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MAC
drained; there are extensive tracts of bog and moun-
tain, which might be brought into cultivation at a
moderate expense. Basaltic stone of excellent quality
for building is scattered over the parish, and is quarried
for that purpose and for mending the roads; granite,
porphyry, and clay-slate are found in the channels of
several of the numerous rivulets by which it is inter-
sected; and iron ore is also very abundant, especially in
the townland of Drumcroon, but the mines have never
been worked in consequence of the high price of coal.
There are several gentlemen’s seats in the neighbour-
hood, most of them surrounded with extensive and
thriving plantations, which form a conspicuous and in-
teresting feature in a district generally destitute of
timber. Of these, the principal are Somerset, the re-
sidence of the Rev. T. Richardson; Greenfield, of S.
Bennett, Esq.; Ardverness, of R. Bennett, Esq.; Drum-
croon, of J. Wilson, Esq.; Dromore, of J. Gamble, Esq.;
Ballyness, of Miss Heyland; Castleroe, of Capt. Han-
nay; Castleroe, the property of Rowley Heyland, of
Dublin, Esq., at present untenanted; and Camus
House, of Curtis M c Farland, Esq. The linen manu-
facture was formerly carried on to a very great extent,
especially in the finer fabrics, and there are four large
bleach-greens, capable of finishing 60,000 pieces an-
nually, all of which were in full operation; but the trade
has so much declined, that one only is now kept at
work by the proprietor, for the humane purpose of
affording employment to the numerous families which
had settled around them. The salmon fishery, first
granted to Sir Arthur Chichester in 1605, and afterwards
to the Irish Society, is situated at a place called “the
Cutts,” to which the tide flows up; but the river Bann,
though navigable here, is unavailable to the benefit of
the parish, as no vessel can pass under the bridge of
Coleraine; the navigation is also prevented by fords,
and by the “Cutts,” where the great salmon fishery of
the Bann is carried on, about a mile from the bridge.
The courts leet and baron attached to the manor have
not been held for some time; the jurisdiction of the
court of Coleraine extends over this parish, and all
pleas are now referred to it. The living is a rectory,
in the diocese of Derry, and in the patronage of the
Bishop, but the advowson is claimed by the Richard-
son family; the tithes amount to £600. The glebe-
house was built about 70 years since at an expense of
£738. 9. 2¾; the glebe comprises 200 Cunningham
acres, valued at £200 per annum. The church, a very
spacious structure (formerly the abbey church of Macos-
quin), was new-roofed and repaired in 1826, at an ex-
pense of £500, of which one-half was paid by assessment
and the other by the incumbent. In the R. C. divisions
the parish forms part of the union or district of Kill-
owen or Coleraine. There are places of worship for
Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster,
of the third class, at Englishtown, and with the Asso-
ciate Synod, of the second class, at Crossgare; also one
for Covenanters at Ringrash. About 500 children are
taught in the public schools of the parish, of which the
parochial school, near the church, is partly supported
by the rector; one for girls by the lady of the rector,
who gave the school-house; one at Ballywilliam by the
Ironmongers’ company; one at Castleroe, established
by the late F. Bennett, Esq., who, in 1820, endowed it
with £10 per annum, charged on the Castleroe estate,
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built a large and handsome school-house, and directed
£5 per annum to be paid to a minister for officiating in
it occasionally; it is further aided by a donation from
T. Bennett, Esq., who also contributes £3 per annum
and a house to a school at Camus; and there is a school
built by Mr. Richardson and afterwards endowed by
Dr. Adam Clarke with a sum of money left by an Eng-
lish lady to found schools in Ireland, after which it
was connected with the Methodists for some time, but
has now reverted to the patronage of its original founder.
There are also four private schools, in which are about
200 children, and eight Sunday schools. The small
remains of the monastery founded by St. Comgal were
taken down to build a wall round the burial-ground;
among them was a very ancient stone cross having four
compartments, in each of which were three of the
apostles sculptured in high relief, and profusely orna-
mented with scrolls and wreaths; it was removed from
its socket and now forms a gate pillar in the wall.
There was also an ancient font, to which, previously
to the removal of the cross, the people resorted in great
numbers. Several stone and bronze celts have been
found, chiefly in the bogs; also fossilized tubs of butter,
one of which, weighing 22 lb., is in the possession of J.
Wilson, Esq., of Drumcroon. There are five ancient
forts and several artificial caves, one of which, at Bally-
william, contains five apartments. There are also
several strong chalybeate springs in the parish, of which
those at Drumcroon and Greenfield contain iron, sul-
phur, and magnesia in solution, with a considerable
portion of carbonic acid gas.
MACRONY, a parish, in the barony of CONDONS
and CLONGIBBONS, county of CORK, and province of
MUNSTER, 2 miles (N. N. E.) from Kilworth, on the road
to Lismore; containing 2786 inhabitants. It comprises
8109 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act,
and valued at £3509 per ann.; the land, though in
general of an inferior quality, is chiefly under tillage, a
large portion of the mountain waste having been lately
brought into cultivation; there is a small portion of
bog. Limestone raised in the adjoining parish is gene-
rally burnt for manure, and slate was formerly worked
in the vicinity. The river Araglyn, which separates
this parish from Leitrim, winds through a vale covered
on both sides with a dense wood of oak, chiefly planted
by W. C. Collis, Esq. At the head of the vale, at a
place called the Furnace, iron ore was formerly worked
to a great extent and smelted on the spot, but the
timber becoming too valuable for fuel, the works were
discontinued about 70 years since. There are two small
corn-mills on the river employed in grinding oats.
Near the Furnace, where the counties of Cork, Tipperary,
and Waterford meet, is a station of the constabulary
police, supported at the joint expense of the three coun-
ties. Castle Cooke, the seat of W. Cooke Collis, Esq.,
is beautifully situated on the Araglyn, in the midst of
his extensive and valuable plantations. The parish is
in the diocese of Cloyne; the rectory is impropriate in
the representative of Messrs. E. & B. Norcott, and the
vicarage forms part of the union of Kilworth; the
tithes amount to £460, payable in equal portions to the
impropriator and the vicar. In the R. C. divisions also
it is part of the union of Kilworth, and has a chapel, a
small plain building, at Coolmahon. About 50 children
are educated during the summer in a private school.