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ATH
and of which the modern portion is castellated and part
of the ancient structure still remains; Fortwilliam, the
seats of N. J. Ffrench, Esq.; Curramore, of Christo-
pher Balfe, Esq.; and Thornfield, of J. Mahon, Esq.
Near the river are some large insulated mills. Fairs
are held on July 11th and Sept. 24th. The living is a
vicarage, with the vicarages of Fuerty and Kilbegnet
episcopally united in 1809, in the diocese of Elphin, and
in the patronage of the Bishop: the rectory is impro-
priate in the Incorporated Society for Protestant Charter
Schools, by deed of request from Lord Ranelagh. The
tithes amount to £226. 3. 1., of which £90. 9. 2½. is
payable to the impropriator, and the remainder to the
vicar: the gross amount of tithes in the union payable
to the incumbent is £288. There are two churches in
the union: that of Athleague, formerly a domestic
chapel of the family of Lystre, is an old building in bad
repair. The glebe-house was built by a gift of £400
and a loan of £214 from the late Board of First Fruits,
in 1815: the glebe annexed to it comprises 23 acres,
besides 20 acres in the parish of Fuerty. The R. C.
parish is co-extensive with that of the Established
Church: the chapel is situated in the town, and is in
bad repair. The parochial school is supported by sub-
scription; and there are several hedge schools, on the
books of which are 290 boys and 130 girls. Between
Castle Kelly and Rookwood is a rath, in which stood an
abbey of Grey friars, where Maylesa O’Hanayn, abbot
of Roscommon, died in 1266: and near it was a cell in
which, according to tradition, four bishops were interred.
In 1819, some labourers digging for gravel under a bog
that had been cut away, on the estate of Castle Kelly,
found a gold fibula weighing 17½ oz., now in the posses-
sion of the Very Rev. H. R. Dawson, Dean of St. Pa-
trick’s, Dublin. A chalybeate spring issues from the
hill of Mount-Mary.
ATHLONE, a borough,
market and post-town, and
an important military sta-
tion, partly in the barony
of BRAWNEY, county of
WESTMEATH, and province
of LEINSTER, and partly in
the barony of ATHLONE,
county of ROSCOMMON, and
province of CONNAUGHT, 12
miles (N. E. by E.) from Bal-
linasloe, 15¼ (S.E. by S.) from
Roscommon, and 59½ (W.)
from Dublin; containing 11,406 inhabitants. This place
derives its name from the words Ath Luain, signifying
in the Irish language “the ford of the moon,” of which,
previously to the introduction of Christianity, the an-
cient inhabitants were worshippers; or, according to
some, from Ath-Luan, in reference to the rapids at the
bridge over the Shannon. After the erection of a town
at this ford it obtained the name of Bail-ath-Luain, or
“the town of the ford of the moon,” by which, now
contracted into Blahluin, it is generally called by the
Irish inhabitants of the neighbourhood. The town is
situated on the river Shannon, by which it is divided
into two parts, and on the great western road from
Dublin to Galway through Ballinasloe. An abbey for
Cistertian monks, dedicated to St. Peter, was founded,
according to Ware, in 1216, on the western or Con-
85
ATH
naught side of the Shannon, to which in that year King
John gave certain lands in exchange for the site on
which was erected the Castle of Athlone, besides one-
tenth part of the expenses of the castle, which after-
wards become one of the principal military stations in
the country. The castle was progressively increased in
strength, and so important was it regarded by the
English monarchs, that when Hen. III. granted the
dominion of Ireland to his son Prince Edward, this
town was expressly reserved with other principal cities;
and when the same monarch granted the whole of Con-
naught to Richard de Burgo, he retained for himself
five cantreds contiguous to the castle. In this reign
another monastery was founded on the eastern side of
the Shannon, by Cathal Croibh-Dearg O’Connor, Prince
of Connaught, and completed by Sir Henry Dillon, who
was interred in it in 1244. In the reign of Elizabeth
this place was greatly improved, the fortifications were
strengthened, and the castle was for some time occupied
by the Earl of Essex. The castle became the seat of
the presidency of Connaught, and when the insurrec-
tion broke out in 1641, it was occupied by Viscount
Ranelagh, then lord-president, with the usual ward of
a royal castle. Independently of its several defences,
the town was strong in itself, being built of stone; and
the inhabitants having given assurances of their deter-
mination to defend it against all enemies, the president
entrusted it entirely to their custody; but in a few weeks
they secretly formed a design of enabling the insurgents
to seize the president and his family, and to surprise
the castle. For this purpose they admitted Sir James
Dillon’s forces within the walls on the night of Satur-
day, in the hope of surprising Lord Ranelagh on his
way to church in the English town on the following
day; but by some mistake in the appointed signal the
design miscarried. The Irish forces laid close siege to
the castle for twenty-two weeks, when it was relieved by
some troops sent from Dublin by the Duke of Ormonde,
who strengthened the garrison; but with this reinforce-
ment the president effected nothing more than an unim-
portant defeat of the Connaught men near Ballintobber.
During the president’s absence on this expedition, the
insurgents of Westmeath under Sir James Dillon at-
tacked the English town in such numbers that the
garrison were compelled to abandon the walls, but they
defended the houses till Captain St. George, making a
sally from the castle, compelled the assailants to with-
draw. By occupying the pass of Ballykeran, however,
Dillon’s forces cut off all communication with the me-
tropolis, and reduced the town to a state of extreme
distress for want of supplies, which an entire troop had
to cut its way through his forces to Dublin to solicit.
At length, all hope of assistance being extinct, the pre-
sident negotiated with the enemy for a safe conduct
for his wife and family to Trim, which was honourably
granted; and so forcibly did Lady Ranelagh, at Dublin,
urge the necessities of the deserted English in this
town, that a convoy was sent to bring the inhabitants
away. This convoy, which consisted of 1100 foot and
a few horse, summoned from the garrisons around
Dublin, under the command of Sir Richard Grenville,
arrived at Athlone in the latter part of February, 1642,
and found the English there so much reduced in num-
bers as scarcely to muster more than 450 men, and
many of these so wasted by famine and disease, as to be