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RAN
Belfast; containing 618 inhabitants. This place, which
is situated on the river Maine, was from that circum-
stance called Mainwater, and also Iron-Works, from the
forges and furnaces formerly in extensive operation, and
of which there are still some remains. In the war of
the Revolution the town was the head-quarters of the
Earl of Antrim’s forces, who marched hence for the
siege of Londonderry; and in the disturbances of 1798,
a body of the insurgent forces attacked it, burned the
market-house, and continued their devastations till the
approach of Cols. Clavering and Durham, on the even-
ing of the same day, when they retreated to Toome
bridge. In 1683, Chas. II., in consideration of a fine
of £200, granted to Rose, Marchioness of Antrim, the
manor of Edenduffcarrick, with all its rights and privi-
leges, and constituted the town of Iron-Works a free
borough, with power to return two members to parlia-
ment, to be chosen by the majority of the inhabitants,
on precept to the seneschal of the manor issued by the
sheriffs of Antrim. The borough continued to return
two members till the Union, when the franchise was
abolished.
The town is pleasantly situated on the western bank of
the river Maine, over which is a handsome bridge of nine
arches, and contains 113 houses, neatly built and of pleas-
ing appearance. The barracks for the staff of the county
militia, whose head-quarters and depôt are here, are well
built; there is a good inn near the bridge. The chief
trade is the. spinning of cotton and the weaving of calico,
for which there are extensive mills; in these, more than
600 persons are employed; and there is a large bleach-
green. The market is on Wednesday and is abundantly
supplied with wheat, flour, meal, and pork, great quan-
tities of wheat and pork being sent to Belfast; there
is also a market for linen and linen yam on the first
Wednesday in every month; and fairs are held
on July 16th and Nov. 1st, chiefly for cattle and
pigs. The market-house, in which are an assembly-
room and rooms for holding the various courts, is a neat
and well-arranged building. There is a constabulary
police station in the town, and petty sessions are held
on alternate Thursdays. A court baron for the manor,
which is the property of Earl O’Neill, is held before
the seneschal every month, at which debts not exceed-
ing £20 are recoverable; and a court leet annually, at
which a weigh-master, a market jury and constables
are appointed, and some small presentments made for
the repair of the court-house and other purposes. The
parish church, a handsome structure in the early English
style, with an octagonal spire, is situated in the town;
in which arc also a spacious and well-built R. C. chapel,
two Presbyterian places of worship, and a dispensary.
In the immediate vicinity is Shane’s Castle, park, and
demesne, the property, and, previously to the destruc-
tion of the mansion by an accidental fire in 1816, the
residence of Earl O’Neill, which is noticed more parti-
cularly in the article on Drummaul.
RANELAGH, a village, in the parish of ST. PETER,
barony of UPPERCROSS, county of DUBLIN, and province
of LEINSTER, 1½ mile (S. by E.) from the General Post-
office, Dublin, on the road to Enniskerry; containing
1988 inhabitants. Here is a nunnery of the Carmelite
order, with a neat chapel attached: a school for poor
girls is gratuitously conducted by the nuns. In the vi-
cinity are several avenues in which are a number of neat
484
RAP
villas; also the extensive nursery grounds of Messrs.
Toole and Co. Adjoining the village is Cullenswood,
noted for a dreadful massacre by the native Irish of
upwards of 500 citizens (a colony from Bristol), who on
Easter-Monday, 1209, went out to divert themselves
near the wood, where they were surprised and slaugh-
tered. The day was afterwards called “Black Monday,”
and the place is still known by the name of the “Bloody
Fields.”
RAPEMILLS, a hamlet, in the parish of REYNAGH,
barony of GARRYCASTLE, KING’S county, and province
of LEINSTER, 3 miles (S.) from Banagher, on the road
to Parsonstown; containing 9 houses and 64 inhabit-
ants. It takes its name from some rape-mills erected
here.
RAPHOE, a market and post-town, a parish, and
the seat of a diocese, in the barony of RAPHOE, county
of DONEGAL, and province of ULSTER, 5 miles (N. W.)
from Lifford, and 113¾ (N. by W.) from Dublin, on the
road from Strabane to Stranorlar; containing 6227
inhabitants, of which number, 1408 are in the town.
This place, anciently called Rathboth, appears to have
derived both its early and present importance from the
foundation of an extensive monastery here by St. Co-
lumb, which, after its restoration by St. Adamnanus,
who died in 703, continued to flourish and was soon
after made the seat of a bishoprick. The town consists
chiefly of three small streets branching off from a mar-
ket-place of triangular form, and contains 288 houses,
which are neatly built. An agricultural society has been
established, which holds its meetings here. The whole
of the surrounding scenery is agreeably diversified, and
in the neighbourhood are some interesting views. The
market is on Saturday, chiefly for meal and potatoes,
and occasionally for linen yarn; besides which large
markets are held on the first Saturday in Jan., Feb.,
March, April, and December; and fairs are held on
May 1st, June 22nd, Aug. 27th, and Nov-. 4th. The
market-house is a neat building and well-arranged.
The town is the head-quarters of the constabulary
police for the county, and the residence of the sub-in-
spector; and petty sessions are held on alternate Satur-
days. The parish, which is situated in the centre of the
champaign district of the county, comprises, according
to the Ordnance survey, 13,224½ statute acres, as ap-
plotted under the tithe act; the land is generally of
good quality and in a state of profitable cultivation.
The only seat, exclusively of the Episcopal palace and
Deanery, is Green Hills, the residence of W. Fenwick,
Esq.
The SEE appears to have
originated during the abbacy
of St. Eunan, who convert-
ed the church of the monas-
tery into a cathedral, and
became the first bishop, but
at what date cannot be pre-
cisely ascertained; nor is any
thing more recorded of his
successors prior to the Eng-
lish invasion than the mere
names of one or two prelates,
of whom the last, Aengus,
died in 957. Gilbert O’Laran, who was consecrated in
1160, was a subscribing witness to a charter of confir-