Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

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print-works, erected by another of Mr. Grimshaw’s
sons, in which more than 200 persons are employed.
The village is neatly built, and its inhabitants are in
comfortable circumstances. It has a penny post to Bel-
fast and Carrickfergus; petty sessions are held every
three weeks, and there is a coast-guard station, being
one of eight in the district of Carrickfergus. Fairs are
held on the first Tuesday in May and Nov., principally
for cattle.
WHITESTOWN, a village, in the parish of CAR-
LINGFORD, barony of LOWER DUNDALK, county of
LOUTH, and province of LEINSTER,3½ miles (S.E.) from
Carlingford; containing 370 inhabitants. It is situated
near the eastern coast and entrance to the bay of Car-
lingford, and comprises 58 houses, mostly inhabited by
farmers and agricultural labourers.
WICKLOW (County of), a maritime county of the
province of LEINSTER, bounded on the east by St.
George’s Channel; on the north, by the county of
Dublin; on the west, by those of Kildare and Carlow,
with detached portions of that of Dublin; and on the
south, by that of Wexford. It extends from 52° 35′ to
53° 16′ (N. Lat.), and from 5° 58′ to 6° 55′ (W. Lon.);
comprising, according to the Ordnance survey, 494,704
statute acres, of which 400,704 consist of improved
lands, and 94,000 of unprofitable mountain and bog, &c.
The population, in 1821, was 110,767; and in 1831,
121,557.
According to Ptolemy, the inhabitants of this part
of the island, and also of the present county of Kildare,
were the Cauci, supposed to have been of Belgic-Gaulish
extraction. But it is chiefly celebrated as the country
of the Byrnes and the O’Tooles, the former of whom
occupied the northern and eastern parts, and the latter
the south-western. The country of the Byrnes on the
western side of the mountains was called the Ranelagh,
or Kilconnell, and in Queen Elizabeth’s time, Pheagh
Mac Hugh’s country, from the name of the chief of the
Byrnes. Another sept of the Byrnes inhabited the
eastern side, bordering on the sea; while the country of
the O’Tooles was called Imale, and comprised the moun-
tain regions surrounding the great glen of Imale. The
O’Cullans possessed a tract along the northern confines,
but they are scarcely mentioned after the Anglo-Nor-
man invasion; and the Danes appear to have had some
settlements on the coast. After the arrival of the
English, the maritime portions of the county most easy
of access were partitioned among the adventurers, and
the Byrnes were compelled to retire to the mountains,
as also were the O’Tooles, who had previously occupied
part of the county of Kildare. On the division into
counties by King John, this extensive region was in-
cluded in that of Dublin; but the septs of the moun-
tains did not acknowledge the English jurisdiction until
many centuries after. Secured from successful pursuit
by their mountain fastnesses, they waged an incursive
warfare against the surrounding English settlements,
and more particularly against the citizens of Dublin,
of whom, on one occasion, they slaughtered three hun-
dred at Cullen’s-wood, where the latter had assembled
for recreation at Easter. Besides several fortresses
built for private protection, royal castles to keep the
natives in check were erected at Newcastle and at Castle
Kevin near Annamoe, but with little effect. Piers
Gaveston, in the reign of Edw. II., drove back the septs
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with considerable slaughter into their mountain fast-
nesses, after which they became so powerful that they
were accustomed to make formal treaties with the
English authorities. They were, however, so overawed
by the first military expedition of Rich. II., that they
agreed, with the rest of the native tribes, to evacuate
Leinster; but in 1398, after this monarch’s return to
England with his army, the fulfilment of the agreement
was refused; upon which Roger Mortimer, Earl of
March, the king’s lieutenant, attended by the Earl of
Ormond, marched against the septs of Byrne, and drove
them from their lands in Wicklow; but at the very
moment of their triumph, while feasts were held and
knights created in honour of this success, they were
disturbed by the intelligence of a victory gained by the
neighbouring sept of O’Toole, who slaughtered a consi-
derable number of the king’s forces. The Byrnes
retired into Ossory, and there maintained the war with
obstinacy; and Mortimer, pursuing them with more
courage than circumspection, was surprised, defeated,
and slain. About 1402, the septs of Wicklow were
severely chastised by the arms of the magistrates of
Dublin; and in later times they sued to become English
subjects. In the 34th of Hen. VIII., the Byrnes of the
mountains, who had lately sworn allegiance, earnestly
desired that their country might be converted into a
distinct county, and called the county of Wicklow; but
this request was either neglected or refused. When the
opponents of the English government had acquired
increased strength by fomenting religious dissensions,
the celebrated Pheagh Mac Hugh Byrne, in the years
1577, 1578, and 1580, in alliance with several dis-
affected lords, harassed the English pale; and in the
last-named year obtained a sanguinary victory over the
lord-deputy’s forces at Glendalough, whither they had
penetrated with great difficulty. In 1595, on a reverse
of fortune, he made his submission at Dublin. In 1596,
his sept was defeated by the British troops, after a sharp
action; and in the following year, Pheagh Mac Hugh
fell in an engagement with the lord-deputy, Sir William
Russell. His son Phelim Mac Pheagh was chosen in
his place as chief of the Byrnes, and in 1600 made a
humble submission to Queen Elizabeth, together with
several other Irish toparchs. An expedition was under-
taken against him, however, in the same year; but the
country was reduced to comparative tranquillity in 1605,
in the reign of James I., and during the lieutenancy of
Sir Arthur Chichester, by being erected into a county
distinct from that of Dublin, under its present name.
The Byrnes, in the wars of 1641, united with their
neighbours of the same party in the counties of Wex-
ford and Carlow, and extended their ravages to the very
walls of Dublin. Notwithstanding the cruelties exer-
cised by Sir Charles Coote in his expedition against
them, they maintained their cause until Cromwell, after
the siege of Drogheda, marched triumphantly through
the county, and reduced every town and fort in it; thus
terminating the war in this quarter. In the disturbances
of 1798 the county was the scene of many acts of
violence, and in the southern part of it several severe
conflicts took place. Even after their general suppres-
sion, bands of insurgents found a refuge in its mountain
recesses, and hence committed extensive depredations,
which a large military force was unable to repress. Go-
vernment at length entered into composition with the