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line, by diminishing to within 14 miles the distance to
the river Blackwater at Lismore, now affords the ad-
vantage of water conveyance for coal, culm, timber, and
other articles at a moderate charge. A very consider-
able trade is carried on in corn, butter, and pigs, which
last are purchased in great quantities chiefly by mer-
chants from Cork, Youghal, and Limerick. A large
tanyard and currying concern has been established in
the town; and at Gurrane, on the river Funcheon, is an
extensive bleach-green, with flax and tucking mills, and
machinery for carding and spinning wool, to which a
power-loom for the manufacture of blankets has been
lately added by the proprietors, Messrs. J. and F. Atkins.
A branch of the National Bank has been established in
the town. The market is on Thursday, and is amply
supplied with corn, butter, pigs and sheep, and with pro-
visions of all kinds; the corn is chiefly bought on com-
mission. Fairs for cattle, sheep, pigs, and various
kinds of merchandise, are held on Jan. 10th, March
25th, May 23rd, July 30th, Nov. 12th, and Dec. 2nd; a
fair called the Brigown fair is also held on the 6th of
December. The market and court-house, situated in
Cork-street, a very neat and well-arranged building,
was erected in 1823, at an expense of £3000, by the Earl
of Kingston, and occupies part of an area called the
Market-square. A chief constabulary police force is
stationed in the town; and in the immediate vicinity
are the barracks, a neat range of building, adapted for
3 officers and 72 non-commissioned officers and privates.
Petty sessions are held in the court-house every Wednes-
day; and a court for the manor of Mitchelstown,
formerly held every third Monday, for the recovery of
debts not exceeding 40s., is now held occasionally in the
upper part of the market-house. Its jurisdiction ex-
tends over the parishes of Brigown, Marshalstown (with
the exception of the Killee estate), Mologga, Farihy,
Nathlash, and Kildorrery, in the county of Cork, and Kil-
behenny and Ballylander, in the county of Limerick.
The parish church, situated at the south end of
George-street, is an elegant structure of modern erec-
tion, in the later English style, with a lofty embattled
tower surmounted by a beautiful and finely proportioned
octagonal spire, and is seen to great advantage from
King-square through the vista of George-street. The
R. C. chapel, situated on an eminence above the market-
house, is a handsome cruciform edifice, in the later
English style of architecture, and flanked in the front
with two octangular towers surmounted by cupolas; it
is embellished with a window of elegant design, and
strengthened at the angles with buttresses terminating in
pinnacles. Kingston College, a handsome and extensive
range of building, was partly erected during the lifetime
of its founder, James, Lord Kingston, who endowed it
with £25,000, to be vested in trustees, consisting of the
Archbishop of Cashel and the Bishops of Cloyne, Water-
ford, and Limerick, to be appropriated, after the comple-
tion of the buildings, to the maintenance of a chaplain,
12 poor gentlemen, and 18 poor gentlewomen, with pre-
ference to such as have been tenants on the Kingston
estates. The chaplain, whose duty it is to read morning
and evening prayers daily, to preach a sermon every
Sunday morning, and to administer the sacrament at
Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas, has a stipend of
£120, with a house and garden; and the inmates, who
must be members of the Established Church, receive
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each £40 per annum, and have a house and garden be-
tween every two. The buildings consist of 16 dwelling-
houses, with a chapel in the centre of the range, beneath
which is the vault of the Kingston family. The fever
hospital, to which a dispensary is added, was built in
an airy and healthful situation to the south-east of the
town, at the expense of Lord Kingston, in 1823; it
contains four wards and 13 beds. A portion of the re-
sidue of a fund collected in London for the relief of the
poor during the famine in Ireland, amounting to £560,
was borrowed at 2½ per cent. from the loan committee
of Cork, and is appropriated as a loan fund for the relief
of the poor of the town and neighbourhood.
Mitchelstown Castle, the splendid seat of the Earl
of Kingston, is a noble and sumptuous structure of
hewn stone, in the castellated style, erected after a
design by Mr. Pain, of Cork, at an expense of more than
£100,000. The buildings occupy three sides of a qua-
drangle, the fourth being occupied by a terrace, under
which are various offices: the principal entrance, on the
eastern range, is flanked by two lofty square towers
rising to the height of 106 feet, one of which is called
the White Knight’s tower, from its being built on the
site of the tower of that name which formed part of the
old mansion; and at the northern extremity of the same
range are two octagonal towers of lofty elevation. The
entrance hall opens into a stately hall or gallery, 80 feet
in length, with an elaborately groined roof, richly orna-
mented with fine tracery, and furnished with elegant
stoves of bronze, and with figures of warriors armed
cap-à-pie; at the further extremity is the grand
staircase. Parallel with the gallery, and forming the
south front and principal range, are the dining and
drawing-rooms, both noble apartments superbly fitted
up and opening into the library, which is between them:
the whole pile has a character of stately baronial mag-
nificence, and from its great extent and elevation forms
a conspicuous feature in the surrounding scenery. Near
the Castle is a large fish-pond, and from a small tower
on its margin, water is conveyed to the baths and to
the upper apartments of the castle, and across the
demesne to the gardens, by machinery of superior con-
struction. The gardens are spacious and tastefully laid
out; the conservatory is 100 feet in length and orna-
mented with a range of beautiful Ionic pilasters. The
demesne, which comprises 1300 statute acres, is embel-
lished with luxuriant plantations, and includes a farming
establishment on an. extensive scale, with buildings and
offices of a superior description, on the erection of
which more than £40,000 was expended; it is in
contemplation to erect an entrance lodge, on the model
of Blackrock castle, near Cork. It is estimated that
the castle, with the conservatories, farm, and the general
improvement of the demesne, has cost its noble pro-
prietor little less, if not more, than £200,000. About
half-way between this town and Cahir are the magnifi-
cent caverns which, from their being visited by persons
generally making this place their head-quarters, are
sometimes called the Mitchelstown caverns; they are
situated in the parish of Templetenny, in the county of
Tipperary, under which head they are described.
MITCHELSTOWN, or STROKESTOWN, a parish,
in the barony of LOWER SLANE, county of MEATH, and
province of LEINSTER, 2¾ miles (S. E.) from Nobber, on
the road from Kells to Ardee, containing 303 inhabit-