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Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

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BAL<br />

BALLINDERRY, a parish, in the barony of UPPER<br />

MASSAREENE, county of ANTRIM, and province of<br />

ULSTER, 3½ miles (N.) from Moira; containing 5356<br />

inhabitants. At Portmore, an extensive castle was<br />

erected by Lord Conway, in. 1664, on the site of a more<br />

ancient fortress: it contained accommodation for two<br />

troops of horse, with a range of stabling 140 feet in<br />

length, 35 feet in breadth, and 40 feet in height; there-<br />

mains consist only of the ancient garden wall, part of the<br />

stables, and the ruins of one of the bastions. During<br />

the Protectorate the learned Jeremy Taylor retired to<br />

this place, and remained at the seat of Lord Conway<br />

till the Restoration, when he was promoted to the bishop-<br />

rick of Down and Connor. On a small island in the<br />

lough are still some remains of a summer-house, in<br />

which he is said to have written some of the most im-<br />

portant of his works, and in the neighbourhood his<br />

memory is still held in great respect. The parish is<br />

situated on the road from Antrim to Dublin, and is in-<br />

tersected by the mail coach road from Lurgan to An-<br />

trim: it comprises, according to the Ordnance survey,<br />

10,891 statute acres, of which 283½ are in Portmore<br />

Lough. The land is almost all arable and in a good<br />

state of cultivation; the system of tillage is improving.<br />

There is little or no waste land; in the north-east and<br />

south-west parts of the parish are some valuable bogs.<br />

The weaving of linen and cotton affords employment to<br />

a considerable number of persons, but the greater num-<br />

ber of the inhabitants are engaged in agriculture. The<br />

Lagan canal from Lough Neagh, on the north-west, to<br />

Belfast passes within the distance of a mile. The<br />

parish is within the jurisdiction of the manorial court<br />

of Killultagh, held at Lisburn.<br />

The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Connor,<br />

and in the patronage of the Marquess of Hertford, in<br />

whom the rectory is impropriate: the tithes amount to<br />

£480, of which £400 is paid to the vicar, and £80 to<br />

the impropriator. The church was erected in 1827,<br />

through the exertions of Dean Stannus, at an expense<br />

of £2200, of which the Marquess of Hertford gave<br />

£1000, and the late Board of First Fruits the re-<br />

mainder; it is a handsome edifice, in the later style of<br />

English architecture, with a tower and spire 128 feet<br />

in height, and is beautifully situated on rising ground<br />

near the small village of Upper Ballinderry. There is<br />

a glebe of eight acres, but no glebe-house. In the<br />

R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or<br />

district of Aughagallon and Ballinderry: the chapel is a<br />

small building. There is a place of worship for Pres-<br />

byterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, of the<br />

third class; also a Moravian meeting house. In addi-<br />

tion to the parochial school, there are schools at Lower<br />

Ballinderry, Killultagh, and Legartariffe; all, except<br />

the last, were built within the last ten years, chiefly<br />

through the benevolent exertions of Dean Stannus, at<br />

an expense of £600; they are well conducted, and will<br />

accommodate 300 children: there are also several<br />

private pay schools. —Murray, Esq., bequeathed £100<br />

British; J. Moore Johnston, Esq., £83. 6. 8.; and<br />

Hugh Casement, Esq., £25 Irish currency, to the<br />

poor of the parish. The old parish church, which was<br />

built after the Restoration of Chas. II., still remains;<br />

and on the eastern side of it is a burial-place, called<br />

Templecormack, in the centre of which the foundations<br />

of a small building may be traced. There are also some<br />

112<br />

BAL<br />

remains of an ancient church close to Portmore Lough,<br />

at the western extremity of the parish. The manor of<br />

Killultagh gives the title of Baron Conway of Killultagh<br />

to the Seymour family.<br />

BALLINDERRY, or BALLYDERRY, a parish,<br />

partly in the barony of DUNGANNON, county of TYRONE,<br />

but chiefly in the barony of LOUGHINSHOLIN, county<br />

of LONDONDERRY, and province of ULSTER, 7 miles<br />

(S. E. by E.) from Moneymore; containing 3163 inhabi-<br />

tants. This parish is situated on the Ballinderry river,<br />

which here separates the above-named baronies and<br />

counties, and falls into the north-western portion of<br />

Lough Neagh. It comprises, according to the Ordnance<br />

survey, 8177 statute acres, of which 2268½ are in the<br />

county of Tyrone, and 5908½ are in Londonderry;<br />

2978 acres form a portion of Lough Neagh. The<br />

greater part belongs to the Salters’ Company, of Lon-<br />

don; part belongs to the see of Derry; and some of<br />

the lands are held under Cromwellian debentures, and<br />

are the only lands in the county of Londonderry, west<br />

of the river Bann, that are held by that tenure. A<br />

castle was built by the Salters’ Company at Salters-<br />

town, in 1615, soon after they had obtained the grant<br />

of those lands from Jas. I.; and in the insurrection of<br />

1641 it was surprised by Sir Phelim O’Nial, who put<br />

all the inmates to death, with the exception of the<br />

keeper, who, with his wife and family, effected their<br />

escape to Carrickfergus, where, taking refuge in the<br />

church, they were finally starved to death. It continued<br />

for some time in the possession of the insurgents, who,<br />

being ultimately driven from their post, destroyed it,<br />

together with the church adjoining. Nearly the whole<br />

of the land is arable and under an excellent system of<br />

cultivation; a valuable tract of bog produces excellent<br />

fuel, and there is no waste land. There are several<br />

large and well-built houses in the parish; but the only<br />

seat is Ballyronan, that of J. Gaussen, Esq. The inha-<br />

bitants combine with agricultural pursuits the weaving<br />

of linen and cotton cloth; and at Ballyronan an ex-<br />

tensive distillery has been lately established by Messrs.<br />

Gaussen, situated on the shore of Lough Neagh, close to<br />

the little port of Ballyronan. The living is a rectory,<br />

in the diocese of Armagh, and in the patronage of the<br />

Lord-Primate: the tithes amount to £192. 6. 2. The<br />

church, a large edifice in the later English style of<br />

architecture, was erected in 1707. The glebe-house,<br />

nearly adjoining, was built at an expense of £980, of<br />

which £100 was a gift from the late Board of First<br />

Fruits, in 1795: the glebe comprises 413 acres of well-<br />

cultivated arable land. The R. C. parish is co-extensive<br />

with that of the Established Church; there is a chapel<br />

at Ballylifford, and at Derryaghrin is an altar in the<br />

open air. Near the church is a place of worship for<br />

Wesleyan Methodists. The parochial school, in which<br />

are about 40 boys and 20 girls, is aided by a donation<br />

of £10 per annum from the rector; and there are three<br />

Sunday schools, one of which is held in the R. C.<br />

chapel, and three daily pay schools, in which are about<br />

80 children. The ruins of the castle at Salterstown,<br />

situated on the margin of the lake, present a picturesque<br />

and interesting appearance, but are fast mouldering<br />

away. Adjoining the bridge over the river are the re-<br />

mains of an ancient iron forge, erected by the Salters’<br />

Company in 1626, but which soon after fell into disuse.<br />

At Salterstown, near the site of the old church and

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