Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

KIL
mer, Durrow, and Graig; the ancient disfranchised
boroughs of Knocktopher and Innistiogue, of which the
latter is a post-town, and the former has a penny post;
and the post-towns of Freshford, Ballyragget, Urling-
ford, Johnstown, and Goresbridge. Among the largest
villages are those of Piltown, Clough, Bennettsbridge,
and Rossbercon, besides the large suburb of Ferrybank,
opposite the city of Waterford. Prior to the Union
this county sent twelve members to the Irish parlia-
ment,—two knights of the shire, and two representatives
for each of the boroughs of Callan, Gowran, Thomas-
town, Knocktopher, and Innistiogue: but since that
period its representation has been confined to the two
members for the county at large. The constituency, as
registered at the summer assize of 1836, consists of 266
£50, 108 £20, and 864 £10 freeholders; 27 £50, 12
£20, and 189 £10 leaseholders; and 5 £50 and 6
£20 rent-chargers: making a total of 1477 voters. The
election takes place at Kilkenny. It is included in the
Leinster circuit: the assizes are held at Kilkenny; and
the general quarter sessions at Kilkenny, Castlecomer,
and Thomastown. The county court-house and the
county gaol are in Kilkenny, and there is a bridewell at
Thomastown. The number of persons charged with
criminal offences and committed to the prisons, in 1835,
was 574, and of civil bill committals, 21. The local
government is vested in a lieutenant and 17 deputy lieu-
tenants, of whom 13 are county magistrates, and there
are also 105 other magistrates; besides whom there are
the usual county officers, including two coroners. There
are 50 constabulary police stations, having in the whole
a force of one stipendiary magistrate, 10 chief and 51
subordinate constables, and 341 men, with 22 horses,
the expense of maintaining which is defrayed equally by
Grand Jury presentments and by Government. There
are 30 stations of the peace preservation police, consist-
ing of two magistrates, 3 chief and 18 subordinate con-
stables, and 112 men, with 2 horses, maintained at an
expense, in 1835, of £6963. The county infirmary and
fever hospital are at Kilkenny, and there are also fever
hospitals at Freshford, Kells, Kilmaganny, and Ross-
bercon, and dispensaries at Kilkenny, Castlecomer,
Ballyragget, Graig, Freshford, Kilmanagh, Knocktopher,
Kilmaganny, Thomastown, Ida, Kells and Stonyford,
Gowran, Callan, Durrow, Johnstown, Kilmacow, Urling-
ford, Whitechurch, and Innistiogue, maintained by
equal subscriptions and Grand Jury presentments. The
amount of the Grand Jury presentments, for 1835, was
£29,793. 14. 8½., of which £2603. 11. 6. was for the
public roads of the county at large; £5907. 19. 1. for the
public roads, being the baronial charge; £2387. 6. 9.
in repayment of loans advanced by Government;
£7609. 19. 1. for officers salaries, public establish-
ments, &c.; and £11,284. 18.3½. for the police. In the
military arrangements this county is included in the
eastern district.
An argillaceous soil may be considered as predomi-
nant throughout the county, within the limits of which
there is very little ground unfit for tillage, or which
does not form good meadow or pasture. The northern
part consists chiefly of a moory turf, a few inches deep,
incumbent on a bed of stiff yellow or whitish clay, which
is the worst soil in the county, and the only kind liable
to be injured by surface water. More southerly, the soil
is in general light, covering an argillaceous schistus.
103
KIL
The northern part of the barony of Gowran is similar
in quality, until its hills subside into a rich plain covered
by good loam of various kinds. An excellent soil for the
growth of wheat pervades the southern part of this ba-
rony from the Barrow to the Nore; its western portion
consists of low hills or gently sloping grounds of good
soil, dry, and sometimes deep, but diminishing in quality
as it approaches the latter of those rivers. That to the
west of the Nore, below the city of Kilkenny, is a clayey
loam immediately over a bed of limestone. In general,
the nearer the limestone is to the surface, the poorer the
soil; but as this kind of ground, along the banks of the
river, produces close and green herbage, and is extremely
dry, it seems calculated by nature to form the best kind
of sheepwalks. A light soil appears all round the city
of Kilkenny, frequently rising into hills of sand and
gravel. Along the banks of the Nore, northwards, good
meadow ground is found, apparently formed by aquatic
depositions: some of it consists of a deep blackish loam,
apparently the produce of decayed vegetables, and in-
ducing the inference that the Nore, formerly obstructed
by rocks or other natural impediments which the impe-
tuosity of its water had ultimately broken down, was
once an expansive lake, whose edges may still be traced
round the flat plain inclining towards Freshford.
Achadh-ur, or “the Field of Water,” the old name for
Freshford, strengthens this conclusion. The north-
western portion of the county is chiefly occupied by
hills, the soil of which, though not deep, is of good
quality and productive of fine herbage. From the
whitish appearance of these calcareous hills, the dis-
trict was probably called Geal-Magh, “the white field,”
corrupted into Galmoy. The country declines north-
wards into a varied plain of still better soil, until it is
bounded by a branch of the Bog of Allen: the western
part, with a varied surface and a limestone bottom,
possesses all the gradations between a stiff, yet rich,
clayey soil and a light gravel. Proceeding southwards,
the fertility of the land increases as it approaches the
Suir, on the margin of which is some of the richest and
deepest ground in the county. Some parts of this
southern district consist of low hills covered by a light
dry soil, producing good crops; and, as the soil has a
large proportion of argill, it is peculiarly productive on
the application of calcareous manure. There is a con-
siderable extent of mountain land in the county, much
of which is unimproved: all the hills, when they rise a
little above the calcareous districts, incline to a moory
surface, and when neglected produce little but heath.
The quantity of peat is inconsiderable; by far the
largest tract, amounting to 1000 acres, is in the north-
western extremity: several small tracts, from 30 to 50
acres each, are scattered in various parts; the whole
may be estimated at about 1500 acres, not including
mountain ground, the surface of which is often stripped
for fuel. A bed of marl has been found in a bog be-
tween two strata of black peat; also three strata of bog
separated by alternate beds of indifferent marl. Some
of the lesser bogs maybe cut to a depth of 20 feet:
considerable quantities of oak, fir, and birch are found
in them. A stratum of bog has been found 33 feet be-
neath the surface, covered with the following strata;
—vegetable mould, 3 feet; marl with black stones,
15 feet; yellow clay and hard gravel, 15 feet. There
are no loughs of any extent: in the parish of Clogh-