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For trade are afforded by the, which has lately
been rendered navigable up to Lough Allen, by which
this town is placed on one of the most important lines
of communication in the island. A constabulary police
force has been stationed here; and there are infantry
barracks, which are unoccupied, although this is the
only military station in the county.
This place was incorporated by Jas. I., in 1613,
under the title of “The Provost, Free Burgesses, and
Commonalty of the Borough of Carrigdrumruske; “and
the corporation was composed of a provost, 12 free bur-
gesses, and an indefinite number of freemen. The pro-
vost was elected on the 24th of June by the provost
and burgesses, and was sworn in on the 29th of Sep-
tember. The free burgesses were elected by the provost
and burgesses; no freemen have existed for a very long
period, and the only officer appointed by the corporation
was the weighmaster, who receives a compensation
under the butter act, 10th of Geo. IV., c. 41. The bo-
rough sent two members to the Irish parliament,
elected under the charter by the provost and free bur-
gesses. On the abolition of its franchise, at the time of
the Union, the £15,000 awarded as compensation was
given to the Earl of Leitrim. No provost has been
elected since 1826, and the corporation is virtually ex-
tinct. Under the charter a court of record was. esta-
blished, but it has not been held for many years; and
there is no manor court within, the borough, but a petty
session is held every alternate Monday. This town being
the capital of the county of Leitrim, the assizes are held
here, as also the quarter sessions for the southern
division of the county in January and July. The
county court-house, bridewell, and gaol are situated
in the town; the gaol is built in a polygonal form,
having 10 wards with separate sleeping-cells for each
prisoner, and a good tread-mill: the prisoners are
taught reading and writing by the master and matron.
The parish church of Kiltoghart, which, prior to 1698,
was at a distance, was removed in that year by act
of parliament into the town, and was erected on a
plot of ground given by Sir George St. George, Bart.:
it was rebuilt in 1829, by a loan of £2000 from the late
Board of First Fruits, and is a handsome structure
with a spire and a clock, which was given by C. Manners
St. George, Esq.: this gentleman also presented, in
1837, a fine painting of the Nativity, by Plagemann.
The R. C. chapel occupies a site given, with a plot of
ground in the rear, in 1807, by Mr. St. George, who
expended a considerable sum in finishing the interior,
and built a gallery at his own expense. There are also
places of worship for Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists,
and parochial schools. The county infirmary situated
here is a good building, erected in 1800: attached to
it is a dispensary. The number of infirmary patients
is about 300, and of dispensary patients about 4000, an-
nually. A loan fund has also been established, with a
capital amounting to £2000.—See KILLUKEN and KIL-
TOGHART.
CARRICK-on-SUIR, a market and post-town, and
a parish, in the barony of IFFA and OFFA EAST, county
of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 13 miles
(W. N. W.) from Waterford, and 78¼ (S. W. by S.) from
Dublin; containing 7445 inhabitants, of which number,
6922 are in the town. This place formed part of the
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possessions of Theobald Butler, to whom were granted
also the lands of Carrig-mac-Griffin, now Carrick-Beg,
and whose grandson, Edmond, founded a castle here
about the year 1309. The castle was, in 1336, granted
by his son, James Butler, created Earl of Ormonde in
1328, to the Franciscan friary of Carrick-Beg, which he
had founded; and continued to form part of the endow-
ment of that house till about the year 1445, when, the
brethren having suffered it to fall into ruin, a re-grant
of it was purchased from them by Sir Edmond Butler
Mac Richard, grandson of James, third Earl of Ormonde,
who rebuilt both the castle and the bridge. A priory,
dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, was founded, here
at the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century,
for Canons Regular of the order of St. Augustine, by
William de Cantell and Dionisia his wife, daughter of
Thomas Fitz-Anthony; it was afterwards subject to the
hospital of St. John de Acon, at London, and after the
dissolution was granted to Thomas, Earl of Ormonde,
in 1557, which grant was confirmed in 1562 by Queen
Elizabeth, who also remitted the reserved rent. A
castle was erected on the site of the. priory by Thomas
Duff, called Black Thomas, Earl of Ormonde. Here was
also a nunnery for poor Clares, of which nothing more
has been recorded. In 1500, the Earl granted a charter
to the burgesses of the town, dated at Waterford.
The town is pleasantly situated on the north bank
of the river Suir, which here forms a boundary between
the counties of Tipperary and Waterford, and is con-
nected by an ancient stone bridge with the suburb of
Carrick-Beg, on the opposite side, in the county of
Waterford. It consists of one long street extending in
a direction from east to west, from which three smaller
streets diverge on the north to the fair green, a spacious
area surrounded by houses, and one on the south side to
the river: the total number of houses, in 1831, was 1292.
There are cavalry barracks for 8 officers and 148 non-
commissioned officers and privates, with stabling for 52
horses; but they are now occupied by infantry. In
1670, the great Duke of Ormonde established the woollen
manufacture here, which flourished till towards the close
of the last century, but has since declined: at present
there is only a very limited trade in ratteens of superior
quality, which are made in the town and vicinity. There
are some tanneries and breweries; but the chief trade is
the sale of agricultural produce and of provisions, which
are sent to Waterford for exportation, and to Clonmel for
the supply of that town and neighbourhood. The trade
in corn and butter, the produce of the surrounding
district, is stated in a petition to parliament, presented
by the inhabitants in 1832, and praying for the privilege
of sending a representative to the Imperial parliament,
to amount at that time to £240,000, and previously to
have exceeded £360,000 per annum. The river is not
navigable for vessels of considerable burden farther than
Fiddown, a few miles below the town, whence lighters
are used for conveying the produce. The rail-road from
Waterford to Limerick, if completed, will pass through
the town. The market is on Saturday; and fairs are held
on the first Thursday in every month for cattle and pigs.
A constabulary police force is stationed in the town; and
petty sessions are held here every alternate week:
the manor court formerly held in the castle is dis-
continued.