Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

BOY
is situated on the river Boyle, which flows from Lough
Gara into Lough Key, and on the mail coach road to
Sligo. It is divided into two parts by the river, towards
which the ground slopes precipitously on both sides;
the older part extends up the acclivity on the north side,
and the more modern portion stretches in a direction
parallel with the north-west bank of the river, above the
bridge; the most recent and improved part is on the
south side of the bridge, ascending the hill and forming
a crescent on its summit. The old bridge, an incon-venient
structure, which connected these parts of the
town, and on which was a statue of William III., has
been taken down and replaced by a handsome struc-ture of three
arches, 100 feet long and 42 feet wide; the
span of the principal arch is 30 feet, and the lightness
and beauty of the design add greatly to the appearance
of the town; it was erected at an expense of £500,
one half of which was paid by the county and the other
by Lord Lorton. Another bridge of a single arch, 50
feet in span, was thrown across the river in 1817; and
below it there is a third, of five small arches. The old
mansion of the Kingston family has been converted into
infantry barracks for 12 officers and 260 non-commis-
sioned officers and privates, with stabling for 5 horses
and an hospital for 30 invalids. The principal street is
on the line of approach from the new bridge to the bar-
racks 5 the houses are built generally of limestone, but
sandstone is used in some of the public buildings. On
the erection of a new sessions-house, the old building
was given up to Lord Lorton, and on the site of it a
handsome lecture-room has been built, partly from a
bequest by the late Rev. J. Gouldsbury, and partly by
his lordship; in the back part of the building are the
savings’ bank, the charitable loan fund, the infants’
school, and the dispensary. This town is the commer-
cial centre of the extensive agricultural district which
surrounds it, and carries on a considerable trade with
Drumsna and Sligo. A market and fairs were granted
to John Bingley and John King in 1604, prior to which
date scarcely any notice occurs of the town. The staple
articles are corn and butter: of the former very little is
sold in the town, the greater part or nearly the whole
being sent to Sligo; the butter market is on Monday,
when great quantities are sold in firkins for exportation;
yarn is also sold in large quantities to the purchasers
who attend from the north for that purpose on the
principal market day, which is Saturday; the sale of
frieze and flannel has of late very much diminished. The
market for provisions is held in an enclosure on the
north west side of the bridge, formed at the expense of
Lord Lorton about the year 1826, and is well supplied,
. not only with fish from the rivers and lakes, but also
with sea-fish in abundance. Fairs are held on March
6th, April 3rd, May 9th and 30th, July 9th and 25th,
Aug. 16th, Oct. 1st, and Nov. 25th. The only line of
communication is the mail coach road from Dublin to
Sligo, and all the trade of the town is conducted by land
carriage. Here is a chief station of the constabulary
police, for whose accommodation a barrack, with a
handsome residence for the chief officer,has been erect-
ed near the abbey, at the expense of Lord Lorton.
The borough was incorporated by charter of the 11th
of Jas. I. (1613), and a new charter was granted in the
4th of Jas. IL, but as it was never acted on the former
is the governing charter. The corporation is styled
219
BOY
“the Borough-Master, Free Burgesses, and Commonalty
of the Borough of Boyle,” and consists of a borough-
master, twelve other free burgesses, and an indefinite
number of commonalty; of which the last-named body
is not now recognised in practice. The borough-master
is chosen annually from and by the free burgesses, but
his duties are very limited, and he exercises little practical
power; the free burgesses are also chosen, as vacancies
occur, by the members of their own body, and hold office
for life, but are removable for misconduct; and the char-
ter empowers the corporation to appoint two Serjeants-
at-mace, but at present there is only a town-serjeant.
They have also the power of creating a guild of mer-
chants, of which there is now no trace, and of making
by-laws. The borough, of which the limits include the
town and a small district immediately surrounding it,
returned two members to the Irish parliament, who were
elected by the borough-master and free burgesses; and
on its disfranchisement at the time of the Union, the
£15,000 granted in compensation for the loss of that
privilege was paid to Lord Lorton, as executor of his
father, the late Earl of Kingston, to whom the borough
belonged. The charter granted a court of record to be
held every Tuesday, with civil jurisdiction to the amount
of five marks, in which the borough-master is judge;
but the business done being inconsiderable, it is not
usually held oftener than about once in a month. Accord-
ing to practice the jurisdiction is exercised in cases of
which the cause of action either arises within the bo-
rough, or where it arises without and there are goods of
the defendant within the borough: the process is by
attachment on oath made by the plaintiff. Quarter
sessions are held here every nine months, for the
Boyle division of the county, which comprises also the
towns of Castlerea and Strokestown, where they are
likewise held every nine months; and petty sessions are
held by the county magistrates every Monday. A senes-
chal’s court is held in the town, having no jurisdiction
within the borough, but over several baronies within the
county, extending to the distance of many miles round
the town. The new sessions-house, towards the erection
of which Lord Lorton contributed £500, is situated on
the slope of the hill on the south side of the river front-
ing the main street, and is built of sandstone. Connected
with it is the district bridewell, containing a keeper’s
house and eight cells upon the improved plan of con-
struction: the entire expense, amounting to £2400, was
advanced by government, to be repaid by the county in
instalments.
The parish, which is also called Assylin, comprises
10,139 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act.
The lands are chiefly under tillage, and the system of
agriculture is improved; there is little woodland, except
on the demesnes of the resident gentry; about 1010
acres are bog and waste land. Limestone and freestone
are found in abundance, and there are also some quar-
ries of a species of marble; it is said that coal exists on
the Curlew mountains, and that there were formerly
iron-works on the river. Buckingham House, the superb
residence of Viscount Lorton, is beautifully situated
about two miles from the town, and on the south-east
side of Lough Key: the building is of Grecian Ionic
architecture, with a noble portico of six columns, on
each side of which the facade is decorated with as many
of the same order; on the north is a colonnade of six
F f 2