The problem for the student of nineteenth century Irish local history is not that of finding material but rather that of making a good selection from the vast amount of material available. Some of the most important sources for the local historian are the Reports of the Royal Commissions that enquired into the state of Ireland. This article looks at one such source, The Reports of the Commissioners for Inquiring into the Condition of the Poorer classes in Ireland, 1835 - 36.

Recession and falling prices after the Napoleonic wars, together with an expanding population and increasing unemployment led to increasing poverty in Ireland. It was the labouring classes and small landholders who suffered most.

Increasing concern was voiced, both in England and Ireland, about the state of the County but there was no agreement on the kind of remedial measures which ought to be applied. In general it could be said the British favoured the adoption by Ireland of a Poor Law system (the system of workhouse relief) with the Irish landowners and others, including Dan O'Connell, opposing this with the argument that it would result in heavy taxes on the landowners and would do nothing to alleviate the problem. What was needed they argued were more jobs and better wages.

In 1833 the house of Commons ordered that a Royal Commission be appointed to investigate the problem of poverty in Ireland.

First report
The Commission, with Archbishop Whately as Chairman, undertook "the most thorough survey of the conditions of the Irish poor yet attempted". Its first report became available in 1835 and the final report in 1836. The Commissioners reported in favour of public works and "assisted emigration". They argued against the introduction of indoor or outdoor relief on the grounds that it would be impracticable except for the poor and infirm. The Commissioners were in fact proposing a scheme for economic development and not simply poor relief, but this went far beyond what the Government had envisaged or public opinion, especially in England, would tolerate and so, the report was shelved. Instead the government introduced the workhouse system to Ireland in 1838.

The Commission in gathering evidence on social conditions sent out questionnaires to respectable gentlemen in almost every part of Ireland. The returns from these gentlemen were published as appendices to the reports of the Commission. Most of the respondents, if you can judge from the Offaly returns were clergymen.

Social Conditions
The questionnaires dealt with social conditions in the parish: employment, wages, diet, housing, conditions of landholding, emigration and so forth. Naturally the thoroughness with which the respondents completed the questionnaires varied. As to reliability one would need to compare the returns with other sources before conclusions could be drawn.

In this article I want to look at the replies to the Poor Inquiry relative to "earnings of Labourers, cottier tenants, employment of women and children" etc. Twelve questions were put to respondents ranging from the number of labourers in the parish to the employment of women and children.

Employment of Labourers
For Ballyboy the respondents, Andrew Stoney and Rev. Charles Burtin suggested from 180 to 400 labourers in employment with some living in the houses of small farmers and others employed on a casual basis when suitable weather prevailed. In Durrow the Rev. Peter Toler reckoned on 800 while Dr. William Wallace felt that in Tullamore parish some 1100 labourers had employment in Summer and 300 in Winter. In Lynally parish Mr. Alexander Andrews reported

"I cannot inform you the number. The generality of farmers employ their own children to cultivate their land; several labourers are employed in summer, in brick-yards, in the next parish: the Earl of Charleville employs constantly above 50 labourers, and the resident gentry about the same number; during the harvest, I conceive, there is employment for every man: I beg to observe that this parish abounds in lime-stone, and there are several lime-kilns, which give employment to many people: there is great facility in procuring turf: many in Tullamore, weaving linen and frieze, gave employment to many families, but it has much declined within the last few years; there are, at present, about six looms at word."

The question was posed to how labourers were maintained when out of employment and the answer in many cases was by begging. Evidence of this was already seen on the articles on Daingean in this series where Jonathan Bins reported on Daingean in he mid-1830s. Others in Offaly relied on their small holdings and potatoes grown on mostly rented ground. Joseph White of Edenderry parish said of the labourers: "Their mode of maintenance puzzles every one expending a thought on he subject" while George Atkinson of Shinrone was of the view that "The labourers of this country, having in almost every instance a spot of ground attached to their house, are not so destitute when unemployed for hire as is generally supposed; it is thought that a little time spent now and then in their own gardens would turn to more advantage than the wages earned in the same period; but it is found that the times when they are occasionally thrown out of work, instead of being taken advantage of for this purpose, are spent partly in total idleness, and partly in the unlicensed whisky house, a nuisance to a great extent in every part of this country."

Diet was generally potatoes and milk with very little meat (Ballyboy) with occasionally oatmeal (Edenderry). In Lemonaghan Andrew Macken wrote: The ordinary diet of the labourer consists of potatoes and salt during winter and spring; in summer they may produce some buttermilk: they ate meat of a coarse kind at one or two of the yearly festivals: their clothing is made up of rags, and many cannot attend divine service unless accommodated with clothes by their neighbours." Messrs. Mooney and Mullock of the same parish that labourers could be more comfortable were it not for their love of whisky, politics and cordplaying

Employment Precarious
Solow in his assessment of the barony of Ballybritt in Offaly in 1821 (based on the 1821 surviving manuscript returns) reckoned that 74 farmers held as much land as the remaining 1,008. The labourers depended in part on being hired out, on seasonal migration to Britain and in fishing and textile production. Conacre was well established at the time and was based on tillage with the labourer "a commercial speculator in potatoes" mortgaging his labour against manure and seed and paying the debt to the farmer by working for a certain number of days at an agreed rate. In the days when dole and welfare were not available (except through the workhouse) and employment was precarious conditions were ripe - if not anticipated - for the disaster following the failure of the potato crop.

Employment of Women and Children
In Ballyboy women and children were employed only in harvest time, hay time and potato picking. The children were paid from 2d to 3d per day and women 5d per day. (Men were paid from 10d in Summer to 8d in Winter.) The picture was the same in Killoughy and in Birr children of from 10 to 12 years were paid 3d and at 16 years 6d. Tullamore and Lynally were much the same. In Clonsast the Revd. George Newcome said that it was to be lamented that women and children of the parish were not more industrious "as might render their circumstances more comfortable".

£10 per Year
The family budget for the labourer was tight. He was paid mainly in money and could earn up to £10 per year with additional revenue from the working wife and children. But the system encouraged exploitation for greed on the side of the rich and of necessity on the side of the poor. For Ballyburly, Francis L. Dames wrote of the dense population that it was in a state of pauperism for the want of employment, the minute division of the ground they hold and the extravagant rent they pay for it.

"The Irish peasant will promise any rent, however exorbitant, to get possession of a house and garden and will live in the most abject poverty to try and pay for it; they are thus greatly preyed on by the small farmers on these estates where a most careful attention is not exercised to prevent division of land".

Housing Conditions
Many labourers lived and built cabins on marginal lands next to the bogs. This happened in Tullamore at Puttaughan, north of he canal and it happened in the Geashill estate of Lord Digby and led to evictions there in the 1850s. The rent of a cabin in Ballyboy with an acre of ground was about £2 per year or 40% of the income of a labourer in employment for half of the year. The further the cabin from the town the cheaper. In the towns, such as Kilcormac, a cabin with a small garden was £3 per year. For example, in Tullamore the houses in Tea Lane (near Quinnsworth) were let at 6d per week with "the lease determinable every Friday".

The cabins in the country were generally mud-walled. In Ballyboy Rev. Charles Burton noted the "Cabins are most commonly constructed with mud, that is, the upper part of them; the foundation of them, to perhaps the height of three feet, is most commonly built with stone, though not always; as to their furniture, very indifferent and bad; latterly, during the prevalence of epidemic disease, lime was pretty generally furnished to them by charitable associations, which has a good effect in making their cabins look clean, and continuing health to their inmates: they have commonly a dresser, a table, and a few stools; sometimes a couple of chairs. Their beds and bedding, I think, in many instances, uncomfortable in the extreme; not often bedsteads; and straw to lie on, with no very adequate supply of blankets."

In Tullamore the picture was the same. Most of the cabins had straw bedding and many without bedsteads". The better class of labourer in Edenderry could boast a bed of chaff and rushes. While in Leamonaghan the rags worn during the day were used as bed clothes at night.

Who were the Landlords
The landlords of cabins (as with flats today) are often provident but relatively poor people. In the lanes of Tullamore in the 1900s the landlords were often publicans, auctioneers and grocers. Andrew Stoney, himself a landlord, wrote of Ballyboy c. 1834 "In the towns the immediate landlords of small houses or cabins are, comparatively speaking, provident but poor people, who take plots from the proprietor, and build cabins to enhance the value, and, by setting one or more, live free of rent themselves, and sometimes have profit. In the county the immediate landlords and small farmers, who set patches of land from one to three acres for the purpose of lightening their rent, and having labourers near them."

Likewise in Leamonaghan the landlords of cottages were of every description from humble and industrious farmers to landlords in fee. Seldom did the principal landlord involve himself at this level. He usually let to middlemen or building speculators who in turn let to undertenants. These undertenant sub-let or took in lodgers. Duty labour was not common and the rent of cabins was generally paid in cash.

Population Jump
The population of Ireland probably reached 8.5 m. by 1845. It had risen by four fifths in the previous fifty years and over 100 years had quadrupled. The population increase in Ireland before 1845 was virtually unique in the whole of Europe. Why did population increase? There are no easy answers. Some historians emphasis the role of food supply both in preventing and reducing crises in subsistence and the avoidance of any disastrous famine (up to 1845) and in facilitating earlier marriages and high martial fertility. The work currently being done by centres at Tullamore and elsewhere on the indexing of the parish registers (events of baptism and marriage) may in due course help to flesh out the answers.

Unlike the European pattern population growth in Ireland was not accompanied by massive urbanisation. Based on the 1821 and 1841 census only about one-eight of the population lived in towns or cities of 1,500 or more - Ireland remained one of the least urbanised countries in Western Europe. Contrary perhaps to popular belief the emigration exodus had started well before the Famine. Cormac O Grada states (A new history of Ireland,v, p.120) that between 1815 and 1845 alone Ireland may have provided over one tenth of all those who had voluntarily crossed the Atlantic since Columbus. Well over half a million left Ireland between 1801 and 1845. The U.S. and Canada took about 0.9 million and Britain the remainder. After Waterloo and the ending of the French wars in 1815 the rate of emigration rose. By the 1840s emigration was removing one-half or more of the natural increase in population (i.e. the excess of births over deaths and before emigration).

In the Poor Law Inquiry respondents were asked to consider if the general condition of the poorer classes in your parish improved, deteriorated or remained stationary since the Peace of the year 1815. Is the population of the parish increasing or diminishing? The Offaly replies were as follows:

Ballyboy - Revd. Charles Burton
"The general condition of the poorer classes not improved; some years before the period mentioned in this query they had a manufacture in this town in wool, making stuffs, &c., combing the wool, and going through the whole process of its manufacture; but now nothing of the kind; industry a blank, and not much agricultural employment. I think the population of the parish the most thriving manufacture, and the consequence is poverty in equal ratio. The town of Frankford [Kilcormac] is in some measure improving, in consequence of a distillery being established there, which stirs up the resources of the country, and causes a vast deal of corn, turf, &c., to be brought in, and in other respects serves the labourer and the poor person."

Birr - Revd. Marcus McCausland
"As far as I can collect, the condition of the poorer classes is stationary since 1815: the population has certainly increased since that time."

Lynally - Alexander Andrews
"I have resided in this parish since the year 1824, and I consider the general condition of the poorer classes has improved, which I ascribe to a greater attention paid to them by the gentry: but I am of the opinion that the class above the poor is much deteriorated. The population is increasing to an alarming degree."

Lemonaghan - Andrew Mackeon
"The condition of the poor has become wretched in the extreme these years back: the linen trade flourished in the parish, and the poor were then employed and comfortable; the decay of the trade has entailed consequent misery on its followers. The population is increasing."

Banagher_parish - Rev. P. O'Farrell
"The state of the labouring poor, as well as of the farming classes, has lamentably fallen into wretchedness; the farmers, burdened with high rents and bad prices, &c., are unable to employ or pay the labourer, who is consequently dragging a weary existence, deprived of not merely the comforts, but sometimes suffering under the want of nourishing sustenance.

Ferbane_parish - Rev. John Kenny
"Their condition is deteriorated considerably, the linen trade, by which many were employed in these parishes, having failed; agriculture is their sole employment; this caused a competition for land, and raised it beyond value, and thus the farmers were unable to employ labourers, or reward sufficiently those employed. The population is increasing rapidly.

Most respondents took the view that conditions were deteriorating with population on the increase and employment opportunities especially in the linen trade (in West Offaly) greatly reduced.

Disturbance and Crime
The 1798 rebellion did not impinge tp any significant extent on Offaly. Outbreaks of violence or rebellion occurred at Kilbeggan, Clonbullogue and Ballycumber but for the most part the county remained quiet. The Bishop of Meath, Dr. Plunkett, had preached against Defenderism and other agrarian secret societies in the mid-1790s, but such secret societies continued to exist and find support from time to time. In reply to a query on disturbances some of the Offaly replies are of interest.

Kilcormac - peaceable.

Killoughy - peaceable.

Seirkieran - Party business prevailed, but was stopped.

Tullamore - It has become very much disturbed of late, have partaken of the general effects of agitation.

Lynally - The generality of Roman Catholics of the parish have refused to pay tithes and church cess the last three years, also threatening notices have been frequently posted; in other respects the parish has been peaceable.

Shinrone - Very peaceable.

and another correspondent wrote:

- Peaceable, as between rich and poor, but party fueds, and outrages arising therefrom, among the lowest class; an increasing spirit of dislike to seek legal redress, preferring to take their own revenge.

Clonsast - These parishes were always remarkable peaceable, until the last two years or so, when the agitation of the Reform question, and the many violent speeches and publications uttered at that time, give rise to certain wild notions as to the right of interfering with vested rights, meddling with the setting of land, wages of labourers, and even domestic arrangements: crimes of the darker dye were not only unknown to the oldest inhabitant, but there was even no record of their having been perpetrated in this neighbourhood until last year, when one savage murder, besides some unsuccessful attempts at assassination, took place.

Lemonaghan - The minds of farmers and lower orders of the people of Lemonaghan parish have been frequently disturbed, yet they had the good sense not to be led into material crime from the year 1798 to the 7th of Febuary 1834: it is now our painful duty, and matter of regret, that we must make it known, that on the night of 7th Febuary 1834, the house of George Holmes, of Moorock, Esq., in our itherto peaceable parish, was broken open, when the family were at rest, about 4 o'clock in the morning, and plundered of money, jewels and firearms: this worthy, peaceable, charitable, and useful man to the poor people had been indisposed for some time; we sincerely hope and trust that such horrible act was not committed by any parishioner; and also the church was broken open, and robbed of £7, previous to the robbing of Mr. Holmes.

Tissaran - Up to the year 1831 this parish was very peaceable; since that period it has been, and is, much disturbed.

Compiled by Michael Byrne

In The Kellys and the Kellys (1848), departing from a powerful account of Daniel O'Connell's state trial in Dublin, 1844, he sets an upper-class love-story in Dunmore, Co. Galway, among the landed families of ascendancy Ireland, depicting with remarkable precision the social gradations of contemporary Irish society. Neither of these novels was successful, and he did not take up an Irish subject again until his permanent return to England. Castle Richmond (1860), the next, concerns a rivalry between a widow and her daughter over Owen Fitzgerald, an Irish aristocrat who (innocently enough) goes off finally the son and brother. Set in Cork during the Famine, it illustrates that catastrophe with searing details, while assigning the cause to the ignorance and rapacity of the Irish middle class. Phineas Finn (1869) and Phineas Redux (1874), though the title-character is Irish and supposedly modelled on John Sadleir, focus on political life at Westminster.

An Eye for an Eye (1879), set at the Cliffs of Moher, is another tale of seduction, in which the mother of the injured girl revenges herself upon the young officer who, on becoming an earl, has jilted her. The Landleaguers (1883) was the last of nearly fifty novels. Written on a visit to Ireland when he was already very ill, and published uncompleted, it deals with the persecution of an English family who buy an estate in Co. Galway. As an independent and non-sectarian observer, Trollope showed considerable insight into the thoughts and feelings of the Catholic majority, particularly with regard to the influence for good of priests such as Fr. McGrath in The Macdermots and Fr. Marty in An Eye for an Eye.

Later, his conservatism reasserted itself under pressure of events surrounding the Land War of the 1870s and 1880s, and his final novel demonizes the Land League and immoderately disparages the clergy. Probably influenced by the Young Ireland Rising of 1848, he wrote a series of articles in The Times during 1849-50 supporting strict measures in Ireland and vindicating the policy of Lord John Russell. See among others John N. Hall (ed), Trollope (1992); and the full-length study by Victoria Glendenning, Trollope (1992). Welch (ed), Oxford Companion.

The Towns

This tightly regulated system of local government was in sharp contrast to the loose system of government that prevailed in the countries and towns. Birr elected its first body of town commissioners in 1852, albeit on a narrow franchise. Tullamore followed in 1860 while Roscrea failed to agree on the need for such a local authority, and has been discussing its merits for almost 100 years. Neither Birr nor Tullamore would have adopted local government institutions so quickly (and with it increased rates) were it not that the permission of a local authority was necessary for the laying of gas pipes for town lighting.

Birr provided itself with gas pipes in 1852 and Tullamore in 1860, as soon as the new commissioners were elected and granted the necessary permission in accordance with statutory requirements. Some years prior to the establishment of town commissioners at Birr and Tullamore both towns had been loosely administered by landlord-dominated manor courts. The boroughs of Philipstown (Daingean) and Banagher had vague oligarchic style government until the abolition of these boroughs with the passing of the

Act of Union in 1800.

Such was the extent of local government in the towns. Vague, uncertain and definitely oligarchic prior to the 1840's, thereafter it was reformed to fit the Victorian conception of a property owning democracy prepared to interfere on an increasing scale in what was hitherto the private domain, in the interest of public hygiene.

The Grand Jury

The system of government at County level was based on the archaic Grand Jury until the passing of the Local Government (Ireland) Act in 1898. The history of the King's County Grand Jury is difficult to document before the 1820's, but probably some kind of grand jury existed right back to the setting up of King's County as an administrative unit in the latter half of the sixteenth century. The Grand Jury was comprised of the County's leading landowners. Every year some two dozen gentlemen were selected by the high sheriff who was in turn appointed by the lord lieutenant.

The grand jury met twice a year at the assizes (now the High Court on circuit) for the purpose of passing presentments (voting money) for local government functions. The Grand Jury records in the form of presentment or 'Jobs' books survive in the County Library for the 1830s to the 1860s and in private collections. Offaly 100 Years Ago first published in 1890 has extracts from earlier minute books. It had responsibility for roads, the court-house and jail. The road-works described provide much local and family detail and deserve study.

The County Councils

The time for obituary writing for the Grand Jury came in 1898, when the new local government act established county councils and swept away the last 'stranglehold of landlordism'. Following the 1898 Act counties such as Offaly and Tipperary had no less than four organs of local government. The county councils were responsible for administrative and financial affairs, rural and urban district councils for housing and public health, and boards of guardians for poor relief and medical charities. The act was an important modernising measure that laid the basis for a structure of local government that has survived more or less intact down to the present day. More importantly, it provided administrative experience for nationalists and helped prepare them for the responsibilities of self government. The 1898 act has rightly been described as the 'legislative father of the Irish Free State'. It gave the vote to all male householders or occupiers. The democratic net had been considerably widened, but women were still excluded from the supposed benefits of the franchise. By 1935 all restrictions on adult voting had been removed.

First Meeting

The Offaly County Council first met in April 1899 under the chairmanship of Henry Egan, a prominent Tullamore business man and moderate nationalist. The vice-chairman was John Powell of the Midland Tribune. The council was predominantly nationalist in tone, but the unionist and Protestant minority were well represented. In 1900 the council elected its first secretary, Charles P. Kingston, a Birr man, and formerly editor of the short-lived Sligo Star. Kingston was appointed after a tight vote and with a salary of £250 per year. He later showed his skill as a property developer, building 4 houses at Clonminch and in 1911 published The book of the administration of King's County - a handbook for members of the council. Kingston worked well under the moneyed parliamentary nationalist council which survived until the Sinn Fein victory after 1917. When the first 'republican' County Council was elected in June 1920 Kingston was, apparently, unable to work with the new radical members and resigned a year later.

Eamon Bulfin

The original members of the county council, though nationalists, were basically conservative. Many did not move with public opinion and the swing to Sinn Fein, and as a result lost their seats to poorer, but more republican elements. When the first republican council met in mid-1920 it elected Eamon Bulfin of Derrinlough as Chairman. Bulfin was elected in his absence as he had been deported to Argentina. The Tricolour draped the Chairman's seat and the members answered the roll call in Irish. Resolutions were passed acknowledging Dail Eireann and changing the name of King's County to Offaly and Philipstown to Daingean. The council went on to repudiate the authority of the Local Government Board, thus helping to undermine British Rule in Ireland. To protect the Council's funds the Hibernian Bank (now Bank of Ireland) was dismissed as the council's bankers and trustees appointed. This highly irregular move combined with the departure of the secretary in 1921 created difficulties for the council in the management of county affairs and led to the dissolution of the council in 1924 (under a Free State Government) and its replacement by a commissioner.

The Management Act 1940

In the conflict between democracy and efficiency the new Free State Government found itself obliged to opt for efficiency. It has been said that the workings of Irish Local government after the 1898 act was almost as corrupt as the old system. Not until 1926 was a Local Appointments Commission established and prior to that appointments were very much a question of wire pulling. The failure of the Free State government to clean up the mess and the obvious dissatisfaction of the rate payers with cost and inefficiencies led to the passing of the County Management Act in 1940. This replaced rule by committee in favour of the conduct of services under an appointed official.

The first taste of this style of local government in County Offaly came with the appointment of Commissioner David O'Keefe in September 1924 and the dissolution of the Offaly County Council. O'Keefe was appointed to sort out administrative problems that had their origins in the troubled years of 1919-1923.

An abnormal state of affairs had existed since June 1920 when the Council voted to recognise Dail Eireann and repudiate the authority of the Local Government Board. The dismissal of the Hibernian Bank as council treasurer and the appointment of trustees completely upset the collection of the rates.

In November 1920 official books and accounts were seized both by the IRA and the RIC and retained for over fourteen months. The situation was further exacerbated in January 1921 when the British Army decided to occupy the Courthouse and evicted the officials.

Courthouse Burned

The officials returned in March 1922 following the Treaty, but the courthouse was burned in July 1922 during the Civil War. Many of the Council's documents were in fact saved, to and now, seventy years later, many have been catalogued by Offaly County Library and are housed in the Local History Section. After the burning of the courthouse the council offices were housed in Cormac Street and later at Kenny's in High Street. In 1925 the offices were again moved this time to the old Workhouse at Arden Road and back to the new Courthouse in 1927.

Such movement was possible in the early 1920's as the staff consisted of only the secretary/accountant, County surveyor, clerks and a typist. The accountant, Mr. Sean Mahon, had taken over the secretary's functions in addition to his own on the departure of C.P. Kingston in 1921. This was certainly a mistake as it was too heavy a work load for one man. Mahon resigned on the grounds of ill health in 1925. However, the principal difficulty of the council was the failure to collect the rates. In 1923 rates had not been collected for a time to restore solvency to the county finances and see that public funds were used more efficiently.

Offaly Roads Improvement Association

Considerable pressure for the removal of the council and the appointment of a commissioner had come from a group of Offaly business and professional people - the Offaly Roads Improvement Association. In 1925 its Chairman, J. A. Lumley of Tullamore, claimed that the association had done something towards bringing about an inquiry which led to the dissolution of the council "a body that ignored every representation made to it". The association criticised the Council's direct labour scheme stating that it was costing Offaly £10,000 to £15,000 more than the contract system. At about the same time the association changed its name to the Offaly Civic Reform Association, presumably with the intention of broadening its base. In February 1926 it congratulated the Commissioner on reducing the rates and turning debit balances into credit balances, but the association was still critical of the was on which the money on the roads was spent.

A County Manager

Offaly's experiment with a commissioner lasted almost four years until a new county council was elected in mid-1928. He had been popular in Offaly with the farming and business community. On his departure the press praised his ability as an administrator, remarking that a high standard was expected of the new council. His success was a harbinger of things to come. When a County Manager was appointed in the early 1940's his appointment was naturally unpopular with the elected members, but when his role came up for review with the amendment of the County Management Act in 1954 his position was secure. At the time North Tipperary County Council did not consider that the act needed much amendment. It was an honest endeavour to strike a balance between two conflicting tendencies, democracy on the one side and efficiency on the other.

The power and duties of the County Council have been considerably expanded since the passing of the 1898 Act. Acting in accordance with Dail Eireann policy Offaly was one of the first counties in Ireland to abolish the poor law system. The three boards of guardians in the county were dissolved in 1921 and their functions taken over by a committee of the County Council. The Council continued to have health functions until the establishment of regional health boards in 1970. One of the four tiers of local government, the rural district council, was abolished in 1925 and its functions transferred to the County Council. It is interesting to see that the current discussions on local government reform will again embrace the rural areas and may lead to the abolition of Urban Councils as we know them.

Rising Expenditure

The cost of local government and the sourcing of funds has altered dramatically since the 1900's. In the early 1920's the County Council was spending just over £100,000 on all its services, including health. Two-thirds of this amount was raised in the county and the balance came in government grants. Expenditure was about £150,000 by 1930 and £280,000 after Second World War. The rate struck in 1946 was 17s. in the £. In 1977 expenditure was almost £4m. and by 1981 had doubled to almost £8m. The county rate in 1981 was £12 in the £, but this now provided less than 25 per cent of the council's funds. The balance being obtained through receipts and government grants.

West Offaly was prominent in the linen and brick manufacturing industries in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Communities at the time were poor and continued so until early this century. In this article I want to look at the Coote survey of the 1800s, the Lewis survey of the mid-1830s and later the Parliamentary Gazetteer of the mid-1840s. The latter is particularly good because it incorporates the census returns of 1841 and parochial returns of the mid-1830s.

West Offaly is largely comprised in what was known as the barony of Garrycastle, more correctly North West Offaly an area of some 103,000 acres or a little over a fifth of the total area of the county of Offaly. The Shannon river provides the boundary on the western side while the Brosna and Grand Canal provide waterways through the barony. The Little Brosna flowing from Riverstown outside Birr provides the boundary on the Lusmagh side. Much of the land is bog. The barony takes its name from the once magnificent tower house on the Birr-Banagher road, a mile outside Banagher. The parishes are Clonmacnoise, Gallen, Leamanaghan, Lusmagh, Rynagh, Wheery and Tessauran and the towns Banagher, Ferbane, Shannonbridge, Cloghan, Shannon-Harbour and Clonony. The baronial divisions were decided upon in the mid-sixteeenth century and largely reflected the tribal divisions - The MacCoghalans were the ruling gaelic family and continued to influence local development into the eighteenth century.

Scene in 1800

Turning to Sir Charles Coote's survey of Offaly in 1801 (a report the Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society would like to reprint, finances permitting, as the original is exceedingly scarce) he recorded as follows:
"The barony is by far the most extensive in the county, but yet in value the most inconsiderable: a great proportion is but a barren rock, with scarcely a stratum of earth. Their wretched mode of tillage is with a two horse plough, and this district more generally in possession of small farmers; indeed, agriculture is not the favourite pursuit. The country abounds with linen manufacturers, in which they are almost individually somehow concerned, though few amongst them extensively so. The number of horses are but few, and the demand for them is considerable; the hire of a two horse plough is 8s 1½d. per day, or 3s. 3d. for a man and horse. In parts where the soil is deeper, on the eastern boundary, they cultivate much wheat, for which they always fallow, and have a good produce. They generally sow the lay with potatoes, but have no drills yet; next succeeds bere, then fallow for wheat, and afterwards they sow oats; much flax is cultivated, and oats is always the last crop. They never yoke with oxen, and have none but the most common implements of husbandry. Clara, Moate, and Banagher are their market towns, for all their commodities. They cultivate no green food in winter; their wheat acre averages five barrels; oats, ten; bere and barley, twelve; potato ground rates at five to seven guineas per acre; meadowland three to six pounds; and their acre of potatoes yields thirty barrels, at forty stone to the barrel [almost certainly he is referring to Irish acres, ratio 1.6 to 1 approx]. Independent of the great tract of bog in this county, a very considerable part may be termed waste ground, which could only be reclaimed by covering rock with soil."

Coote's description confirms the importance of the linen manufacture and the weakness of the farming infrastructure. As to crop rotation Coote recommended it should be first and second crop potatoes well manured with third flax and fourth oats. Commenting on pasture he noted that it "Is but light, and in general shews much limestone gravel, which, if burnt with turf, makes an excellent manure, the Rev. Dr. Mullock, of Bellair near Ballycumber, has used this compost several years with great success. The breed of sheep, or black cattle, is scarcely attended to, and there is but a small proportion of flock, this country being still engaged more under pasture than tillage; it affords no shelter for cattle, and is quite unqualified for them. Natural grass is light and spiry, small quantities of white clover are interspersed, which is certainly a native to the soil, as no artificial grasses have yet been introduced; meadows are very light and easily saved, without any luxuriant herbage; tramp cocks lie on the ground till the harvest is got up. They have no trade in hides and tallow, and any little wool they have to spare is sent to Banagher and Ballinasloe.

Flax Soils and the Linen Manufacture

It should not be despaired to see the wilds of this extensive barony, yet reclaimed, and divided into small farms; every thing here favours the linen manufacture; indeed, to reap a profit from husbandry, is almost out of the question; the inhabitants are sensible that their country is better adapted for manufacture, and are wisely pursuing it, however, it is but yet in its infancy, and ought to meet every encouragement.

Though the land here is light, in the high grounds, yet they have a soil towards the moors, of a deep and cold clay, very favourable to the rearing of flax; there is a kind of peculiar moisture, without any thing of inundation, which every crop so weighty as flax, and sown so late in the spring, would require. Their clays, though they are favourable to the growth of flax, yet require to be brought into a tilth, before they become very productive, for which reason, by incorporating sand, gravel, or bog-stuff, and taking a vegetable crop previously, it will be found to answer best; potatoes or cabbage will only be expected to be raised here, and after either of these, flax will thrive very well.

Clay soils are natural to the rearing of all plants, but they must first be separated and mad friable, by a mechanical or a chemical process; mixing sand or gravel will have the same effect as lime, each will separtate the clay, and break up that stubborn cohesion, with which it is bound together.

Sand in itself is good for nothing as a soil, for rearing plants, but of the greatest utility in mixing with clays; with what care and expense must it be carried to some clay soils, before any advantage can be reaped? but here, are layers of it through the clays, placed by nature, and only require to be well tilled to be fitted for their proper use.

Their clayey soils being so naturally inclined to grass, it is very necessary to weed the crop frequently, or it becomes so luxuriant and strong, as to deprive the flax of much of its nutriment, and will quickly overtop and smother it.

Bog stuff, mixed with clay, makes an excellent compost for potatoes, and this land, after two such crops, is made capable of yielding as good flax as can be desired, and has the weighiest return. [Coote would have been pleased with the development of the peat moss business by Bord na Mona and Erin Peat].

Farms

Are in size from twenty to forty acres; two cows and two horses are proportioned to a farm of forty acres, farm houses very poor, which the tenants must repair. Leases generally twenty-one and some are thirty-one years, no particular clauses, but burning is rigorously opposed; indeed they have no soil to spare. Tenants pay all taxes and cesses. The fields are of small size, from four to six or eight acres, divided by bald ditches, or loose stone walls, few, very few thorn fences; I have seen little improvements, or reclaimed moor; however, Thomas Lowe, Esq. near Bellair, has within these four years, reclaimed above thirty acres of bog, and intends to bring in a considerable tract. This gentleman has also built a bleach mill, and established a bleach yard in the midst of the moor; he is extending his manufacture very considerably, and has planted a great deal of young timber. The moors, when well drained and gravelled, give good meadow, but burning does not answer, as the ashes are but light and white, the turf being soft and fuzzy. The bog stuff is very good manure for the uplands, when mixed with lime, but the bogs in this country lie very low, and the draught to the uplands is severe, consequently this is not much practiced. [The taxes were county cess (later rates) and tithes with rent also to the landlord, but no income tax at that time].

Hemp

The culture of this plant we are little acquainted with, and not having experience, that, which is collected from books of husbandry, which relate where its propagation is pursued, can only be recommended.

We are told the mode of culture differs very little from that of flax, but that in the nature of these plants and in the soil proper for it, there is a material difference, as from the same seed of hemp are raised two kinds, the male and the female stalk, the latter only feeds, and the former flowers.

The uplands of this country ought to be very favourable to its cultivation, as it thrives on a high, dry, sandy loam, and ever fails in a cold wet clay.

The ground must previously be very well ploughed, and brought to a fine tilth; the seed may be sowed in April, with about four bushels to our Irish acre. It must be carefully and frequently weeded, but the principal care is in the pulling , as half the crop only ripens at one time, which is about the beginning of August, at which time the male plant must be pulled, and the female left to stand, to ripen, which must not be trampled; great care must be taken to keep off the birds, when the seed is sown.

The female stalk is the most valuable, as containing the seed, and pains must be taken to dry it well in the sun, stacking, turning and rowing it occasionally; if the seed gets wet, it injures it materially, which must be avoided.

The seed being saved, the stalk is steeped, dried, scutched, hackled, &c. in like manner as flax, and is a much more valuable crop. One great advantage from hemp, that no other crop can be sowed, which leaves the land so perfectly clean.

Hemp differs from flax, in as much as the distinction of its sex is in different plants, in flax they are both in the one flower.

The female plant will not ripen till several weeks after the male, it comes in about the middle of September. The value of this plant may be judged, from the very liberal premiums offered by the Linen Board for its culture, which will, doubtless, be continued the succeeding year. I hope to prepare a short series of articles on the linen industry in Offaly for the Autumn.

Bellair

This country is thickly inhabited on the eastern side, but towards the Shannon it is wild and barren, and not populous. Very few gentry reside here, and their numbers have been diminished since the rebellion [1798]. The Rev. Doctor Mullock has improved a large tract at Bellair, where he resides; he has, literally speaking, planted with his own hands every tree in his demense, which consists of forest-trees of all kinds. They had long to combat with a very bleak and exposed situation, but they are now naturalized, and in good vigour, lying very high; they give a great appearance of wood to this part of the country [and still serve that purpose today]. Thomas Mullock, Esq. son to this gentleman, is now building a very neat village adjoining Bellair: this word is only a modern modification of Ballyard, its true name, which signifies the high town; it consists of about fifty houses, built with stone and mortar, and all slated roofs, which will be only inhabited by linen manufacturers, to whom this gentleman gives employment. The plan of this little village is very correct, and, in its intended police, neatness, and cleanliness must be strictly observed. The whole model is not inferior to the small manufacturing English villages. The linen manufacture is rapidly and steadily encreasing, and this village is likely to be of consequence, from the industrious exertions of its proprietor. In this neighbourhood are mill-sites, and every advantage for any branch of manufacture; but that of the linen is most eagerly pursued; the people seem better disposed to engage in this than agriculture, which accounts for the number of small farms, as each family tills little more than supplies their provisions. If the Linen Board should be pleased to furnish wheels to this little colony, 'tis presumed it would have the happiest effect, as the poor would be better employed and idleness is not their characteristic. Since discontinuance of wheels, many have wanted employment; and here is a considerable quantity of flax spun, which they rear at home, and manufacture into dowlass and coarse linen. The few demenses of the gentry are highly planted and improved, but the remainder of this country is almost in a state of nature. Mr. Holmes has a very extensive bleach-yard, and a large capital in the trade, which was very spiritedly carried on till the late rebellion, but it is intended to be again pursued.

Ferbane is a town in this barony, situate on the river Brosna, fifty-four miles from Dublin, near to which are the ruins of Kilcolgan and Coole Castles, Kilcolgan is gone, but Coole is still standing: it has a patent for a weekly market, but no market is held; it is on the estate of John Henry, Esq. The country immediately around it abounds with the richest landscapes and finest prospects, and near to it is the beautiful demense of Galen (Gallen), the seat of J. Armstrong, Esq.; the Brosna winds under this demense, through the most charming and fertile banks, and, with the fine plantations here, presents a fence of picturesque and splendid beauty. The old castle of Garrycastle still standing, from whence the barony is named, has very rich feeding-ground in its neighbourhood, and at Cuba, a seat of Denis Bowes Daly, Esq., the parks are rich and luxuriant later the Royal School and demolished in recent times. But this engaging scene is soon lost; when you pass Banagher, all is a wild, barren, and uncultivated waste; under this description, Kor Hill is very conspicuous.

Banagher is a good town, and well inhabited; it is situate on the banks of the Shannon, and is the western extremity of this country, and also of the province of Leinster; as here, beyond the river, is that of Connaught. At this side of the bridge are the barracks for two companies of foot, and, at the other side, is a castle, which commands the town, with the adjacent country towards Connaught, and was well situated to defend this important pass: it is distant sixty-six miles from Dublin, and formerly sent two members to parliament; the Holmes family had a patronage of the borough. The banks of the Shannon, just adjoining, are richly clothed with meadow, but all insulated, and of a wet season, in a very precarious state. In Banagher are a distillery, brewery, malt-house, and tan-yards. The country shops are well supplied, and an inconsiderable branch of the linen manufactory is carried out here. There is also a school, with an excellent endowment; some hundred acres are annexed to it, said to be well worth £200 annually, and those lands are now become a sinecure set, during the interest of the proprietor; but no school business at all attended to, as I am informed. Cloghan is a village of midling appearance, four miles to the east of Banagher, and sixty-two miles from Dublin; it is on the estate of Denis Bowes Daly, Esq. [Bowes Daly inherited the MacCloghlan estate] and is remarkable for an excellent inn. At some distance are the ruins of a church, and near Moystown, the seat of Colonel Lestrange, are those of Streamstown Castle. This country abounds with ruins of castles, which were in possession of the O'Coghlan clan, almost all of which have Latin inscriptions over the entrance, which shew they were erected in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

Living Standards

All the fuel of this district is turf, which is very cheap and plenty: the country is interesected with very extensive bogs. The constant food is potatoes, and oatmeal used generally in spring. Coarse friezes rate at about 2s.6d. per yard, and stuffs at 8d. Price of wages, from 7d. to 10d. per day through the year. Cottier's house, garden, and cow's grass at no regular price, but generally regulated by the benevolence of their employers. Doctor Mullock's cottiers pay but 20s. for a cow's grass; the like for house and garden, and have turbary free. Beer increasing in demand, as spirits are declining, and is had tolerably good from Moat, in the county of Westmeath. Roads but in very midling repair. Soil every where light, and of limestone gravel. There have been no mines yet discovered, but they have many chalybeate springs, nor is there any marle found, or clays or calcareous quality.

Fish

There are some valuable eel weirs on the river Brosna, and some near Banagher, which are the property of the inhabitants of this side of the river. These weirs are evidently very injurious to the bottom meadows, and throw up considerable quantity of back water. No other fishery here of individual property, but all kinds of the finest fresh-water fish are in this part of the Shannon, in the greatest abundance. This river is here navigable, and boats of burthen pass from Killaloe to the county of Leitrim, generally laden with slates, from the quarries in the district; and sometimes they are also freighted with corn. Farmers complain of want of encouragement; their leases being generally set but for twenty-one years. All Dublin bankers paper, and little specie, are in circulation. At Ferbane are the bolting-mills of Wm. Hone, Esq. [probably a misprint for Horne whose descendents I met some years ago]; at Lumpcloon, now called Mill-brook, are those of Dennis Cassin, Esq.; and at Moystown are those of Edward Lestrange, Esq.; they are all well supplied with corn, and of considerable powers. No nursery for sale in the barony; trees are had from Galway and the Queen's County nurseries. No timber of any account for sale; building timber had from Limerick by the Shannon navigation. The village of Shannon Bridge is small, and noted for having the best stone bridge over the river Shannon: it has a patent for four fairs, and a weekly market; it is on the estate of Colonel Lestrange, and here is a very conspicuous pass into Connaught.

Clonmacnoise

On the banks of the river, and on the confines of this county and that of Westmeath, in a very wild country, stand the ruins of the seven churches, called Clonmacnoise, or Cluainmacnois, which signifies, the retreat or resting-place of the sons of the chiefs, or the cemetery of the nobles or kings. This place was famous for having entombed the ancient Christian monarchs of this country; 'tis situate on a gentle ascent, and it also was called Druim Tiprarc, which was expressive of its central situation, as, the church in the centre. In the year 548,549, an abbey was founded here, by St.Keiran, or Ciaran the younger; and Dermot, the son of Ceronill, king of Ireland, granted the site, on which the church was built, and which was afterwards converted into a cathedral and bishop's see. Around this were erected seven, or, as some say, nine churches, built by chiefs or kings of the country, as their mausoleums; they were inclosed in a space of about three statute acres. 'Tis said there was also an episcopal palace here, and several smaller sepultures, which are now entirely in ruins, entombing the chiefs and bishops. Many stones are found with characters of various workmanship, and bear inscriptions of the Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Irish tongues. In the year 1552 this abbey was plundered by soldiers from the garrison of Athlone; they despoiled everything in their way, and carried off whatever was of value, not sparing even the books that belonged to the cathedral. Here are also two of these round towers so peculiar to Ireland, and, from their near situation to churches, are considered to have been erected for religious purposes. It has been argued, that they were appropriated for penance in the early days of Christianity, which Doctor Mullock of Bellair, who is a good antiquarian, seems to think; and, in support of his opinion, he states, that there was a penance, which still exists in name, and styled the Thurris Penance: what the nature of this atonement was, I have not learnt, but the words come near in found to Turris, which in latin signfies a tower; and as in the Romish church, particularly in this country, both the Latin and Irish tongues were often in old times intermixed and confounded, it is not very improbable, this may be a sort of confirmation in the opinion of those, who believe that those towers were erected for penitentiary purposes. [Coote was not familiar with Irish and hence the error here]. But in those elaborate and uncontradicted historical accounts of dates of many places of antiquity, contiguous to those towers, we have not a single authority of the use of them, or at what time they were erected; which rather argues, that their origin was in far earlier days, before the era of Christianity; and as they were built for some particular purpose, possibly a religious one, the districts around them certainly became remarkable places, and well known; for which, and perhaps, other good reasons, the founders of churches were induced to build in their vicinity; and it may have been the cause, that these towers were then appropriated by them to religious purposes: but all conjectures on this head only tend to confirm their uncertainity, and place their date before the period of the introduction of Christianity into this island. The deanery is at present the only part of the chapter which exists, as the see was united to Meath: to this deanery the prebend of Cloghran was united, and he hath a seal of office, which, perhaps, was the ancient episcopal seal of the see. A topographical account of Clonmacnoise is to be seen in the introduction, as copied from Sir James Ware's Antiquities of Ireland; the plates annexed to Ware's Antiquities give a very clear view of this venerable place. About six miles from hence, and in this barony, is the small village of Ballicumber; and near a mile beyond which, is the parish church, situate on a hill. This village is fifty-two miles from Dublin. Raghera is a very inconsiderable village, but remarkable for an excellent bridge over the Shannon. There are several ruins of old churches in this barony, and, indeed, are very numerous through the county, which has occasioned the union of several parishes.

BALLYCUMBER , a hamlet, in the parish of LEMANAGHAN, barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING'S county and province of LEINSTER, 3 miles ( W. S. W. ) from Clara. Lewis describes it as a neat village, comprising 13 houses, pleasantly situated on the river Brosna, over which there is a good stone bridge, and on the road from Clara to Ferbane: it has a penny post from Clara. Ballycumber House is the handsome residence of J. Warnford Armstrong, Esq, ; and about two miles distant is Castle Armstrong. Fair's for black cattle, sheep, and pigs are held on May 2nd and Dec. 1st. The Parliamentary Gazetteer adds that in the vicinity are the houses of Prospect of C. Holmes Esq; Moorock, G.A. Holmes Esq; and Bellair, T.H. Mullock Esq. The vicinity of so many mansions and the agreeable aspect of the village itself, are the more striking to traveller on account of the whole being 'encinctured' with belts and expanses of the Bog of Allen.

BANAGHER, a market and post-town ( formerly a parliamentary borough ) , in a justice of the peace within the borough, and coroner and clerk of the market, and empowered the corporation at large to send two members to the Irish parliament. The corporation was styled " The Sovereign, Burgesses, and Free Commons of the Borough and Town of Bannacher alias Bannagher, " and consisted of a soverign and twelve burgesses, with power to admit freemen and appoint a recorder and other officers; but the corporate offices have not yet been filled up since the year 1800, when the borough was deprived of its right of parliamentary representation, and the £15,000 awarded as compensation was paid to the Rt. Hon. Wm. Brabazon Ponsonby. The sovereign formerly held, under the charter, a court for the recovery of debts to the amount of £20 late currency, which was discontinued about forty years since: the only court now held is a court of petty sessions every alternate Monday. The lands granted by the charter for a preaching minister are said to have been formerly held by a clergyman appointed by the corporation, who officiated in a church now fallen into decay in the town; but they have for many years become united to the rectory, and are now held by the incumbent of the parish. At the entrance to the town is the parish church, a handsome edifice in the ancient English style of architecture, with a tower and spire, built in 1829 at an expense of £2286, of which £2030 was granted on loan by the late Board of Fish Fruits. There is also a R.C. chapel, a large plain building in good repair. A school was established by the corporation pursuant to the charter granting lands for its endowment: by and act of the 53rd of Geo.III. , cap. 107, these lands, which according to a survey made in 1817 comprised about 370 acres, of which about 233 acres are arable and pasture, were vested in the Commissioners of Education, and the schools placed under their control. The lands were formerly let at a rent of £300, but are now held by the master a rent of £148.17. 10. per annum, at the Board had recently proposed to allow him a salary of £200 on the condition of his surrendering all interest in them, with a view to their being placed under the superintendence of a local qualified agent. The school is held very near the town, and was suspended from 1798 to 1807: there are no free scholars on the establishment, which in no respect differs from an ordinary classical school, except that it is under the control of the Board. The parochial school in the town is aided by an annual donation by the incumbent; and there is a national school for boys and girls, aided by voluntary contributions, also a dispensary. In the vicinity is Cloghan Castle, the seat of Garrett O'Moore, Esq., and one of the oldest inhabited castles in Ireland; and a short distance to the south of the town, near the banks of the Little Brosna river, are the ruins of the Garry castle, which gave name to the barony.

BELLAIR, a hamlet, in the parish of LEMANAGHAN, barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 6 miles from Clara; containing 81 inhabitants. The village, which is of modern origin, is situated on the road from Clara to Moat, and was founded by the family of Mullock: it has a neat and orderly appearance; the houses are built of stone and slated. Contiguous to it is the residence of Thos. H. Mullock, Esq., sheltered by plantations raised with great care. Mount Mullock, in the vicinity, is another seat of this family. Petty sessions are held here and at Doon every alternate Friday.

The name is a corruption of Bally-ard 'the high town', but the Gazetteer writer thinks this name seems to have originally belonged to the collection of houses round the chief mansion. The village was commenced about the 1790's and according to the plan of its founder, Thomas Mullock, Esq., it was to consist, in the first instance, of about 50 houses, all stone-walled and slate-roofed, inhabited only by linen manufacturers, and aggregately constituting an orderly, neat, clean seat of population equal to the small manufacturing villages of England. But this plan, so creditable to the projector, and replete with promises of great benefit to the surrounding country, and of speedy and extensive prosperity to the nascent village itself, has been but very slenderly realized. In 1842, a Loan Fund in the village had a capital of £1,080, circulated £3,030 in 2,228 loans, and cleared a nett profit of £6 1s. Pop., in 831, 81; in 1841, not specially returned. In the vicinity rises the hill of Bellair, and stands Bellair-house, the seat of T.H. Mullock, Esq. Toward the end of the last century, the Rev. Dr. Mullock, the father of the founder of the village, improved a large tract of country in the neighbourhood, and planted with his own hands every tree of a considerable extent embellishing woods. A bog, sometimes called, in cumulo, the bog of Bellair, and sometimes designated in a variety of sub-denominations , commences about a mile north of Ballycumber, and extends 4 1/2 miles west-north-westward, with a breadth varying between 100 or 200 yards and nearly 1 3/4 mile. It is bisected lengthwise, nearly through the middle, by the boundary-line-between King's county and the county of Westmeath; and is traversed across its east end by the road from Ballycumber to Moate. Its highest point is opposite Bellair-hill; and its east and west divisions decline respectively to the Brosna and the Newbridge rivers. Its altitude is from 63 to 110 feet above the level of the Shannon; and its depth of morass is from 15 to 42 feet. Part of it has been reclaimed.

BOORA and BEANAMUCK, two large and closely contiguous bogs, chiefly in the barony of Garrycastle, King's co., Leinster. They are bounded on the north by the road from Tullamore to Cloghan; on the south and east by the high grounds in the vicinity of Frankford; and on the west by the Frankford river. Length, from east to west, 5 miles; area, 8,586 3/4 English acres. Lough Boura, which gave name to the larger of the bogs, covered 108 acres, and was situated in its centre, was thus described in 1812: " The whole of it is so shallow that a man may wade through every part of it in summer-time; but, in the winter season, it rises much higher, owing to the bog having a natural declination to it; in consequence of which it is the great receiver for all the surface-water of the surrounding bogs, which are slowly discharged by the stream to Gurteen Bridge, where it is taken up as one of the supplies of the Grand Canal." The lake was then proposed to be drained, and its bottom of fine black bog and gravel converted into meadow. Many tracts of limestone gravel around the bogs are available for their georgical improvement. Estimated cost of reclamation, £18,841 3s. 6d.

CLOGHAN, a village and post-town, in the parish of GALLEN, barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 4 1/2 miles ( N.E. ) from Banagher, and 60 ( S.W. by W. ) from Dublin; containing 460 inhabitants. This place, which is situated on the road from Ferbane to Banagher, and near the river Shannon and the grand canal, contains 84 dwellings, which are chiefly thatched and neatly whitewashed cottages. Fairs are held on Jan. 1st, May 16th, and Oct. 29th; and a constabulary police force is stationed in the village. Numerous ruined castles of the O'Coghlan sept are scattered over the surrounding country, of which the most remarkable is that of Streamstown, near Castle-Iver, where are also some boulting-mills; and about a mile from the village was the ancient manorial mansion of the family. The Gazetteer adds that while the village is pleasant in itself ' it acquires a chilled and irksome appearance from being surrounded by a country of bogs and level fields , -relieved only by comparatively distant woods, and by the fine form and verdant dress of MacCoghlan's-Hill. A building in the village, which is now used as a barrack, was originally the manorial residence of the MacCoghlan family, and was sold to government by the late Thomas Coghlan, Esq., styled 'the Maw.' Cloghan Castle, though near the village, is within the parish of Lusmagh, -a district which was dissevered from Galway at the time of portioning the country into counties; and it sometimes figures in history under the name of Lusmagh Castle. In 1595, when O'Madden was its proprietor, and was regarded as having bearded the government, Sir William Russell, the lord-deputy, stormed the castle, and put 46 of its garrison to the sword. Garrett O'More Esq., the present proprietor and occupant of Cloghan Castle, is said to be descended from a branch of the family of O'More of Leix. Early in the 15th century, O'Madden founded at Cloghan - Cantualig a Franciscan friary. Area of the village, 34 acres. Pop., in 1831, 460; in 1841, 664. Houses 117.

CLONONEY or CLONANA, a village, in the parish of GALLEN, barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 1 1/2 miles ( N.W. ) from Cloghan; containing 79 dwellings and 385 inhabitants. It is situated near the river Shannon: the surrounding scenery is pleasingly varied, and the old castle of Clonana or Clononey , now the residence of - Mr. Molony, Esq., forms a romantic feature in the landscape. It is a quadrangular structure, built on a rock, on the road side between the river Brosna and the canal, and is in a state of excellent preservation. The population in 1841 was 205 and the number of houses 40.

CLONMACNOIS or CLUANMACNOIS, a parish, in the barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 8 miles ( S. by W. ) from Athlone; containing, with the town of Shannon-Bridge, 4446 inhabitants. This place, also called " Seven Churches, " is conspicuously distinguished in the earlier periods of Irish ecclesiastical history for the number and opulence of its religious establishments, its schools for instruction in the liberal arts, and the veneration in which it was held as a place of sepulture for the royal families of Ireland. It was originally called Druim Tipraid, but from its schools, which were attended by the children of the neighbouring princes, it obtained the appellation of Cluain-Mac-Nois, signifying in the Irish language the "Retreat of the Sons of the Noble." St. Keiran, or Kiaran, the younger, founded an abbey here, in 548, on ground given by Dermod Mac Cervail, King of Ireland, which obtained the episcopal authority usually attached to such establishments. In 1199, this place was attacked by the forces of William de Burgo, Fitz-Andelm, and several of the Irish chieftains; in 1200, it was plundered by the English under Miler Fitz-Henry, and 1201 was completely sacked by the same assailants. The churches, the town, and the cathedral suffered the greatest violence and depredation; the vestment of the priests, the books, the chalices, the plate, and the provisions and cattle of the minks, were carried off and their grounds laid waste. The abbey was again plundered by William de Burgo, in 1204, and in the year following the town was partly destroyed by an accidental fire. A castle was erected here by the English in 1214, and 1227 the town was three times set on fire by the son of Donnell Bregagh O'Melaghlin. The see continued to flourish under a regular succession of prelates till the time of Elizabeth, when the English garrison of Athlone plundered the cathedral, destroyed the altars, and mutilated and defaced the ornaments with which it was decorated. On the death of Peter Wall, the last bishop, in 1568, the see was united to that of Meath by act of parliament, and at present this place ranks only as a parish, the very name of the ancient diocese having merged in that of Meath.

PART OF WESTMEATH
The parish formed part of the county of Westmeath until 1638, when, through the influence of the bishop of Meath, it was separated from the barony of Clonlonan, in the county. It is situated on the east bank of the river Shannon; nearly two-thirds of the surface are bog, part of it being a continuation of the bog of Allen; there are many hills, the upper portions of which afford tolerable pasture; on the banks of the river is some good meadow land; and the valleys, which are mostly in tillage, afford excellent crops of corn, although the soil is rather light, and in some parts sandy. Nearly in the centre is a lake of about 90 acres, called Clonfanlagh, encompassed on the opposite sides by an extensive bog, and abounding with pike and perch. The substratum is limestone, which is quarried both for building and for agricultural purposes. The river Shannon is navigable hence to Limerick and Athlone. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Meath, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £264.2.2., payable to the incumbent. The present income of the deanery arises solely from the lands of Kilgavin, comprising three cartrons, in this parish, let on lease at the annual renewal fine of equal amount. The church is one of the ancient structures that were built around the cathedral, and contains some very singular and interesting old monuments; the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £220 towards its repair. In the R.C. divisions the parish is in the diocese of Ardagh, and is partly a distinct benefice, called Seven Churches, and partly united to Lemanaghan. There are two chapels, one at Shannon-Bridge and one at Clonfanlagh. The parochial school is aided by an annual donation from the vicar; there is also a school at Shannon-Bridge, under the patronage of the parish priest, and one at Clonlyon supported by subscription. In these schools about 80m boys and 50 girls are instructed: and there are about 200 children in the several pay schools.

The Gazetteer adds ' A hillock which bears aloft the old castle of Leitra, has an altitude above sea-level of 174-feet; and Lough Fin, situated a little west of the centre of the parish, has a surface elevation of 133 feet, produces good pike and perch, and some eels, and is flanked on two sides with bogs, and on the other sides with low, treeless hillocks. A quarry, about one-forth of a mile from the Shannon, produces a shell grey marble, variously tinted, and of a sound useful description; and a few years ago, about 3,000 cubic feet of this marble were sent to the Killaloe Works, -the principal mart and manufactory for marble, within the counties of Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Galway. Nearly the whole surface of the district has a naked, dreary, monotonous, and repulsive appearance. The seats of Templeduff, Charlestown, and Blackwater, occur in he vicinity of Shannon-Bridge; and a cluster of hamlets, consisting of Deverys, Derryharney, Gahaganas, Lumcloon, and Clonlyon, is situated in the extreme east. The interior is traversed by the road from Ballinasloe to Ferbane and Tullamore. -This parish is a vicarage, and a separate benefice, in the dio. of Meath. Vicarial tithe composition, £264 7s. 3d.; glebe, £60. Gross income, £324 7s. 3d.; nett, £303 6s. 8 1/2d. Patron, the diocesan. The rectorial tithes are equal in value to the vicarial, and belong to the sinecure deanery of Clonmacnoise; but they are not paid. The church is very ancient, and about 104 or 105 years ago was a mere ruin, but was repaired and new-roofed by means of parochial assessment. Sittings 80; attendance, from 16 to 20. The Roman Catholic chapel at Shannon-Bridge is attended by about 350, and that at Clonfanlough by about 700; and, in the Roman Catholic parochial arrangement, they are mutually united. In 1834, the Protestants amounted to 155, and the Roman Catholics to 3,971; and 8 daily schools - one of which was in connection with the London Hibernian Society, and also received £2 a-year from the vicar, and one was salaried with £10 from the farmers of Clonlyon and Clonlyon Glebe - had on their books 205 boys and 146 girls.'

EXTENSIVE RUINS
The ecclesiastical ruins are very extensive: the most conspicuous objects are the ruined gables of the numerous small churches that surround the cathedral, and two of those round towers that are found almost exclusively near the sites of the earliest religious establishments. The cathedral is said to have been built by the O'Melaghlins, princes of Meath; and within the cemetery, comprising about two Irish acres, were ten dependent churches, built by the kings and petty princes of the circumjacent territories, one of which, Temple-Doulin, has been restored, and is now the parish church. A nunnery was founded here at a very early period, but was destroyed by fire in 1180, and one circular arch is all that remains of it. About a furlong from the ruins of the cathedral are the remains of the episcopal palace, a strong but rude castle surrounded by a moat and counterscarp. The cemetery was a favourite place of sepulture with the neighbouring chieftains, many of whom were buried here, and many ancient inscriptions in Irish, Hebrew, and Latin, have been discovered among the ruins. It is still venerated as a place of interment throughout the neighbouring country; and the 9th of September is kept as a patron day, in honour of St. Kieran, when from 3000 to 4000 persons annually assemble here and remain for two days; huts and booths are erected for their accommodation, and such is the veneration in which the place is held, that many persons come from distant parts of the country, and even from the county of Donegal.

COAGHTER, [one of the 'four provinces' of Pollough as the late Denis Kelly used to say]. It is on the east side of the barony of Garrycastle, 2 miles south-east of Ferbane, King's Co.., Leinster. Length, 2 3/4 miles; breadth, 2; are, 3,539 acres, 1 rood, 14 perches. The other denominations are Leamore, Bunn, Derrycarney, and Kinnoor. The bog is bounded on the north by the Grand Canal from Pollough to Macartney aqueduct; on the east, by the barony stream; and on the west, by the low bottom land of Derrycarney, adjoining the Frankford rivulet. Coaghter Island, containing about 3 acres of fine manuring gravel, lies near the centre and summit of the eastern and larger division of the bog; and from its vicinity, that division declines to the canal on the north, the barony stream on the east, and a supply drain of the canal on the west. The other or western division consists of the denomination of Bunn, Derrycarney, and Kinnoor, comprises 1,326 acres, 2 roods, 13 perches, and is, for the most part, a dead level, lying from 20 to 26 feet higher than the keystone of Macartney aqueduct, and from 10 to 16 feet higher than the surface water at Gurteen-bridge. Except from Coaghter Island, the appliances for manuring improvement are very scanty. Estimated cost of reclamation, £4,952 9s. 7d.

CREGGAH, a hamlet in the barony of Garrycastle, King's Co., Leinster. Fairs are held on April 1 and Dec. 12. Pop. not specially returned.

DERRYHOLMES, a seat environed with bogs, on the west margin of the barony of Garrycastle, and of King's co., Leinster. It is situated a the confluence of a bog-rivulet with the Shannon, 2 miles below Shannon-Bridge, and 2 1/2 above Shannon Harbour. Improvements for the navigation of the Shannon at this place were projected by the Shannon Commissioners, to cost, according to estimate, £2,200.

FERBANE, a post-town, partly in the parish of WHERRY, barony of Garrycastle, KING's county, and province of LEINSTER, 8 miles (N.E.) from Banagher, and 57 (S.W.) from Dublin, on the river Brosna, and on the road from Clara to Banagher; containing 501 inhabitants. This town, which is within a few miles of the junction of the Brosna with the Shannon, is pleasantly situated on the banks of the former river, over which is a bridge commanding a beautiful view of the verdant plains and rich plantations though which it winds its course. It contains 106 houses, has a customary market on Thursday, fairs on Aug. 2nd and Oct. 20th, and a constabulary police station. The parochial church of Wherry is situated here, and a large R.C. chapel has been recently erected. There is also a dispensary. In the vicinity are several gentlemen's seats, which are noticed in the articles on the parishes of Gallen and Wheery [to follow later]. The contributer to the Parliamentary Gazetteer adds that 'the country around it, though flat and to a large extent boggy, appears to the eye of a spectator on the bridge, or on other points of observation close to the town, to be a beautifully verdant plain, adorned with a considerable aggregate of plantation, and almost forming a pleasant piece of park scenery. In the immediate vicinity are the beautiful demesne of Gallen, and the ruins of Kilcolgan [now demolished] and Coole castles. A weekly market is authorized by patent, but is not held. Fairs are held on Aug. 2, and Oct. 20. The Ferbane dispensary is within the Birr Poor-law union, and serves for a district of 76,517 acres, with a pop. of 18,308; and, in 1840-41, it expended £112, and administered to 2,300 patients. Area of the town, 45 acres, - of which 33 acres are in Wheery. Pop., in 1831, 501; in 1841, 537. Houses 97. Pop., of the Wheery section, in 1841, 515. Houses 91. Families employed chiefly in agriculture, 26; in manufactures and trade, 42; in other pursuits, 31. Families dependent chiefly on property and professions, 6; on the directing of labour, 58; on their own manual labour, 32; on means not specified 3.'

GALLEN or GILLEN, a parish, in the barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING's County, and province of LEINSTER, 6 miles (N.E.) from Banagher, on the road to Ferbane; containing with part of that town and the post-town of Cloghan (which are separately described), 5021 inhabitants. This parish formed part of the ancient possessions of the family of the McCoghlans, proprietors of the surrounding territory, who built a strong castle here, which was surrendered to Ireton in the parliamentary war; the last male representative of this family, Thomas Coghlan, Esq., M.P. for the borough of Banagher died in 1790. A monastery was founded here in 490 by St. Canoc, or Mocanoc, which continued to flourish till 820, when it was burnt by Felim McCroimhain; and after its restoration was occupied by some monks from Wales, who founded in it a celebrated school, from which circumstance it is supposed to have derived its name. Though repeatedly plundered and destroyed by fire, it subsisted till the dissolution, when the site and lands were granted to Sir Gerald Moore. An abbey was also founded near Firbane by St. Diarmid, who died in 563, and was succeeded by St. Coemga; it was plundered in 1041, and destroyed by fire in 1077, soon after which it appears to have been abandoned, as no notice of it occurs since 1082. The parish comprises 16,313 statute acres, of which about one-third is bog and waste; the remainder, with the exception of a small portion of woodland, is equally divided between pasture and tillage; the system of agriculture is improving, and limestone is found in abundance. The principal seats are Gallen, the residence of A. Armstrong, Esq., beautifully situated in a richly wooded demesne bordered by the river Brosna, [now a convent] and containing the picturesque remains of the ancient monastery; Straberry Hill, of ry; Major Molloy; Castle Iver, of W. B. Armstrong, Esq.; and Clonony Castle of - Molony, Esq. At Castle Iver are some mills for oatmeal, worked by steam. Fairs are held on May 15th, Aug. 15th, Oct. 29th, and Nov. 17th: the May and October fairs are the principal for horses, cattle and pigs.

It is a vicarage in the diocese of Meath, forming part of the union of Reynagh; the rectory is impropriate. The tithes amount to £415.7.8., and are equally divided between the impropriator and the vicar; the glebe comprises 222 statue acres, valued at £154 per annum. The church, a small neat edifice, situated at Cloghan, was built be a gift of £600 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1813. In the R.C. divisions it is part of the union of Banagher, or Reynagh, in the diocese of Ardagh; the chapel at Cloghan is a spacious plain building. About 130 children are taught in three public schools, of which the national school is endowed with a house and garden by the Hon. Frederick Ponsonby, and one at Shillestown with a house and half an acre of land by Mr. Judge. There are also seven private schools, in which are about 280 children. There are some remains of the ancient castle of Clonana or Clonony. [Still standing.]

GROGAN, a village, in the parish of LEMANAGHAN, barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING's County, and province of LEINSTER, 4 1/2 miles (N.W.) from Clara, on the road to Ferbane; containing 52 houses and 298 inhabitants. The Parliamentary Gazetteer adds in regard to Gallen that 'a great extent of the surface of dismal bog; and the remainder is but slightly diversified by hill and swell, and consists, for the most part, of tolerably good land. The north boundary is traced by the Brosna river; the interior is traversed by the Silver river, the Grand Canal, and the roads from Banagher to Athlone and Kilbeggan; and the western border is part of the marshy, sedgy, flat, terraqueous bank of the middle Shannon. About 9,400 acres are bog; 9 acres, 3 roods, 4 perches, are in Lough Boora; and 60 1/2 acres are in the Shannon. The chief seats are Gallen, Anddrew Armstrong, Esq; and Castle Inver, J.F. Armstrong, Esq. " A monastery," says Mr. Brewer, " was founded at Gallen, according to Colgan, so early as the year 492, by St. Canoc. We are told by MacGeoghegan, that a celebrated school was established here in the year 820 by 'some emigrants from Wales.' O'Melaghlin aided, by Teigroe (O'Melaghlin) and Edmond Faye, an Anglo-Norman leader, wasted this Abbey in 1548; but it was speedily restored, and still existed in Colgan's time. On the suppression of monasteries, this house was granted to Sir Gerald Moore. The Castle of Gallen was built by MacCoghlan, and was taken and plundered by Ireton in 1650." -This parish is a vicarage, and part of the benefice of REYNAGH, in the dio. of Meath. Vicarial tithe composition, £207 13s. 10d.; glebe, £155 12s. 3d. The rectorial tithes arem compounded, £207 13s. 10d., and appear to belong to several impropriators whose claims are disputed. The church is situated in Cloghan, and was built in 1812, by means of a gift of £553 16s 11d., from the late Board of First Fruits. Sittings 130; attendance, about 40. The Roman Catholic chapel has an attendance of from 1,500 to 2,000; and, in the Roman Catholic parochial arrangement, is united to the chapel of Banagher. In 1834, the Protestants amounted to 143, and the Roman Catholics to 4,992; and 10 daily schools, one of which was aided with £10 a-year from the National Board, and some advantages from the Hon. Frederick Ponsonby, were averagely attended by about 334 children. In 1840, a National School at Shannon Harbour was salaried with £12; one for boys at Cloghan, with £10; and one for girls at Cloghan, with £8.

The bog at Gallen was described in the 1840's as one of the three great bogs in Garrycastle alongside Cloghan and Lumcloon. The bog extends westward from the Macartney Aqueduct of the Grand Canal to the immediate vicinity of the village of Cloghan; lies from 1 mile to 2 3/4 miles south-south-west of Ferbane; and is traversed southward, and cut into two section, by the road from Ferbane to Frankford. Length, 2 3/4 miles; breadth, 1 3/4 mile; area, 3,069 acres, 2 roods, 14 perches. The section east of the Ferbane and Frankford road is the smaller of the two, and consists of deep, wet, shaking morass, unrelieved by even one interesting feature; and the larger section has, for the most part, the same character, but is traversed by a fine belt of grazing cush and black bog which would produce good ashes. Estimated cost of reclamation, £6,842 12s. 11d.

Not so distant is the Glaster and Streamstown bog, 'a bog of two denominations, 1 1/2 mile south by west of Banagher, and of King's co., Leinster. Area, 1,227 acres, 3 roods, 14 perches. The depth of some parts of it is nearly as low as the level of the Shannon below Banagher Lock. Its eastern boundary is the almost stagnant stream which crawls from Ballaghanogher to the Shannon below Banagher; and its western boundary consists of high grounds, diversified with abrupt hills of excellent manuring gravel. The estimated cost of reclaiming the bog is £2,862 14s.'

LEMANAGHAN, or KILNEGARENAGH, a parish in the barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 4 miles (S.W.) from Clara; containing, with the villages of Ballycumber, Bellair, and Grogan, 5785 inhabitants, of which number 290 are in the village of Lemanaghan. This place, which is also called Melain, [?], is situated on the river Brosna, and appears to have derived its name from St. Manchan, probably the founder of the monastery, of which he died abbot in 661. The establishment continued to flourish till 1205, after which it became a parish church; and there are still some remains of the building surrounded by a large tract of bog [and some fine tombstones]. The parish comprises 18,690 statute acres, of which 200 are woodland, 6740 arable, 4000 pasture, and 7750 bog; the system of agriculture is very backward, little improvement having been made within the last two centuries; limestone abounds, and is quarried for agricultural and other purposes. The principal seats are Bellair, the residence of T. Homan Mulock, Esq.; Prospect of C. Holmes, Esq.; Moorock of G. A. Holmes, Esq.; the Doon, of R. J. Enright Mooney, Esq.; Castle Armstrong, of Col. Armstrong; Ballycumber House, of Capt. Armstrong; Twickenham, of Mrs. Armstrong; and Hollybrook of J. Henderson, Esq. Fairs are held at Ballycumber on Dec. 1st and May 2nd, for horned cattle, sheep and pigs, but there are very indifferently attended; and petty sessions are held alternatively at Bellair and Doon on Fridays. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Meath, formerly held by faculty with the rectory and vicarage of Tessauran, but now separately, and in the patronage of the Bishop. The tithes amount to £415.7.8.; the glebe-house is a neat small residence occupied by the curate, and the glebe comprises 70 acres. The church, a neat plain edifice, situated at Liss, was built in 1830, at the expense of the parish, and an organ was erected in it at the cost of T. H. Mulock, Esq. [The church i still standing and the tombstones have been recorded.] In the R. C. divisions the parish is in the diocese of Ardagh, and forms part of the union or district of Ballinahone. The chapel is a very humble building; on the altar is an ancient shrine, supposed to contain the bones of St. Manachan. [The church is much improved since the 1830s and the shrine well presented.] About 140 children are taught in four public schools, of which one for 40 girls is

-3-
supported by Mrs. Mulock, at Bellair; and there are also seven private schools, in which are about 340 children. A dispensary is supported solely at the expense of Dr. Molloy, who has also invested £500 in a loan fund, which is supported solely by him. There are some remains of the ancient castle of Lemanaghan [see photograph - now demolished], and at Doon are the remains of the ancient castle of the O'Mooneys, now in the possession of R. J. E. Mooney, Esq., a lineal descendent of that family, whose residence is on the estate. Of the castle, which was a spacious structure on a rock, only one tower is remaining; it is thickly overspread with ivy and forms a picturesque object [still standing at Esker].

Describing the terrain the Parliamentary Gazetteer noted that ' A large proportion of the surface is bog; a portion is pasture with a dry limestone soil; a portion is meadow; a portion is demesne ground; and only a comparatively minor section is arable land. Cor Hill, situated on the west border, has an altitude above sea-level of 378 feet; and Bellair Hill, situated in the nort-east, has an altitude of 413 feet. The river Brosna traces part of the eastern boundary, runs across the south-east wing, and then traces a small part of the southren boundary. The Grand Canal passes across the south-east wing. The road from Dublin to Loughrea traverses nearly the longest part of the interior; and on this road, at the extreme east of the parish, stands the village of BALLYCUMBER. The principal hamlet, with respective pop. in 1831, are Ballyeighter, 76; Bellair, 81; Grogan, 298; and Leamanaghan, 290. The seats are Ballycumber-house, J.W. Armstrong, Esq; Prospect-house, Charles Holmes, Esq; Moorock-house, G.A. Holmes, Esq; Bellair-house, Thomas Homan Mullock, Esq; Castle-Armstrong, Mr. Armstrong; Doon-castle, R. J.C. Mooney, Esq; Corbea-house; Kilnagarenath-house; Hollybrook; Birdsville; Moorock-Lodge; and Twickenham-house. The chief antiquities are the ruins of an abbey, a church, Lemanaghan-castle, Togher-castle, and Esker-castle, - the two last situated in Doon demesne. Lemanaghan-castle was the ancient seat of a chief branch of the O'Molloys [sic. the McCoghlans]. - This parish is a rectory, and a separate benefice, in the dio. of Meath. Tithe composition, £416 7s. 8½d.; glebe, £98 15s. Gross income, £515 2s. 8½d.; nett, £481 2s. 3½d. Patron, the diocesan. The incumbent holds all of the united benefice of Ferbane and Tessauran, in the dio. of Meath; and is non-resident in Lemanaghan. A curate has a salary of £18 9s. 2d., and other advantages which are estimated in value at £98 15s. The church was built in 1826, by means a loan of £923 1s. 6½d. from the Board of First Fruits, and the sum of £138 9s. 2¾d. raised by parochial assessment. Sittings 300; attendance, from 200 to 250. The Roman Catholic chapel has an attendance of 1,500; and, in the Roman Catholic parochial arrangement, is united to Ballinahown chapel in Kilcleagh. In 1834, the parishioners consisted of 388 Churchmen, [Church of Ireland], 2 Presbyterians, 2 other Protestant dissenters, and 5,509 Roman Catholics; 8 daily schools-one of which was supported by Mrs. Mullock, one aided with £2 from the curate and £14 subscription, and one with £5 Irish from the rector, £5 and a premium from the London Hibernian Societies, and £13 subscription-had on their books 258 boys and 149 girls; and 3 other daily schools were usually attended by about 97 children.

At the same time the Lemanaghan bog where so many finds have been made in recent years was noted as 'bounded on the north, by the high grounds of Cor and Thumbeagh; extends, on the south, very nearly to the river Brosna; is bisected near the middle by a vale and a rill; exhibits on both its east and its west border a few derries or islands; and is traversed south-westward by the road from Ballycumber to Ferbane. Elevation above the level of the Shannon, from 43 to 86 feet; dept of borings, from 15 to 32 feet; estimated cost of reclamation per acres, £2 9s. 0¾d. Area of Leamanaghan and Castle-Armstrong denominations of the bog, 2,410 acres, 34 perches; of the Lemanaghan, Clillugh, and Curraghalassa, denominations, 2,319 acres, 32 perches.

Lemanaghan is a historic part of the barony of Garrycastle. In MacCoghlan country it has the famous monastic site, the shrine of St. Manchan and wonderful stories and tradition. A local committee are now working at restoring the old school house into a visitor's centre. Most of the big houses and the fairs are gone as it the linen industry and the brick making.

LOG BOG, one of several denominations of a nearly continuous bog, in the barony of Garrycastle, from 2 3/4 to 5 1/4 miles north-west of Frankford, King's Co., Leinster. The other denominations are Stonestown, Dunagh, and Whigsborough. The length and breadth of the series is each 2 1/2 miles; the are is 5,055 1/2 acres; and the estimated cost of reclamation is £9,799 16s. 6d. The bogs extend upwards of two miles along the west bank of the Frankford river; and this river, over almost the whole distance between Lumcloon-bridge and the wooden bridge at Ardgoga, is nearly a dead level, and could, at an inconsiderable expense, be made navigable for flat-bottomed boats of about 20 tons burden.

LUSMAGH or KILMACUNNA was a parish, in the barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 2 1/2 miles (S.S.W.) from Banagher; containing 3420 inhabitants. A Franciscan friary was founded at Cloghan Cantualaig by O'Madden, early in the fifteenth century, of which no particulars have been recorded. The castle of Cloghan, supposed to have been built in the reign of King John, was taken by storm in 1595 by Sir Wm. Russell, Lord-Deputy, who put forty-six of the garrison to the sword, in consequence of O'Madden, the proprietor, having sent him a taunting refusal to surrender. It is now the property of Garret O'Moore, Esq., whose ancestors have been resident here since the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when they were banished from the territory of Leix, in Queen's county. [The Castle is now open to the public]. The parish is situated on the river Shannon, and on the Lesser Brosna, one of the tributary steams; and comprises 5876 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. Limestone is found here and the inhabitants enjoy the advantage of the Shannon navigation to Limerick. It is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Clonfert; the rectory being partly appropriate to the see and partly to the archdeaconry; and the vicarage forming part of the union of Dononaughta, in the patronage of the Bishop. The tithes mount to £104.6.1 3/4., of which £64.12.3¾. is payable to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, in whom the temporalities of the see are now vested; £13.16.11. to the archdeacon; and the remainder to the vicar. In the R.C. divisions it forms a separate district [and is the only Offaly parish in Clonfert diocese]. A large and handsome chapel has been lately built at the cross of Capplevane, and the old chapel at Cloghanbeg is now used as a school, in which, and in another school, about 160 children are educated. Some remains of the old church still exist.

The Parliamentary Gazetteer adds: 'It contains the hamlet of Stream, and the villages of Newtown and Lower Newtown. Length, south-eastward, 4½ miles; extreme breadth, 3; area, 8,919 acres, 3 roods, 26 perches, - of which 187 acres, 1 rood, 34 perches are in the river Shannon. Pop., in 1831, 3,420; in 1841, 3,643. Houses 571. The Shannon describes all the western boundary, forms there several islets, and periodically overflows a considerable extent of land; a canal conducts the Shannon navigation over a distance of 1 3/4 mile along the west border; and the Little Brosna river describes the whole of the southern boundary. The parochial surface is low, flat, extensively boggy, and nowhere higher than 180 feet above sea-level. The only seat is Cloghan-castle. -This parish is a vicarage and part of the benefice of DONOAUGHTA, in the diocese of Clonfert. The vicarial tithes are compounded for £25 16s. 11d., and the rectorial for £78 8s. 2¾d.; and the latter are appropriate to the bishop and the archdeacon of Clonfert. The Roman Catholic chapel has an attendance of 1,500. In 1834, the Protestants amounted to 43, and the Roman Catholics to 3,479; and two hedge-schools had on their books 92 boys and 69 girls.'

NEWTOWN, a village in the parish of LUSMAGH, barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 1 1/2 miles (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. The Gazetteer noted that the village stood '2 3/4 miles south by west of Banagher, and 5 north-west of Birr. The castle of Feddaun formerly stood here; and in the vicinity are the hamlets of Lower Newtown and Stream. Area of the village, 12 acres. Pop., in 1831, 348; in 1841, 197. Houses 35.'

RAPEMILLS, a hamlet, in the parish of REYNAGH, barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 3 miles (S.) from Banagher, on the road to Parsonstown; containing 9 houses and 64 inhabitants. It takes its name from some rape-mills erected here. The Gazetteer adds that 'It has a police-barrack; and adjacent to it are the residences of Mount-Erin, Hill-house, and Ballaghanoher-house. Pop., in 1831, 64. Houses 9.'

REYNAGH, a parish, in the barony of GARRYCAS