Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

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rock, fossil coal, and the lower range of basaltic co-
lumns, which is 45 feet high. Imposed on this co-
lonnade are grey rock containing nodules of iron,
slightly columnar basalt, grey ochreous rock, amorphous
basalt, and then the upper range of basaltic pillars,
which forms a magnificent colonnade 64 feet high, and
has broken basalt for a superstratum, above which is
vegetable mould covered with green sod. This splendid
headland, which is unrivalled for beauty of arrangement
and variety of colouring, is seen to most advantage from
the sea, from which also some of the grandest views of
the causeway and its adjacent scenery are obtained.
Fossil wood, as black and compact as coal, and fossil
oysters and muscles are found in the limestone rock
that forms the substratum of the causeway and its neigh-
bouring promontories; and large opals, chalcedony, agates,
&c, are collected here. Specimens of these fossils and
minerals, and a wooden model of the causeway, are in
the museum of Trinity College, Dublin.
BINGHAMSTOWN, or SALEEN, a village, in the
parish, of KILMORE-ERRIS, barony of ERRIS, county of
MAYO, and province of CONNAUGHT, 3 miles (S. E.)
from Bellmullet: the population is returned with the
parish. This place is situated on the eastern ‘shore of
the peninsula called the Mullet, and consists of one long
street indifferently built: it commands a good view of
Saleen bay, in which a landing pier has been erected by
the late Fishery Board, where considerable quantities of
corn and potatoes are shipped for Westport, and various
articles of merchandise are brought back. A fair is
held on the first day of every month throughout the
year; there is a market-house. Petty sessions are held
in a court-house every Thursday; and here is a consta-
bulary police station. The parish church, a neat plain
edifice, is situated in the village, in which is also a R. C.
chapel.—See KILMORE-ERRIS.
BIRMINGHAM (NEW), a village and post-town,
in the parish of KILCOOLEY, barony of SLIEVEARDAGH,
county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 11½
miles (E. N. E.) from Cashel, and 82 (S. W. by S.) from
Dublin; containing 298 inhabitants. This place, which
is situated at the termination of the mail coach road
branching from Littleton, contains about 50 houses, and
is indebted for its origin and name to the late Sir Vere
Hunt, Bart., who, struck with its favourable situation
contiguous to the coal mines of the Killenaule district,
used every effort to raise it into manufacturing impor-
tance. For this purpose he obtained patents for one or
two weekly markets and twelve fairs, which are now
discontinued; and the town, which was the residence
of its founder, and is now the property of his son, Sir
Aubrey de Vere, Bart., is at present comparatively
deserted. It is a constabulary police station; and there
is a small prison, to which offenders are committed
occasionally by the county magistrates. The parochial
R. C. chapel, a large and handsome structure in the
later English style, and recently erected, is situated in
the village; and there is a school of about 80 or 90
children.—See KILCOOLEY.
BIRR.—See PARSONSTOWN.
BLACKDITCHES.—See BOYSTOWN.
BIACKRATH, a parish, in the barony of GOWRAN,
county of KILKENNY, and province of LEINSTER, 2
miles (N. E. by E.) from Kilkenny; containing 730
inhabitants. This parish is situated on the mail coach
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road from Dublin to Cork, and on the river Nore, on
the banks of which there are two considerable flour-
mills; and within its limits are the marble works des-
cribed in the account of the city of Kilkenny. Lyrath,
the seat of Sir J. D. W. Cuffe, Bart., is pleasantly situ-
ated on an eminence commanding a fine view of that
city. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Ossory, forming
the corps of the prebend of Blackrath in the cathedral
of St. Canice, Kilkenny, and in the patronage of the
Bishop: the tithes amount to £121. 1. 7½. There is
neither church nor glebe-house, but there is a glebe of
eight acres attached to the prebend. In the R. C. divi-
sions it forms part of the union or district of Gowran.
There is a private pay school, in which about 50 boys
and 30 girls are taught. Some remains of the old
church yet exist.
BLACKROCK, a chapelry, in the parish of ST. FIN-
BARR, county of the city of CORK, and province of
MUNSTER, 2¼ miles (E. S. E.) from Cork: the popula-
tion is included in the return for the parish. This place
is beautifully situated on a peninsula bounded on the
north and east by the river Lee, and on the south by
Lough Mahon and the Douglas channel. The castle
was originally built in 1604 by the Lord-Deputy Mount-
joy, to protect the passage up the river from the har-
bour to the city, and was subsequently vested in the
corporation, who held their courts of admiralty in
it, and by whom, having been some years since des-
troyed by an accidental fire, it was rebuilt in 1829,
from a design by Messrs. Pain, and is now assigned
to the mayor of Cork as an occasional residence during
his year of office. It is situated on a limestone rock
projecting into the river, and consists of one bold
circular tower of hewn limestone, containing a small
banqueting room, from which there is a fine view
over the river: from this tower springs a small turret
rising to a considerable elevation and displaying from
the upper part of it two brilliant lights; and attached to
it is a water gate, with some low embattled buildings in
the rear, which harmonise well with the principal feature
of the castle. Numerous advantages resulting from its
proximity to Cork, the beauty of its situation, the salu-
brity of its climate, and the excellent accommodations
for bathing, have rendered this one of the most desir-
able places of residence in the South of Ireland. It has
a penny post to Cork, and the railroad from Cork to
Passage will; if carried into effect, pass through the
village. The scenery is of the most varied and pleasing
character, exhibiting numerous elegant villas and cot-
tages, with lawns, gardens, and plantations reaching
down to the margin of the Lee, which is here a noble
expanse of water more than a mile broad, constantly
enlivened by steam-boats and other vessels. Among the
principal seats are Dundanion Castle, that of Sir T.
Deane, Knt.; Beaumont, of W. Beamish, Esq., a noble
mansion consisting of a centre and two wings, with two
conservatories, situated in tastefully arranged grounds;
Lakelands, of W. Crawford, Esq.; Clifton, of J. Moore
Travers, Esq.; Ring-Mahon Castle, of J. Murphy, Esq.;
Besborough, of Ebenezer Pike, Esq.; Cleve Hill, of S.
Perrott, Esq.; Castlemahon, of Sir W. A. Chatterton,
Bart.; Ferney, of J. H. Manley, Esq.; Filtrim, of W.
Fagan, Esq.; Ashton, of J. Cotter, Esq.; Prospect, of
Carden Terry, Esq.; Rochelle, of R. W. Topp, Esq.;
Carrigduve, of R.Notter, Esq.; Sans Souci, of R. B. Shaw,