Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

MON
here, and was aided by a gift of £800 from the late
Board of First Fruits. In the R. C. divisions the parish
forms part of the union or district of Kealavollen,
comprising also those of Clenore and Wallstown, and
containing the chapels of Kealavollen and Anakissy:
the latter is in the parish of Clenore; the former, a
small plain building, is about to be rebuilt on a site
given by Jas. Hennessy, Esq.: there is a small cot-
tage residence for the parish priest. A school of
about 80 children is maintained by a bequest of £18
per annum from the late Jos. Nagle Esq., of Bally-
griffin, for 30 years from 1814; and there are two
private schools, containing about 90 children. The
castle of Monanimy is by some supposed to have been
built by the Knights Templars; and by others, it and
the castle of Carrigacunna are said to have been erected
by the Nagles, to whom this district formerly belonged,
and after whom the “Nagle Mountains” are named.
The former, which is the property of the Hon. Douglas
Halliburton, has been fitted up, and is now occupied by
a respectable farmer. Of the ancient preceptory no-
thing now remains but a few fragments of a wall near
the church. The celebrated Edmund Burke passed his
early childhood at Ballyduff, in this parish, the seat of
his maternal grandfather, where he remained about five
years, and received the first rudiments of his education at
the ruined castle of Monanimy, in which a sort of hedge
school was then held. He always retained a great par-
tiality for these places, which he often revisited in
subsequent years.—See KEALAVOLLEN.
MONART, an ecclesiastical district, in the barony of
SCARAWALSH, county of WEXFORD, and province of
LEINSTER, 2 miles (N. W.) from Enniscorthy, on the
road to Kilkenny; containing 3384 inhabitants. It is
situated on a stream called the Urrin, which falls into the
Slaney below Enniscorthy; and comprises 8834 statute
acres. The soil is chiefly of a light shingly nature; lime-
stone gravel is found on the banks of the Slaney, and a
kind of slaty stone abounds, which is used for building:
the state of agriculture is improving. The village of
Forge, on the Urrin, derives its name from an extensive
forge formerly established there, which appears by an
ancient document to have belonged, in 1560, to Col.
Robt. Phayre, and was then employed in the manufac-
ture of sword blades. In 1818 the works were con-
verted into a distillery by Andrew Jameson, Esq., who,
in the course of 12 years, expended upwards of £25,000
on the establishment, and in 1830 it produced 55,594
gallons of spirits; it has been since discontinued, and
part of it converted into a flour-mill, capable of pro-
ducing nearly 40,000 barrels annually, and for working
which there is a copious supply of water. A Mining
Company is employed at Caim in search of a lead
mine, which is expected to be profitable A fair is
held on Aug. 16th at Scarawalsh Bridge, on the Slaney,
chiefly for lambs. The seats are Monart House, the re-
sidence of E. Rogers Cookman, Esq., a handsome man-
sion pleasantly situated on a gentle eminence above the
Urrin, in a highly improved and richly wooded demesne;
Killoughram, of R. Phaire, Esq., surrounded by an ex-
tensive oak coppice, called Killoughram Wood; Munfin,
of Edw. Gary, Esq., beautifully situated on the margin
of the Slaney, sheltered by a richly wooded eminence,
and commanding an extensive view of the luxuriant
scenery on the banks of the river; Kiltra, of Capt. Bre-
VOL. II.—385
MON
nan; Farmley, of Capt. Richards; Urrinsfort, of Mr.
Hill; Oak Hall, of Mr. Sutton; and Daphne, the pro-
perty of Robt. Phaire, Esq. The district was formed in
1805, by separating 39 townlands from the parish of
Templeshanbo, which have been recently reduced to
33 by the detachment of six to form part of the new
district parish of Ballycarney. The living is a perpetual
curacy, in the diocese of Ferns, and in the patronage
of the rector of Templeshanbo, for the support of which
the tithes of three of the above-mentioned townlands,
amounting to £101. 10. 9. are appropriated. The glebe-
house is a neat building, towards the erection of which
the late Board of First Fruits gave £382, in 1807; and
there is a glebe of about 17 acres. The church, or
chapel of ease, is a neat cruciform structure, erected in
1805 by aid of a gift of £500, and enlarged in 1831 br-
aid of a loan of £500, from the same Board; and the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners have lately granted a sum
for its repair. In the R. C. divisions it is partly in-
cluded in each of the districts of Marshalstown and
Ballindaggan, and contains the chapels of Marshals-
town, Castledockrill, Caim, and Newtown. Near the
church is the parochial school built by the Association
for Discountenancing Vice, and partly supported by it
and partly by subscription. A school has been lately
established near the chapel at Marshalstown, and tem-
porary schools are held during the summer in the other
chapels. At Farmly are two of the ancient raths or
mounds usually attributed to the Danes.
MONASTERBOICE, a parish, in the barony of
FERRARD, county of LOUTH, and province of LEINSTER,
2½ miles (E. S. E.) from Collon, near the road from
Drogheda to Dunleer; containing 705 inhabitants.
This place is chiefly distinguished for the remains of
the monastery from which it derived its name, founded
by St. Bute or Boetius, the son of Bronagh, who died in
521; it was plundered in 968, and in 1097 was de-
stroyed by fire. From this time it appears to have sub-
sisted only for a few years; the last abbot of whom
any notice occurs died in 1117. The parish comprises,
according to the Ordnance survey, 2316½ statute acres,
most of which is good land, and in a profitable state of
cultivation. Monasterboice, the seat of W. Drummond
Delap, Esq., who has a large estate here and is planting
on an extensive scale, is undergoing great improvement,
and a spacious mansion is now being erected by the
proprietor. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Armagh,
forming part of the union of Dunleer; the tithes
amount to £116. 12. The ruins of the monastery are
of very interesting character: at a short distance from
each other are the walls and gables of two churches or
chapels, the architecture of which denotes very great
antiquity; the windows are of freestone, but the rest of
the building is of a slaty stone found in the surround-
ing hills. On the south side of the western church are
two ancient and elaborately sculptured stone crosses,
one 18 and the other 16 feet high; the larger, appa-
rently formed of an entire stone, and called St. Boyne’s
Cross, has near its base some obliterated characters,
supposed to be traces of the name Muredach, King of
Ireland, who died in 534; the arms are enclosed
within a circle, and the shaft and other parts are orna-
mented with figures sculptured in relief, which, though
much defaced, appear to have represented scriptural
subjects; on one side is the crucifixion, and on the
3D