All Lewis entries for Errigal%20Keerogue

BALLYGAWLEY

BALLYGAWLEY, a market and post-town, and a parish, partly in the barony of CLOGHER, and partly in that of DUNGANNON, county of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER, 13 miles (S. E.) from Omagh. and 74 miles (N. W. by N.) from Dublin; containing 4428 inhabitants, of which number, 972 are in the town. The lands and manor of Moyenner and Balegalle were granted by Jas. I. to Capt. William Turvin, but he neglecting to comply with the conditions of the grant, they were afterwards granted, in 1614, to Sir Gerard Lowther, who erected on the bank of a small river a very extensive castle, which he enclosed within a bawn of stone and lime and made a place of great strength. This castle was destroyed, in 1642, by the insurgents under Sir Phelim O'Nial: the walls and two towers of the bawn, with part of the castle walls, are still remaining and a modern house has been recently erected on the site. The town is situated on the mail coach road from Dublin to Londonderry, and consists of three streets and a market-place; it contains about 250 houses, some of which are large and well built, and is the property of Sir Hugh Stewart, Bart., whose handsome mansion, Ballygawley House, is about two miles distant from the town. Innismagh, the seat of Col. Verner; Anahoe, of H. Crossle, Esq.; and Martray, of Mervyn Stewart, Esq., are within the parish. A small manufacture of gloves is carried on in the town, which, from the goodness of the materials and the neatness of the workmanship, are in general demand. There is an extensive brewery, that has acquired celebrity for the quality of its ale, and a large distillery of malt whiskey has been established. The market is on Friday; it is amply supplied with provisions of all kinds, and every alternate week a large quantity of linen cloth is exposed for sale. Fairs are held on the second Friday in every month, principally for the sale of cattle, sheep, and pigs. A constabulary police force has been stationed here; petty sessions are held once a fortnight; and as the head of the manor of Moyenner or Ballygawley, manorial courts are held in the town for the recovery of debts not exceeding 40s. This district was constituted a parish in 1830, by an order of council under the provisions of an act of the 7th and 8th of Geo. IV., when eighteen townlands were separated from the parish of Errigal-Kerogue, in the barony of Clogher, and twelve from that of Carrenteel, in the barony of Dungannon, and formed into the parish of Ballygawley. These townlands are situated near the mountains and contain some good land, particularly on the north-east, where the soil is good and well cultivated. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the diocese of Armagh, and in the alternate patronage of the Rectors of Errigal-Kerogue and Carrenteel. The curate's income is £70 per annum, contributed in moieties by the rector of Errigal-Kerogue and the archdeacon of Armagh, as incumbent of Carrenteel. The church is a small but handsome edifice, in the later English style, erected at an expense of £1000, of which sum, £900 was a gift from the late Board of First Fruits. There is a place of worship in the town for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, of the third class; also a Baptist meeting-house in the parish. A boys' school is supported by Sir Hugh Stewart, and there is a school at Knockany, together affording instruction to about 130 boys and 130 girls; there is also a private school at Lisgonnell of about 70 boys and 30 girls.

ERRIGAL-KEROGUE

ERRIGAL-KEROGUE, a parish, in the barony of CLOGHER, county of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER, on the river Blackwater and on the road from Aughnacloy to Omagh ; containing, with the greater part of the district parish and post-town of Ballygawley, 9782 inhabitants. This parish, which is also called Errigal-Kieran, from the supposed dedication of its ancient church to St. Kieran, comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 21,139- statute acres, including 18 townlands, which now form part of the district parish of Ballygawley. The greater portion is rich arable, meadow, and pasture land, with a large extent of profitable mountain, and a considerable tract of waste. The hills towards the south are low and fertile, but towards the north they rise into mountains, the fiat summits of which are bog and heath ; the mountain of Shantavny rises, according to the Ordnance survey, 1035 feet above the level of the sea. The valleys are watered by streams which, in their descent from the mountains, form numerous picturesque cascades ; and in one of them are found fossils and shells, washed down from the beds of limestone. There are extensive quarries of limestone and freestone, from the latter of which was taken the stone for building several of the churches and gentlemen's seats in the neighbourhood ; and thin veins of coal have been found near Lismore, but though lying very near the surface, they have not been worked. The scenery is strikingly diversified; the glen called "Todd's Leap" abounds with romantic features, and at the southern extremity of the parish is a very handsome bridge of one arch over the Blackwater, which river is also crossed by two other bridges. The principal gentlemen's seats are Ballygawley House, the residence of Sir H. Stewart, Bart., situated on a rising ground, sheltered in the rear by the conspicuous precipice called the " Craigs ;" Cleanally, of G. Spier, Esq. ; Bloom Hill, of T. Simpson, Esq. ; and Ballygawley Castle, of R. Armstrong, Esq. There are several large corn-mills and a tuck-mill for finishing the woollen cloths made in the various farm-houses. The manors of Donoughmore, Favour Royal, Cecil, and Ballygawley, are in this parish; in the first a court is held monthly, in which debts to any amount may be recovered ; and in the three others are held similar courts every three weeks, with jurisdiction limited to £2.

The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Armagh, and in the patronage of J. C. Moutray, Esq. : the tithes amount to £380. The glebe-house is at Richmount, near Ballygawley, on a glebe of 266 acres, and there is another glebe of 297 acres, constituting the townland of Gort. The church, a handsome edifice in the later English style, with an embattled tower, was erected in 1831, near the site of the ancient structure at Balhinasaggard, at an expense of £1300, of which £1100 was a loan from the late Board of First Fruits. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church ; the chapel is a small plain edifice, and there are two stations or altars, where service is occasionally performed. There are places of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster of the third class, Independents, and two for Wesleyan Methodists. About 700 children are taught in the public schools, of which the parochial school is chiefly supported by the incumbent, one by Miss Montgomery, and another by Mr. Leslie ; and there are three private schools, in which are about 180 children. There are some remains of the old church, in which are several of the carved stones of an ancient friary, founded by Con O'Nial ; in the churchyard is a large stone cross, and near it a holy well. The friary was of the third order of Franciscans, and near it was an ancient round tower. There are many conical raths in the parish, of which the most remarkable is that on the steep height called the Craigs ; it is supposed that the native chiefs of Eirgal, or Uriel, had their seat in this parish, near which a monastery was founded by St. Macartin, In the townland of Sess-Kilgreen is a carved stone, part of a kistvaen, and in that of Lismore are the ruins of a square bawn, with round towers at the angles.