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tracts of bog. A great portion of the mountain of Slieve
Gallion, is within the parish; notwithstanding its great
height, it affords excellent pasturage nearly to its sum-
mit. Limestone abounds, and some very valuable quar-
ries are worked for building and for agricultural pur-
poses. Freestone of excellent quality is also quarried
for building; and numerous thin seams of coal have
been discovered, but not of sufficient depth to pay the
expense of working them. Dromore House is the resi-
dence of the Hon. and Rev. A. W. Pomeroy. The inha-
bitants combine with their agricultural pursuits the spin-
ning of flax and the weaving of linen to some extent in
the farm-houses. The village contains about 40 houses,
most of which are well built, and, though small, it is
remarkably clean and has a very neat and pleasing ap-
pearance. Fairs were formerly held here, but they have
been for some time discontinued.
The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Derry, and
in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to
£400. The glebe comprises 326a. lr. 17p., of which,
105 are not cultivated; there is also another glebe be-
longing to the parish, called the townland of Lisgorgan,
situated in Tamlaght-O’Crilly, and containing 179 acres.
The church is a small edifice with a square tower, erected
by aid of a loan of £800 from the late Board of First
Fruits, in 1820; and is situated on the glebe, about a
mile from the village. The R. C. parish is co-extensive
with that of the Established Church; there are two
chapels, situated respectively at Munsterlin and Cullion.
There is a place of worship at Lecumpher for Presbyte-
rians in connection with the Seceding Synod, and of the
second class. The parochial school is chiefly supported
by the rector, who also gives a house rent-free both to
the master and mistress; the school-house, a handsome
slated building, was erected in 1820. There are schools
at Innisearran and Cranny, founded and supported by
the Drapers’ Company, also three under the National
Board. In these about 500 boys and 370 girls receive
gratuitous instruction; and there are also a pay school,
in which are about 30 boys and 20 girls, and five Sun-
day schools. Some remains of the old church exist on
the bank of a small river near the village; and on the
opposite bank are the remains of a fort, evidently raised
to defend the pass of the river; a portion of the old
church was taken down in 1820, to supply materials for
building the parochial school-house.
DESERTMQON.—See DYSERTMOON.
DESERTMORE, a parish, partly in the barony of
BARRETTS, but chiefly in that of EAST MUSKERRY, county
of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 8 miles (S. w. by
W.) from Cork; containing 1147 inhabitants. Here
was a convent, of which St. Cyra, or St. Chera, was
abbess, but when founded cannot be ascertained; it
stood on the margin of a small stream, called the Bride,
in honour of St. Bridget, to whom the convent was dedi-
cated. Cormac M c Carthy the Great founded here a
Franciscan monastery, also in honour of St. Bridget.
In the civil war of 1641, the castle of Kilcrea, in this
parish, erected by the same M c Carthy, was garrisoned
by the Irish; it was subsequently cannonaded by
Cromwell; a fissure in the wall, caused by the can-
non, is still conspicuous. The parish is situated on
the river Bride, and comprises 3844 statute acres, of
which 480 are in the barony of Barretts, and are valued
in the County Survey at £452 per annum; and 3422
VOL. I.—457
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are in East Muskerry, valued at £2599. 11. 10.: about
seven-eighths are arable, the rest being waste and bog.
The land is generally good, though the soil is light, the
greater part to the south of the limestone valley being
hilly, and the soil shallow, yet, under an improved system
of agriculture, it produces excellent crops. An exhausted
bog of great extent here is capable of being brought into
cultivation; and an excellent limestone quarry is worked
for the purposes of building and agriculture.
The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Cork, form-
ing the corps of the prebend of Desertmore in the cathe-
dral of St. Finbarr, Cork, and in the patronage of the
Bishop: the tithes amount to £350. The glebe-house
was built by aid of a gift of £100, and a loan of £600,
from the late Board of First Fruits: the glebe comprises
60 acres. The church, a plain modern building, was
erected by aid of a gift of £600, in 1814, from the same
Board; and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have re-
cently granted £140. 13. 6. for its repair. In the R. C.
divisions the parish forms part of the union or district
of Ovens. The parochial schools, in which are about
20 children, are entirely supported by the rector, who
provides the school-house and master’s residence rent-
free. The ruins of the Franciscan abbey are approached
by an avenue of ash and sycamore trees, leading to the
nave and choir of the church, which was a handsome
structure, 150 feet in length, with a transept to the
south 68 feet long, opening into an arcade or aisle, ex-
tending along both transepts and nave by five arches
springing from circular pillars of hewn marble. The
dormitories, refectory, kitchen, and other domestic
buildings, are to the north. Between the nave and choir
rises a light tower, 80 feet high. This venerable pile of
ruins, shaded by the lofty trees of the avenue, and viewed
together with an ivy-mantled bridge of eight arches,
built by order of Cromwell, forms a very interesting fea-
ture in the landscape, the beauty of which is much in-
creased by the remains of the castle of Kilcrea, consist-
ing of a massive oblong tower, surrounded by a moat,
and part of the barbican, with its towers and platforms
in good preservation.
DESERTOGHILL, a parish, in the barony of COLE-
RAINE, county of LONDONDERRY, and province of
ULSTER, 1 mile (S. E.) from Garvagh; containing 4701
inhabitants. This parish is intersected by the road from
Dublin to Coleraine, and according to the Ordnance
survey contains 11,469½ statute acres, of which about
6309 are arable, 2867 pasture, and 2293 bog, or waste
land. The soil, though thin, is tolerably well cultivated,
and produces abundant crops. The inhabitants com-
bine with their agricultural pursuits the weaving of
linen cloth in their own houses. The living is a rectory,
in the diocese of Derry, and in the patronage of the
Bishop: the tithes amount to £290. The glebe-house
is a small old building on the glebe townland of Meetti-
gan, in the parish of Errigal, which comprises 370 acres,
30 of which are on the southern side of the river, in the
parish of Desertoghill, besides a plot of seven acres con-
tiguous to the ruins of the old church. The present
church is a large edifice, in the ancient style of English
architecture, built in 1784, partly at the expense of Dr.
Hervey, afterwards Earl of Bristol, and the Ecclesiasti-
cal Commissioners have recently granted £227. 4. 1. for
its repair; it stands in the townland of Moyletra, one
mile south of the old church. In the It. C. divisions the
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