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Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

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BAL<br />

dependently of the fishery, turf is landed here in great<br />

quantities from Connemara for the supply of the<br />

neighbouring country. A market for corn and pigs<br />

is held weekly on Thursday; and fairs have been lately<br />

established on the 24th of June and 23rd of September.<br />

ere is a station of the constabulary police; also a<br />

coast-guard station, which is one of the seven that con-<br />

stitute the district of Galway. A court for the manor<br />

of Burren is held by the seneschal about once in six<br />

weeks, at which small debts are recoverable; and the<br />

road sessions for the district are also held in the vil-<br />

lage. At a small distance to the east, and near the<br />

shore, are some vestiges of the old castle of Bally-<br />

vaughan.—See DROMCREEHY.<br />

BALLYVINNY.—See KILLASPIGMULIANE.<br />

BALLYVOURNEY, a parish, in the barony of WEST<br />

MUSKERRY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER,<br />

8 miles (W. by N.) from Macroom; containing 3681<br />

inhabitants. St. Abban, who lived to a very advanced<br />

age and died in 650, founded a nunnery at this place,<br />

which he gave to St. Gobnata, who was descended from<br />

O’Connor the Great, Monarch of Ireland. Smith, in<br />

his history of Cork, notices the church of this establish-<br />

ment, but it has since fallen into decay. The parish,<br />

of which the name signifies “the Town of the Beloved,”<br />

is chiefly the property of Sir Nicholas C. Colthurst,<br />

Bart.; it is situated on the river Sullane, and on the<br />

road from Cork to Killarney, and comprises 26,525<br />

statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued<br />

at £6073. 15. per annum. The surface is very uneven,<br />

in some parts rising into mountains of considerable<br />

elevation, the highest of which is Mullaghanish: about<br />

one-half is arable and pasture land, with 70 acres of<br />

woodland. Much of the land has been brought into a<br />

state of cultivation by means of a new line of road<br />

from Macroom, which passes through the vale of the<br />

Sullane, and is now a considerable thoroughfare; and<br />

great facilities of improvement have been afforded by<br />

other new lines of road which have been made through<br />

the parish; but there are still about 16,000 acres of<br />

rough pasture and moorland, which might be drained<br />

and brought into a state of profitable cultivation. The<br />

river Sullane has its source in the parish, in the moun-<br />

tains bordering on the county of Kerry, and after inter-<br />

secting it longitudinally pursues an eastern course through<br />

the parish of Clondrohid to the town of Macroom, to<br />

the east of which, at the distance of a mile, it discharges<br />

itself into the riyer Lee; there is also a lakecalled Lough<br />

Ivoig. Fairs are held on the 10th of May, July, Sept.,<br />

and Nov.; and there is a constabulary police station.<br />

The living is a rectory and a vicarage, in the diocese of<br />

Cloyne; part of the rectory is comprehended in the union<br />

of Clenore and corps of the chancellorship of the cathe-<br />

dral of St. Colman, Cloyne, and part is united to the<br />

vicarage, forming the benefice of Bally vourney, in the pa-<br />

tronage of the Bishop. The tithes amount to £731. 14. 7.,<br />

of which £231. 14. 7. is payable to the chancellor of<br />

Cloyne, and £500 to the incumbent. The church is a<br />

very neat edifice, in the early English style, erected in<br />

1824 by aid of a gift of £600 from the late Board of<br />

First Fruits. The glebe-house was built at the same<br />

time, partly by gift and partly by a loan from the same<br />

Board. In the R. C. divisions the parish is one of the<br />

three that constitute the union or district of Kilne-<br />

martry; the chapel, a plain and spacious edifice, was<br />

VOL. I—169<br />

BAL<br />

built in 1830. There are three daily pay schools, in<br />

which are about 70 boys and 20 girls. The ruins of<br />

the conventual church are very extensive and interest-<br />

ing; in one of the walls is a head carved in stone, which<br />

is regarded with much veneration. Near these ruins is<br />

a holy well, much resorted to on the 11th of February,<br />

the festival of St. Gobnata, the patroness, and also on<br />

Whit-Monday; and near the well is a large stone with<br />

a circular basin or font rudely excavated, the water<br />

from which is held sacred.<br />

BALLYWALTER, a grange, in the parish of BALLY-<br />

LINNY, barony of LOWER BELFAST, county of ANTRIM,<br />

and province of ULSTER: the population is returned with<br />

the parish. It is situated on the road from Carrickfergus<br />

to Doagh, and comprises, according to the Ordnance<br />

survey, 320½ statute acres.<br />

BALLYWALTER, or WHITECHURCH, a parish,<br />

in the barony of ARDES, county of DOWN, and province<br />

of ULSTER, 4 miles (N. E.) from Kirkcubbin: the popu-<br />

lation is returned with the the union of St. Andrew’s.<br />

This parish is situated on the eastern coast, and with a<br />

detached portion comprises, according to the Ordnance<br />

survey, 3379 statute acres. The village, which in 1831<br />

contained 664 inhabitants, is situated in lat. 54° 32’ 20”<br />

(N.), and Ion. 5° 28’ (W.), and is a coast-guard station,<br />

forming one of the twelve that constitute the district of<br />

Donaghadee. It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Down,<br />

and is part of the union of Ballywalter or St. Andrew’s;<br />

the rectory is appropriate to the Lord-Primate. The<br />

tithes amount to £339. 18. 1., of which £226. 12. 1. is<br />

payable to the Lord-Primate, and £113. 6. to the incum-<br />

bent. On the next avoidance of the benefice of St. An-<br />

drew’s, this parish will become a separate.living, in the<br />

patronage of the Lord-Primate. In the R. C. divisions<br />

it forms part of the union or district of Lower Ardes.<br />

There are two places of worship for Presbyterians in con-<br />

nection with the Synod of Ulster. Some ruins of the<br />

old church yet exist.<br />

BALLYWILLIAM.—See ROCHESTOWN.<br />

BALLYWILLIN, or MILLTOWN, a parish, partly<br />

in the barony of LOWER DUNLUCE, county of ANTRIM,<br />

but chiefly in the North-East liberties of COLERAINE,<br />

county of LONDONDERRY, and province of ULSTER, 3½<br />

miles (N. by E.) from Coleraine, on the road to Por-<br />

trush; containing 2219 inhabitants. This parish is<br />

bounded on the north by the Atlantic ocean, and com-<br />

prises, according to the Ordnance survey, 4673¼ statute<br />

acres, of which 1617 are in the county of Antrim: about<br />

300 are sand and 150 bog; the remainder is arable and<br />

pasture. The entire district abounds with fossils and<br />

minerals of great variety, and with features of high geolo-<br />

gical interest. The soil, though various, is generally good;<br />

and the lands are in an excellent state of culti-<br />

vation, particularly where not exposed to the drifting of the<br />

sand, which accumulates on the coast near Portrush.<br />

There is no waste land, except the sand hills near Port-<br />

rush, which, from the constant blowing of the north and<br />

north-west winds, have overspread a large tract of ex-<br />

cellent land, which it has been found impossible to re-<br />

claim. Much of the bog has been exhausted and brought<br />

under cultivation, and there is now barely sufficient for<br />

the supply of fuel. There are vast quantities of iron-<br />

stone; in some places the ore is found nearly in a me-<br />

tallic state, and in nodules of stone used for making<br />

the roads have been found nuclei of almost pure metal.<br />

Z

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