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RAT
of land; it is in the presentation of O. W. C. Begg,
Esq., of Mount D’Alton. The other chapel is at Empor,
in Kilmacnevin. About 230 children are educated in
two public schools, of which one in the village is
entirely supported by the rector; the other at Miltown
is a national school: and there are two private schools,
in which are about 117 children. Ruins exist of the
old church: at Washford are the remains of an ancient
monastic institution: the old castles of Loghan, or
Mount D’Alton, Corkan, and Miltown, are in existence;
adjoining the former is a cave, in which teeth and bones
of gigantic size were found in 1780. Scattered over the
parish are many raths, some of them very large, and
one., in particular, is a fine specimen of this species of
fortification, having circumvallations and other works.
At Mount D’Alton were born Gens. James D’Alton and
Richard, Count D’Alton, Knight of the military order of
Maria Theresa, and Governor of the Austrian Nether-
lands in the reign of the Emperor Joseph II. of Germany,
to whom he was Chamberlain and a Privy Counsellor;
he died at Treves in 1790, on his route from Brussels
to Vienna.
RATHCOOL, a parish, in the barony of GOWRAN,
county of KILKENNY, and province of LEINSTER, 4
miles (N. N. E.) from Kilkenny; containing 1225 inha-
bitants, and comprising 5110½ statute acres. Within
its limits is Sandsford’s Court, the property of Michael
Warren, Esq.; and at Johnswell is a station of the con-
stabulary police. The living is a vicarage, united to that
of Kilkyran, and in the gift of the Dean and Chapter, to
whom the rectory is appropriate: the tithes of the united
parishes amount to £330, of which £220 is payable to
the appropriators, and the remainder to the vicar. In
the R. C. divisions it forms part of the union or district
of St. John’s; the chapel is at Johnswell, where there
is also a school of about 100 children, under the patron-
age of Mr. Warren.
RATHCOOL, a parish, in the barony of MIDDLE-
THIRD, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER,
1¼ mile (N. W.) from Fethard; containing 1611 inha-
bitants. It comprises 5759 statute acres, as applotted
under the tithe act; of the land, which is of superior
quality, about two-thirds are in tillage, and the remainder,
with the exception of about 150 acres of woodland, in
pasture. There are several handsome seats, of which
the principal are Derrylusker, that of Mrs. Palliser;
Ardsalla, of Lieut.-Col. Geo. Gough; Annsgift, of Major
Gough; Rocklow, of Benj. Frend, Esq.; and Coolmore,
of M. Villiers Sankey, Esq. It is a rectory and vicar-
age, in the diocese of Cashel, forming part of the union
of Fethard: the tithes amount to £365. About 20
children are educated in a private school. There are
some remains of the castle of Slanestown, and near the
demesne of Rocklow is a large moat or rath.
RATHCOOLE, a post-town and parish, in the ba-
rony of UPPERCROSS, county of DUBLIN, and province
of LEINSTER, 8 miles (S. W.) from Dublin, on the road
to Naas; containing 1409 inhabitants, of which num-
ber, 602 are in the town. This place, anciently called
“Radcull,” appears from, various records to have been
incorporated prior to the time of Hen. III., and to
have had burgesses. In the 24th of that reign (1240),
it is recorded that “Lucas, Archbishop of Dublin, grants
to the burgesses of Radcull common of pasture and
turbary in the mountain of Slescol with his men of
492
RAT
Newcastle near Lyons, at 4s. per annum.” The town,
which is about a quarter of a mile in length, contains
112 houses irregularly built, and has a patent for hold-
ing fairs on April 23rd, June 18th, and Oct. 9th, but
these fairs have not been held for some years. It is the
head station of the constabulary police for the district of
Uppercross, and the residence of the chief constable.
The parish comprises 4005 statute acres, as applotted
under the tithe act; the land is fertile, and generally
under profitable cultivation; about 600 acres of common
were enclosed in 1818. To the west of the town is a
range of heights branching off from the chain of hills on
the confines of the county of Wicklow, in a north-west-
ern direction, comprising the hills of Rathcoole, Wind-
mill, Athgoe and Lyons, the formation of which is
generally clay-slate loose and conglomerate, and grau-
wacke slate, with occasional alternations of granite, and
some red conglomerate sandstone. The principal seat
is Johnstown, the handsome residence of J. Kennedy,
Esq., in a tastefully disposed and well-cultivated demesne
of 200 acres. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of
Dublin, united to the rectory and vicarage of Calliaghs-
town, and in the patronage of the Archbishop; the
rectory forms part of the corps of the deanery of St.
Patrick’s, Dublin. The tithes amount to £310, of which
£60 is payable to the dean, and the remainder to the
vicar; the glebe-house is a good residence, and the
glebe comprises 15 acres, of which 6 were allotted from
the common on its enclosure in 1818. The church, for
the repair of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners
have recently granted £111, is a neat plain edifice. In
the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union of
Saggard. A school, in which are about 70 children, is
supported by J. D. La Touche, Esq., and there is a pri-
vate school of about 40 children, also a dispensary. A
school was endowed here for 50 Protestant girls by the
late Mrs. Mary Mercer, which was removed some years
since to the parish of Castleknock. This place formerly
gave the title of Viscount to the family of Tracey, to
which James Tracey, Esq., of Geashill, in King’s county,
is at present prosecuting his claim before the House of
Lords.
RATHCOONEY, a parish, in the North Liberties of
the county of the city of CORK, and province of MUN-
STER, 4 miles (E. N. E.) from Cork, on the mail coach
road to Dublin; containing, with the village of Glanmire
and part of Riverstown, 2988 inhabitants. In 1716 a
battle was fought at Lower Glanmire, in this parish,
between a regiment that had turned out for arrears of
pay and posted themselves in the village, and a regiment
which was brought up from Cove with two pieces of
cannon to reduce the former to submission, which, after
an obstinate conflict, they effected, when three of the
ringleaders were shot by sentence of a court martial.
The parish, which is bounded on the east and north-
east by the river Glanmire, and on the south by the
estuary of the Lee, comprises 4982 statute acres, as
applotted under the tithe act, and chiefly under tillage.
The soil is light and shallow on the hills, but richer on
the lower grounds; the system of agriculture is im-
proving; there is very little waste land, and scarcely
any bog. Sea-weed and sand, which are obtained with
facility, are the principal manures, and the crops are in
general of good quality. There are numerous gentle-
men’s seats and good houses in the immediate vicinity