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RAT
RATHASPECK, a parish, in the barony of FORTH,
county of WEXFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 2½
miles (S. by W.) from Wexford; containing 626 inha-
bitants. It is situated between Forth Mountain and
Wexford haven, and comprises 2401 statute acres of
good land, which, from the great encouragement afford-
ed by the proprietor, is in an excellent state of cultiva-
tion: marl abounds in the parish, and limestone for
agricultural purposes is obtained from the adjoining
parish of Rathmacknee. Johnstown Castle, the noble
mansion of Hamilton Knox Grogan Morgan, Esq., the
principal proprietor of the surrounding district, was
occupied for one night by Oliver Cromwell, who on the
following morning reviewed his troops in the demesne
preparatory to his attack on Wexford. The present
house has been greatly enlarged and embellished in the
Gothic style, and the extensive demesne has been much
improved and laid out with great taste. At the village
of Rathaspeck is a station of the constabulary police.
The parish is in the diocese of Ferns, and is a rectory,
forming part of the union of St. Patrick’s, Wexford:
the tithes amount to £120. 9. 8., and there are two
glebes, comprising 8¼ acres. The church, which is a
neat plain building, is still considered the mother church
of the union, and the incumbent is consequently first
inducted there: it was rebuilt in 1823, at an expense of
about £900, aided by a grant from the late Board of
First Fruits. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms
part of the union or district of Piercestown. On the
demesne of Johnstown Castle is a very handsome school-
house, in the rustic style, built by Mr. Morgan, at an
expense exceeding £300: the school is entirely sup-
ported by Mrs. Morgan; in addition to the usual
course of education, the boys are taught the ele-
ments of surveying and navigation, and such as dis-
tinguish themselves are intended to be placed by their
patrons in suitable situations. At a short distance
from Johnstown Castle, with which the remains of
the ancient edifice are incorporated, and in that part
of the demesne which extends into the adjoining parish
of Kildavin, are the ruins of Rathlannan castle. Tra-
dition states that these castles were at one period
occupied by two sisters. On the townland of White-
stone formerly stood the castle of that name, of which
not a vestige can be traced; about 50 years since,
several articles of gold and silver plate and other articles
of value were found near its site, supposed to have been
hidden there during the civil war of the 17th century.
RATHASPICK, a parish, in the barony of MOY-
GOISH, county of WESTMEATH, and province of LEIN-
STER, on the mail coach road from Dublin to Sligo;
containing, with the market and post-town of Rathowen
(which is separately described), 2170 inhabitants. This
parish is bounded on the west by Lough Glynn, and
on the south and east by the river Inny. It comprises
4542 statute acres, exclusively of a considerable portion
of bog: the land is good for pasture and tillage, and
the system of agriculture is improving. Limestone
abounds, for which there are quarries, and there is also
abundance of limestone gravel and marl. Petty sessions
and fairs are held at Rathowen. A bridge of 12 arches
crosses the Inny at Ballicorkey, which river here sepa-
rates the dioceses of Ardagh and Meath. Newpass is the
property of Sir George R. Fetherston, Bart; Ard-
glass, the residence of Major A. P. Bond; Rockfield, of
488
RAT
M. Crawford, Esq.; Ardglass Cottage, of J. Atkinson,
Esq.; and Newpark, of J. A’Hmuty, Esq. The living
is an impropriate curacy, in the diocese of Ardagh, and
in the patronage of Sir J. Bennett Piers, Bart., in whom
the rectory is impropriate. The tithes amount to
£128. 5., entirely payable to the impropriator: the
curate’s stipend is £92. 6. 7½ of which £83. 2. is de-
rived from Primate Boulter’s augmentation fund, and
£9. 4. 7½. is allowed by the impropriator; he has also
the glebe, comprising nine acres, valued at £18 per ann.
and subject to a rent of £8. 11. 8. The glebe-house was
built, in 1817, at a cost of £461. 10. 9¼., of which
£415. 7. 8¼. was a gift, and the remainder a loan, from
the late Board of First Fruits. The church is a neat
structure, with a square tower, built in 1814 by aid of
a gift of £800, and enlarged in 1821 by a loan of £200
from the same Board, In the R. C. divisions the parish
forms part of the union or district of Russagh, and con-
tains a chapel. About 90 children are taught in two
schools aided by private subscriptions; one of which
is under the patronage of M. Crawford, Esq., who gives
the house and half an acre of land; and in two private
schools are about 70 children; there is also a Sunday
school. There are ruins of two castles; a curious rath;
and remains of the conventual church of Kilmoca-
hill, or Kilmichael, a monastery founded by the Petyt
family, the possessions of which were given to Robert
Nangle at the dissolution. There are several mineral
springs.
RATHBARRY, a parish, in the barony of IBANE
and BARRYROE, county of CORK, and province of MUN-
STER, 4 miles (W. S. W.) from Clonakilty, on the road
from Cork to Skibbereen; containing 2748 inhabi-
tants. This place, which is situated on the southern
coast, derives its name from an ancient fort, of which
there are still some picturesque remains in Lord
Carbery’s demesne. This fortress, anciently called
Rathbarry, now Castle Freke, was erected in the 15th
century by Randal Oge Barry, and in 1602 was sur-
rendered to Capt. Harvey for Queen Elizabeth, accord-
ing to the treaty of Kinsale, and was retained by the
English till the breaking out of the war in 1641. Soon
after the commencement of hostilities, it was besieged
by the insurgents, but was resolutely defended by its
proprietor, Arthur Freke, Esq., who maintained it against
all their attacks from the 14th of February till the 18th
of October, when it was relieved by Sir Chas. Vavasour
and Capt. Jephson, who conducted the owner and his
garrison in safety to Bandon and set fire to the castle,
to prevent its being occupied by the enemy. The insur-
gents, nevertheless, took the castle of Dundedy, which
they kept till the spring of the year 1643, when they
also obtained possession of the remains of Castle Freke;
but in July they were driven from this place by Col.
Myn, who restored the castle and placed in it a garrison
which retained possession till the arrival of Cromwell.
The parish comprises 4189 statute acres, as applotted
under the tithe act: the surface is very uneven, and
towards the sea the land is cold and the soil sandy; but
in the centre of the parish and around Miltown, more
fertile. The vale in which Miltown is situated is very
beautiful and in many parts has been richly planted by
Lord Carbery and the incumbent. Castle Freke, the
seat of Lord Carbery, a handsome castellated mansion,
erected near the site of the old fortress of Rathbarry, is