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MUC
MOYVORE, or TEMPLEPATRICK, a parish, in the
barony of RATHCONRATH, county of WESTMEATH, and
province of LEINSTER, 9½ miles (W.) from Mullingar, on
the road to Ballymahon; containing 765 inhabitants, of
which number, 213 are in the village. The parish com-
prises 1900 statute acres, of which a considerable portion
is bog, and the remainder, which is of good quality, is
chiefly under tillage: limestone abounds. The village con-
sists of 42 houses, and is a constabulary police station;
fairs are held on May 4th, Aug. 20th, and Dec. 5th. The
parish is in the diocese of Meath, and is entirely impro-
priate in the Representatives of the Earl of Belvidere: the
Protestant parishioners attend the church of Almoritia.
In the R. C. divisions it is the head of a union or dis-
trict, comprising the parishes of Moyvore, Forgney, and
Piercetown, in which union are two chapels, one in each
of the two latter places. Nearly 400 children are taught
in a national school. At Templepatrick are the remains
of an old fortress, and within the limits of the parish
are several raths.
MUCKALEE, or MUCKULLY, a parish, in the
barony of FASSADINING, county of KILKENNY, and pro-
vince of LEINSTER, 3 miles (S.) from Castlecomer, on
the road to Kilkenny, and on the river Dinin; contain-
ing 885 inhabitants. From the similarity of name, and
its situation, it is supposed that this place was the
Magh-ailbee, where, according to Keating, Cormac, king
of Munster, the king of Ossory, and various other
chieftains, were slain in 913. A battle appears to have
been fought in the vicinity, as a burial-ground is
marked by a number of upright stones, south-east of
Purcell’s hill, where the slain were interred. The parish
comprises 26,493 statute acres, of which 8288 are
arable, 1459 pasture, and the remainder waste or bog.
It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Ossory, forming part
of the union of Dunmore; the rectory is impropriate
in the corporation of Kilkenny. The tithes amount to
£150, of which £100 is payable to the corporation, and
£50 to the vicar. In the R. C. divisions it forms part
of the union or district of Templeorum. There are two
private schools, one of which is aided by subscription,
in which about 160 children are educated. On the
neighbouring hill of Knockmajor is a small circular en-
closure; and in the valley beneath, towards Wildfield,
many old spear heads have been found. Yellow
ochre, of a soft quality, is found at Wildfield; and
there is a weak chalybeate spring near the church of
Coolcullen.
MUCKAMORE, a grange, in the barony of LOWER
MASSAREENE, county of ANTRIM, and province of
ULSTER, 1 mile (S. E.) from Antrim; containing 1798
inhabitants. This place, anciently Mach-airi-mor, or
the “great field of adoration,” is situated on the Six-
mile-Water; and comprises, according to the Ordnance
survey, 3921¼ statute acres, exclusively of 1519 acres
covered by Lough Neagh. It probably derived its name
from its having been, during the times of Druidical su-
perstition, the place selected for the performance of the
religious rites of that people; a rude pillar consisting of
a single stone, now called the “hole stone,” or “old
stone,” is supposed to commemorate the fact. A mo-
nastery was founded here in 550, by Colman Elo, com-
monly, from the great number of churches that he had
founded, called St. Columbkill. This establishment ac-
quired great celebrity, and notwithstanding the internal
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MUC
wars which distracted the country, continued to flourish
till the 32nd of Hen. VIII., when it was delivered up
to the king’s commissioners by Bryan Doyomahallon, its
last abbot. Soon after the conquest of Ulster, in 1172,
De Courcy visited this monastery and confirmed to the
monks their former possessions and extended their an-
cient privileges, to which were added a grant of free
warren, with an annual fair and a monthly market by
Hen. VI., in 1430. In the 18th of Jas. I., it was granted
by letters patent to Sir Roger Langford, from whom it
descended to the Earls of Massereene, under whom it is
held on lease for lives renewable in perpetuity. Only a
very small portion of this once splendid pile is now re-
maining; but the extensive cemetery is still the burial-
place of the surrounding district. Its situation was one
of the finest that could have been selected, comprehend-
ing every advantage of wood and wafer, and every
variety of hill and dale, with a pleasingly undulating
surface, and a soil of exuberant fertility. The whole of
the grange, which is extra-parochial, is in the highest
state of cultivation, and is drained, fenced, planted, and
stocked upon the English system. Muckamore House,
the residence of S. Thompson, Esq.; Greenmount, of
W. Thompson, Esq.; the Lodge, of F. Whittle, Esq.;
and New Lodge, of the Rev. A. C. Macartney, are all
handsome mansions delightfully situated in grounds
tastefully and elegantly laid out. Close to the ruins of
the abbey, and on the Six-mile-Water, is a very exten-
sive bleach-green, belonging to W. Chaine, Esq., at
which more than 80,000 pieces of linen are annually
finished for the London market; there are also, on the
same river, another bleach-green on a smaller scale, an
extensive paper-manufactory, and one of the most com-
plete flour-mills in the county, in which 2200 tons of
grain are annually ground: these works afford employ-
ment to the labouring population of the liberty, and also
to many from the town of Antrim. The fair granted
by Hen. VI. is held in the village of Oldstone, on the
12th of June, and is the largest horse fair in the pro-
vince. The members of the Established Church attend
divine service in the church of Antrim. About 80
children are educated in a school at Oldstone, aided
by an annual donation from Mr. Thompson; and about
30 children in a private school. There are also two
Sunday schools. Within the liberty are several raths
and forts, two of the first of which are very extensive
and in a perfect state; and there are also several re-
mains of cromlechs. Among the ruins of the abbey,
two silver candlesticks and other valuable relics are said
to have been discovered some years since.
MUCKNOE, a parish, in the barony of CREMORNE,
county of MONAGHAN and province of ULSTER, on
the road from Carrickmacross to Armagh; containing,
with the post-town of Castle-Blayney (which is separately
described), 9717 inhabitants. This parish comprises
17,194 statute acres, according to the Ordnance sur-
vey, of which 14,155 are applotted under the tithe act,
377¾ are in Mucknoe lake, and 163 in smaller lakes;
the land consists chiefly of arable and pasture, but there
are large detached tracts of bog, and a considerable
portion is mountain, of which Mullyash rises 1034 feet
above the level of the sea. The principal crops are oats,
flax, and potatoes: stone quarries are worked for build-
ing; and there are two corn-mills. Monthly fairs are
held at Castle-Blayney. Castle-Blayney, the seat of