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BAN
tion: the school-house was built at an expense of £150,
of which £60 was a grant from the lord-lieutenant’s
fund: there is a national school at Danescastle, in
which about 50 boys and 20 girls are taught, and there
are three hedge schools in the parish. A dispensary is
supported in the usual manner. About a mile from
Danescastle there is a small convent of Augustine Friars,
who are reputed to be the representatives of the more
sumptuous monastery of that order, of which the ruins
are among others in the neighbourhood of Clonmines:
attached to it is a small but elegant chapel erected in
1829.—See CARRIG.
BANSHA, or TEMPLENEIRY, a parish, in the
barony of CLANWILLIAM, county of TIPPERARY, and
province of MUNSTER, 4 miles (S. S. E.) from Tipperary;
containing 2975 inhabitants, of which number, 281 are
in the village. The village is pleasantly situated on the
mail coach road from Limerick, through Cahir, Clonmel,
and Carrick-on-Suir, to Waterford, and in 1831 con-
tained 45 houses. A mill is worked by a stream from
the river Arra, which runs through the village. A
penny post to Clonmel has recently been established;
and it is a station of the constabulary police. The
parish is bounded on the south by the summit of part
of the Galtee mountains; on the west by Trinity Col-
lege lands and a stream which separates it from part of
the parish of Kilshane; on the north, by the parish of
Clonfinglass and the river Arra; and on the east, by
the parish of Clonbullogue. It comprises 11,443 stat-
ute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued
at £4516 per annum; more than one-half is arable and
pasture land, and the remainder mountain. The rivers
Arra and Aherlow flow through the parish: the Arra is
remarkable for its excellent trout, which are of a rich
pink colour, and in season throughout the year; and
the Aherlow abounds with trout and eels, and fre-
quently has salmon. A considerable portion of the
Galtee mountains extends through the parish from
east to west, and is partly pasturable for sheep and
goats and a few mountain cattle, producing various
kinds of heath and fern, and abounding with grouse,
hares, and rabbits. A portion of the Tipperary hills
on the estates of E. O’Ryan and J. A. Butler, Esqrs.,
is also in the parish; these hills stretch in a direc-
tion parallel with the Galtees, and are much frequented
by woodcocks and foxes. The intervening valley is
very fertile and in a high state of cultivation. In
the bogs near the base of the hills have been found
several large black oaks lying horizontally near the
surface. The parish is well wooded throughout; on
the Galtees is Ballydavid, an extensive wood of oak,
beech, birch, larch, fir, and Weymouth pine; and on the
Tipperary hills is Bansha Wood, abounding with thick-
set, beech, birch, fir, and oak; there are also several
plantations, and nearly adjoining the village is a
good nursery. Limestone is the prevailing substratum,
and is quarried for building, repairing the roads, and
burning into lime for manure. A road from Cashel to
Mitchelstown intersects the parish, and there are nu-
merous other roads, which are kept in excellent repair,
Lismacue, the seat of Hugh Baker, Esq., is a handsome
castellated mansion, pleasantly situated in a highly cul-
tivated demesne embellished with stately avenues of lime
and beech trees, which latter are considered to be the
finest in the kingdom. Bansha Castle, the seat of E.
VOL. I.—185
BAN
O’Ryan, Esq., an elegant building in the castellated
style, and Aherlow Castle, of J. A. Butler, Esq., are also
prettily situated. Ash-Grove Castle, or Castle-Mary,
the seat of the Rev. Trevor Lloyd Ashe, lord of the
manor of Bansha, is a castellated mansion in the Italian
style of architecture, situated at the base of the Galtee
mountains, 4000 acres of which are attached to the
estate: the mountain scenery is exceedingly wild and
romantic, and the rich and well-wooded vale beneath
presents a pleasing contrast with the grandeur of the
adjacent heights. On the estate is an ancient well,
dedicated to St. Berryhearth, which is much frequented
by the peasantry; and in the demesne is a small temple,
in the Grecian style, with pleasure grounds attached, de-
dicated to the Virgin. About halfway to the summit of
the mountains is Lake Musgrave, an extensive sheet of
water, imbedded within rocks, whose frowning summits
afford secure eyries to eagles, and retreats to other birds
of prey. The other seats are Ballydavid House, that
of G. Baker, Esq.; Ashgrove, of S. Moore, Esq.; Bar-
nalough House, of P. Smithwicke, Esq.; and Ruan
Lodge, of T. S. Manning, Esq.
The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese
of Cashel, united from time immemorial to the rectory
and vicarage of Graystown and the vicarage of Donohill,
together constituting the corps of the precentorship of
Cashel, and in the patronage of the Bishop. The tithes
amount to £230. 15.4½., and the tithes of the benefice
to £675. 7- 8¼.: the entire value of the precentorship,
including glebe, is returned at £723. 7. 4. The church
is a neat building, to which a handsome spire was added
in 1813; it contains a marble monument to the late
William Baker, Esq., of Lismacue. The glebe-house,
near the church, is a commodious residence: the glebe
contains nine acres, and there are also two pieces of
ground in the parish of Donohill, containing 58a. 2r. 6p.,
belonging to the precentor and let on lease at £7 rent
and a renewal fine of £14 annually. The R. C. parish is
co-extensive with that of the Established Church; the
chapel, adjoining the churchyard, is a neat building.
There are four pay schools, in which are about 160 boys
and 60 girls. In the marsh lands have been found
heads, horns, and skeletons of the moose deer, one of
which, of large dimensions, was found some few years
since. The only relic of antiquity is a ruined wall, said
to have formed part of the ancient castle of Bansha, but
its history is quite unknown.
BANTRY, a sea-port, market and post-town, in the
parish of KILMACOMOGTIE, barony of BANTRY, county
of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 47½ miles (W. S.
W.) from Cork, and 173½ (S. W.) from Dublin; contain-
ing 4275 inhabitants. This place, called anciently Kil-
goban, derived that name from St. Goban, its original
founder or patron, and its present appellation, Bantry,
from Beant-Mac-Farriola, a descendant of the O’Dono-
vans and Mahonys, chieftains of the western portion of
this country. During the insurrection of the Earl of
Desmond, in 1581, Lord Barry and Goran Mac Swiney
attacked the garrison of this place, but were repulsed
with the loss of many of their men. In 1689, a French
fleet entered the bay, and being pursued by the English
fleet under Admiral Herbert, bore down upon the latter
in a line of 28 ships of war and 5 fire-ships, when a
brisk action ensued, in which the English stood to sea
in order to gain some advantage by manœuvring, and
Bb