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KIL
light, but all of it can be cultivated. Lakefield is the
seat of J. Battersby, Esq. The living is a rectory, in
the diocese of Meath, united in 1782 to the vicarage of
Killua, and in the patronage of the Bishop and the
Marquess of Drogheda: the tithes of Killallon amount
to £323.1. 6½., and of the whole benefice to £368. 1. 6¼.
The church of the union is at Clonmellon, in Killua; it
was built about fifty years since, towards which the late
Sir B. Chapman, Bart, contributed largely. The glebe-
house is in this parish, and was built in 1813, by aid of
a gift of £100 and a loan of £750 from the late Board
of First Fruits. The glebe comprises 36 acres, valued
at £54 per annum, but subject to a rent of £11, pay-
able to the Earl of Fingall. In the R. C. divisions the
parish forms part of the union or district of Clonmellon,
and has a plain chapel. About 100 children are edu-
cated in a private school.
KILLALOAN.—See KILLOLOAN.
KILLALOE, a post-town and parish, and the seat
of a diocese, in the barony of TULLA, county of CLARE,
and province of MUNSTER, 20 miles (E. by S.) from
Ennis, and 87 (S. W. by W.) from Dublin, on the road
from Scariff to Nenagh; containing 8587 inhabitants, of
which number 1411 are in the town. This place, an-
ciently called Laonia, derived its present name, supposed
to be a corruption of Kill-da-Lua, from the foundation
of an abbey, in the 6th century, by St. Lua or Molua,
grandson of Eocha Baildearg, King of Munster, and
which became the head of a diocese. Turlogh O’Brien,
in 1054, built a bridge across the Shannon at this place,
which had grown into some importance, though little of
its previous history is related; and, in 1061, Hugh
O’Connor destroyed the castle which had been erected
here, and burned the town, which was again reduced to
ashes in 1080 and 1084, by the people of Conmacne.
In 1177, Raymond le Gros, after his triumphant entry
into Limerick, came to this place, where he received the
hostages of Roderic, King of Connaught, and O’Brien,
Prince of Thomond, who took the oath of fealty to the
King of England. On Richard de Clare’s obtaining a
grant of certain lands in the county of Clare, this town,
as containing the only ford over the Shannon, obtained
for some time the appellation of Claresford. In 1367,
after the recall of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, from the
government of Ireland, who had acquired considerable
tracts of territory around the town, Murrogh-na-Ranagh,
one of the O’Briens, made himself master of all the
country beyond the Shannon, and destroyed this town
and several others belonging to the English. Gen.
Sarsfield, in 1681, posted a strong party at this place,
to defend the passage of the river; but having aban-
doned their post, the English advanced into the western
provinces; and in 1691 the same general, at the head of
a select body of cavalry, passed the river and destroyed
a convoy of ammunition on its way to Wm, III., then
at Limerick.
The town is pleasantly situated on a rising ground
on the western bank of the Shannon, near the noted
falls of Killaloe, and about a mile from Lough Derg, and
is connected with the county of Tipperary by an ancient
bridge of nineteen arches. It consists of one square,
and a principal and several smaller streets, and contains
about 300 houses. There is a small infantry barrack.
A flourishing trade in stuffs, camlets, and serges was
formerly carried on, and two well-supplied markets were
held weekly; but both the manufacture and the markets
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KIL
have been discontinued. Above and below the bridge
there are numerous eel weirs, which produce a strong
current in the river, and there is also a salmon fishery.
In the vicinity are some very extensive slate quarries,
from which, on an average, about 100,000 tons are
annually raised for the supply of the surrounding coun-
try to a great distance. A mill, with machinery driven
by water, has been erected at an expense of £6000, for
cutting and polishing stone and marble, and working
them into mantel-pieces, flags, slabs, and other articles,
in which about 100 men are employed, and for whose
residence near the works are some handsome slated
cottages. A spirit of cheerful industry and enterprise
seems to promise much for the increasing prosperity of
the town. Close to these mills is a yard for boat-
building, belonging to the Shannon Steam Navigation
Company, whose head-quarters are at this place, and
who have established a regular communication by steam-
packets, for goods and passengers, up the Shannon,
through Lough Derg to Portumna, Athlone, and Bana-
gher, and from Banagher by canal-boats to Dublin. The
company afford employment to a great number of per-
sons in the construction and repair of docks and ware-
houses. About a quarter of a mile from the village of
O’Brien’s Bridge is the pier-head, where the steam-boats
transfer their cargoes and passengers to a packet-boat,
which is towed at a rapid rate to Limerick, between
which place and Dublin packet-boats ply daily; the trip
to Portumna and Williamstown is beautifully pictu-
resque. Below the bridge the navigation of the Shan-
non is interrupted by a ridge of rocks, over which the
water rushes with great noise; and the appearance of
the town at this place, with the waters of Lough Derg
in the distance, and its venerable cathedral rising above
the bridge and backed by a fine mountain range, is
strikingly romantic. To remedy this obstruction of
the navigation, the Board of Inland Navigation con-
structed a canal through the bishop’s demesne, avoiding
the rocks, and joining the river beyond the falls; it has
also erected an hotel, called the Ponsonby Arms, for
the accommodation of families visiting Lough Derg and
its neighbourhood. This lake is about thirty miles in
length, and abounds with beautiful and interesting
scenery, more especially in that part which is near the
town; the shores are embellished with several handsome
mansions, embosomed in luxuriant woods and planta-
tions, and with several ancient and venerable castles.
Pike, perch, trout, and various other fish are taken in
abundance, among which is found the Gillaroo trout.
Fairs are held on April 5th, May 24th, Sept. 3d, and
Oct. 20th; and petty sessions once a fortnight. A con-
stabulary police force is stationed in the town.
The SEE of KILLALOE
was originally founded about
639, by Pope John IV., who
consecrated St. Flannan, suc-
cessor to St. Lua or Molua,
first bishop. Theodorick,
King of Munster and father
of St. Flannan, endowed the
see with many estates, and
was interred in the abbey.
Moriertach, King of Ireland,
and Donald O’Brien, King of
Limerick, were also great
benefactors; and the former was interred here with