D.; and consists of one wide street, containing 95 houses, mostly of respectable appearance. It is a station of the constabulary police, and has a sub-post-office to Clones and Cootehill. The market, which is on Saturday, is principally for pigs and flax; and fairs are held on the last Saturday in each month, chiefly for cattle and pigs: the market-house and shambles are neat buildings, and there is a good inn. Here are a neat meeting-house for Presbyterians, erected in 1816; a school under the London Hibernian Society; and a dispensary.
NEWBRIDGE, a market and post-town, in the parish of GREAT CONNELL, barony of CONNELL, county of KILDARE, and province of LEINSTER, 5 1/4 miles (S. W. by W.) from Naas, and 21 (S. W.) from Dublin; containing 577 inhabitants. This place is of very recent origin, and appears to have arisen since the erection of extensive barracks for cavalry, in 1816, on the property of Thos. Eyre Powell, Esq. It is situated on the river Liffey, over which there is a handsome stone bridge of five arches, but so narrow that two carriages cannot drive abreast on it, from which it derives its name, and on the mail coach road from Dublin to Limerick. The town at present consists only of one street, on the western bank of the river; but it is yet in its infancy, and there is every prospect of its increase. The barracks are spacious and handsome, consisting of two parallel ranges of building, connected by a central range at right angles; and are capable of accommodating two regiments, with apartments for their officers, and an hospital for 100 patients. A patent has been obtained for two free markets, which are held on Tuesday and Friday in every week, and for two fairs, on the 3rd of May and 15th of August. Here are also a constabulary police station, a dispensary, and a R. C. chapel, with a friary.
NEWBRIDGE, a village, in the parish of CASTLEMACADAM, barony of BALLINACOR, county of WICKLOW, and province of LEINSTER, 4 1/2 miles (S.) from Rathdrum, to which it has a penny post: the population is returned with the parish. It is pleasantly situated in the vale of Ovoca, on the eastern bank of the river of that name, and near the mail road from Dublin to Wexford. It gives name, with Baranisky, to the R. C. union or district, and contains a neat chapel, to which a national school is attached.
NEWCASTLE, a small sea-port town, in the parish of KILCOO, barony of UPPER IVEAGH, county of DOWN, and province of ULSTER, 3 1/2 miles (S. E.) from Castlewellan; containing 987 inhabitants. This place, which is situated on the shore of Dundrum bay, in the Irish sea, derives its name from a castle erected here by Felix Magennis, in the memorable year of the Spanish Armada; and though only an inconsiderable fishing village previously to the year 1822, it has since been gradually increasing in importance. In addition to its trade as a port, it has made great advances as a fashionable place for sea-bathing, and is now nearly a mile in length, containing several large and handsome private dwelling-houses, and numerous comfortable and respectable lodging-houses. The castle, built by Magennis close to the sea shore, has been taken down, and on its site Earl Annesley has erected a spacious and elegant hotel, from a design by Mr. Duff, of Belfast, at an expense of £3000, which is fitted up with superior accommodations, including hot and cold baths, and every requisite arrangement. The house is beautifully situated and commands a most extensive prospect, embracing the isle and calf of Man in the foreground, and in the rear the lofty mountains of Mourne. Earl Annesley has also built an elegant marine residence, called Donard Lodge, at the foot of Slieve Donard; the demesne is laid out with great taste, and within its limits is a chalybeate spa, to which the public has free access. The other seats are Tollymore, the residence of Mrs. Keowen, situated near the town; Brook Lodge, of W. Beers, Esq.; and the residence of John Law, Esq., a handsome mansion in the Elizabethan style. The environs are of pleasing character, and abound with interesting scenery; they afford many agreeable walks and rides, and within two miles of the town are Tollymore Park, the handsome seat of the Earl of Roden, and the beautiful village and church of Bryansford. The trade of the port consists chiefly in the export of oats, barley, and potatoes, of which large quantities are sent to Dublin and Liverpool. A commodious pier has been erected on an extensive scale, at an expense of £30,000; it is accessible at high water to vessels of large burden, and has been very beneficial to the trade of the town. Granite of very fine quality abounds in the neighbourhood; the quarry was first opened, in 1824, by J. Lynn, Esq., and the stone is conveyed from the mountain by a rail-road to the pier, and large quantities of it are shipped. From this quarry was raised the stone for the court-house, new prison, infirmary, and fever hospital of Downpatrick, the chapel of ease in this town, and the spire of Inch church. Newcastle is the head of a coast-guard district, which extends from Strangford to Warren Point, including the stations of Gun Island, Ardglass, St. John's Point or Killough, Leestone, and Cranfield, comprising a force of one resident inspector, seven officers, and 66 men. A penny post has been established to Castlewellan, and a constabulary police force has been stationed here. The chapel of ease is a handsome building, with a spire at the east end; it was erected at an expense of £1500 by Earl Annesley, who pays the curate a stipend of £100. In the mountains and streams near the town are found fine specimens of rock crystal, of the various hues of beryl, emerald, amethyst, and topaz, some of which have brought high prices. Sand eels are found in great numbers on the beach at particular seasons. Within a mile and a half is a place called the Giant's steps, near which is a cavity of great depth, resembling the shaft of a mine, and called Armour's Hole, from the circumstance of a man of that name having been thrown into it, whose body was found next day at St. John's Point, about ten miles distant. At a small distance from it is a cavern resembling a tunnel, supposed to have been excavated in the rock by the incessant action of the waves.
NEWCASTLE, or NEWCASTLE-juxta-LYONS, a parish (formerly a parliamentary borough), in the barony of NEWCASTLE, county of DUBLIN, and province of LEINSTER, 2 miles (N. W.) from Rathcoole; containing 1100 inhabitants, of which number, 397 are in the village. A charter, dated March 30th, 1613, was granted to this place by Jas. I. whereby it was erected into a corporation, consisting of a portreeve, 12 free burgesses, and a commonalty, with power to appoint inferior officers; to hold a court of record for pleas to the amount of five marks, and to be a guild mercatory and the portreeve to be clerk of the market. In 1608, a grant was made to Jas. Hamilton, Esq., to hold a market here on Thursdays, and fairs on the feasts of St. Swithin and All Saints, and the day after each; and in 1762 the portreeve and burgesses obtained a grant of a market on Mondays, and fairs on May 9th and Oct. 8th. All of these markets and fairs are discontinued. The borough also sent two members to the Irish parliament, but it was disfranchised at the Union. There is a dispensary in the village, and it is a constabulary police station. Agriculture is in a high state of improvement: the principal crops are wheat, oats, and potatoes. There are good quarries, the stone of which is used for building and repairing the roads. The Grand Canal passes through the parish. Part of the demesne of Lyons, the splendid seat of the Rt. Hon. Lord Cloncurry, is in the parish: the other seats are Athgoe Park, the residence of Mrs. Skerrett, one part of which is an old castle, erected at a very early period, and in the grounds is the tower or keep of Colmanstown, and an old burial-place; Newcastle House, the seat of Alex. Graydon, Esq.; Newcastle, of the Very Rev. Archdeacon Langrishe; Peamount, of C. E. Kennedy, Esq.; Colganstown, of J. Andrews, Esq.; and Newcastle, of O. Moore, Esq. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Dublin, and was made the corps of the archdeaconry of Glendalough by an act of the 8th of Edw. IV. (1467); it is in the patronage of the Archbishop. The tithes amount to £250. A small plot of ground in Myler's Alley, Dublin, measuring 1r. 24p., on which some houses stand that are let on lease at £18. 9. 2. per ann., belongs to the archdeaconry: the gross annual value of the dignity is £418. 9. 2. There is a glebe-house, and a glebe of 16 acres, to which 2a. 3r. 17p. were added on the enclosure of the common. The church was erected about the 15th century, and is chiefly remarkable for its fine eastern window, which was removed to it in 1724, when the building underwent a thorough repair; the ivy which covers the walls contributes also to its picturesque appearance: a grant of £180 has been lately made by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners towards its repairs. The church has an annual economy fund of £3. 8. 10. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Saggard; in the village is a neat chapel, with a belfry, erected in 1813 at a cost of about £1500. There is a school in connection with the Board of National Education. In the village are the ruins of three old castles.
NEWCASTLE, a market and post-town, and a parish, in the Glenquin Division of the barony of UPPER CONNELLO, county of LIMERICK, and province of MUNSTER, 20 miles (S. W.) from Limerick, on the mail road to Killarney and Tralee, and 114 (S. W.) from Dublin; containing 4436 inhabitants, of which number, 2908 are in the town. This place, anciently called Castle-Roe, derived both its origin and name from the erection of a castle here by the Knights Templars, in 1184, round which, in process of time, a town was formed that was fortified, and ultimately obtained a charter of incorporation. After the suppression of the order, it lapsed to the crown, and afterwards became the property of the Geraldines, and suffered severely in the numerous vicissitudes of fortune which that powerful family underwent. During the reign of Elizabeth three battles were fought near the town. On the death of the great Earl of Desmond, the castle with the surrounding lands escheated to the Queen, who, by patent, dated in 1591, granted it to Sir Wm. Courtenay, with instructions to plant English settlers on it. It is probable that this condition was not fulfilled, as Sir William and his son were afterwards dispossessed, and a regrant of the property was made, in 1638, to Sir Geo. Courtenay, from whom the estates have descended to the Earl of Devon, the present proprietor. The town is situated on a small stream called the Arra, which falls into the Deel about a mile eastward. It comprises four principal streets and a spacious square, the north side of which is chiefly occupied by a large town-hall; on the south are the parish church and the castle, and the east and west sides are formed by lines of large and handsome houses. On the south side of the river, which here separates the parish from that of Monegay, are the shambles, a neat and commodious structure. A fever hospital and dispensary, which stands on an eminence near the town, has accommodations for 15 intern patients. Courts leet and baron are held by the seneschal of the manor, and petty sessions for the district are held every Friday. The bridewell contains two day-rooms, two airing-yards, and four cells. The town is a chief constabulary police station. The patent under which markets are held names Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday; but the last only is in use. Fairs are held on April 1st, May 3rd, July 12th, Aug. 20th, Oct. 1st, and Dec. 10th, for the sale of cattle, agricultural implements, and linen and woollen cloth. There are several establishments in the town for dying woollens, also a large ale and beer brewery, and a great number of shoe and brogue makers, all in full employment, as is also a bleaching establishment in the immediate vicinity, which occupies 8 acres and gives work to a number of men. Several new lines of road, recently opened, have tended greatly to improve the entrances into the town, and other proposed improvements are expected still further to advance its increasing prosperity. A canal from the town to the Shannon, a distance of 14 miles, could be cut at a small expense, and would tend much to its commercial advantage, as its distance from any great market is upwards of 20 miles.
The parish comprises 5008 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The soil is extremely fertile, with the exception of about 300 acres of mountain, which afford excellent pasture for young cattle. The land is in a high state of cultivation, producing abundant crops chiefly of wheat, oats, and potatoes, with some barley and clover: much of it is occupied in dairy farms and in the pasturing of large numbers of cattle. The fertile part is based on limestone, and the mountain contains coal in great abundance. Of five strata in which this mineral is found, the two upper only are worked; the lower three, which are said to be much the best, seeming to be but little known: the culm which is raised is chiefly used for burning lime; turf, drawn from the mountains on the west, being generally preferred for fuel. Excellent silicious grit, used only for the roads, is found on the mountain. Iron-stone and fire clay are also abundant, but not used. Coarse linen and woollen cloths, stuffs and friezes are manufactured to some extent in the surrounding district. The scenery throughout the parish is rich, varied, extremely picturesque, and embellished with numerous elegant mansions and villas: the principal of these in the vicinity of the town are Courtenay Castle, the property of the Earl of Devon; Springfield Castle, the residence of Lord Muskerry; Glanduff Castle, of R. J. Stevelly, Esq.; Knockaderry House, of T. D'Arcy Evans, Esq.; Cahirmoyle, of W. S. O'Brien, Esq.; Mount Plummer, of B. Plummer, Esq.; Chesterfield, of Major Sullivan; Heathfield, of Edw. Lloyd, Esq.; Courtenay Castle, of A. Furlong, Esq.; Castleview, of Thos. Locke, Esq.; Ringwood Lodge, of Jos. Furlong, Esq.; Churchtown, of N. D'Arcy, Esq.; Ashgrove, of J. W. Upton, Esq.; and Glanastar, of J. U. Upton, Esq.
The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Limerick, episcopally united from time immemorial to the rectory and vicarage of Monegay, and in the patronage of the Earl of Devon: the tithes amount to £225, and of the whole union to £725. The glebe of this parish comprises 33 acres, in three detached portions; that of Monegay is 53 acres, all excellent land. The church, built in 1777 at the sole expense of William, second Viscount Courtenay, is situated in the square adjoining the Templars' Castle, and is a handsome structure, in the early English style, with a square embattled tower, surmounted by pinnacles: in it are two handsome monuments of the Locke family: the burial-ground, which is at a short distance from the town, has the remains of the old church within its enclosure. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also parts of Monegay and Killeedy; the chapel, a handsome building of hewn stone, was erected in 1828, by subscription, towards which the Earl of Devon, who also gave the ground for its site, contributed £400: it is situated in the parish of Monegay. The Courtenay school, immediately adjoining the town, is of ancient foundation, but the house was rebuilt in 1826; it now affords accommodation for 260 boys and an equal number of girls, with a residence for the master and mistress. The Earl of Devon contributed two-thirds of the outlay for building, and the institution is maintained wholly at his expense: it is free for all the poor children of the town and neighbourhood. There are other schools in the parish, supported by subscription, and 11 private schools, in which there are about 200 boys and 100 girls. The ruins of the old castle are very extensive, and two of its towers, one square, the other round, are in a good state of preservation, as are the tower and banqueting-house near the church; many parts of its extensive range of arched vaults are also perfect. In the Castle demesne is a chalybeate spring, formerly in considerable repute, and protected by a covered building which still exists. Shells and other marine deposits are frequently found in the limestone rocks, some of them in a very perfect state.
NEWCASTLE, a parish, in the barony of IFFA and OFFA WEST, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 7 miles (S. W. by S.) from Clonmel, on the road to Cappoquin; containing 2455 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Suir, and comprises 1810 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The state of agriculture is improving, and part of the mountain land, of which there is a good deal on its southern boundary, is under cultivation: in the mountain also is about 500 acres of bog. The rivers Tar and Rossmore, both branches of the Suir, pass along the verge of the parish to the east and west. There is a dispensary in the village of Newcastle: petty sessions are held there every fortnight, and it is a constabulary police station. A fair granted by patent to the parish of Mullogh, on the opposite side of the river, is held here by mutual consent, on Feb. 12th, as affording greater facilities for traffic. The only seat in the parish is the residence of S. Mulcahy, Esq. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Lismore; the rectory is united to the rectory and vicarage of Tulloghmeelan, and constitutes the corps of the treasurership of Lismore; the vicarage comprises also the parish denominated the Particle of Mullogh; both benefices are in the patronage of the Bishop. The tithes amount to £221. 14. 0., of which £129. 7. 10. are payable to the rector, and the remainder to the vicar. There is a glebe of 4a. 2r. The church is in ruins, the west window and a portion of the walls being its only remains. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, called also the Four-mile-water, comprising this parish and those of Derrygrath and Kilronan: there are two chapels in the union; that of Newcastle is a large building, erected about 20 years since, and recently enlarged considerably. On the bank of the river Suir are the ruins of a castle which had been in the possession of the Birmingham family, and afterwards passed into that of the Prendergasts, and thence, at the period of the revolution, into the Perry family, in which it is still vested: it forms a very picturesque feature in the landscape.
NEWCASTLE, a parish, in the barony of MIDDLETHIRD, county of WATERFORD, and province of MUNSTER, 7 miles (W. S. W.) from Waterford, on the road to Dungarvan; containing 1124 inhabitants. It comprises 3906 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, presenting a dreary surface of naked rocks, intermixed with small patches of cultivation, and tracts of heath and furze. It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Lismore, forming part of the union of Dunhill: the rectory is impropriate in the Corporation of Waterford. The tithes amount to £150, of which £90 is payable to the impropriators and the remainder to the vicar. About 70 children are educated in a private school. Near Knockaderry, on the southern confines of the parish, is a subterraneous passage in a solid rock, supposed to have had some connection with druidical rites; and under a cairn of stones here was discovered a kistvaen, containing human bones, some of which appeared to have been burnt.
NEWCASTLE, a parish, in the barony of NEWCASTLE, county of WICKLOW, and province of LEINSTER; containing, with the post-town of Newtown-Mount-Kennedy (which is separately described), 4517 inhabitants, of which number, 130 are in the two villages of Upper and Lower Newcastle. The parish was a portion of the ancient territory of Crioch-Cualan, or Hy-Briun-Cualan, and the centre of the eastern or maritime portion of the Byrnes' country, and part of the Ranelagh, a district that, for more than two centuries, has given the title of viscount to the family of Jones. It takes its name from the castle built at a very early period after the English settlement, to protect the colony here from the molestations of the septs of the O'Tooles and the Byrnes, by whom that part of the county of Wicklow was then possessed. It became a principal military station and the chief town of the English on the eastern side of this tract of country, long before the erection of the town of Wicklow into a borough, or of the county into shire ground. In old records it is called Novum Castrum McKynegan; and in a grant of tolls for repairing the walls of the city of Emly, made in the 31st of Edw. I., a similar grant to this town for three years, and for the same purpose, is quoted. In 1308 the castle was repaired by Piers Gaveston, the unfortunate favourite of Edw. II., when lord-lieutenant of Ireland. That the English held this castle and manor for a long time after by a very precarious tenure, appears from the fact that one of the clauses of the articles of submission made by Byrne to Thomas of Lancaster, lord-lieutenant in the reign of Hen. IV., was a covenant that the king should quietly enjoy the manor of Newcastle; and in an official document in the reign of Elizabeth, several of its townlands are described as being the inheritance of Pheagh and Phelim Mac Teige Hugh Byrne, the latter of whom was then the senior chieftain of the Ranelagh sept of the Byrnes, and in that character was present at the parliament held in Dublin in 1585. The manor was vested in the crown in the reign of Chas. I., and after the restoration was parcelled out among several patentees under the Act of Settlement. Cromwell is said to have besieged the castle in his march upon Wexford. In the reign of Chas. II. it was a large town, consisting of several streets, all of which were burned in one night by an incursion of the Irish from the mountains, under Pheagh O'Toole. A large portion of the castle is still to be seen on an artificial moated mount. Near the north end of the village are the vestiges of a strong building, said to have been the gaol and court-house, and near it are the remains of two other castles; a large sewer was also lately discovered, in which were found many cannon balls and skeletons.
The parish, which is bounded on the mountain side by the river Vartrey and is intersected by the low road from Bray to Wexford, and by the mail road from Dublin to Wexford, contains 14,535 statute acres. For civil purposes it is divided into two parts; the Upper, including the town of Newtown-Mount-Kennedy and the hamlet of Monaleen, containing 3118 inhabitants; the Lower, including the two villages and the hamlet of Leabeg, 1399 inhabitants. A large portion of the shore on the eastern side of the parish is subject to inundations from the sea, and in the middle of it is an opening into which the tide rushes with great violence, rendering the whole of the neighbouring low land a continuous marsh; the land here is intersected with deep artificial trenches, called sluygs, cut to prevent the floods from injuring the cultivated land. The western limit of the parish is formed by a range of hills extending from Dunran to Drumbawn, between which and the sea is a fine tract of rich soil, highly cultivated, thickly planted, and studded with numerous mansions, villas, demesnes, and parks. The general substratum is clay-slate: the soil in the lower lands is a strong rich loam of some depth, producing barley and oats of the first quality; that of the upper lands varies from a light and dry to a shingly soil, which, when dressed with lime or marl, yields good crops of oats. Some of the finest veal and earliest lamb brought to the Dublin market is reared here. The long white early potato, called Bangors, is extensively cultivated. The salt marsh of Cooldross, formed by the opening to the sea already noticed, is much esteemed for its salutary effects in recovering surfeited horses. Adjoining the marsh is a bog, the peat of which, when wrought into a compost, makes excellent fuel: much turf is also brought from the mountains and known by the name of slane turf, from the implement used in cutting it. The lower village is situated two miles (S. S. E.) from Newtown-Mount-Kennedy. The upper or church village occupies a gradual ascent commanding a fine view of the sea, which bounds an intervening prospect of rural scenery, the effect of which is much increased by the ruins of the old castle and the simple and neat modern edifice of the parish church. Fairs are held on April 1st, July 10th, Sept. 1st, and Dec. 6th. There is a coast-guard station at Five-mile point belonging to the district of Glyn. The parish contains several elegant seats, besides those described as being in the immediate vicinity of Newtown-Mount-Kennedy. Among the finest is Woodstock, the residence of Lord Robert Ponsonby Tottenham, Bishop of Clogher; the mansion is a large square building, in the centre of an extensive and finely wooded demesne, commanding an extensive prospect bounded by the sea: it was a favourite residence of Marquess Wellesley, during his first vice-royalty. Of the numerous other seats and villas, that add so much to the charms of this delightful district are Mount John, the seat of Graves Chamney Archer, Esq.; Killadreenan, of Alderman Chas. P. Archer, commanding an extensive sea view, with that of the entrance of the beautiful glen of Dunran; Seamore Lodge, of John Leonard, Esq., which enjoys a fine view of the Sugar-loaf mountains and Bray Head; Lower Newcastle, of James Jones, Esq., in the grounds of which are the remains of an old fortification, called the Garrison; Upper Leabeg, of John Gray, Esq.; Leamore, of John Smith, Esq., commanding a view of Wicklow Head, with its two lights; Cooldross, of W. Webster, Esq.; Lower Leabeg, of W. Ashenhurst, Esq.; and Kilmullen, of Thos. Halbert, Esq. The parish comprises two livings, a lay rectory and a vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin and Glendalough: the rectory is in the patronage of Gerard Macklin, Esq.; the vicarage, in that of the Archbishop. The tithes amount to £621. 11. 7 1/2., of which £288. 9. 2 1/2. is payable to the Rev. R. Macklin, £55. 12. 8. to Earl Fitzwilliam, £0. 11. 2 1/2. to Lord Robt. Tottenham, and the remainder to the vicar. The glebe-house, annexed to the vicarage, with the glebes, comprising 14 acres, is situated near the church, which is a plain but neat edifice with a square pinnacled tower, and was enlarged about 50 years since by subscription. A chapel of ease is in progress of erection at the entrance of Newtown-Mount-Kennedy. In the R. C. divisions it forms part of the union or district of Kilquade and Kilmurry; the chapel, which is a small building, is at Kilmurry. The parish school in the village, with apartments for the master and mistress, was erected at an expense of £350, supplied partly by the Association for Discountenancing Vice, partly from the lord-lieutenant's school fund, and partly by subscription. A charitable fund, raised by annual sermons and averaging about £50, is distributed among the destitute poor of every description. At Killadreeny are the ruins of a large old church in a cemetery, which is still applied to its original purpose. Several skeletons of the heads and horns of the moose deer, of a large size, were found, in 1835, in a bog on the grounds of Mr. Smith's seat at Leamore, eight feet beneath the surface.
NEWCHAPEL, a parish, in the barony of IFFA and OFFA EAST, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 3 3/4 miles (N. W.) from Clonmel, on the road to Cashel; containing 1544 inhabitants. This parish, which from the name of one of its townlands is called also Mulloghnoney, comprises 4737 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The soil is fertile, and the lands are generally in a very high state of cultivation; there is neither waste land nor bog. Limestone is found in abundance, and is extensively quarried both for building and agricultural uses; and coal is also found in the parish, but is not worked. The principal seats are Barn, the residence of S. Moore, Esq., pleasantly situated in an ample demesne extending into the adjoining parishes, and embellished with some stately timber; Darlinghill, of the Hon. Baron Pennefather; Orchardstown, of -- Hamerton, Esq.; Barona, of S. Perry, Esq.; and Springmount, of J. Keating, Esq. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Cashel, constituting the prebend of Newchapel in the cathedral of Cashel, and in the patronage of the Archbishop. The tithes under the composition act amount to £462. 3. 4 1/2. per annum; the glebe-house, towards the erection of which the late Board of First Fruits contributed a gift of £100, was built in 1790; the glebe comprises 17 1/4 acres of profitable land. The church, a neat edifice, was rebuilt in 1821, for which purpose the late Board of First Fruits granted a loan of £800. There is a private school, in which are about. 70 children. On the townland of Mulloghnoney are the remains of an ancient castle, formerly belonging to the O'Dogherty family.
NEW-INN, a village, in the parish of KNOCKGRAFFON, barony of MIDDLETHIRD, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 4 miles (S.) from Cashel, on the road to Cahir and Clonmel; containing 320 inhabitants It is a station of the constabulary police, and petty sessions are held once a fortnight. Fairs are held on March 17th, May 16th, Aug. 1st, and Dec 6th. The parochial church, a neat edifice, is situated in the village; also the principal chapel of the R. C. union or district, comprising the parishes of Knockgraffon and Dogstown; it is a neat modern structure.
NEWMARKET, a market-town, in the parish of CLONFERT, barony of DUHALLOW, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 4 miles (N. W.) from Kanturk, on the road from Cork, by the Bogra mountains, to Abbeyfeale and Listowel; containing 1437 inhabitants. This place was formerly called Ahatrasne, or "the place of the ford," from its situation near an ancient ford now superseded by a neat bridge at the entrance of the town. Its present name is obviously derived from the establishment of a market at this place, which was granted to the family of Aldworth by Jas. I., on the forfeiture of the estate by the Macauliffes, and confirmed in the reign of Chas. II. At Scarteen, a village, a little to the north of the town, about 1000 of the peasantry assembled in 1822, anticipating the evacuation of the town by the military, but were repulsed by Capt. Kippock and Lieut. Green, who, leaving 10 men to defend the barracks, marched with 30 to attack the assailants, whom they dispersed with the loss of about 20 that were killed in the conflict. The gentry of the surrounding district, upon this occasion, presented to each of those officers a handsome piece of plate, as a testimony to their intrepidity and an acknowledgment of their services.
The town is situated on a small stream which falls into the river Dallua a little below, and on the north side of a gentle eminence; it consists principally of two streets intersecting each other at right angles, and contains about 246 houses, of which several are neatly built; the inhabitants are well supplied with water, the air is salubrious, and the neighbourhood abounds with interesting scenery. Adjoining it is Newmarket House, the stately mansion of R. R. Aldworth, Esq., lord of the manor, handsomely built of hewn limestone, and situated in a demesne richly embellished with timber of luxuriant growth; an avenue of ash trees is said to have been planted in the reign of Elizabeth, and there are some noble specimens of elm, beech, and sycamore. Near the town are also Mount Keeffe, the residence of M. O'Keeffe, Esq.; Liscongill, of W. Allen, Esq.; and the Priory, formerly the residence of John Philpot Curran, Esq., now in the occupation of E. Stannard, Esq. The market is on Thursday, and is chiefly for the sale of potatoes and turf; it is thought that if the day were changed to Friday, which would afford the Cork butchers an opportunity of attending both this market and that of Kanturk, it would conduce greatly to its improvement. Fairs are held on June 8th, Sept. 8th, Oct. 10, and Nov. 21st; the last is the principal for cattle, sheep, and pigs. A daily post between this place and Kanturk is supported by private subscription; a constabulary police force is stationed in the town; petty sessions are held on alternate Thursdays; and a court for the recovery of debts not exceeding 40s. is held here, every third Friday, for the manor of Newmarket, which extends over 32,000 statute acres in the parish of Clonfert. The parish church, a handsome structure of hewn limestone, with a lofty tower and spire, is situated in the town; in which also is the R. C. chapel, a spacious edifice, erected on a site given by the late Richard Aldworth, Esq., who contributed £75 towards its erection, to which also the Earl of Cork, Lord Lisle, and John Duggan, Esq., liberally subscribed; the altar, which is a copy of that of the ancient abbey of Quin, is much admired. A school in the town for boys is supported by Mr. Aldworth and the vicar; a school for girls is supported by Mrs. Aldworth, and an infants' school by the vicar and his lady; a school in connection with the R. C. chapel is supported by collections at the chapel, and there is also a Sunday school. Richard Aldworth, Esq., bequeathed £50; Michael Creagh, Esq., £100; W. Philpot, Esq., £40; the late Richard Aldworth, grandson of the former, £100; and St. Leger Aldworth, Esq., £100, for the poor of Newmarket, the interest of which sums is annually divided among them. St. Leger Aldworth, Esq., also bequeathed £1000, contingent on the death of three annuitants, to be appropriated, by the representative of the Aldworth family, to the establishment of some manufacture in the town. There are a fever hospital, containing four wards and 20 beds, and a dispensary. The celebrated John Philpot Curran was a native of this town; during his residence at the Priory, it was the favourite resort of many distinguished literary and political characters, who used to meet there under the auspices of Lord Avonmore, also a native of this place; they held their meetings annually in the grouse-shooting season, and from their conviviality at the Priory obtained the appellation of "Monks of the Screw." Major Swan, who assisted in arresting Lord Edward Fitzgerald, in 1798, was also a native of this town.
NEWMARKET, a village, in the parish of AUGHAVILLER, barony of KNOCKTOPHER, county of KILKENNY, and province of LEINSTER, 2 miles (S.) from Knocktopher, on the road to Carrick-on-Suir; containing 110 inhabitants. It comprises about 20 houses, and contains one of the two R. C. chapels belonging to the union of Ballyheale. Here are the remains of an ancient round tower and of a castle and abbey, the latter containing the cemetery of the Castlemorris family, whose seat, surrounded by a well-planted demesne of about 400 plantation acres, is in the vicinity. The ruins of the castle consist chiefly of the keep, which attests its former magnitude; and at Danganmore are the remains of another castle, which formerly gave the title of baron palatine to the family of Comerford, dependents of the Earl of Ormonde. On the summit of an elevation in the vicinity, called the King's mountain, are four great natural ridges, one of red argillite and the rest of breccia; from this elevation a most extensive view is obtained of the rich and cultivated plain towards Kells and Kilkenny, embracing also part of the county of Waterford.
NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS, a post-town, in the parish of TOMFINLOE, barony of BUNRATTY, county of CLARE, and province of MUNSTER, 6 miles (S. E. by E.) from Ennis, on the mail road to Limerick, and 105 1/4 (W. S. W.) from Dublin; containing 1118 inhabitants. It is situated about a mile and a half from the eastern shore of the river Fergus:, and in 1831 contained 170 houses, several of which are neatly built. A market was formerly held here on Thursday, but from its proximity to Ennis and Limerick, to which places there are several daily public conveyances, it gradually declined and is now discontinued; and of the fairs, held on March 31st, Aug. 27th, and Dec. 20th, the last only is now well attended: a "patron" is held on Easter-Monday. Here is a chief station of the constabulary police; petty sessions are held on alternate Thursdays, and a court for Lord Egremont's manor of Bunratty is occasionally held by the seneschal, for the recovery of small debts. A considerable number of females are employed in satin-stitching on muslin by Wm. Lloyd, Esq., of Limerick: and a school for embroidery is patronized by Lady O'Brien. An unsuccessful attempt was some time since made by Sir Edw. O'Brien to establish the linen manufacture in this town. Newmarket gives name to the R. C. union or district, held by the administrator of the Bishop of Killaloe, and comprising the parishes of Tomfinloe, Kilnasoolagh, Kilmaleery, Clonloghan, Kilconry, Bunratty, and Dromline. The principal chapel, a spacious and substantial building, is in the town; and there are chapels for the rural district at Kilmaleery and Bunratty. A large national school-house is now being erected at the expense of Sir Edward O'Brien, by whom also it will be chiefly supported; and a female school of industry is supported by a society of ladies: there is also a dispensary. Newmarket House, the spacious mansion of C. Studdert, Esq., is in the town; and in its vicinity are several handsome seats, among which are Dromoland, the superb castellated edifice of Sir Edward O'Brien, Bart.; Carrigoran, the beautifully situated mansion of Sir Wm. Fitzgerald, Bart.; Glenwood, the residence of Basil Davoren, Esq.; Ballykilty, of Fitzgerald Blood, Esq.; and Mogullane, of F. Healy, Esq.--See TOMFINLOE.
NEWMILLS, a village, in the parish of TULLANISKIN, barony of DUNGANNON, county of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER, 3 miles (N. N. E.) from Dungannon, on the road to Cookstown; containing 105 inhabitants. It derives its name (formerly Tullaniskin) from two corn-mills erected here, in 1758, by the proprietor of the adjoining lands; and in 1831 comprised 20 houses, most of which are indifferently built. Here is the parochial church, a large and handsome edifice, in the later English style, with a square embattled tower; and nearly adjoining it is the parochial school, with a residence for the master, endowed with a portion of the glebe land, comprising one acre. The ruins of the ancient church adjoin the present edifice.--See TULLANISKIN.
NEWPORT, or NEWPORT-PRATT, a market and post-town, in the parish and barony of BURRISHOOLE, county of MAYO, and province of CONNAUGHT, 5 1/2 miles (N. by W.) from Westport (to which it has a sub-post-office), and 139 3/4 (W. by N.) from Dublin; containing 1235 inhabitants. This town, which is situated at the extremity of Clew bay, was the original port of discharge for the county of Mayo; it is intersected by a fine river, which rises in Lough Beltra and falls into the bay; the river Burrishoole also flows through the parish, and both abound with excellent salmon, for taking which weirs are placed about half a mile above the town. It consists of one principal street and several others, and contains about 230 houses, some of which are well built and of neat appearance. The trade, formerly very extensive, has, from the difficulty of communication with the interior, been in a great measure transferred to Westport, and at present consists principally in the export of grain, of which, on an average, 1000 tons are annually shipped to England. The pier was erected at the expense of Sir R. A. O'Donel and some of the merchants of the town; the quays are extensive and commodious, and accessible to vessels of 200 tons' burden, which can be moored in safety alongside and take in or deliver their cargoes at all times of the tide, and within a few hundred yards may lie at anchor in perfect security. The channel is safe, and the harbour very commodious: the entrance into the bay, which is called Clew, Newport, or Westport bay, is spacious and direct; and within it are numerous islets and rocks, between which, on each side, are several good roadsteads, capable of accommodating large vessels, with good anchorage in from two to six fathoms. The market is on Tuesday; and fairs are held on June 8th, Aug. 1st, Nov. 11th, and Dec. 20th. A chief constabulary police force is stationed in the town; petty sessions are held every Tuesday, and a manorial court on the first Wednesday in every month. The court-house, in which the sessions are held, is a small neat building. The parish church and a Roman Catholic chapel are situated in the town. In the vicinity is Newport House, the seat of Sir Richard Annesley O'Donel, Bart. Three miles distant, on the sea shore, is Rockfleet Castle, a small square fortress, said to have been built by Grana-Uile, better known as Grace O'Malley, and celebrated for her maritime exploits; and about a mile to the south-east of the town is Carrickaneady, one of the castles said to have been built by the Burkes.
NEWPORT, or ST. JOHN'S NEWPORT, a post-town, in the parish of KILVOLANE, barony of OWNEY and ARRA, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 8 miles (E.) from Limerick, and 86 (S. W.) from Dublin, on the road to Limerick; containing 852 inhabitants. This town is pleasantly situated on a considerable stream that falls into the river at Castle Troy, near Mount Shannon, a little below the village of Anacotty; and contains 163 houses, most of which are neatly built. It is the property of Sir Edmund Waller, Bart., whose seat, Castle Waller, is in the immediate vicinity. There are barracks for two companies of infantry, to which purpose the buildings of the old charter school have been appropriated. Fairs are held on April 27th, May 29th, July 21st, and Oct. 23rd, which last is a very large fair for bullocks; a constabulary police force is stationed in the town, and petty sessions are held every Tuesday. The environs are pleasant, and in the vicinity are several handsome seats, which are noticed in the parishes within which they are situated. The parish church, situated in the town, is a neat edifice, to which a handsome octagonal tower was added in 1823, and towards the erection of which the late Board of First Fruits contributed a gift of £410: it contains a handsome monument, erected in 1825, by Lady Waller, to her late husband, Sir Robt. Waller, Bart. There is also a Roman Catholic chapel, a neat edifice; and in the barrack-yard is a school, to the support of which the Incorporated Society grants £20 per annum, and the rector and Lady Waller present a donation of £10 each; there is also a dispensary. The horns of a moose deer were found here in 1826. Newport gives the inferior title of baron in the peerage of Ireland to the Earl of Roden.
NEW-QUAY, county of CLARE.--See ABBEY.
NEWRATH-BRIDGE, county of WICKLOW.--See RATHNEW.
NEW-ROSS, county of WEXFORD.--See ROSS (NEW).
NEWRY, a sea-port, borough, market and post-town, and a parish, partly in the barony of ONEILLAND WEST, and partly in that of UPPER ORIOR, county of ARMAGH, but chiefly constituting the lordship of NEWRY, in the county of DOWN, and province of ULSTER, 30 miles (S. W.) from Belfast, and 50 (N.) from Dublin, on the road to Armagh, and on the great northern road to Belfast; containing 24,557 inhabitants, of which number, 13,134 are in the town. It was a place of some importance from a very remote period. The Annals of the Four Masters notice a monastery in it, in which was a yew tree planted by St. Patrick. The next intimation of its existence is the foundation of a Cistercian abbey, in 1157, by Maurice Mac Loughlin, King of Ireland, the charter of which is extant, and has been published by Dr. O'Conor in his work on the Irish writers. In this charter the place is named Jubhar-cin-tracta, "the pass at the head of the strand," or Jubhar-cinn-tracta, "the nourishing head of a yew tree," the former being traced from the position of the town, the latter from the circumstance respecting St. Patrick; by the Latin writers of that day it is called Monasterium Nevoracense, and in after times Monasterium de Viridi Ligno; it was also named Na-Yur, and at a still later period, The Newrys. The charter of Mac Loughlin was renewed and enlarged by Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Ulster, in 1237, by which the head of the house was made a mitred abbot with episcopal jurisdiction within the precincts of the lordship. When Sir John de Courcy. took possession of this district, he secured the pass, justly considered as very important, being the only road through the mountains between Ulster and Leinster, by a castle, which was destroyed by Bruce, on the retreat of the Scotch after their defeat at Dundalk in 1318. After several changes of masters, during which the place was frequently in the possession of the O'Nials, chieftains of Ulster, a second castle was built in 1480, which was demolished by Shane O'Nial, who then held a strong castle at Feedom, now Fathom. Marshal Bagnal restored the castle, rebuilt the town and peopled it with Protestant settlers; for which Jas. I., in 1613, granted the entire lordship, together with the manors of Mourne, Greencastle, and Carlingford, in fee to him and his heirs for ever At the breaking out of the civil war in 1641, Sir Con Magennis took the town and castle, destroyed the church and slew many of the inhabitants. It was shortly after recovered by Lord Conway, who did not hold it long, as O'Nial surprised it by night, and regained possession of it. In 1642, Munroe invested the town and took it by storm. After the Restoration, the town recovered from the sufferings inflicted on it, and continued to flourish till 1689, when it was burned by the Duke of Berwick in his retreat from Duke Schomberg: the castle and six houses only remained.
The town is advantageously situated on the Newry water. The western part, called Ballybot and sometimes Southwark, in Armagh county, is connected with the eastern, in the county of Down, by four stone bridges and a swivel bridge. The general appearance of the place, as seen from without, is cheerful and prepossessing: the old town, on the eastern side, situated on the side of a hill, with its church and spire rising above the houses, leads to an expectation of a correspondence of character in the interior; but the reverse is the case. Like other old towns, the streets are narrow, precipitous and inconvenient; but the modern part of the town, generally called "the Low Ground," is very elegant; the houses lofty and built of granite; the streets wide, well formed, and paved, with flagged footways. Marcus-square, with several lines of new buildings, presents very elegant specimens of domestic architecture. A great number of excellent springs issuing from the rocks eastward of the town, and more than 200 wells, have been formed in various parts, but no artificial means have yet been adopted to provide a supply of water on a scale commensurate with the domestic and manufacturing demands of the population. The streets and public buildings are lighted with gas supplied by works established by a company in 1822. Much has been done within the last few years to improve the general appearance of the town and neighbourhood; a new line of road has been opened, and an excellent approach formed from Warren point, where the river expands into the bay: the north road has been widened and improved, and several very handsome terraces and detached villas have been built: among the bridges, already noticed, is one of a single arch of elegant proportions, called Needham bridge; and an iron swivel bridge is about to be thrown across the canal, which, when completed, will open a communication from the Monaghan road to the very centre of the town. The assembly, news, and coffee rooms were built by subscription in 1794; the assembly-rooms are spacious and elegant; the news-room is well furnished with newspapers and periodical publications, and is open on the most liberal terms to strangers: the offices of the Commissioners of Police and of the Savings' Bank are in this building. Two newspapers are published here, each twice in the week. A barrack affords accommodation for 44 officers and 670 non-commissioned officers and privates of infantry, and 10 horses, with an hospital for 30 or 40 patients.
Newry is much more a commercial than a manufacturing town. There are two iron-foundries, each on an extensive scale, for light castings. The manufacture of flint glass is also carried on largely; a distillery in Monaghan-street consumes annually 25,000 barrels of grain, the produce of which is consumed in the counties of Down, Armagh, Louth, and Monaghan: there are also large manufactories of cordage and of spades, shovels, and other kinds of ironmongery. One of the most complete and extensive bleach-greens in the country is at Carnmeen; and at Bessbrook is a mill for spinning linen yarn. The Newry flour-mills, worked by water, consume 900 tons of wheat annually, and there are several others in the immediate neighbourhood, the produce of which is mostly shipped to Liverpool. An oatmeal-mill grinds 17,000 barrels of grain annually, which is wholly purchased for the Liverpool and Manchester markets; and in the neighbourhood there are several others equally extensive.
The trade of Newry, now of much importance, has gradually risen to its present height from the protection afforded to the merchants by Wm. III. Prior to that time the river was not navigated above Warren point; Newry being then considered as a creek to Carlingford, which was the port for all this part of the coast. But during the reigns of that monarch and his successors, several grants were made for clearing and embanking the river and improving the harbour. At length, in consequence of the many obstructions arising from the nature of the river, and the advantageous situation of the town as a central mart for the introduction of foreign commodities into the interior of Ulster, it was determined to form a line of inland navigation from Newry to Lough Neagh. The communication is carried on from the Newry water by an artificial cut by Acton, Scarva, Tanderagee, and Gilford to Portadown, where it is connected with the Bann, whence it proceeds in the bed of that river to the lake. It was commenced in 1730, and connected with Lough Neagh in 1741, but in consequence of the inconveniences arising from the accumulation of mud and sand in the mouth of the river, near Newry, it was deemed adviseable to prolong the navigation towards the bay to Fathom: this portion of the work, which is two miles in extent, was completed in 1761; the entire length of the navigation, including that of Lough Neagh, is 36 miles, and the total expense was £896,000. In 1726, the customhouse was removed from Carlingford to Newry: the amount of the first year's customs paid here was only £1069. 12., and there were then but four trading barks belonging to the port; the gross amount of customs' duties for 1836 was £58,806. 2. 6. About 1758, a very considerable trade was carried on with the West India islands, and although at that time the vessels trading with foreign countries were prohibited from sailing direct to the Irish ports, being compelled to land their cargoes in some place in Great Britain, the Newry merchants succeeded in establishing a very lucrative traffic with the most celebrated commercial marts in other countries. This branch, however, was afterwards nearly lost by the competition of the superior capital of Great Britain, until it again revived after the restrictions were taken off the commerce of Ireland, in 1783. The port is very favourably situated for trade at the inner extremity of Carlingford bay, an arm of the sea extending nine miles south-east, and two miles in breadth at its mouth between Cooley point, in the county of Louth, and Cranfield point, in that of Down. Vessels of the greatest draught can come up to Warren point, within five miles of the town, where they can ride in from 6 to 8 fathoms of water in all states of the tide in perfect security. Proceedings are also in progress by D. Logan, Esq., in pursuance of a plan recommended by Sir John Rennie, for deepening and securing the channel from Narrow water, and scouring it by a steam dredge and other means calculated to facilitate the admission of vessels of a larger class than those which at present come up to the quays: the total expense of these improvements has been estimated at £90,000. The despatch of business is also facilitated by the construction of a line of quays on the eastern bank of the canal, bordered by stores and warehouses, at which vessels can unload: farther north are basins or floating docks, where boats navigating the canal can take in and discharge their cargoes. The custom-house, a neat and commodious building, is situated on the quay, in a position well adapted for business, and has extensive yards and stores for bonding goods adjoining it.
The most important branch of the commerce is the cross-channel trade, which has increased to a great magnitude since the introduction of steam navigation. The principal exports in this department are linen cloth, grain, live stock, butter, and eggs. In 1834 there were exported to Liverpool, of linen cloth, 4965 boxes; butter, 92,000 firkins; wheat, 4166 tons; barley, 6698 tons; oats, 38,000 tons; flour, 9163 tons; oatmeal, 18,654 tons; flax, 868 tons; eggs, 4688 crates; oysters, 482 hogsheads; horned cattle, 7115; pigs, 65,493; and horses, 498; besides which, large consignments of most of these articles were made to the Clyde. The principal imports in the same trade are tea, sugar, iron, salt, British hardware and soft goods, and general merchandise. Three steamers are employed in the Liverpool trade, and two in that with Glasgow; a steamer also trades regularly to Dublin. The average time of the passage to Liverpool is 16 hours; to Glasgow, 14; and to Dublin 12. The chief branch of foreign trade is with the United States and British North America. The chief exports are linen cloth, blue, starch and whiskey; the imports, timber, staves, tobacco, ashes, flax, and clover seed. The Baltic trade consists of the importation of timber, tallow, ashes, flax, and hemp: hides and tallow are imported from Odessa; mats, tar, pitch, flax and flax seed from Archangel; and wine, fruit, oil, lime juice, brimstone and barilla from the Mediterranean. The number of vessels belonging to the port is inadequate to the extent of its commerce, a great portion of which is carried on in vessels of other countries: the Baltic trade is carried on exclusively in foreign bottoms; the United States' trade in American vessels, the trade to British America and Russia in British ships, and the coal trade chiefly in Whitehaven vessels. The market day, under the patent, is Thursday, but a market is held on Tuesday for grain, and on Saturday for meat. The principal market-house is near the site of Bagnal's castle; there are also separate markets for butchers' meat, meal, potatoes, grain and hides, and two for linen yarn. Fairs are held on April 3rd and Oct. 29th.
The present flourishing state of Newry may be attributed originally to the favour shewn by Edw. VI. to Marshal Bagnal, to whom the abbey and surrounding territory were granted, with very extensive privileges, in consequence of his services in Ulster, and were continued to him by Jas. I., vesting the ecclesiastical and municipal authority in the proprietor, who, by virtue of these grants, appointed the vicar general, seneschal, and other inferior officers. A charter of the 10th of Jas. I. (1612) made the town a free borough, by the name of "the provost, free burgesses, and commonalty of the borough of Newry," granting the provost and 12 free burgesses the power of sending two members to parliament, and making the provost judge of a court of record, to be held weekly on Mondays, with jurisdiction to the amount of five marks. A charter granted by Jas. II., in 1688, is not considered to be of any validity. A grant of Jas. I., in 1613, to Arthur Bagnal, empowered a court to be held before the seneschal of the manor, for pleas to the amount of 100 marks: the jurisdiction of this court extends over the borough, and a number of other townlands in Down and Armagh, comprehending 9664 acres in the former, and 11,434 acres in the latter, of these counties. The court is held every third Wednesday: the seneschal limits his jurisdiction by civil bill to £10; he also holds a court leet, once or twice in the year, at which constables are appointed. All the provisions of the act of the 9th of Geo. IV., c. 82, for watching, lighting, cleansing, paving and improving towns were introduced here shortly after the enactment of that statute: the number of commissioners was fixed at 21. The police of the borough is principally attended to by the constabulary forces of the counties of Down and Armagh: the leading streets are kept in repair by county presentments. These arrangements have tended much to the improvement of the neatness, cleanliness, and good order of the town: the expenditure is defrayed by a local tax, amounting to about £1150 annually. The elective franchise, conferred by Jas. I., was altered at the Union, when the representation of the borough was limited to a single member, which continues to be the present arrangement. It was a scot and lot borough, but the right of election is now vested in the £10 and certain of the £5 householders; the privilege of the latter cannot be perpetuated, but expires with the lives of the few remaining electors of this class, or with their removal from the premises occupied at the period of the general registration: the seneschal of the manor is the returning officer. The borough includes within its limits a large rural district, comprehending 2500 statute acres, the precise limits of which are detailed in the Appendix. The general quarter sessions for the county of Down are held here alternately with Downpatrick; and and those for the Markethill division of the county of Armagh, in Ballybot. Petty sessions are held every Friday. The court-house, built by subscription for a market-house, and converted to its present purpose in 1805, is an unsightly old building in an inconvenient situation. There is a bridewell for the temporary confinement of prisoners until they can be sent to the county prison at Downpatrick.
The parish comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 22,491 statute acres, of which 9685 are in Oneilland West, and 450l 3/4 in Lower Orior; the remainder constitutes the lordship, in which is included a small isolated portion, locally in the barony of Upper Iveagh: about 489 acres are covered with water, and about 260 are bog; the remainder is mostly arable, under an excellent system of agriculture, with some rocky mountain. Though the site of the town is low, as compared with the surrounding country, the climate is pure and salubrious, and the prospects in most parts beautiful and picturesque. The river on which it is built, anciently called the Clanrye, but afterwards the Newry water, flows, after quitting the town, in a south-eastern direction through a highly cultivated tract of rising grounds, well planted and studded with numerous villas and seats, into Carlingford bay, which is bounded on each side by the mountains of Rosstrevor and Fathom: the mountain of Altnaveagh, in the lordship, affords excellent pasturage, and much of it is cultivated; but the greater part of the Fathom range is sterile. The geological features of the district are very striking; it forms the western boundary of the granitic range in this part of Ireland; and granite, sienite, and porphyry are found in it in all their varieties. The old town is almost exclusively built of porphyry; the new of granite. Whyn dykes, in which beautiful specimens of zeolite are frequently found imbedded, penetrate the granite in several directions; in some places layers of quartz are interposed between the strata. Oxyde of manganese is of frequent occurrence; clay-slate, with mica extensively disseminated through it, appears on the Armagh side; and schist to the north of the town. In the townland of Creeve many springs burst out of the granite and quartz rocks, in the streams of which is found a metallic residuum in large quantities, resembling copper, which mixes with the sand and is very heavy; near the toll-gate on the Belfast road is a vein of the newly discovered mineral, trephine; and a still greater body of it was discovered, in 1835, near Mount Kearney. To the north of the town, on the Belfast road, is a very copious chalybeate spring, highly beneficial in scorbutic cases. The principal seats in the vicinity of the town all of which are embellished with rich and flourishing plantations, are Fathom, the residence of -- Benson, Esq.; Greenpark, of -- Thompson, Esq.; Derramore, of -- Smith, Esq.; Drumbanagher Castle, of Lieut.-Col. Maxwell Close; Drummantine, of -- Ennis, Esq.; and Narrow-water, of Roger Hall, Esq.
The peculiarities of the ecclesiastical arrangements of the lordship proceed from its connection with the monastery already noticed, which, after having risen to a great height of prosperity by the fostering care of many successive kings, underwent the fate of all the other monastic institutions during the reign of Hen. VIII. After the dissolution it was converted into a collegiate church for secular priests, which having soon fallen to decay, the abbey, with all its possessions, was granted by Edw. VI. to Sir Nicholas Bagnal, in as free, full and ample manner as it had been enjoyed by any abbot. Hence, the episcopal jurisdiction previously exercised by its clerical head devolved at once upon its new proprietor, whose representative, the Earl of Kilmorey, exercises it to its fullest extent, as lay abbot; appointing spiritual officers, holding ecclesiastical courts, granting probates of wills and licences of marriage, and performing every other episcopal act with as plenary power as any bishop, being subject only to the Lord-Primate, as metropolitan. The living is a donative, in the patronage of the Earl of Kilmorey, as lay abbot, who, as such, possesses the whole tithes; yet in the royal visitation book of 1615 it is stated, that Nova Ripa, alias Nieu Rie, is among the parishes under the jurisdiction of the see of Dromore. St. Patrick's church, built by Sir Nicholas Bagnal in 1578, burnt in the civil wars, and restored after the Revolution, was originally the parochial church; but, in 1811, being much dilapidated and too small for the increasing congregation, an act was obtained under the provisions of which a new church was built on an enlarged scale and on a new site, to be henceforth the parish church of St. Mary's, Newry. This church, built in the Gothic style, with a tower and spire 190 feet high, was finished in 1819, at a cost of £12,566. 15. 4 1/2., British currency, exclusively of £2469. 4. 7 1/2 expended in the purchase of the site, and in obtaining two acts of parliament. The funds for liquidating this charge arose from a bequest of £3138. 9. 2 3/4. from the late W. Needham, Esq., lord of the manor; a bequest of £1346. 15. 4 1/2. from Sir Trevor Corry; a donation of £923. 1. 6 1/2. from the Earl of Kilmorey, a donation of £461. 10. 9 1/2. from Gen. Needham; £2520 raised by the sale of the pews, and £6646. 3. 1. by parochial assessment; it is endowed with £300 per ann., payable by the lay abbot in lieu of tithe. In 1829, the old church of St. Patrick was repaired and fitted up as a chapel of ease: the living is a chaplaincy or donative, in the gift of the Earl of Kilmorey, who endowed it with £100 per ann., subject to the peculiar jurisdiction of the vicar-general of Newry. In the R. C. arrangements the parish is the head of the diocese of Dromore, being the bishop's parish or mensal, and is co-extensive with that of the Established Church; containing three chapels, two in the town and one at Shinn, 4 miles distant, which arc attended by the same number of curates. The older R. C. chapel, a well-built but plain structure, with three galleries and a spacious cemetery attached to it, was erected in 1789. Being found too small for the accommodation of the numbers that attended it, a new chapel was erected in the low ground, in the pointed Gothic style, 120 feet long, 74 broad, and 46 feet high to the ceiling. The facade consists of a centre and two wings, with a deeply receding doorway, and is highly ornamented. The interior consists of a nave and two side aisles detached by rows of moulded granite pillars, supporting lofty pointed arches, over which are the clerestory windows by which the centre is lighted: the great altar is surmounted by a large window of three lights. This chapel is considered to be the diocesan chapel of the Bishop of Dromore, who resides at Violet Hill, to the north of Newry, where there was formerly a house of lay friars, which has been transferred to the town; in which also is a seminary for preparing the youth of the Catholic church for Maynooth college.
A convent of the order of St. Clare was removed hither from Dublin, in 1830: the house, with its appendages, was presented to the community by the Rev. J. Gilmer, of Rosstrevor, since which time the nuns have built a large and handsome chapel in the Gothic style, and also a school-house for the education of female children, which receives aid from the Board of National Education. There are in the town a congregation of Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, of the second class, who have a large and elegant meeting-house; one in connection with the Remonstrant Synod, and one with the Seceding Synod, both of the first class; also places of worship for Independents, Primitive and Independent Wesleyan Methodists, and Kellyites. Three schools in the lordship, connected with the Board of National Education, are situated in Newry and at Grinane; there are four in connection with the London Hibernian Society, one of which, founded in 1825, is built on an acre of land given by the Marquess of Downshire; and another, in Ballybot, on land given by Lord Kilmorey. Other schools have been aided by donations from the Marquess of Anglesey, the late Rob. Martin, Esq., who left a bequest of £7 per ann., and J. Dickinson, Esq., who left one of £8 per ann., for their endowment. About 880 boys and 960 girls are educated in these schools: there is also a private school, which affords instruction to about 50 boys and 20 girls.
The Mendicity Association was established in 1820, and is now merged in the workhouse: it is supported by subscriptions and bequests, among which is one of the late Wm. Needham, Esq., who, in 1806, bequeathed £50 per ann. for 50 years to the poor of the parish. A bequest of £30 per ann. by the late W. Ogle, Esq., to the poor is given in equal shares to the vicar, the parish priest, and the Unitarian minister, for the paupers of their respective congregations. The interest of £2000, bequeathed by Sir Trevor Corry, is distributed by his nephews, Trevor and Smithson Corry, Esqrs., among poor housekeepers. There are six almshouses, erected at the expense of the Rev. J. Pullayn, vicar-general, without any endowment attached to them; the inmates are appointed by the vicar of Newry. Among the more remarkable relics of antiquity may be noticed a large and perfect rath, about l 1/2 mile from the town, on the Rathfriland road, called Crown Rath. It is an earthwork, 112 feet high, nearly circular at the base, which measures 585 feet in circumference, with a flat top of oblong form, and is surrounded by a fosse 20 feet broad and 10 deep. On the south side of the fosse is a square platform, surrounded with an intrenchment, the glacis of which declines towards the old ford of the river. Many other remains of forts and many cromlechs are to be found in various parts. Newry is said to have been the birthplace of Jarlath MacTrien, who was prior of Armagh in 465; also of Dr. Parry, who was raised to the bishoprick of Killaloe in 1647. It gives the inferior title of Viscount to the Earl of Kilmorey.
NEWTOWN, a village, in the parish of SHANDRUM, barony of ORRERY and KILMORE, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 3 1/2 miles (W.) from Charleville, on the road to Newcastle; containing 31 houses and 175 inhabitants. A car to and from Rathkeale to Cork passes daily through the village, which is a station of the constabulary police, and has a fair on the 25th of Sept. Newtown House is the seat of Robt. Courtney, Esq.--See SHANDRUM.
NEWTOWN.--See KILLELAN.
NEWTOWN, a village, in the parish of LUSMAGH, barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 1 1/2 mile (S.) from Banagher, on the road from Parsonstown to Cloghan castle; containing 59 houses and 348 inhabitants. Here is a station of the constabulary police.
NEWTOWN, a parish, in the barony of LOWER KELLS, county of MEATH, and province of LEINSTER, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Kells, on the road from Bailieborough, by Navan, to Dublin; containing 217 inhabitants. It is bounded on the west by a small river, which runs into the Blackwater at Bloomsbury; and it comprises 1010 3/4 statute acres of tolerably good land, chiefly in tillage. Newtown, formerly belonging to the Meredyth family, is now the residence of Mrs. Groves. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Meath, united by act of council, in 1802, to the rectories of Kilbeg, Emlagh, and Robertstown, together constituting the union of Newtown, every third presentation to which is in the Bishop, and the other two in the Crown. The tithes amount to £66, and the gross value of the benefice, inclusively of the glebe, to £462. 10. The glebe-house was built in 1811, at an expense of £1384, of which £100 was a gift and £600 a loan from the late Board of First Fruits: the glebe comprises 20 acres, valued at £50 per annum. The church of the union, an ancient edifice, is in Kilbeg. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Stahalmock.
NEWTOWN, or NEWTOWN-FARTULLAGH, a parish, partly in the barony of FARTULLAGH, but chiefly in that of MOYCASHEL, county of WESTMEATH, and province of LEINSTER, on the mail road from Dublin to Athlone; containing, with part of the post-town of Tyrrell's-Pass, 2752 inhabitants. It is bounded on the west by the river Brosna, and comprises 8318 1/2 statute acres, of which 6520 are applotted under the tithe act: on the north and east is a great extent of bog, and there is a tract of marsh near the river. The land, which is of a light quality, is partly in tillage, and partly laid out in large grazing farms: limestone gravel is found here. The seats are Newforest, the residence of H. Daniel, Esq.; and Cornahir, of the Rev. Chas. Vignolles, D.D. Newtownloe, formerly the residence of the Low family, is now in ruins. On the western side of the parish are the villages of Ballingore and Newtownloe, and on the eastern side is that of Killevally. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Meath, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £237. 6. 1 1/4. The glebe-house was built in 1818, at an expense of £1147, of which £323 was a gift, and £415 a loan, from the late Board of First Fruits: the glebe comprises 41 1/2 statute acres, valued at £26 per annum. The church, a neat structure in the Gothic style, was completed in 1834, at a cost of £1370, of which £1000 was a gift from the late Board, and the remainder was defrayed by the present incumbent, the Rev. Chas. Vignolles, D.D. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Castletown, and contains the chapel of Raheenmore. At Tyrrell's-Pass is a meeting-house for Methodists. About 60 children are educated in the parochial school, which is partly supported by the rector; and about 50 are taught in two private schools. In the Split hills is a spring remarkable for its great depth and the purity of its water, from which emerges a small stream; and near the old family mansion of the Lows are the remains of an ancient fortress with a circular tower. -- See BALLINGORE, KILLEVALLY, and TYRRELL'S-PASS.
NEWTOWN-ARDES, an incorporated market and post-town (formerly a parliamentary borough), and a parish, partly in the barony of LOWER CASTLEREAGH, but chiefly in that of ARDES, county of DOWN, and province of ULSTER, 8 miles (E.) from Belfast, and 88 (N. E.) from Dublin, on the mail coach road from Donaghadee to Belfast; containing, in 1837, 11,000 inhabitants, of which number, 6000 are in the town. This place has been celebrated from a very early period for the number of religious foundations in its immediate neighbourhood. In 1244, Walter de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, founded a monastery here, in honour of St. Columb, for Dominican friars, which on its dissolution was granted to Lord Clandeboy, by whom it was assigned to Viscount Montgomery of the Ardes; no vestiges of the building can be traced. On the north side of the town was the cell of Kiltonga, which has been supposed to have originally given name to the parish; and within five miles were the abbeys of Bangor, Hollywood, Moville, Grey abbey, Cumber, and the Black priory. Jas. I., after the forfeiture of the surrounding territory by Con O'Nial's rebellion, granted several of the sites and possessions of the neighbouring monasteries to Sir James Hamilton and Sir Hugh Montgomery, from whom they passed to the Mount-Alexander family, and from them, by exchange, into the family of the Marquess of Londonderry. The inhabitants received a charter from Jas. I., in l6l3, incorporating them under the designation of the "Provost, Free Burgesses, and Commonalty of the borough of Newtowne."
The town is beautifully situated a little beyond the northern extremity of Lough Strangford, which, previously to the reclamation of about 100 acres, now under tillage, formed its boundary on that side; and is surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills. It consists of one spacious square, with several wide streets and others of inferior character, and contains at present about 1300 houses, many of which are handsomely built. Great improvements have been made under the auspices of the Marquess of Londonderry; a new line of road has been constructed to Belfast, avoiding the hills of Scrabo; and new roads also to Cumber and to Grey abbey, crossing the grounds reclaimed from the Lough: two neat bridges have been built over the river, and various other improvements are contemplated. The first attempt to establish a public brewery, and also a public distillery, was made in this town in 1769; but both failed, and, in 1819, John Johnston, Esq., purchased the premises and rebuilt the brewery on an extensive scale; more than 7000 barrels of beer are brewed annually, and adjoining are large malting premises for the supply of the brewery and for sale, in which the malt is made from barley grown in the neighbourhood. The weaving of damask is carried on to a small extent; about 600 looms are employed in weaving muslin, and 20 in weaving coarse linen for domestic use. More than 1000 females are constantly employed in embroidering muslin for the Glasgow merchants, who send the fabrics hither for that purpose. The market is on Saturday, and is amply supplied with provisions of all kinds; and fairs are held on the second Saturday in every month, also on Jan. 23rd, May 14th, and Sept. 23rd, for cattle, horses, sheep, pigs and pedlery.
By the charter of Jas. I. the corporation consists of a provost, twelve free burgesses and an indefinite number of freemen, assisted by two serjeants-at-mace. The provost, who is also judge of the borough court of record, and clerk of the market, was to be chosen annually from the free burgesses on the festival of St. John the Baptist, and sworn into office on that of St. Michael; the free burgesses, as vacancies occur, were chosen from the freemen by the provost and a majority of their own body, by whom also the freemen are admitted by favour only; and the serjeants-at-mace are appointed by the corporation. The public business is transacted by a "Quarter Court," consisting of 23 inhabitants, who are summoned and sworn by the provost as grand jurors, and act as a court leet in the election of various officers under the corporation, and exercise the power of presentment to be levied on the borough for various purposes. This court, which from its name would appear to have been formerly held quarterly, is now held annually, before the provost, between Michaelmas and Christmas. The corporation, under their charter, continued to return two members to the Irish parliament till the Union, when the borough was disfranchised. The borough court of record, which had jurisdiction to the amount of five marks, has long been discontinued. The provost now is either re-elected annually, or, being once elected, continues to hold his office for life; the burgesses are no longer chosen from the resident freemen, nor has the corporation, since 1821, exercised any municipal functions, except the holding of the Quarter court by the provost. A manor court is held before a seneschal appointed by the Marquess of Londonderry, every third Saturday, for the recovery of debts not exceeding £10; and a court leet annually, at which various officers are appointed for the manor, and also a constable for the borough, whose sole duty it is to assist in preserving the peace. The general sessions for the county are held here, in June and December, before the assistant barrister for the division of Downpatrick; petty sessions are held on the first and third Saturdays in every month, and a constabulary police force is stationed in the town. The church, built by Sir Hugh Montgomery, has been converted into a court-house, recently fitted up by the Marquess of Londonderry, and in which the sessions are held. The town-hall, for the transaction of the corporation business, is a handsome structure in the Grecian Doric style, erected in 1770 by the first Marquess of Londonderry: it is surmounted by a cupola, containing a clock, beneath which is the entrance into an area leading through the centre, on one side of which is the flesh market and on the other a weigh-house and other requisite offices and stores; above is an elegant suite of assembly-rooms, and other apartments, in which the members of the Down hunt hold meetings. A handsome stone cross of octagonal form, decorated with canopied niches, was built by the corporation in the centre of the town, to replace the ancient cross destroyed by the insurgents in 1641.
The parish comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 14,803 statute acres; the land is of good quality, and the system of agriculture highly improved; there is no waste land, but about 700 acres of valuable bog, from which the neighbourhood is supplied with fuel. There are two quarries of excellent freestone in the mountain of Scrabo, equal in appearance and superior in durability to that of Portland, besides five others of inferior quality; large quantities are raised for the supply of the neighbouring districts, and several cargoes have been shipped to America. Some extensive lead mines are held under lease from the Marquess of Londonderry by a company in the Isle of Man; the ore is very rich, but the mines are very indifferently worked; the water being imperfectly carried off by a level, the lessees have sunk a new shaft and erected a steam engine to raise the ore and to drain the mine; the ore is shipped at Bangor and sent to Flint, where it is smelted. Under Scrabo are three thin veins of coal, which show themselves in the Lough; but they are at a great depth beneath the surface, and no attempt to work them has yet been made. Regent House, the seat of P. Johnston, Esq., an elegant mansion in the Grecian style, recently erected by its proprietor, is built of polished Scrabo stone, and situated in tastefully disposed grounds, commanding a fine view of Lough Strangford and the adjacent country. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the diocese of Down, and in the patronage of the Marquess of Londonderry, in whom the rectorial tithes are impropriate, with the exception of those of the townland of Ballyskeagh, which are appropriate to the see of Down, and are paid by the Marquess. The stipend of the curate is £64. 12. 3., of which £40. 12. 3. is payable by the impropriator, and £24 from Primate Boulter's fund: he has also the glebe, which comprises 28 1/2 statute acres, valued at £40 per ann.; and the glebe-house, a good residence, situated in the town, and built at an expense of £700, of which £415 was a gift and £46 a loan from the late Board of First Emits. The church, a handsome cruciform edifice, was built in 1817, at an expense of £5446, of which £831 was a gift and £3692 a loan from the same Board; the remainder, £923, was a donation from the late Marquess of Londonderry. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also the parishes of Dundonald, Bangor, and Donaghadee; the chapel is a small plain building. There is a place of worship for a Presbyterian congregation in connection with the Presbytery of Antrim, and two for those in connection with the Synod of Ulster, one of which, recently erected in Regent-street, has a handsome hewn stone front of the Doric order; there is also a place of worship for Seceders, another for Covenanters, and two for Methodists. About 620 children are taught in the public schools of the parish, for one of which, on Erasmus Smith's foundation, a spacious house, with residences for a master and mistress, was built at an expense of £1000, defrayed jointly by the Marquess of Londonderry and the trustees of that charity; and for another a house was lately erected by Francis Turnley, Esq., under the will of his late father, with a house each for a master and mistress, and endowed with £3 per ann. to be distributed in prizes to the children. There are also ten private schools, in which are about 450 children, and four Sunday schools. A house of industry, which has completely suppressed mendicity in this parish, is supported by general subscription, aided by an annual donation of £25 from the Marquess of Londonderry, who also gave the house and premises rent-free. In the bog at Loughriescouse was found, in 1824, at a depth of 23 feet below the surface, the body of a highlander in a good state of preservation; parts of his dress were perfect, but the body crumbled into dust on exposure to the air. The head and horns of a moose deer were, in 1832, dug up on the townland of Ballymagreechan, and are now deposited in the museum at Glasgow. The cemetery of the abbey of Moville is now used for a parochial burial-ground; and near the old church, now the court-house, are the ruins of a private chapel, built by Sir Robt. Colville. In that church were interred the remains of the Earls and others of the family of Mount-Alexander, of several of the Colville family, of the first Marquess of Londonderry, and of his father.
NEWTOWN-BARRY, or ST. MARY'S, a market and post-town, and a parish, in the barony of SCARAWALSH, county of WEXFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 22 miles (N. W.) from Wexford, and 50 (S.) from Dublin; containing 3592 inhabitants, of which number, 1430 are in the town. This town owes its origin and name to its founder, James Barry, Esq., who was sheriff of Dublin in 1577, and progenitor of the Barons of Santry; it came into the possession of John Maxwell, Esq., afterwards created Lord Farnham, by marriage, in 1719, with the daughter and heiress of James Barry, Esq., and is now the property of the present lord. In the disturbances of 1798 this place was attacked, on the 1st of June, by the insurgents, who obtained possession of it for a short time, but were soon driven out by the troops of the line and yeomanry. The town, formerly called Buncloady, from its situation at the confluence of the rivers Clody and Slaney, is situated on the confines of the counties of Carlow and Wexford, which are here bounded by those rivers. It was originally built in the form of an irregular square, but has since been extended in various directions, and in 1831 contained 250 houses, most of which are well built, and the whole has a cheerful and thriving appearance. The western suburb extends into the parish of Barragh, in the county of Carlow, with which it is connected by a bridge over the river Clody; and the town occupies a sequestered and beautifully romantic site on the banks of the Slaney, over which is a stone bridge of seven arches, and at the base of a chain of mountains stretching along the borders of Carlow and Wexford. The environs are embellished with several elegant seats embosomed in thriving plantations, which acquire, from their proximity to the water, a freshness of verdure finely contrasting with the dark foliage of the surrounding woods. Adjoining the town, though in the parish of Kilrush, are barracks for the military, of whom a detachment is generally stationed here. The market, chiefly for provisions, is on Saturday, and is one of the best-attended in the south of Ireland, there being no other within ten miles of it; and fairs, chiefly for cattle, are held on Jan. 4th, April 29tb, and the 17th and 18th of June, and for coarse linen and flannel on Aug. 20th, Sep. 14th, and the 4th and 30th of Nov. A constabulary police force and a detachment of the revenue police are stationed here; and petty sessions, which, previously to 1831, were held weekly, are now held on alternate Saturdays.
The parish comprises about 8680 statute acres of good land, chiefly under tillage; the system of agriculture is improved, and green crops for winter feeding have been partially introduced; the only waste land is mountain on which is a bog that supplies the inhabitants with fuel. On the banks of the Slaney is found pebble limestone, which is burnt for manure by the proprietors of the adjacent lands; and a marl pit has been recently discovered on the estate of Rylands, which is the only one in the neighbourhood. Limestone and culm for the whole of this district are brought, at a very great expense, from the county of Carlow, between which and Enniscorthy a communication might easily be made by a railroad along the bank of the river Slaney, which from Enniscorthy to this place preserves a continued level, eminently adapted to the purpose. The expense would be very inconsiderable, when compared with the advantages resulting from it to so wide a district, and might be defrayed by the freight of limestone and culm alone, independently of the remuneration that might arise from the facility of conveyance it would afford for the produce of the extensive quarries in the neighbourhood. Slate of excellent quality, building stone and granite abound in the immediate vicinity: the principal slate quarries are at Drumcree and Glaslacken, the former the property of Lord Farnham, now under lease to Capt. Browne, and the latter the property of A. Colclough, Esq.; these quarries formerly were very extensively worked, and the slate in great estimation; but since the introduction of Welsh slate, the demand has considerably diminished. The granite is found in loose masses on the declivities of both banks of the river Clody, and some of the best quality is found in the deer-park of Carrigduff, adjoining the Woodfield demesne; the quarries of building stone are very extensively worked. Coal is supposed to exist in the townland of Ryland, the property of Lord Farnham, but it has not yet been sought for. In the town is a mansion, formerly the residence of Lord Farnham before he succeeded to the title, and now in the occupation of Mrs. St. George Irwine; the gardens are laid out with great taste and richly stocked with many varieties of choice plants. In the vicinity, but principally in the parish of Kilrush, is Woodfield, the present seat of Lord Farnham, a handsome mansion beautifully situated in a richly wooded demesne extending into the parishes of Barragh and Clonegal; the grounds are tastefully disposed and embellished with verdant lawns sloping to the margin of the river. Weston Cottage, the recently erected residence of R. West, Esq.; Rylandville, that of G. Warren, Esq.; and the Glebe-house, of the Rev. Alex. McClintock, are in the parish. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in agriculture and in the stone and slate quarries, and near the town is an extensive flour-mill.
The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Ferns, separated from the parish of Templeshanbo by act of council, in 1776, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £369. 4. 7 1/2. The glebe-house, towards the erection of which the late Board of First Fruits contributed a gift of £100, is a handsome residence, built in 1808; the glebe comprises 13 acres. The church is a neat structure, with a square tower surmounted by a spire, which, rising above the foliage of the grove in which it is situated, forms an interesting and conspicuous feature in the distant view of the town; the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have lately granted £548 for its repair; the churchyard is kept in neat order, and the graves are annually decked with flowers. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district formerly called Marshalstown, comprising also part of the parishes of Monart and Templeshanbo, and small portions of St. Mary's Enniscorthy and Kilrush. The chapel, recently erected near the northeastern suburb, but within the parish of Kilrush, is a handsome edifice with a lofty pinnacled tower, of which the lower stage forms a hall to the adjoining residence of the priest. A chapel of ease has also been built in the village of Kilmashall, and the old chapel converted partly into a residence for the curate and partly into a school, to be placed in connection with the New Board of Education; there are chapels also at Marshalstown and Castle-Dockrell. About 260 children are instructed in three public schools, of which one is on Erasmus Smith's foundation; the master has a salary of £30, with a house and garden; the school-house was enlarged in 1814, by the trustees and the late Lady Farnham, who also presented to it a lending library of 200 volumes, for the use of the parish; and Lord Farnham contributes an annual donation of £10 for its further support, and also £12 per ann. for the support of another school. A school is also supported by the parish priest, who gives the use of a house and an acre of land. There are also five private schools, in which are about 330 children; and a Sunday school is held in the old parochial school-house, which has been enlarged for that purpose. A dispensary is open three days in the week for the medical relief of the poor, who, if unable to attend, are visited at their own dwellings. The fever hospital, built by subscription about ten years since, contains beds for 12, and is capable of receiving 20, patients: the medical attendant is paid £120 per ann. for attending the dispensary and £20 for visiting the hospital. Near Clohamon bridge are some slight remains of a castle, now rapidly disappearing; the principal gateway retains the grooves for the portcullis, and the fosse by which it was surrounded is still remaining. In the wood adjoining the town is a very strong chalybeate spring, now grown into disuse; and at Kilmashall are the ruins of an ancient church, near which is a holy well, formerly held in great veneration, and much resorted to by pilgrims.
NEWTOWNBREDA, a village, in the parish of KNOCKBREDA, barony of UPPER CASTLEREAGH, county of DOWN, and province of ULSTER, 2 miles (S.) from Belfast, on the road to Saintfield; the population is returned with the parish. It is pleasantly situated on an eminence near the river Lagan, and immediately adjoining Belvoir Park, the seat of Sir R. Bateson, Bart.; it consists chiefly of small detached white-washed cottages, with gardens in the rear, which give the village an extremely interesting appearance. It is a station of the constabulary police; and petty sessions are held on alternate Saturdays. Fairs are held on July 5th, and Oct. 27th. Here is the parochial church, a small but elegant edifice in the Grecian style, erected in 1747, under the direction of Mr. Cassels, by the Viscountess Dowager Midleton. The burial-ground, which is the cemetery of several of the most respectable families of the surrounding country, has a very neat and interesting appearance.
NEWTOWN-BUTLER, a town, in the parish of GALLOON, barony of COOLE, county of FERMANAGH, and province of ULSTER, 4 1/2 miles (W. by S.) from Clones, on the road to Enniskillen; containing 412 inhabitants. In 1641, the Enniskilleners defeated the army commanded by Mac Carthy-more, about one mile north of the town, in retreating through which the latter set fire to the church and burned it to the ground, together with several inhabitants who had sought refuge there; they were afterwards totally defeated at Kilgarret Hill, half a mile to the south, and their leader made prisoner. The village consists of two streets, and in 1831 contained 76 houses: it has a penny post to Clones and Lisnaskea. There is a market on Friday; fairs for yarn and butter are held on the second Friday in each month, and on May 12th is a large fair for cattle. General sessions are held four times in the year, and petty sessions on alternate Wednesdays, in the courthouse, to which a bridewell is attached. A constabulary police force is stationed in the town. Here are the parochial church, and a large R. C. chapel; a handsome meeting-house was recently erected for the Primitive Wesleyan Methodists, one-half the expense of which was defrayed by J. Butler Danvers, Esq. The old meeting-house has been converted into a school for gratuitous daily instruction, and is also used as a Sunday school; a national school is held in the chapel; and there is also a parochial school. This place gives the inferior title of baron to the family of Butler, Earls of Lanesborough, and it was once the seat of that family, of whose mansion no vestige can now be traced.
NEWTOWN-CLONBUN, or NEWTOWN-TRIM, a parish, in the barony of UPPER NAVAN, county of MEATH, and province of LEINSTER, adjacent to Trim; containing 373 inhabitants. The parish, which is also called St. Mary's Newtown, is situated on the river Boyne, and comprises 971 3/4 statute acres of land, chiefly arable, and entirely the property of Sir Chas. Dillon, of Lismullen, Bart. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Meath, forming part of the union of Trim: the tithes, amounting to £46. 3. 1., were purchased from the Ashe family by the late Board of First Fruits, as an augmentation to the vicarage of Trim. In the R. C. divisions also it is included in the union or district of Trim. About 80 children are educated in a private school. Within the limits of the parish are some interesting remains of religious houses, described in the article on Trim.
NEWTOWN-CONYNGHAM, a village, in the parish of ALL SAINTS, barony of RAPHOE, county of DONEGAL, and province of ULSTER, 65 miles (W.) from Londonderry, on the road to Letterkenny: the population is returned with the parish. It consists of a few scattered houses, situated near Lough Swilley, and has a penny post to Londonderry, a station of the constabulary police, a fair on the 29th of October, and a chapel belonging to the R. C. district of Lagan. According to Ware, a friary once existed at Bellaghan, of which there are no vestiges.
NEWTOWN-CROMMELIN, a parish, in the barony of KILCONWAY, county of ANTRIM, and province of ULSTER, 6 miles (N.) from Broughshane, on the road to Ballycastle; containing 727 inhabitants. It comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 3445 1/2 statute acres of land, which is in general of an inferior description, nearly two-thirds consisting of mountain and bog. Here is a station of the constabulary police, and fairs are held on the second Tuesday in every month. The living is a perpetual cure, in the diocese of Connor, and in the gift of the Incumbent of Dunaghy. The tithes amount to £30; and the gross income of the curacy, augmented by £66 per annum from Primate Boulter's fund, and including the glebe of eight acres, valued at £8 per annum, is £104. The glebe-house was built in 1831, at an expense of £500, of which £450 was a gift and £50 a loan from the late Board of First Fruits. The church was erected about the same period, by aid of a gift of £800 from the Board. About 270 children are educated in the schools of the parish, of which one for boys is supported by an annual allowance of £26 from the Methodist Missionary Society, and one for girls is aided by a small annual payment from a London Society; there are also a private school and two Sunday schools.
NEWTOWN-DROGHEDA, a village, in the parish of TULLYALLEN, barony of FERRARD, county of LOUTH, and province of LEINSTER, 2 miles (N. E.) from Drogheda, near the road to Termonfechan; containing 24 houses and 126 inhabitants. It was formerly a chapelry belonging to the abbey of Mellifont, but is not now noticed in the ecclesiastical divisions: it is in a detached portion of the parish, near the river Boyne, and separated from the main body by the county of the town of Drogheda. Here is one of the three R. C. chapels belonging to the district of Tullyallen; and in the demesne of Newtown, immediately adjoining the village, are some vestiges of the ancient church. Newtown House, a handsome residence, is the seat of Fras. Donagh, Esq.; and Green Hills, that of Geo. Smith, Esq., is in the vicinity. In this part of the parish, and near the Boyne Obelisk, is a small picturesque valley, called "King William's Glen."
NEWTOWN-FARTULLAGH, county of WESTMEATH.--See NEWTOWN.
NEWTOWN-FORBES, a post-town, in the parish of CLONGESH, barony and county of LONGFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 2 1/2 miles (N. W.) from Longford, and 61 (W. N. W.) from Dublin, on the road from Longford to Carrick-on-Shannon; containing 537 inhabitants. It derives its name from the family of the Earl of Granard, whose seat, Castle Forbes, is situated here. The estate was granted by Jas. I., in 1619, to Sir Arthur Forbes, an ancestor of that nobleman, and was created a manor, with the privileges of a market and fair. The proprietor built a strong mansion here, which, in 1641, sustained a severe siege by 500 insurgents, and was defended by Sir Arthur's widow, aided by her tenantry, to the last extremity. The village, which is pleasingly situated, comprises about 90 houses, and contains the parochial church, the R. C. chapel, and a meeting-house for Wesleyan Methodists. It is a station of the constabulary police; and petty sessions are held on alternate Tuesdays. The market and fairs have been long discontinued.
NEWTOWN-GIRLEY, a village, in the parish of GIRLEY, barony of UPPER KELLS, county of MEATH, and province of LEINSTER, 2 miles (N.) from Athboy; containing 23 houses and 105 inhabitants.
NEWTOWN-GORE, a village, in the parish and barony of CARRIGALLEN, county of LEITRIM, and province of CONNAUGHT, 5 miles (S. E.) from Ballinamona, on the road to Killeshandra; containing 40 houses and 207 inhabitants. Here is a small meeting-house for Wesleyan Methodists, in which a school is held. Garadice lake and several others are situated in the vicinity. There are some vestiges of the ancient abbey of Moy, and close to the village is a large druidical altar. About 2 1/2 miles to the south are the ruins of the castle of Longfield, which, from the gable that still remains, appears to have been of strong but rude masonry: it was taken possession of by Major Martin Armstrong, after the battle of Cavan.
NEWTOWN-HAMILTON, a post-town and parish, in the barony of UPPER FEWS, county of ARMAGH, and province of ULSTER, 9 miles (S. E.) from Armagh, and 52 1/4 (N. by W.) from Dublin; containing 7253 inhabitants, of which number, 1020 are in the town. This place, which is situated on the roads leading respectively from Dundalk to Armagh, and from Newry to Castle-Blayney and Monaghan, in the midst of the Fews mountains, owes its origin and importance to the late Mr. Hamilton, who laid the foundation of the present town about the year 1770, previously to which time, the whole district was a dreary, wild, and uninhabited waste. About the beginning of the last century, an attempt was made to establish a town at Blackbank, and a castle was erected for the protection of the new settlers; but the undertaking failed, and soon after an attempt was made for the same purpose at Johnston Fews, which resulted only in the erection of a few mud cabins. After the failure of both enterprises, Government erected barracks at those places, and troops were regularly stationed there till the establishment of the present town, when they were removed to this place; the ruins of the castle and barracks of Blackbank, and also of those of Johnston, within a few miles of this town, are still remaining. The whole face of this extensive district was completely changed after the establishment of the town; the lands were rapidly brought into cultivation, several roads were opened, and great numbers of persons were induced to settle here under the advantageous leases granted by Mr. Hamilton; the town gradually increased in extent and importance, and the surrounding district was erected into a parish by Primate Robinson, who severed it from the parish of Creggan, built a church, and endowed the living. The present town contains about 60 houses, many of which are large and well built of hewn stone and roofed with slate found in the parish; it has a sub-post-office to Castle-Blayney and Newry. There is a large market every Saturday for provisions; and fairs are held on the last Saturday in every month for cattle, horses, pigs, and butter, and are numerously attended. A constabulary police force is stationed here; also a body of the revenue police, since the establishment of which, the depot for two companies of the regiments stationed at Armagh, which were quartered in this town, has been broken up and the military withdrawn. Petty sessions are held on alternate Fridays; there is an excellent court-house, in which the quarter sessions for the county were held till 1826, since which time they have been removed. Near the town were formerly mills for smelting lead ore, which continued in operation so long as wood lasted for fuel.
The parish comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 12,404 1/2 statute acres, of which 10,397 are applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £6320 per annum. The land in some parts is very good, but better adapted for oats than for wheat;. the soil is light and friable, and the system of agriculture improving. There is abundance of bog for fuel; stone of good quality for building is extensively quarried; there are some quarries of excellent slate, not now worked; and in the mountain district is lead ore of rich quality, which might be worked with advantage. There are many good houses in the parish, of which the principal is Harrymount, the residence of Henry Barker, Esq. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Armagh, and in the patronage of the Lord-Prirnate: the tithes amount to £537. 18. 7. The glebe-house, towards the erection of which the late Board of First Fruits contributed a gift of £100, is a handsome residence; it was built under the old acts in, 1806, at the cost of £592 British, defrayed by the above grant and by £500 supplied out of the private funds of the then incumbent: in 1830 the sum of £316 was expended on improvements. The glebe comprises 31 acres of arable land, valued at £38. 15. per annum. The church, for the repair of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £106, is a plain edifice, erected by Primate Robinson, in 1775, out of funds provided by the late Board of First Fruits. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union of Lower Creggan: the chapel, in the town, is a spacious and handsome edifice. There is a place of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, of the first class; and there are two for those in connection with the Seceding Synod, both also of the first class. A school in the town is supported from the funds of Erasmus Smith, under the patronage of the Lord-Primate; a parochial school is supported by the rector; and a school, built on his own estate, is supported by W. McGeough Bond, Esq. There are also five private schools, in which are about 180 children. There are some remains of an extensive encampment at Clogh-a-mether, said to have been the chief residence of O'Nial of Ulster, between whom and Baldragh, Prince of Louth, a battle is said to have taken place near the town. In this fort, which is nearly two miles in circuit, the army of Cromwell encamped in the winter of 1645, and was severely harassed by the Irish forces, who hemmed them in on every side, and cutting off their supplies, reduced them to such distress that many perished through hunger.
NEWTOWN-LENNAN, a parish, partly in the barony of SLIEVARDAGH, and partly in that of IFFA and OFFA EAST, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 2 3/4 miles (N.) from Carrick-on-Suir, on the high road to Kilkenny; containing 1931 inhabitants. This parish is hounded on the east by the river Lennan, by which it is separated from the county of Kilkenny, and the river Suir flows within a mile of its south-eastern boundary: it comprises 5670 statute acres of good land, of which more than two-thirds are under tillage, and the remainder in pasture. The system of agriculture is improving, there is neither waste land nor bog. That portion which is within the barony of Slievardagh is separated from the other by a chain of hills running east and west, and cultivated nearly to their summits, which are planted with trees. Limestone of the finest quality is found in great abundance, and is burnt for the supply of the country for many miles round; and in the north-eastern part of the parish are extensive slate quarries in active operation; the refuse, together with that of the limestone, is used in making and repairing the roads. There are strong indications of coal, and a few years since attempts were made to procure it, but the works were impeded by water breaking into the shafts, and were afterwards discontinued on the death of the proprietor, the late Edmond Power, Esq. Cregg, the seat of T. E. Lalor, Esq., is a handsome residence, erected about 10 years since, and situated in tastefully disposed grounds. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Lismore, forming part of the union of Clonegam; the tithes amount to £441. 9. 5. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union of Carrick-on-Suir: the chapel is a neat edifice in good repair. There are two private schools, in which are about 60 children. There are ruins of the churches of Newtown-Lennan and Athenry, to each of which a large cemetery is attached; in the latter are two stone crosses, with inscriptions in the Erse character.
NEWTOWN-LIMAVADY, a corporate, market and post-town (formerly a parliamentary borough), in the parish of DRUMACHOSE, barony of KENAUGHT, county of LONDONDERRY, and province of ULSTER, 12 3/4 miles (E. N. E.) from the city of Londonderry, and 131 (N. by W.) from Dublin, on the road from Londonderry to Coleraine; containing 2428 inhabitants. The district in which the town stands was anciently the territory of the O'Cahans or O'Canes, the head of a powerful and warlike sept, whose castle on the brow of a romantic glen was called Lima-vaddy, or "the Dog's Leap." The estimation in which these chieftains were formerly held appears from the fact that Dermod O'Cahan was summoned by Edw. II. to attend him with his forces on his disastrous expedition against Scotland. He went, but instead of joining the army of the invader, was found in the ranks of the Scottish king at the battle of Bannockburn. After the general forfeiture of Ulster, in 1608, arising out of the attainder of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell, Sir Thomas Philips, surveyor of the forfeited estates, obtained a grant of 1000 acres in this district, on which he erected a castle and a bawn on the eastern bank of the Roe, on a spot near the site on which a town, named Ballyclose, now a suburb of Newtown-Limavady, previously existed. The town took its name from the circumstance of its modern erection; and to distinguish it from several others, it acquired the adjunct of Limavady from its contiguity to O'Cahan's castle. It increased rapidly under the fostering care of its founder, who, in 1610, brought hither 25 English families. In 1613 the town obtained a charter, which is stated to have been granted on the petition of the inhabitants and for the better plantation of Ulster. By this charter the inhabitants were incorporated under the name of "the provost, 12 burgesses and commonalty," and a court of record was created, of which the provost was to be judge, and also to be clerk of the market and collector of the tolls and customs, which he retained for his own use: it also conferred a licence for holding a market on Monday, and a fair on July 1st (to which three others were added a few years afterwards), granted 300 acres of land for a common, and 375 for the maintenance of a free school, to be erected at Limavady, and the right of sending two members to parliament; a discretionary power of electing freemen was given to the provost and burgesses by the same charter. In the war of 1641, the castle was besieged by the Irish army under Col. O'Nial, but the garrison under Capt. Philips, the governor, supported by many of the townspeople, among whom were some women, held out during the entire winter, until relieved by the approach of the parliamentary forces under Col. Mervyn, who routed the besieging army with much slaughter: the castle, however, was subsequently taken by the Irish and burnt, together with the church and the entire town. A new town sprang up from the ruins, which suffered a similar fate in the war of 1688, being burned by the army of Jas. II. on its retreat from Derry. It was again rebuilt after the Revolution, and some of the houses then erected are still standing. The borough was disfranchised at the Union, from which period the corporation has declined; the only official proof of its existence being the collection of the tolls and customs, which was relinquished in consequence of the resistance given to the payment of them: on the death of the provost some years since, no successor was appointed, and the corporation may now be considered extinct. The land granted for commonage seems to have merged in the general estate on its sale by the Philips' family, in the reign of Chas. II. The school was never founded, nor can any particulars be procured relative to the lands set apart for its endowment. The borough and manor courts are discontinued, and the place is now, like all the rest of the county, governed by the magistrates and the police.
In point of size the town is the third in the county and the first in the barony. It comprises four principal and several smaller streets; three of the streets are large and well built. There is a handsome sessions-house, where the general sessions for the county are held in June and December, and petty sessions on alternate Tuesdays; adjoining it is a small bridewell. It is a constabulary police station, which is provided with a good barrack in one of the main streets. The market-house is a large, old, inconvenient building, over an arch which connects two of the principal streets. Large and commodious grain stores and shambles were erected in 1820, by Edw. Boyle, Esq., who also established grain markets on Tuesday and Friday, which are well attended and productive of much advantage to the town and neighbourhood: connected with these buildings is a news-room, well supplied with journals and periodicals. The Monday market is the mart for cattle, butter, and flax: the potato market is held in an adjoining street. The fairs are held on the second Monday in February, March 28th, June 13th, July 12th, and Oct. 29th: they are all well attended and largely supplied with cattle of every description: that of February is a great horse fair. Distillation is carried on extensively in the neighbourhood. A dispensary in the town is maintained in the usual manner. The church, which is the parochial church of Drumachose, is a large and handsome edifice, built in 1750 on the site of a former one, and enlarged in 1825 by the addition of an aisle, by a loan of £200 from the late Board of First Fruits: it now consists of a nave and a north aisle, in the Grecian style. In the suburb of Ballyclose are meetinghouses for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, and with the Remonstrant and Associate Synods: near the church is a meeting-house of the Wesleyan Methodists. Of the castle built by Sir Thos. Philips nothing now remains: the site is pointed out as being in the grounds and gardens of the Lodge, at the northwestern extremity of the main street. The environs of the town are extremely beautiful: to the north-west is the rich vale of Myroe, extending to the shores of Lough Foyle; to the east and north-east the lofty range of Benyevenagh, and to the south the summits of Donald's Hill and Benbradagh, beneath which is spread out the vale of the Roe, with its numerous plantations, villas, mills, and bleach-greens, the rich foliage of the oak woods and the plantations of Roe Park, the beautiful residence of Edm. Chas. McNaghten, Esq., and the other seats interspersed throughout the district, which are noticed in the article on the parish, as are also the schools.
NEWTOWN-MOUNT-BELLEW. -- See MOYLOUGH.
NEWTOWN-MOUNT-KENNEDY, a post-town, in the parish and barony of NEWCASTLE, county of WICKLOW, and province of LEINSTER, 7 miles (N.) from Wicklow, and 17 (S. by E.) from Dublin; containing 825 inhabitants. The town is situated on the mail coach road from Dublin to Wexford, and owes its origin and its name to Alderman Kennedy, who was knighted in the reign of Chas. II. and obtained a grant of the manor. In the disturbances of 1798 it was the scene of a sharp skirmish between the insurgents and the King's forces; the former, to the number of about 1000, variously armed, commenced an attack on the town, early in the morning of the 30th of May, by burning some houses; but on advancing to the market-house, they were opposed by the little garrison, consisting of a detachment of the Ancient Briton cavalry, another of the Antrim militia, and some yeomen cavalry, in all 100. In the first onset the commander of the Ancient Britons was killed and the captain and lieutenant of the yeomen severely wounded, but after some loss on both sides the insurgents were totally routed. The town is pleasantly situated on a declivity towards the east, in the centre of some of the most beautiful scenery in the county. It chiefly consists of one wide street, with a small market-house in the centre, which being disused as such for a long time, is now called the court-house; and contains 123 houses irregularly built, some slated, but the greater number low and thatched. The market, which was held on Friday, has been discontinued. Fairs are held on Feb. 2nd, April 5th, June 29th, Aug. 15th, Oct. 29th, and Dec. 21st. Petty sessions are held on alternate Saturdays, and road sessions every quarter. It is also a constabulary police station. There is a fever hospital and dispensary, supported in the usual manner. On an eminence near the northern entrance of the town a church is in progress of erection, as a chapel of ease to Newcastle, on a site given by Robert Gun Cunningham, Esq., the lord of the manor, who also contributed £100 towards its construction: it is in the later English style, and although not finished, divine service is performed in it. About 120 children are educated gratuitously in a school kept in the old market-house. The town has an excellent inn, well supplied with carriages of various descriptions. In the neighbourhood are some of the most beautiful and romantic places in the county, such as the Glen of the Downs, Belview, described under Delgany; Woodstock, under Newcastle; Dunran, Kiltimon, and the Devil's Glen, under Killeskey; and in its immediate vicinity are several fine mansions and elegant villas. Mount-Kennedy, formerly the residence of Sir Richard Kennedy, was purchased from his descendant by the late Gen. Cunningham, who was afterwards raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Rossmore, and who expended upwards of £60,000 in plantations and other improvements: it is now the seat of R. Gun Cunningham, Esq. The house is a noble structure of the Ionic order, built after a design by Wyatt: from the portico on the western side is a fine prospect of highly ornamented grounds, closed in by the mountains in the distance; and from the eastern front another prospect equally rich in scenery and more extensive in scope, terminated by the sea: on the lawn grew an arbutus of extraordinary dimensions, which being shattered by a storm, the arms, having been laid down and taken root, serve by the extent of ground they spread over to convey an idea of the great size of the parent trunk: the demesne contains some very fine specimens of the sweet chesnut, oak, and ash in the highest degree of vigour. In the hall are the fossil horns of a moose deer, found with several others at Kiltimon, Altidore, the seat of the Rev. L. W. Hepenstal, is a large and plain building, but the grounds are peculiarly picturesque: in a wooded glen near the house is a succession of cascades of great height, over which the late proprietor, Mr. Blachford, threw alpine bridges, and also constructed seats and laid out a series of walks calculated to display its beauties to the utmost advantage: the glen, called the Hermitage, formerly contained the mansion of Col. Carey. Glendarragh, the elegant seat of St. George Knudson, Esq., on an eminence overhanging a richly wooded glen; East Hill, of Jas. Lamb Audouin, Esq.; Monaline, of T. J. Stamper, Esq.; Hermitage, of the Rev. Joseph Callwell; Ballinahinch, of -- Rider, Esq.; Truddar House, of S. Henry, Esq.; Newtown, of J. Armstrong, Esq.; and Warble Bank, of Mrs. Smyth, are all worthy of notice.
NEWTOWN-PLATTEN, a village; in the parish of DULEEK, barony of LOWER DULEEK, County of MEATH. and province of LEINSTER, 1 1/2 mile (S. W.) from Drogheda, on the road to Navan; containing 21 houses and 116 inhabitants.
NEWTOWN-SANDES, a village, in the parish of MURHIR, barony of IRAGHTICONNOR, county of KERRY, and province of MUNSTER, 4 miles (S.) from Tarbert, on the road from Listowel to Glin; containing 72 houses and 375 inhabitants. It gives name to the R. C. district, comprising the parishes of Murhir and Knockanure, each containing a chapel: that of Murhir, situated in the village, is a large thatched edifice, which it is in contemplation to rebuild. Near the village is a large school-house, erected at the expense of the Rev. J. Long, P.P., and presented by him to the National Board of Education, which allows £12 per annum for the support of the school.
NEWTOWN-SAVILLE, an ecclesiastical district, in the barony of CLOGHER, county of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER, 4 1/2 miles (N.) from Clogher, on the new road from Dublin to Omagh; the population is returned with Clogher. The lands were part of those granted, by Jas. I., in 1610, to Sir W. Cope, then called Derrybard; and, in 1619, a bawn was built thereon. It comprises 13,7685 statute acres, and was formed, in 1820, by disuniting 29 townlands from the parish of Clogher, in the manors of Cecil and Cope, at which time the district was an entire waste of unenclosed and uncultivated common, having been since reclaimed by the judicious management of the proprietor. The land varies in quality, some being light, some indifferent, and. some good, but there is none of the best description; a small portion is mountain: yet, in consequence of its judicious management, where nothing but bog and heath was to be found 20 years since, crops of corn, flax, and potatoes, and the richest verdure, are now general. The inhabitants combine spinning and weaving with agricultural pursuits. There are indications of coal, and pure specimens of carbonate of lead have been discovered: excellent freestone is found in several parts. Numerous escars run entirely through the district, curiously undulating, and rising into gentle swells consisting of sand and water-worn pebbles, principally of trap, greenstone, hornblende, quartz, porphyry and agate. The village is small, comprising only 17 poorly built houses: a court is held here, once a month, for the manor of Cecil and Cope, for the recovery of debts under 40s. Fairs were formerly held, but have been discontinued owing to the numerous quarrels to which they led. Cecil is the handsome residence of the Rev. F. Gervais, the spirited proprietor of the district; Raveagh, of Captain Edwards; and the glebe-house, of the Rev. H. A. Burke, around which are beautiful plantations. The living is a perpetual cure, in the diocese of Clogher, and in the patronage of the Dean, who appropriates £60 per ann. towards the income of the curate. The glebe-house was erected in 1824, by aid of a gift of £450, and a loan of £50, from the late Board of First Fruits: the glebe comprises 15 acres, valued at £15 per annum. The church was built in 1815, at an expense of £895, of which the same Board gave £738, and the proprietor of the estate the residue: it is a neat edifice, in the Gothic style, with a lofty square tower. At Escragh is a R. C. chapel, and there is a meeting-house for Presbyterians in connection with the Associate Synod at Longridge. A school-house at Beltony, with a residence for the master and mistress, was built partly by the Rev. F. Gervais and partly by the trustees of Erasmus Smith's charity; the school is endowed with two acres of land by the Rev. F. Gervais. Escragh male and female school is principally supported by the perpetual curate; Lislee school is supported by R. W. Maxwell, Esq.; Tullyvernon school was built and is supported by the Rev. F. Gervais; and there is one at Escragh Bridge in connection with the National Board, in which divine service is every Sunday performed by the curate, as it is 3 1/2 miles from the church.
NEWTOWN-STEWART, a market and post-town, in the parish of ARDSTRAW, barony of STRABANE, county of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER, 7 1/4 miles (N. W.) from Omagh, and 99 1/4 (N. N. W.) from Dublin, on the road to Londonderry; containing 1737 inhabitants. This town, which is beautifully situated on the western bank of the river Mourne, about halfway between Omagh and Strabane, and surrounded by the lofty mountains of Munterloney, was anciently called Lislas, and appears to have been a place of early importance, commanding the only pass through this extensive and mountainous district. The adjacent lands were granted by Jas. I., on the settlement of Ulster, to Sir J. Clapham, who not having complied with the conditions of the grant, the property became forfeited to the Crown, and was granted by Chas. I. to Sir W. Stewart, from whom the present town takes its name. Sir Phelim O'Nial, having obtained possession of the castle in 1641, cut off all communication with this part of Tyrone, and compelled the King's forces to retreat from every post they occupied in this part of the country. In the war of the Revolution, Jas. II. lodged for one night in the castle on his way to Londonderry, and also on his return from Lifford, and on leaving it the following morning, ordered it to be dismantled and the town to be burned, which orders were carried into effect, and the town continued in ruins till it was restored by one of the Stewart family in 1722. After its restoration it soon became a place of considerable trade, from its situation in the centre of the great linen district; and in 1727, Dr. John Hall, rector of Ardstraw, built a handsome church here at his own expense, which has ever since continued to be the parish church. The town, which is the property of C. J. Gardiner, Esq., at present consists of three principal and three smaller streets, and contains 346 houses, which are neat and well built; the principal streets are well paved, and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water from a spring at the southwestern end of the town, conveyed by pipes to the more respectable houses, and into public reservoirs in several parts of the town for the supply of the poorer inhabitants; in the main street are two good hotels. A considerable trade is derived from its situation on a great public thoroughfare, and many of the inhabitants are employed in the numerous limestone and freestone quarries in the neighbourhood, which are extensively worked, the limestone found on the lands of Baronscourt is of remarkably fine quality for building. The market, on Monday, is amply supplied with every kind of agricultural produce, and with unbleached linen. Fairs, which are numerously attended, are held on the last Monday in every month, and are chiefly for cattle, sheep, and pigs. A small constabulary police force is stationed in the town, and petty sessions are held monthly. The church is a large and handsome structure on a gentle eminence, and has a lofty and well-proportioned octagonal spire, which was added to it in 1803, in the time of the Rev. G. Hall, then rector, and afterwards Bishop of Dromore. There are also a R. C. chapel, two places of worship for Presbyterians and two for Wesleyan Methodists, and a dispensary. In the town are the remains of the castle, which, with the exception of the roof, is nearly entire, forming a noble and highly interesting ruin. In the vicinity is Baronscourt, the seat of the Marquess of Abercorn, a stately mansion, situated in a widely extended demesne, combining much romantic and beautiful scenery, embellished with three spacious lakes, and enriched with fine timber. Moyle House, the residence of the Rev. R. H. Nash, D.D.; Newtown-Stewart Castle, of Major Crawford; and Cross House, of A. W. Colhoun, Esq., are also in the neighbourhood. Adjoining one end of the bridge is an ancient fort thrown up to defend the ford of the river; there is a similar one at Ardstraw bridge, and also at Moyle, to guard the ford of the river Glenally. There are also numerous other forts in the neighbourhood, and various cairns, which are more particularly noticed in the article on ARDSTRAW.
NEWTOWN-TRIM. -- See NEWTOWN-CLONBUN.
NICHOLAS (ST.), a parish, in the barony of BALLAGHKEEN, county of WEXFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 5 1/2 miles (N. N. E.) from Wexford; containing 311 inhabitants. This parish is situated near the southeastern coast, and comprises 1169 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. It is an impropriate cure, in the diocese of Ferns, forming part of the union of Ardcolme: the rectory is impropriate in the Earl of Portsmouth. The tithes amount to £66. 9. 9 1/4., of which £39. 1. 9 1/2. is payable to the impropriator, and £27.7. 1 11 3/4. to the incumbent. There are no remains of the old church; that of the union is at Castlebridge. In the R. C. divisions it is included in the union or district of Castlebridge.
NICHOLASTOWN.--See ATHY.
NILTEEN, or NALTEEN, a grange, in the barony of UPPER ANTRIM, county of ANTRIM, and province of ULSTER, 3 1/2 miles (E.) from Antrim, on the Six-mile Water; containing 1109 inhabitants. According to the Ordnance survey, it comprises 2737 3/4 statute acres, all superior arable land. It is one of the four denominations which constitute the union of Donegore, in the diocese of Connor; the vicarial tithes, payable to the incumbent of Donegore, amount to £124. 0. 11 1/2.; the rectorial tithes, payable to Jas. Moore, Esq., of Clover Hill, to £248. 1. 11. Within the grange are three pay schools, in which about 65 boys and 40 girls are taught; there is also a Sunday school.
NINE-MILE-HOUSE, a village, in the parish of GRANGEMOCKLER, barony of SLIEVARDAGH, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 5 miles (S.) from Callan, on the mail road from Dublin, by Clonmel, to Cork: the population is returned with the parish. This small village is situated within half a mile of the confines of the county of Kilkenny, and in the immediate vicinity of the mountain of Slieve-na-man, which rises on the south of it.
NOBBER, a post-town and parish, in the barony of MORGALLION, county of MEATH, and province of LEINSTER, 63 miles (N. E. by N.) from Kells, and 31 (N. N. W.) from Dublin, on the road to Clones; containing 4445 inhabitants, of which number, 371 are in the town. In the reign of Hen. VI. this place ranked among the boroughs of Meath, and was considered to be the key of the county, so that, when it had been burnt by the Irish, it was judged expedient, on its restoration, to construct fortifications for its defence; for which purpose the inhabitants were licensed to summon all the labourers within the town and barony, for three days in every quarter of the year, for three years. The town now consists of 62 houses; it has a sub-post-office to Kells, and a patent for a market, which is not held, and a fair on April 25th, for every description of cattle and for pigs, which is well attended: a constabulary police force is stationed here. The parish comprises, together with that of Loughbraccan, 10,843 statute acres. The land, which is principally under tillage, varies greatly in quality; in the southern part it is very superior, producing excellent crops of wheat, oats and barley, with fine pasturage; there is a considerable quantity of bog in the north, and some marshy bog near the town: the system of agriculture is improving. The lake of Whitewood, which is in the demesne of the same name, the seat of the Rt. Hon. Viscount Gormanston, who has a large estate in the parish, is nearly an English mile in length and is the source of the river Dee, which flows eastward through the parish and discharges itself into the Irish sea near Annagasson, in the county of Louth. At Rockfield are three quarries near one another, one of which yields limestone, another grauwacke, and the third a black slaty stone; there are several other limestone quarries in the parish. The principal seats are Whitewood, already noticed, standing conspicuously on an eminence, and of which the demesne contains about 150 acres, about 80 being planted, chiefly with young oak; Brittas, the handsome villa of Thos. Bligh, Esq., whose demesne, containing about 400 acres, is well planted; Julianstown, the residence of Simon Owens, Esq.; Rockfield, of John Hopkins, Esq.; Possextown, of Joseph F. Hopkins, Esq., where there is an eminence called Cromwell's Hill, on which it is said a battle was fought; and Cellar, the neat residence of Rich. Ennis, Esq. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Meath, appropriate to the see, and comprising, with the parish of Loughbraccan, the perpetual cure of Nobber, in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £480. 12. 4., the whole of which is payable to the bishop: the income of the perpetual curate arises from £55. 7. 8 1/4. paid by the bishop, and the glebe, which comprises 40 acres, valued at £70 per annum. The glebe-house was erected in 1789, by a gift of £150 from the late Board of First Fruits. The church is a plain neat structure, built in 1771 by parish cess. In the R. C. divisions it is the head of a union or district, comprising this parish and that of Cruisetown, in each of which there is a chapel; that of Nobber is a neat and appropriate edifice, of modern erection, faced with hewn stone. There is a school in the town, principally for the children of the tenantry of Lord Gormanston, who allows the master 20 guineas per ann.: the average attendance is 120, of both sexes: the school-house is a neat building, erected at his lordship's expense. There is also a hedge school at Possextown, in which are about 30 boys and 20 girls. Considerable remains of a religious foundation, supposed to have belonged to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, are in the churchyard; as is also a monument of the Cruise family, of the date 1619, erected to the memory of Gerald Cruise, of Brittas, and Margaret Plunkett, his wife. Near the town is a very large circular Danish fort, the summit of which commands an extensive prospect. Nobber is the birth-place of the celebrated Irish harper, Carolan, the last of the native bards, who was born in 1670, and became blind at a very early period of his life from the effects of the small pox.
NOGHEVAL, or NOUGHOVAL, a parish, partly in the barony of ABBEYSHRUEL, county of LONGFORD, but chiefly in that of KILKENNY WEST, county of WESTMEATH, and province of LEINSTER, 6 miles (W. N. W.) from Ballymore, on the road from Athlone to Ballymahon; containing 4154 inhabitants. It is bounded on the west by Lough Ree, and the navigable river Inny flows through its northern portion. A monastery of Dominican friars was founded at Ardnacraney, in the 14th century, by Robert Dillon, of Drumraney. Several battles were fought here between the Irish and the Danes. The parish comprises 11,520 statute acres, of which 11,371 are applotted under the tithe act: agriculture is improving; the land is chiefly under pasture, with some bog, extending along the confines of Longford county to the shores of Lough Ree, the islets of Inchbofin and Inisturk in which belong to this parish. The soil rests on limestone; and quarries of a species of red marble have been opened on the lands of Cartron: there are several corn-mills on the Inny. The gentlemen's seats are Littleton Lodge, the residence of W. Lennox Napier, Esq.; Longfield, of J. Langstaff, Esq.; Ardnacrany, of J. T. Madden, Esq.; Noghaville, of W. Dawson, Esq.; Lessaquille, of Harding Fetherstone, Esq.; Annville, of S. Longworth, Esq.; Clonkeen, of E. Coffy, Esq.: and in that part which is in the county of Longford are Cartron, the residence of J. Wright, Esq.; and Rathmore, of R. C. Barbor, Esq. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Meath, entirely impropriate in the Bishop: the tithes amount to £450, payable to the bishop's lessee. In the R. C. divisions it forms part of the union or district of Drumraney, and contains a chapel at Tung. There are seven private schools, in which about 314 children are educated. Ruins of a church stand on the lands of Noghaville, and of an ancient castle at Lisduffe. Old coins are frequently being dug up here.
NOHOVAL, a parish, in the barony of KINNALEA, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 8 miles (E.) from Kinsale, on the old road to Robert's-Cove; containing 1260 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the southern coast, and comprises 2439 1/4 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £1537 per annum. The land is generally good, though the soil is light; about four-fifths are under tillage, the remainder being rough pasture and furze brakes: the manure chiefly used is sea sand, landed at the bays along the coast, all of which are very much exposed and dangerous. The incumbent, the Rev. W. R. Townsend, has written a practical treatise on agriculture, which he has gratuitously distributed among the working farmers, hoping to improve the system of husbandry, but hitherto he has not witnessed the desired result, as the old system is everywhere followed. At Nohoval Cove are some extensive slate quarries, the property of W. Whitney, Esq., whence great quantities are shipped to Cork, the boats returning with limestone, burnt generally here for the purposes of building. Not far distant, on the same estate, are some veins of manganese, in a state of decomposition, but, from the numerous springs here impregnated with this mineral, it is quite evident that a great body of the ore is deposited in the immediate vicinity. Very clear and beautiful crystals of quartz are scattered among the soil in most parts of the parish. The Cove is a romantic retreat, at the termination of a deep winding glen, in which many thousands of young trees have lately been planted, which, if they thrive, will form a great ornament to this barren spot: the entrance to the Cove is marked by three pyramidal rocks of considerable height. In calm weather, coal, culm, and limestone may be landed here, but in the winter scarcely a vessel ever ventures into so dangerous a place. At Dunbogue is a small well sheltered cove, having a good landing-place. The village consists of 25 small houses. Nohoval House is the property of W. Hungerford, Esq.; the Lodge, the residence of W. Whitney, Esq.; and the glebe-house, of the Rev. W. R Townsend. It is a rectory and perpetual cure, in the diocese of Cork, the rectory forming part of the union of St. Peter's and of the corps of the archdeaconry of St. Finbarr, Cork; the perpetual cure is united with Kilmonogue, and in the gift of the Archdeacon. The tithes amount to £215, of which £140 is payable to the archdeacon, and £75 to the curate, who has also the glebe-house and land. The glebe-house is a neat and commodious edifice, erected by aid of a gift of £450, and a loan of £50, in 1817) from the late Board of First Fruits: the glebe comprises 2 1/2 a. 0r. 4p. The church is a small, but very neat, edifice, without tower, spire, or bell; it is furnished with a small, fine-toned organ. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union of Tracton: the chapel is a small building in the village. The parochial school is endowed with two acres of land by the rector: there are also a private school and a Sunday school, the latter under the superintendence of the Protestant clergyman. The most prominent headland in the parish is Barry's Point, where formerly a very strong castle stood, which was taken down during the late war to build a signal tower, now also in ruins.
NOHOVAL-DALY, a parish, partly in the barony of MAGONIHY, county of KERRY, but chiefly in that of DUHALLOW, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 6 miles (N. W.) from Millstreet, on the river Blackwater; containing 3229 inhabitants. It comprises 16,225 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £6720 per annum. The portion belonging to the county of Kerry forms part of a district called, in the civil divisions, the "East Fractions." The arable land is of medium quality, and there is a considerable quantity of marshy bog. The parish comprises the greater part of the Crown estate of Pobble O'Keefe, on which the village of "King-William's-Town" has been recently erected by Government, and considerable progress has been made in draining, planting, and other improvements, noticed in the article on that place. The new Government road from Killarney to Mallow commences at Shanogh Cross, on the Kerry side of the parish, and at the distance of about a quarter of a mile crosses the Blackwater over a handsome stone bridge, called Duncannon Bridge; it traverses the southern part of the parish, running nearly parallel with the river, and at Clonbanin, in the adjoining parish of Cullen, forms a junction with the other new line of road from Mallow to Castle-Island, which passes through the northern part of the parish. The old road from Shanogh Cross to Mount Infant is now being extended to the last-mentioned road at King-William's-Town, thus forming a direct communication between those two new and important lines of road. At Knocknagree is a large flour-mill, and four fairs are annually held there, of which the principal is that on the 28th of April. During the disturbances of 1822, a detachment of the military was stationed at this village. The parish is in the diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe: the rectory is partly appropriate to the deanery of Ardfert, and partly impropriate in the Earl of Donoughmore; and the vicarage forms part of the union of Drishane. The tithes amount to £280, of which one-half is payable to the incumbent, £9. 2. 3. to the dean, and the remainder to the impropriator. In the R. C. divisions it is partly in the union or district of Boherbee, but chiefly in that of Knocknacoppel, or East Kilcummin: there is a small chapel at Knocknagree. About 120 children are educated during the summer in two private schools, and the late Mr. Cronin, of the Park, near Killarney, has recently bequeathed £30 per annum for the establishment and support of a school in each of the parishes of Kilcummin and Nohoval-Daly. There are some vestiges of the old church in the burial-ground.
NOHOVAL-KERRY, a parish, in the barony of TRUGHENACKMY, county of KERRY, and province of MUNSTER, 6 miles (S. E.) from Tralee, on the river Maine, and on the old road from Tralee to Castle-Island; containing 853 inhabitants. It comprises 27S6 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, of which about 600 acres consist of bog and coarse mountain pasture; the greater portion of the land is in pasture, and there are several dairy farms: the state of agriculture is gradually improving, from the abundance of limestone obtained in the adjoining parish of Ballymacelligott, and burnt for manure. Nohoval House is the residence of the Rev. J. R. Fitzgerald, the incumbent. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, forming part of the union of Ballymacelligott: the tithes amount to £68. 9. 10. In the R. C. divisions also it is included in the union or district of Ballymacelligott. About 40 children are educated in a private school. There are ruins of the old church still remaining in the burial-ground.
NOUGHAVAL, a parish, in the barony of BURREN, county of CLARE, and province of MUNSTER, 2 miles (N. N. E.) from Kilfenora, on the road from Ennis to Burren; containing 408 inhabitants, of which number, 64 are in the hamlet. It comprises 4521 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, only a small portion of which is under tillage, the greater part consisting of rocky limestone pasture, yielding a rich though scanty herbage: there are about SO acres of pasturable mountain. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Kilfenora, united at a period unknown to the vicarage of Carrune, or Carne, together constituting the union of Noughaval and the corps of the precentorship of Kilfenora, in the patronage of the Bishop. The tithes amount to £35, and of the entire benefice to £70, the whole payable to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, by whom the benefice is at present held in sequestration: the glebe comprises 26a. 0r. 22p. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Carrune, or Carne: the chapel is at the village of Noughaval. About 35 children are educated in a private school. The ruins of the church stand on the glebe: and at Banroe, Ballymurphy, and Ballygannor are the ruins of the castles respectively so called. Within the limits of the parish are three ancient forts, attributed to the Danes; and at Ballygannor is a cromlech of extraordinary dimensions, the table stone being nearly 40 feet long and 10 broad, and supported by upright flag stones, rising about six feet above the ground.
NURNEY, a parish, partly in the barony of CARLOW, and partly in that of FORTH, but chiefly in the barony of IDRONE EAST, county of CARLOW, and province of LEINSTER, 2 miles (N. E.) from Leighlin-bridge, on the road to Tullow; containing 975 inhabitants, of which number, 284 are in the village. This parish comprises 2758 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £2215 per annum. There is no bog: agriculture is in a good state. Here are granite quarries for building, and limestone for burning; and the Barrow navigation affords the means of conveying goods to Waterford. The village, consisting of about 50 houses, stands at the junction of several roads; it is a constabulary police station, and has a patent for a fair on May 6th, which is not held. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Leighlin, forming the corps of the precentorship thereof, in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £230. 15. 4 1/2. The church is a small neat building of hewn stone, erected in 1788, by aid of a gift of £500 from the late Board of First Fruits,; and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £217 for its repair: the steeple was thrown down by lightning some years since. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Dunleckney. The parochial school, in which about 30 boys and 40 girls are taught, is under the patronage of Col. Bruen, M. P., who erected the school-house, at an expense of £400. From the churchyard a noble view of the western part of the county is procured, with the windings of the river Barrow: in it is part of a rude stone cross, and without its boundary stands a perfect cross, six feet high.
NURNEY, a parish, in the barony of CARBERY, county of KILDARE, and province of LEINSTER, 3 miles (W.) from Enfield, on the road to Edenderry; containing 685 inhabitants, and comprising 1748 statute acres, The principal residence is Williamstown House, that of J. Williams, Esq. It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Kildare, forming part of the union of Carbery: the rectory is impropriate in the Marquess of Downshire. The tithes amount to £66. 16. 0 3/4., of which £44. 10. 8 1/2., is payable to the impropriator, and the remainder to the vicar. In the R. C. divisions it is part of the union of Cadamstown: the chapel is a good plain building. At Cloghrike is a national school, in which about 100 children are educated.
NURNEY, a parish, in the barony of WEST OPHALY, county of KILDARE, and province of LEINSTER, 3 miles (S. by W.) from Kildare, on the road to Athy; containing 622 inhabitants. This parish comprises 1600 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £1032 per annum: there is a great deal of bog, but no waste, and agriculture is improving. It is a constabulary police station. Anciently a large castle stood here, which has been modernised, and now forms the residence of J. W. Fitzgerald, Esq.; this property was forfeited, in 1641, by the Sarsfield family; it is called Nurney House, and has been greatly ornamented and improved by the Bagot family, who lived there till lately. Kildoon is the residence of Edw. Bagot, Esq: The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Kildare, united, in 1809, to the rectories of Kildangan and Walterstown, which three parishes form the corps of the prebend of Nurney, in the patronage of the Bishop. The tithes amount to £87. 13. 10 1/2., and the gross tithes of the union are £198. 18. 1. A church is in progress of erection. In the R. C. divisions this parish is part of the union or district of Monastereven and Kildangan: the chapel adjoins the ruins of the ancient church and burial-ground. About 60 boys and 50 girls are taught in a national school at Cloughrincoe.