Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

ROS
the 27th Bishop of Ross, and with his predecessors all
of the same house or sept, is any thing recorded prior
to the arrival of the English. Since that period there
has been, with little intermission, a regular succession
of bishops, of whom the first, Daniel, was consecrated
by authority of Pope Celestine at Rome, and succeeded
to the prelacy in 1197. But having obtained the see
by forged letters alleged to have been from the Irish
bishops, an enquiry was instituted, and he was deprived
by Pope Innocent III., by whose order Florence, who
had been canonically elected, was confirmed by apostolic
authority in 1210. During the prelacy of Matthew
O’Fin, who presided over the see from 1310 till 1330,
several of its possessions, which had been unjustly
usurped by Thomas Barret and Philip de Carew, were
recovered by default; but the crown thinking the reco-
very had been made by collusion, to avoid the statute
of Mortmain, ordered an inquest to be held, which de-
cided in favour of the bishop. In 1377 the see was
vacant, and the custos was fined 100 marks for not ap-
pearing upon summons at the parliament held at Cas-
tledermot. Thomas O’Herlihy, who succeeded in 1563,
assisted, with Donat, Bishop of Raphoe, and Eugene,
Bishop of Achonry, at the council of Trent in that year.
He was succeeded by William Lyon, during whose pre-
lacy the see was united by Queen Elizabeth to that of
Cork, with which it has ever since continued; and with
which, under the provisions of the Church Temporalities
act, it became, on the death of Dr. Brinkley, in Sept.
1835, united to the see of Cloyne, now the diocese of
Cloyne, Cork, and Ross, and the temporalities became
vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. It is one of
the eleven dioceses that constitute the ecclesiastical
province of Cashel, and is wholly within the county of
Cork, comprising an estimated superficies of 124,000
square acres. The possessions of the see comprise
8179 statute acres of profitable land; and the gross
annual revenue of the bishop, on an average of three
years ending Dec. 31st, 1831, amounted to £1715.17. 9¼.
The chapter consists of a dean, precentor, chancellor,
treasurer, archdeacon, and the prebendaries of Timo-
league, Inchydony, Curragrainemore, Donoughmore, and
Templebryan; there is also one vicar choral. The in-
come of the deanery amounts to £91 per ann., arising
from the ploughland of Ardagh, containing 238 acres;
houses and gardens in the town of Rosscarbery, and
the rectorial tithes of the parish of Desert; that of the
precentorship amounts to £205, arising from the rent
of 237 acres of land in the parish of Rosscarbery; that
of the chancellorship to £11. 1. 6½., arising from the
rent of the lands of Gahaniffmore, in the parish of Rath-
barry, containing 178 acres; and that of the treasurer-
ship to £63, arising from the ploughland of Tunneel, in
the parish of Rosscarbery, containing 210½ acres. The
consistorial court is held at Cork. The total number
of parishes in the diocese is 33, comprised within 30
benefices, of which 8 are unions of two or more parishes,
and 25 single parishes; of these, two are in the patron-
age of the Crown, one in the alternate patronage of the
Crown and the Bishop, 23 in the patronage of the Bi-
shop, one in that of the Dean, and the remainder
in lay patronage. The total number of churches is
18; a grant has been obtained for building a church
at Templecoma; and there are nine school-rooms or
other houses licensed by the bishop, in which divine
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ROS
service is performed, and 11 glebe-houses. The cathe-
dral church, which from time immemorial has been also
used as the parish church, was rebuilt in 1612: it was a
handsome structure, in the later English style, with a
lofty square tower, which in 1806 was surmounted
with an octagonal spire of hewn limestone, at an ex-
pense of £964; the church is now being rebuilt on
an enlarged scale by the addition of a south transept,
which will render it perfectly cruciform. The entrance
on the south is by a fine Norman arch; and above the
western door is a lofty window of three lights, enriched
with tracery. The nave is separated from the choir by
a stone skreen; the choir has a large and handsome
window at the east end; the north and south aisles
are lighted with square-headed windows enriched with
tracery; and the whole will bear the character of uni-
formity. The economy fund of the cathedral amounts
to £558. 15. 5½. per ann., arising from the tithes of
the parishes of Rosscarbery, Kilkerranmore, Rathbarry,
Kilfaughnabeg, and Kilmacabea.
In the R. C. divisions the diocese is united with that
of Cloyne, forming the bishoprick of Cloyne and Ross;
the latter differs in extent from the Protestant diocese,
by excluding the barony of Bere, which forms part of
the R. C. diocese of Kerry. It comprises 12 parochial
benefices, or unions, and. contains 21 chapels, which
are served by 24 clergymen, of whom, including the
bishop, 13 are parish priests and 11 coadjutors or
curates.
The parish comprises 12,535 statute acres, of which
1288 are tithe-free; about three-fourths of the land
are arable, and the remainder, with the exception of a
portion of bog and waste, is in pasture. The surface
is very uneven, rising in some parts into hills of con-
siderable elevation: the soil, though light, is fertile;
but, except on the lands of Mr. Townsend and other
resident gentlemen who have adopted every improve-
ment in husbandry and the use of the best farming im-
plements, the system of agriculture is in a very back-
ward state: much of the land is cultivated by the
spade, and manure is carried to the field on the backs
of horses. Several large slate quarries have been
opened, of which some produce slate of very superior
quality; and copper ore and manganese abound in
almost every part, but no efficient means are employed
to work them to advantage. The principal seats are
Cahirmore, the residence of T. Hungerford, Esq.; Derry,
of the Rev. H. Townsend; Castle Downeen, of R. Smith,
Esq.; Milleen, of the Rev. W. Jennings; Millfield, of
Lieut. Lloyd, R.N.; Farley Cottage, of T. Hungerford,
Esq.; and The Hill, of Capt. W. Starkie. The living is a
rectory, in the diocese of Ross, partly appropriate to
the vicar choral, and partly to the dean and chapter,
in trust for the economy fund of the cathedral: the
tithes amount to £776. 19. 4., of which £434. 0. 11. is
payable to the vicar choral, and £342. 18. 5. to the
dean and chapter. In the R. C. divisions the parish
is the head of a union or district, comprising also part
of the parishes of Kilfaughnabeg and Kilkerranmore,
and containing two chapels, one at Ardagh, near the
town, a handsome edifice, erected in 1820 at the head
of the bay, on a site surrounded by rocks and planta-
tions; and the other at Lissavord, three miles distant.
About 130 children are taught in five public schools,
of which the parochial male school is supported by the