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the immediate vicinity of the town, handsome houses
belonging to Z. Maxwell and E. L. Batchelor, Esqrs., the
Rev. J. Barnett, the Rev. G. Thompson, Mrs. Hamil-
ton and others.
The surrounding district has been greatly improved
by the Drapers’ company, who are the proprietors, since
the year 1817, when, on the expiration of a lease granted
to Sir W. Rowley, the estates returned into their pos-
session, and have since been managed under their
superintendence. The annual rent roll is £10,300, the
whole of which is expended by the company in the im-
provement of the country generally, and more especially
of their own property. They have planted more than
800 statute acres, and have completed more than 50
Irish miles of good road at their own expense, for the
convenience and benefit of their tenantry; they have
expended more than £1000 in the erection of bridges,
and are about to plant 800 acres of mountainous land,
in addition to the former plantations. They have thus
not only added to the improvement and embellishment
of the surrounding district, but have contributed greatly
to the benefit of the poor by affording employment to
the industrious, and have given directions to their
agents to afford employment to all that may stand in
need of it. The system of agriculture has been greatly
improved under the auspices of the North-West Farming
Society; there is little or no waste land, and scarcely
sufficient bog to supply the inhabitants with fuel. There
are many limestone quarries, from which lime is pro-
cured chiefly for manure; sandstone and freestone of
good quality abound, and from the quarries of the latter
was raised the stone for the erection of the new church;
coal has also been found near the surface, and about two
years since an attempt was made to explore the vein,
but without success. The linen manufacture is carried
on extensively throughout the district; and there is a
considerable traffic by means of Lough Neagh, which is
within four miles of the town, and across which mer-
chandise brought by the canal from Belfast and Newry
is conveyed to Port Ballyronan, where corn, butter and
other agricultural produce of this neighbourhood are
shipped to those places for exportation to Liverpool and
other English ports. The market is on Monday, and
fairs are held on the 21st of each month, at which, in
addition to horses, cows, swine, sheep, and agricultural
produce, large quantities of linen are also sold. These
are the largest linen fairs in the North of Ireland; the
sales, on an average, amount to £40,000 per annum.
An additional linen market, established in 1835, is held
on the first Monday in every month; it is well attended,
and promises to equal the other linen fairs in the ex-
tent of its sales. The market and court-house, and the
linen-hall, erected in 1818, are neat and well-arranged
buildings; and near them is a spacious and handsome
hotel, erected about the same time. A new market-
place and a spacious corn-store are now being erected, a
little off the main street, which will diminish the pres-
sure of the people on market and fair days; and here
corn, potatoes, butchers’ meat and other articles will be
exposed for sale. A constabulary police force is sta-
tioned in the town; petty sessions are held on alter-
nate Tuesdays, and a court for the manor once every
month, in which debts to the amount of 40s. late cur-
rency are recoverable. The manor is co-extensive with
the whole estates belonging to the Drapers’ company,
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which include portions of the several parishes of Arboe,
Ardtrea, Ballynascreen, Derryloran, Desertlyn, Desert-
martin, Kilcronaghan, Lissan, Maghera, and Tamlaght.
This estate comprises 64 townlands, nine of which are
native freeholds, each paying a chief rent to the com-
pany, and of which seven are in the parish of Kilcro-
naghan.
The parish church of Desertlyn, situated in the town,
is a very handsome structure, in the Norman style, and
was erected in 1832, at an expense of £6000, wholly
defrayed by the Drapers’ company, There are also
a handsome R. C. chapel, towards the rebuilding of
which the same company contributed £230; a place
of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the
Synod of Ulster, built by the company at an expense of
£4000; and one for those in connection with the Seced-
ing Synod, built on ground presented by the company,
who also contributed £250 towards its erection; these
last pay an annual rent of 5s., and the ground around
them has been tastefully laid out and planted by the
company. Two large and handsome school-houses,
with residences for a master and mistress, were built in
the town in 1820, and are supported by the Drapers’
company, who also have built and support four others
in the rural parts of their estate; in these schools
about 1400 children are gratuitously instructed, and
ten of the boys annually apprenticed to handicraft
trades; the masters have each a salary of £50 and
the mistresses of £35 per ann., with a house rent-
free and a supply of fuel. Two dispensaries, with
houses for resident surgeons, were built and are sup-
ported by the company, one here and one at Dra-
perstown, for the benefit of their tenantry; and two
county dispensaries at the same places were also erect-
ed and are solely supported by the same company,
for the benefit of such inhabitants of the surrounding
district as do not reside on their estates. The company
allow £1000 per ann., for the maintenance of the
schools and dispensaries, which are regulated by a Board
of Governors, consisting of the clergy of all denomina-
tions, the resident gentry of the neighbourhood, and the
respectable farmers on the estate, There are several
Danish forts in the parish, two of which, on the town-
land of Tulnagee, are in a perfect state; and ad-
joining the linen-hall are some slight vestiges of the
ancient castle.
MONIMOLIN.—See MONOMOLIN.
MONIVAE, or ABBERT, a market-town and parish,
in the barony of TYAQUIN, county of GALWAY, and
province of CONNAUGHT, 7½ miles (N.) from Craugh-
well, to which it has a penny post, on the road from
Galway to Castle-Blakeney, and on the river Tyaquin;
containing 5117 inhabitants. The parish comprises
15,337 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe
act: one-third of the land is good, the remainder being
of indifferent quality; there are 1000 acres of waste,
and 2500 of bog (on the estate of Tyaquin alone) all
reclaimable. It is a constabulary police station, and
petty sessions are held at irregular intervals. The market
is held on Thursday; and fairs are held on May 12th
and Oct. 12th. The principal seats are Tyaquin, the resi-
dence of Edmond Burke, Esq.; Monivae Castle, of
Robt. French, Esq.; Rye Hill, of Mrs. Riddington;
Abbert, of J. H. Blakeney, Esq.; Bellville, of T. Mahon,
Esq.; Bengarra, of J. Bodkin, Esq.; and Currandoo,