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amount to £276. 18. 5½. of which two-thirds are pay-
able to the impropriator, and the remainder to the
incumbent; and the amount of tithes for the union,
payable to the chancellor, is £452. 6. 1¾. There is
neither church nor glebe-house; the Protestant parish-
ioners attend the church of Clonoulty; those of Inshy-
anly, the churches of Thurles and Templemore; and
those of Moykarkey, that of Holy Cross. The glebe
comprises 27 acres. In the R. C. divisions the parish
forms part of the “union or district of Clonoulty. There
is a pay school, in which are about 140 children.
CLOGHER, an incorporated market and post-town,
a parish, and the head of a diocese (formerly a parlia-
mentary borough), in the barony of Clogher, county
of Tyrone, and province of Ulster, 7 miles (W.) from
Aughnacloy, and 82½ (N. W. by N.) from Dublin; con-
taining, with the towns of Augher and Five-mile-town,
and the village of Newtown-Saville (all separately de-
scribed) 17,996 inhabitants, of which number, 523 are in
the town. This place is said to have derived its name
from a stone covered with gold, which in pagan times is
reported to have made oracular responses. The Clogh-or,
or “golden stone,” was preserved long after the abolition
of paganism; for McGuire, canon of Armagh, who wrote
a commentary on the. registry of Clogher, in 1490, says
“that this sacred stone is preserved at Clogher, on the
right of the entrance into the church, and that traces
of the gold with which it had been formerly covered by
the worshippers of the idol called Cermaed Celsetacht
are still visible.” There is still a very ancient stone
lying on the south side of the cathedral tower, which
many believe to be the real Clogh-or. It appears to
have some very ancient characters engraved on it, but
is evidently nothing more than the shaft of an antique
cross of rude workmanship, of which there are several
in the ancient cemetery. Clogher is called by Ptolemy
Rhigia or Regia; and according to some authors, St.
Patrick founded and presided over a monastery here,
which he resigned to St. Kertenn when he went to
Armagh, to establish Ms famous abbey there; but
according to others, it was built at the command of
St. Patrick in the street before the royal palace of
Ergal, by St. Macartin, who died in 506, and from its
vicinity to this palace both the abbey and the town
appear anciently to have been called Uriel or Ergal. In
841, the abbot Moran Mac Inrachty was slain by the
Danes. In 1041 the church was rebuilt and dedicated
to St. Macartin. In 1126 the Archdeacon Muiread-
hach O’Cuillen was killed by the people of Fermanagh.
Moelisa O’Carrol, Bishop of Clogher, in 1183, on his
translation of the archbishoprick of Armagh, presented
to this abbey a priest’s vestments and a mitre, and pro-
mised a pastoral staff; he also consecrated the abbey
church. Bishop Michael Mac Antsair, in 1279, exchanged
with the abbot the episcopal residence that had been
built near the abbey by Bishop Donat O’idabra, be-
tween 1218 and 1227, for a piece of land outside the
town, called Disert-na-cusiac, on which he erected
another episcopal palace. His immediate successor, Mat-
thew Mac Catasaid, erected a chapel over the sepulchre
of St. Macartin. In 1361 the plague miserably afflicted
Ireland, particularly the city of Clogher, and caused
the death of the bishop. In April 1395, while Bishop
Arthur Mac Camaeil was employed in rebuilding the
chapel of St. Maeartin, the abbey, the cathedral, two
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chapels, the episcopal residence, and 32 other houses,
were destroyed by fire; but the bishop applied himself
with unwearied diligence to the rebuilding of his cathedral
and palace. In 1504, another plague ravaged Clogher and
caused the death of the bishop. Jas. I., in 1610, annex-
ed the abbey and its revenues to the see of Clogher, by
which it was made one of the richest in the kingdom.
Between 1690 and 1697, Bishop Tennison repaired
and beautified the episcopal palace; and his successor,
Bishop St. George Ash, expended £900 in repairing and
improving the palace and lands, two-thirds of which
was repaid by his successor. Bishop Sterne, in 1720, laid
out £3000 in building and other improvements of the
episcopal residence, £2000 of which was charged on the
revenues of the see.
The town is situated on the river Blackwater, the
source of which is in the parish, and consists of one row
of 90 houses, the northern side only being built upon.
Some of the houses are large, handsome, and well built
with hewn stone, and slated. The episcopal palace is a
large and handsome edifice close to the cathedral, on
the south side of the town, and consists of a centre with
two wings: the entrance is in the north front by an
enclosed portico, supported by lofty fluted columns. It is
built throughout of hewn freestone, and standing on
elevated ground commands extensive views over a richly
planted undulating country. Its erection was commenced
by Lord John George Beresford, Primate of Armagh,
while Bishop of Clogher, and completed by Lord Robert
Tottenham, the present bishop, in 1823. Attached to
the palace is a large and well-planted demesne of 566
acres, encircled by a stone wall; and within it are the
remains of the royal dwelling-place of the princes of
Ergallia, a lofty earthwork or fortress, protected on the
west and south by a deep fosse; beyond this, to the
south, is a camp surrounded by a single fosse, and still
further southward is a tumulus or cairn, encircled by a
raised earthwork. The market is on Saturday; the mar-
ket-house was built by Bishop Garnett. Fairs for live
stock are held on the third Saturday in every month.
The market was granted to the bishop by letters patent
dated April 20th, 1629: he was also authorised to ap-
point two fairs and receive the profits of the market and
fairs. The old fairs, which are supposed to have been
granted by the charter, are held on May 6th and July
26th,
At the solicitation of Bishop Spottiswood, Chas. I.,
in 1629, directed that, “for the better civilizing and
strengthening of these remote parts with English and
British tenants, and for the better propagation of the
true religion, the lord-lieutenant should by letters
patent make the town of Clogher a corporation.” This
was to consist of a portreeve and 12 burgesses, to be at
first nominated by the bishop; the portreeve was after-
wards to be elected on Michaelmas-day, by and from
among the burgesses. No freemen were created, and
the bishops appear to have connected a burgess-ship
with each of the stalls in the cathedral. Prior to
March 29th, 1800, the bishops had nominated the mem-
bers of parliament for the borough without opposition,
and the seneschal of their manor had been the return-
ing officer; but at that time the Irish House of Com-
mons resolved that the limits of the borough were co-
extensive with the manor, and as the freeholders of the
manor had tendered their votes in favour of two can-