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GOR
on a site given by Lord Gort, and at an expense of
£1300, defrayed by subscription: it is a substantial
cruciform building, and contains a fine paintng of the
Holy Trinity, presented by Lord Gort. The infirmary,
which has been recently built, contains two wards, a
keeper’s room, and a surgery.
The scenery in the vicinity of the town is very beau-
tiful, comprising on the west the Burren mountains in
the county of Clare, and on the east the Derrybrien,
Castle Daly, and Roxborough mountains. The chief
seat is Loughcooter Castle, the residence of Viscount
Gort, proprietor of the town, from which he takes his
title. It is a noble castellated building, erected at an
immense expense, in a well-planted demesne abounding
with game, by the present peer, from designs by Mr.
Nash, and commanding very fine woodland, lake, and
mountain views. In front of the castle is Lough Cooter,
a beautiful lake three miles long, containing seven well-
wooded islands, and abundance of pike, trout, perch,
and eels. Besides this magnificent residence, there are
many other seats near the town, which are enumerated
in the articles on the surrounding parishes. In its
vicinity is a river that has a subterraneous course for a
considerable distance: it rises in Lough Cooter, passes
through a deep ravine till it reaches “the Ladle,” a
precipitous hollow clothed to the water’s edge with
large trees, where it sinks under a perpendicular rock.
About 100 yards from this spot it re-appears in “the
Punch-bowl,” a circular basin about thirty yards in
diameter and at least fifty deep: a pathway leads down
the sides of this pit, which are very steep and clothed
with trees. After flowing about 300 yards from the
Punch-bowl it emerges, takes the name of the Black-
water, and after running rapidly for a short distance
again disappears. At the “Beggarman’s Hole,” a small-
er circular basin than the Punch-bowl, it is again visible,
and soon afterwards enters the “Churn,” which is like
an extremely deep well, ten feet in diameter. A quarter
of a mile from the Churn it re-appears from under a
beautiful arch formed by nature in the rock, passes
through the town, and about a mile from it sinks again,
and after alternately appearing and disappearing, once
more flows by a subterraneous channel into the bay of
Kinvarra.
GORTIN, a village, in the parish of Lower Badony,
barony of Strabane, county of Tyrone, and province of
Ulster, 5 miles (E.) from Newtown-Stewart, on the road
to Cookstown; containing 441 inhabitants. This place
is situated in a deep valley watered by the river Nagle,
and in the district of the Mounterloney mountains, of
which it may be considered the chief town. It con-
sists of one irregular street, containing 82 houses indif-
ferently built; the surrounding scenery, though boldly
picturesque, is destitute of embellishment from the
want of wood, which is found only in the demesne of
Beltrim, the handsome residence of A.W.C. Hamilton,
Esq., which is surrounded by young and thriving
plantations. There is a small distillery in the village;
and fairs are held on the first Wednesday in every
month, for cattle, sheep, and pigs, and a pleasure fair on
Easter-Monday. It has a penny post to Omagh, and
is a constabulary police station; a court baron for the
manor of Eliston, in which debts to the amount of 40s.
are recoverable, is held here on the first Tuesday in
every month; and petty sessions every second Friday.
667
GOW
The parish church, a neat small edifice, is situated here,
also the parochial school, and a dispensary.
GORTROE, a parish, in the barony of Barrymore,
county of Cork, and province of Munster, 2½ miles
(S. by E.) from Rathcormac, on the road to Midleton;
containing, with the parish of Desert, 2856 inhabitants;
and comprising 8885 statute acres, as applotted under
the tithe act, and valued at £6046 per annum: about
1500 acres are bog and mountain waste, the remainder
arable and pasture; the soil is in general poor. The
principal seats are Ballinterry, the residence of the Rev.
Archdeacon Ryder -, and Holly Hill, of S. Croker, Esq.
It is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Cloyne,
united from an early period to the rectory and vicarage
of Desert, forming the corps of the archdeaconry of
Cloyne, in the gift of the bishop: the tithes of the united
parishes amount to £415. 7. 8. There is neither glebe-
house nor glebe. The church was built in 1826. In
the R.C. divisions it is part of the union or district of
Rathcormac, and contains a chapel. There is a parochial
school of about 20 children, to which the rector contri-
butes £5 annually, and a private school of about 60
children.
GOWRAN, an incorporated post-town (formerly a
parliamentary borough) and a parish, in the barony of
Gowran, county of Kilkenny, and province of Lein-
ster, 6 miles (E.) from Kilkenny, and 52 (S. W. by S.)
from Dublin, on the road to Waterford; containing 2783
inhabitants. This place, though, now comparatively
insignificant, was formerly of considerable importance.
In the 14th century a strong castle was built here by
James, third Earl of Ormonde., who made it his principal
residence till 1391, when he purchased the castle of Kil-
kenny. In 1399, Teigue O’Carrol, dynast of Ely, when
in arms against the royal forces under the Lord-Deputy
Scrope, was taken prisoner and confined in the castle
of this place, from which in the following year he made
his escape. Hen. V., in the second year of his reign, by
charter alleging that “the town of Ballygaueran was
situated far from the aid of the English, and surrounded
by Irish enemies who had lately burnt it,” granted the
inhabitants certain customs for murage and pavage for
40 years, to enable them to build walls for its protection.
The castle was subsequently repaired by Margaret, the
celebrated Countess of Ormonde; and Edw. VI. granted
the portreeve, burgesses, and commons an exemption
from county cess, which was confirmed by Elizabeth in
1566. Jas. I., in the sixth year of his reign, made the
town a parliamentary borough, and incorporated the
inhabitants under the designation of the “Portreeve,
Chief Burgesses, and Freemen of the Town and Borough
of Gowran,” by charter setting forth that the inhabitants
had always been loyal, but were then greatly reduced
by the war and the late plague. In 1650, the castle was
besieged by the forces of Cromwell under Sankey and
Hewson, to whom, after an obstinate defence by Col.
Hammond, it ultimately surrendered, when the com-
mander and the garrison were inhumanly massacred
and the castle destroyed by fire. The united forces of
Cromwell and Ireton soon after assembled here, where
they were joined by those of Hewson, on their march to
besiege Kilkenny. The town, which is the joint pro-
perty of Viscount Clifden and W. Bayly, Esq., contains
193 houses, many of which have been recently rebuilt,
and other improvements have also taken place. There
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