Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

KIL
who has also greatly improved the approaches, and ex-
tended the shrubberies and plantations as far as the
situation, so much exposed to the western gales, will
allow. The surrounding scenery, which is of the most
wild and romantic description, is terminated on the
north by a range of rugged and lofty mountains, from
the summit of which an extensive view of the western
coast is obtained, embracing the entrances to the bays
of Bantry and Kenmare, the bay of Ballinaskelligs,
Dursey Island, and the Skellig Isles. Derriquin, also
partly castellated, is situated in a finely wooded demesne
on the bay of Kenmare, which is here studded with seve-
ral small islands. The prostrate juniper is found on
the shore at this place. A penny post to Cahirciveen
has been lately established at Ballybrack.
The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese
of Ardfert and Aghadoe, united prior to any existing
record to the rectory and vicarage of Templenoe, and
in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes amount to
£258. 9. 2¾., and those of the union to £380. 15.4½|.
The church at Sneem is a plain structure, erected about
1790, for which purpose £390 was granted by the late
Board of First Fruits, and £100 was granted at the same
period towards the erection of the glebe-house. The glebe
comprises 23 acres, subject to a rent of £30. In the R. C.
divisions this parish forms two separate districts; the
eastern, called Ballybog, contains the chapels of Sneem
and Thahilla; and the western, called Derrynane, those
of Derrynane and Lohurt. The chapel at Sneem is a large
plain building, and that at Derrynane is a neat modern
edifice, erected at the joint expense of the late General
Daniel Count O’Connell, Mr. O’Connell, and Mr. Hartop.
The parochial school at Sneem is supported by Mr.
Bland, of Derriquin, and the incumbent; a school held
in Sneem chapel is chiefly supported by the priest, and
a free school at Derrynane by a bequest of £10 per
annum from the late General Daniel Count O’Connell
(at whose expense the school-house, a neat building,
was erected) and by annual donations from Mr. O’Con-
nell and Mr. Hartop: about 250 children are educated
in these schools. The ruins of Aghamore or Derrynane
Abbey, founded in the seventh century by the monks of
St. Finbarr, at Cork, for canons regular of the order of
St. Augustine, stand on a peninsula which becomes in-
sulated at spring tides, and has therefore acquired the
name of “Abbey Island.” A portion of the walls has
been washed away by the violence of the waves, but the
remains are still considerable, and the eastern window
nearly entire. Here is the family vault of the O’Con-
nells. At Coode are the ruins of the old church, and
on a hill about a mile from it is a curious hermitage,
hewn out of the solid rock, said to have belonged to St.
Crohane, the patron saint of the parish. At Cahirdaniel
are the remains of a large fortification, consisting of a
rampart seven feet high, constructed of large stones, and
attributed to the Danes; and at Money Fluch are those
of a similar one. But one of the most remarkable an-
cient structures in Ireland is Staigue Fort, which is
generally considered to be unique. It stands on a low
hill nearly in the centre of an amphitheatre of barren
mountains, open from the south to the bay of Kenmare,
from which it is about a mile and a half distant. The
building, which is nearly of a circular form, is con-
structed of the ordinary stone of the country, but bears
no mark whatever of a tool, having been evidently erect-
75
KIL
ed before masonry became a regular art. The only en-
trance is by a doorway barely five feet high, through a
wall upwards of 13 feet thick, which opens into an
area of about 90 feet in diameter. The circumference
is divided into a series of compartments of steps, or
seats, ascending to the top of the surrounding wall, in
the form of the letter X, and in two of these compart-
ments are entrances to cells constructed in the centre
of the wall. The average height of the wall on the out-
side is 18 feet, battering as it rises by a curve, which
produces a very singular effect: the wall also batters
on the inside, so as to be reduced from about 13 feet
at the bottom to 7 at the top. On the outside the
stones are small, and the joints are so filled with
splinters of stone as not to be removed without violence.
The fort is surrounded by a broad fosse. Various
conjectures have been formed as to its origin and use,
the most probable of which appears to be that it
was erected as a place of refuge for the inhabitants and
their cattle from the sudden inroads of the pirates of
former times.—See BLACKWATER, DINISH, SCARIFF,
and SNEEM.
KILCRONAGHAN, a parish, in the barony of
LOUGHINSHOUN, county of LONDONDERRY, and pro-
vince of ULSTER; containing, with the post-town of
Tubbermore, 4186 inhabitants. It comprises, accord-
ing to the Ordnance survey, 7992¾ statute acres, of
which 7409 are applotted under the tithe act, and
includes some of the richest portions of the valley
of the Mayola, the principal part of which is pasture;
there are also above 500 acres of mountain land in
pasture. Great quantities of reddish limestone and
much valuable freestone are quarried, some of which
is exported from Portballyronan: there are also some
thin seams of coal. The principal seats are Fort Wil-
liam, the residence of J. Stevenson, Esq., and the
glebe-house, of the Rev. J. T. Paul. The living is a
rectory, in the diocese of Derry, and in the patronage of
the Bishop: the tithes amount to £350. The church
is a small edifice, rebuilt in 1816; near the communion
table is a beautiful niche in the Norman style,
which was part of the ancient edifice: the Ecclesiasti-
cal Commissioners lately granted £132 for the repair
of this church. The glebe-house, which adjoins it, stands
on a glebe of three acres, besides which there is a glebe
of 234 acres of arable land, about two miles from the
church. In the R. C. divisions this parish forms part
of the union or district of Desartmartin, and has a cha-
pel at Keenaght. There is a meeting-house for Presby-
terians at Tubbermore: it was built in 1728, and is of
the second class, in connection with the Synod of Ulster.
There is also a meeting-house for Independents in the
town. About 480 children are educated in seven public
schools, and there are six Sunday schools. Dr. Adam
Clarke, the celebrated biblicist, was born at Moybeg,
in this parish.—See TUBBERMORE.
KILCRUMPER, a parish, partly in the barony of
FERMOY, but chiefly in that of CONDONS and CLONGIB-
BONS, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, at
the junction of the rivers Funcheon and Blackwater,
and nearly adjoining the town of Kilworth; containing
1408 inhabitants, and comprising 3249 statute acres,
as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at
£3842. 14. 11. per annum. The land is in general of a
good quality and chiefly under tillage. Limestone and
L 2