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MAL
she establishment under the superintendence of the
members of the Society of Jesus, for the education of
young men of the R. C. religion in every department of
classical and polite literature; the building, a noble cas-
tellated mansion beautifully situated in an extensive
and richly wooded demesne, is described under the head
of CLANE. About 120 pupils are educated in it.
MALAHIDE, a maritime post-town and a parish, in
the barony of COOLOCK, county of DUBLIN, and pro-
vince of LEINSTER, 2½ miles (E.) from Swords, to which
it has a sub-post-office, and 7 nriles (N,) from Dublin
Castle; containing 1223 inhabitants, of which number,
294 are in the town. The manor and castle were
granted, in 1174, by Hen. II., to Richard Talbot, the
common ancestor of the Earls of Shrewsbury and Lords
of Malahide, who accompanied that monarch into Ire-
land; and have continued in the possession of his
descendants from that period to the present day,
through an uninterrupted succession of male heirs. This
grant was subsequently confirmed to him by John,
afterwards King of England, who also conferred on him
various privileges and the advowson of the church of
“Mullahide Beg”, which he immediately assigned to the
monks of St. Mary’s abbey, Dublin. In 1372, Thomas
Talbot was summoned to parliament by the title of Lord
Talbot; and in 1375, the harbour of this place appears
to have been of such importance that the exportation of
unlicensed corn, and the departure of any of the retinue
of William de Windsor, Chief Governor, from this port
were prohibited under severe penalties. Edw. IV., in
1475, granted to the family a confirmation of the lord-
ship, with courts leet and baron, and appointed the lord
of Malahide high admiral of the seas with full power to
hold a court of admiralty and to determine all pleas
arising either on the high seas or elsewhere within
the limits of the lordship. Sir Richard Edgecombe,
who was sent by Hen. VII. into Ireland to administer
the oath of allegiance to the nobility and chieftains
there, after the suppression of Lambert Simnel’s attempt
to gain the crown, landed from England at this port,
in 1488, and was entertained at the Castle, and after-
wards conducted by the Bishop of Meath to Dublin;
and in 1570, Malahide was enumerated by Hollin-
shed among the principal post-towns of Ireland. In
the parliamentary war the castle was besieged and
taken by Cromwell, who resided here for some time,
during which he passed sentence of outlawry upon
Thomas, Lord Talbot, and gave the castle and the
manor to Miles Corbet, who retained possession of
them for seven years, till, on the Restoration, the
Talbot family regained possession of their estates.
The town is situated on a shallow inlet of the
Irish Sea, between Lambay island, to the north, and
Ireland’s Eye and the promontory of Howth, to the
south; it has a pleasing and sequestered character,
and contains many handsome cottages, chiefly occu-
pied by visiters during the bathing season and in
some instances by permanent residents. In the centre
is a well of excellent water, arched over and dedicated
to the Blessed Virgin. The trade of the town, never
very extensive, received a great check from the pri-
vileges granted to the port of Dublin in the 16th cen-
tury. The cotton manufacture was introduced here on
an extensive scale in the last century by Col. Talbot,
father of the present proprietor; but, though the Irish
Vol.. II—337
MAL
parliament granted £2000 for the completion of the
requisite machinery, it was ultimately abandoned. The
same gentleman, in 1788, procured an act for the con-
struction of a navigable canal at his own expense, for
the conveyance of the imports of this place, through
Swords to Fieldstown, for the supply of the surrounding
districts, to which they were at that time sent wholly by
land carriage; but this undertaking was also unsuc-
cessful. The principal trade at present is the expor-
tation of meal and flour, and the importation of
coal from White haven and Scotland, of which, on the
average, about 15,000 tons are annually imported.
There is a small silk-factory, and the inhabitants derive
some advantages from the fishery off the coast, and
from an exclusive property in a bed of oysters, which
are sent to Dublin in considerable quantities, and are
much esteemed. The inlet of Malahide is 4 miles north
from Howth, and extends four miles up the country; it
is dry at low water, but at high water, vessels drawing
not more than 10 or 11 feet may enter the creek and
lie afloat in the channel. At the entrance is a bar,
having only one foot at low water, and the channel is
divided by a gravel bank called Muldowney; both the
channels are narrow and tortuous, and are of dangerous
navigation without the assistance of a pilot. The town
is one of the nine coast-guard stations constituting the
district of Swords, and also a constabulary police sta-
tion. Near it is the Castle, generally called the Court
of Malahide, the seat of the Talbot family, a quadran-
gular building of irregular form and height, situated on a
limestone rock of considerable elevation, and command-
ing a fine view of the town and bay. The original build-
ings have been much improved and enlarged by Richard,
Lord Talbot de Malahide, the present proprietor; the
principal front is embattled, and the entrance defended by
two circular towers. The interior contains numerous su-
perb apartments, of which the most curious is one called
the oak chamber, wainscoted and ceiled with native oak
richly carved in scriptural devices and lighted by a
pointed window of stained glass. To the right of this
chamber is the grand hall, a spacious and lofty room
with a vaulted roof of richly carved oak, lighted by three
large windows of elegant design, and having a gallery
at the south end. To the left of the hall is the draw
ing-room, a stately apartment, richly embellished, and
containing some very valuable paintings, among which
is an altar-piece in three compartments, painted by
Albert Durer, and originally placed in the oratory of
Mary, Queen of Scots, at Holyrood House. There is in
the castle a very large collection of portraits of royal
and distinguished personages, among the latter of
which are several members of the Talbot family, also
paintings by the most celebrated masters of the Italian
and Flemish schools. The demesne is extensive and
richly embellished with groups of stately trees and
plantations, and the gardens are tastefully laid out and
kept in fine order.
The parish is of very small extent, comprising only
1070 statute acres: the soil is fertile and the system
of agriculture improving. The strand abounds with
marine shells in great variety, and with sea-reeds, which,
in conjunction with the carex arenaria, grow profusely.
There are quarries of black, grey, and yellow limestone;
and on the south of the high lands, towards the sea,
lead ore has been found. There are several handsome
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