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RAT
glebe-house has been already noticed: the glebe con-
sists of 11½ acres. The old church, situated in the town,
was erected in 1796, aided by a private loan and volun-
tary subscriptions to the amount of £1000, and by the
sale of the materials of the former building: being in
a dilapidated state, it has been lately taken down and
rebuilt, at an expense of £1600, of which £1200 was
granted by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the
remainder raised by subscription. One of the bells, on
which there is an inscription in ancient characters, is
said to have belonged to one of the churches at Glen-
dalough. There are chapels of ease at Ballinatone
and Moycreddin or Carysfort, served by curates ap-
pointed by the rector. The R. C. parish is co-extensive
with that of the Established Church; part of the
Flannel-hall has been fitted up as a chapel, and a good
house has been erected by Earl Fitzwilliam, near the
town, as a residence for the parish priest: there are
also chapels at Clara, Moycreddin, and Grenane. The
Wesleyan Methodists have a meeting-house in the town.
In Rathdrum is a large school-house, with a garden and
teacher’s house, in which 80 children of each sex are in-
structed, 40 of each gratuitously: the rent is paid by
the rector, and the teacher receives his salary from the
funds of Erasmus Smith’s charity: the school requisites
are provided by private subscription. There is also a
school in the Flannel-hall, aided by an annual donation
of £20 from Earl Fitzwilliam: schools are supported at
Ballinacor by Mr. Kemmis, at Avondale by private sub-
scription, and at Ballinaclash and Ballinderry by the
rector. At Carysfort is a royal endowed school: in all
these about 220 boys and 180 girls are educated: there
are also five Sunday schools. A dispensary was esta-
blished in 1812, and there is a lending library of about
300 volumes attached to the church. Mr. John Tate, of
Fannaneerin, bequeathed lands in Knockrath, of the
value of £100 per ann., to be employed in loans of £5,
free of interest, for a year, and for assisting the families
of the sick, infirm, and aged poor with small donations;
£50 per annum of this fund is appropriated to the dis-
pensary. A charitable association was formed in 1829,
by subscription, to relieve the wants of the necessitous
poor in their own houses, and for encouraging industry.
On Drumkitt hill is a chalybeate spring of considerable
efficacy.—See CARYSFORT.
RATHDRUMMIN, a parish, in the barony of FER-
RAUD, county of LOUTH, and province of LEINSTER,
2 miles (S. E.) from Dunleer, on the road from Drogh-
eda to Dundalk; containing 640 inhabitants. It com-
prises, according to the Ordnance survey, 1211a. 0r. 27p.:
the land is good and almost entirely in tillage, and the
state of agriculture is much improved. The living is a
rectory, in the diocese of Armagh, united by act of
council, in 1810, to the rectory of Carrickbaggot and
vicarage of Port, and in the patronage of the Crown.
The tithes amount to £82. 6. 3½.; and the gross value
of the benefice, including the glebes, comprising 13
acres, and valued at £25 per ann., is £310. 4. 3. The
glebe-house was erected in 1810, by aid of a gift of
£369, and a loan of the same amount from the late
Board of First Fruits. The church is a neat structure,
rebuilt in 1814 at an expense of £461, being a loan
from the same Board. In the R. C. divisions the parish
is the head of a union or district, comprising also the
parishes of Clogher, Mayne, and Parsons town, and con-
496
RAT
taining the chapels of Walshstown, in the parish of
Rathdrummin, and Hacketscross in Clogher. Near the
church is a large rath attributed to the Danes, consist-
ing of an elevated area, 130 yards in circumference.
RATHERNON, a parish, in the barony of CONNELL,
county of KILDARE, and province of LEINSTER, 5¾-
miles (N. E.) from Kildare, containing 1010 inhabitants.
This parish comprises 3437 statute acres, as applotted
under the tithe act: it is situated on the bog of Allen,
by which it and the parish of Kilmaogue are entirely
insulated, forming what is called the isle of Allen;
its chief feature is the hill of Allen. On its northern
border are the ruins of Ballyteigue castle. Limestone
is found under the greater part of this tract, but the
hill of Allen is wholly composed of trap: at the north-
ern extremity of the hill, about a quarter of a mile
distant, is a slight eminence called the Leap of Allen,
composed of red sandstone conglomerate, arranged in
beds varying in thickness. The greenstone of the hill,
combined with greenstone porphyry, appears all round
the base, on the sides and on the summit, in protuber-
ant masses without any stratification. It is a rectory
and vicarage, in the diocese of Kildare, forming part
of the union of Kilmaogue: the tithes amount to
£118. 4. In the R. C. divisions it is part of the union
or district of Allen and Miltown. There are ruins of
the old church.
RATHFARNE, a village, in the parish of KILLU-
CAN, barony of FARBILL, county of WESTMEATH, and
province of LEINSTER, 4¼ miles (N.) from Kinnegad,
on the road from Killucan to Trim; containing 259
inhabitants. It is situated on the river Deel, which is here
crossed by a long causeway or bridge of three arches,
and in 1831 contained 45 houses: it is a station of the
constabulary police. A market is held on Tuesday for
corn, of which a large quantity is sold. Here is one of
the two R, C. chapels belonging to the district of Kil-
lucan; also a National school. Adjoining the village
are the remains of an old castle, the walls of which
extended across the river; and at Kilcollan, in the
vicinity, are the ruins of a church with a cemetery
attached.
RATHFARNHAM, a parish, in the barony of NEW-
CASTLE, county of DUBLIN, and province of LEINSTER,
4 miles (S.) from Dublin, on the road to Rathdrum;
containing 4573 inhabitants, of which number, 1572 are
in the village. The castle of Rathfarnham was built by
Archbishop Loftus, who was Lord Chancellor of Ireland
in the reign of Elizabeth. On the breaking out of the
war of 1641, Sir Adam Loftus held it with a garrison,
as an outpost to protect the city of Dublin against the
incursions of the septs of O’Toole and Byrne from the
neighbouring mountains of Wicklow; in 1649 it was
taken by the forces of the Duke of Ormonde. Adam
Loftus, grandson of Sir Adam, was created baron of
Rathfarnham in 1685. At the commencement of the in-
surrection of 1798, the village was the scene of a skir-
mish between a detachment of the King’s troops and a
party of the insurgents, in which several of the latter
were killed and others taken prisoners. Near the vil-
lage is a lofty bridge of a single arch over the river
Dodder, the road from which is thickly shaded by the
plantations of the demesnes on each side: the place
itself is a long straggling street, with very little to
attract attention. The country around is studded