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Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

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BAL<br />

the entire tithes of the benefice, payable to the vicar.,<br />

are £208. The church is an ancient edifice with a<br />

spire and minarets, for the repair of which the Ecclesi-<br />

astical Commissioners have lately granted £157. There<br />

is neither glebe-house nor glebe. In the R. C. divisions<br />

this parish forms part of the union of Burris-o-kane:<br />

the chapel is situated at the Pike, and is of recent erec-<br />

tion. A school was established in 1834 by the vicar,<br />

by whom, aided by a few private subscriptions, it is<br />

supported. There are some remains of the ancient<br />

castle of Ballingarry, from which it appears to have been<br />

of great strength and. magnitude.<br />

BALLINGARRY, or GARE, a parish, in the barony,<br />

of SLIEVARBAGH county of TIPPERARY, and province<br />

of MUNSTER, 5 miles (E. by N.) from Killenaule; con-<br />

taining 5872 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated<br />

on the southern portion of the great coal field of Sliev-<br />

ardagh, and is the property of Matthew Pennefather,<br />

Esq., comprises 13,325 statute acres, as applotted under<br />

the tithe act, and chiefly in pasture; there is neither<br />

bog nor waste land. The village has arisen within the<br />

last 20 years, and consists of nearly 100 neatly built<br />

houses inhabited principally by persons connected with<br />

the adjacent collieries. Fairs are held on Whit-Monday,<br />

July 23rd, Nov. 1lth, and Dec. 12th, and are well supplied<br />

with cattle and pigs. There is a constabulary police<br />

station in the village. The principal seats are Coal<br />

Brook, that of H. Langley, Esq., a handsome residence;<br />

Harley Park, of J. P. Poe, Esq., pleasantly situated in a<br />

richly planted demesne; and Ballyphilip, of Ambrose<br />

Going, Esq., the demesne of which is tastefully laid out.<br />

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

in the patronage of the Bishop; the rectory is impro-<br />

priate in the Rev. — Hayden; the tithes amount to<br />

£738. 9. 2¾., of which £492. 6. 1¾ is payable to the<br />

impropriator, and the remainder to the vicar. The<br />

church, a neat plain edifice with a tower, was erected<br />

by aid of a gift of £470 from the late Board of First<br />

Fruits, in 1811. The glebe-house was built by a gift of<br />

£350 and a loan of £450 from the same Board, in 1814:<br />

the glebe comprises 17½ acres, subject to a rent. The<br />

R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established<br />

Church: the chapel, which is situated in the village, is<br />

a handsome and spacious edifice, erected in 1828 on a<br />

site of about two acres of land given by the late Col.<br />

Pennefather; in the chapelyard is a school-house. A<br />

school-house under the trustees of Erasmus Smith’s<br />

foundation was erected at an expense of £300, and two<br />

acres of land were assigned to it by the late Col. Penne-<br />

father; and there are three other schools, supported by<br />

private subscription. These schools afford instruction<br />

to about 250 boys, and 120 girls; and there are also<br />

six pay schools, in which are about 270 boys and 170<br />

girls.<br />

The coal field, of which a considerable portion is<br />

within this parish, extends 7 miles in length and 3 miles<br />

in breadth: the coal is found in three distinct seams of<br />

12, 18, and 24 inches in thickness, lying above each<br />

other at intervening distances varying from 90 to 140<br />

feet, dipping to a common centre, and appearing at the<br />

surface on all sides: the extreme depth of the lowest<br />

seam is about 700 feet. The coal beds lie about 1800<br />

feet over a mass of limestone rock of great thickness,<br />

which shews itself at the surface all round on an average<br />

within two miles of the pits. The coal field is divided<br />

115<br />

BAL<br />

among various proprietors in portions varying from<br />

1000 to 1500 acres, each of whom is the owner of the<br />

coal upon his own land. Some of the mines have been<br />

drained and worked by the proprietors, by means of day<br />

levels or adits, for which the undulation of the surface<br />

is extremely favourable; and of late years several of the<br />

collieries have been let on lease to the Mining Company<br />

of Ireland, who have erected steam-engines for raising<br />

the water from the deeper parts of the mines, and made<br />

various other improvements for working them to greater<br />

advantage. The collieries on the estate of Coalbrook<br />

had been worked upon a judicious plan and with great<br />

success by the late proprietor, Charles Langley, Esq.,<br />

for the last 30 years, and are still carried on in a similar<br />

manner by the present proprietor. On the estate of<br />

Kilballygalavin, also in this parish, and the property of<br />

the Earl of Carrick, are mines under lease to the Mining<br />

Company, which are now being opened; and on the<br />

estate of Boulintlea, belonging to Edward Cooke, Esq.,<br />

are others under lease to the same Company, which are<br />

now in operation, and for working which, on a more<br />

extensive scale, preparations are now in progress. The<br />

mines on the estate of Ballyphilip are very extensive,<br />

and the coal is of good quality; they have not latterly<br />

been worked to advantage, but arrangements are now in<br />

progress for opening them to a greater extent and work-<br />

ing them upon a more improved plan. The average<br />

price of large coal at the pit is 15s. per ton, and of<br />

culm, 7s. The coal, which is of the non-flaming kind, is<br />

in great request with malsters and millers for drying<br />

corn; and is also esteemed very profitable for culinary<br />

uses, for which it is carried to a great distance. About<br />

three-fourths of the produce of the mines is culm, which<br />

is used chiefly for burning lime. The entire produce of<br />

the coal field at present is valued at about £25,000 per<br />

annum; but the returns are likely to be much aug-<br />

mented by the more extensive working of the mines<br />

and the increased demand arising from the progres-<br />

sive improvements in agriculture.<br />

BALLINGLEY.—See BALLYINGLEY.<br />

BALLINLOGHY, or BALLINLOUGH, a parish, in<br />

the barony of SMALL COUNTY, county of LIMERICK,<br />

and province of MUNSTER, 6 miles (E. N. E.) from<br />

Bruff; containing 1286 inhabitants. This parish, which<br />

is situated on the road from Pallas-Greine to BrufF,<br />

comprises 2007 statute acres, as applotted under the<br />

tithe act, and is the joint property of the Earls of Sand-<br />

wich and Aldborough. The land is in general good,<br />

and is subdivided into a great number of small farms;<br />

the inhabitants are amply supplied with fuel from three<br />

bogs in the neighbourhood. It is a vicarage, in the<br />

diocese of Emly, and forms part of the union of Aney:<br />

the rectory is impropriate in the Earl of Limerick.<br />

The tithes amount to £243. 16. 10., of which two-thirds<br />

are payable to the impropriator and the remainder to<br />

the vicar. There is neither church nor glebe-house: the<br />

glebe comprises 12 acres of excellent land, which are<br />

wholly claimed by the Earl of Kenmare. In the R. C.<br />

divisions it is part of the union or district of Hospital<br />

and Herbertstown. Here are two eminences, one called<br />

Cromwell’s Hill and the other Cromwell’s Moat; both<br />

have traces of works on them, but apparently of much<br />

greater antiquity than the time of Cromwell.<br />

BALLINLONDRY, or BALLINLANDERS, a pa-<br />

rish, in the barony of COSTLEA., county of LIMERICK,<br />

Q2

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