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KIN
of A. Maguire, Esq.; and Cloghan, of D. Winslow, Esq.
The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of
Kilmore, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the tithes
amount to £369. 4.7½. The glebe-house was erected
in 1822, by aid of a loan of £787 from the late Board
of First Fruits. There is a church at Derrilin, and one
at Swanlinbar, which is in a ruinous state. In the
R. C. divisions the parish forms two unions or districts,
called Kinawley, in which are chapels at Kinawley and
Swanlinbar; and Knockaninny, in which are chapels
at Knockaninny, Glassmullen, and Drumderrig. There
are eight public schools, in which about 850 children
are educated, and 13 private schools, in which are about
570, also seven Sunday schools.
KINEAGH, a parish, partly in the barony of RATH-
VILLY, county of CARLOW, but chiefly in that of KILKEA
and MOONE, county of KILDARE, and province of LEIN-
STER, 2 miles (W. by S.) from Baltinglass, on the road
from Dublin to Wexford; containing 1441 inhabitants.
Agriculture is improving, and there is fine granite for
building. The principal seats are Bettyfield, the resi-
dence of — Hutchinson, Esq.; Rickettstown, of the
Rev. J. Whitty; Philipstown, of J. Penrose, Esq. The
living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin, and in the
patronage of the Vicars Choral of St. Patrick’s cathe-
dral, Dublin; the rectory is partly appropriate to the
Bishop of Kildare and the vicars choral of St. Patrick’s,
and partly impropriate in the Duke of Leinster, H.
Gumming, Esq., and J. D. Duckett, Esq. The tithes
amount to £334. 2. 2½., of which £80 is payable to the
bishop, £80 to the vicars choral, £21. 17. 9. to the
Duke of Leinster, £14. 11. 7. to H. Cumming, Esq.,
£22. 18. 9. to J. D. Duckett, Esq., and £114. 14. 3½.
to the vicar. There is a glebe-house, and the glebe com-
prises 18a. 3r. 24p. A neat church was built about
1834, by a grant of £900 from the late Board of First
Fruits. In the R. C. divisions it is partly in the union
or district of Castledermot, in the diocese of Dublin,
and partly in that of Rathvilly, in the diocese of Kil-
dare and Leighlin. Here are the ruins of the old church
and of an abbey.
KING’S COUNTY, an inland county of the province
of LINSTER, bounded on the east by the county of Kil-
dare; on the north, by that of Westmeath, and a small
portion of Meath; on the west by those of Tipperary,
Galway, and Roscommon, from the two latter of which
it is separated by the Shannon, and on the south by the
Queen’s county and Tipperary. It extends from 52° 48’
to 53° 24’ (N. Lat.), and from 7° 0’ to 8° 0’ (W. Lon.);
comprising an area, according to the Ordnance survey,
of 528,166 acres, of which 394,569 are cultivated land,
133,349 unprofitable mountain and bog, and 248 are
under water. The population, in 1821, amounted to
131,088, and in 1831, to 144,225.
This part of the island, owing to its inland situation,
is not noticed by Ptolemy; recourse must therefore be
had to the early native writers as the only source whence
to ascertain its former state. From these it has been
concluded that, at a very remote period, the county
formed part of the territory denominated Hy Falgia,
which included also those of Meath, Westmeath, Dublin,
and Kildare. It was also included, together with the
Queen’s county, Dublin, and Kildare, under the denomi-
nation of Hy Laoighois, the chieftain of which territory
resided at Dunamase, in the Queen’s county. Afterwards,
221
KIN
this territory, or, as some say, the southern part of it
only, was included in the district of Eile, or Hy Leigh,
comprehending also the western part of the Queen’s
county, and the northern part of Tipperary. That district
was afterwards divided into three principalities, each
under its own chieftain; one of which, forming the
southern portion of the King’s county, and lying west-
ward of the Slieve Bloom mountains, obtained the name
of Eile in Chearbhuil, or “the plain near the rock,”
afterwards corrupted into Fly O’ Carroll, the chiefs of
which were called O’Carroll, and under them was a
subordinate dynast, named O’Delany, who ruled over a
district in the south, denominated Dal-leagh-nui, or
“the district of the flat country.” These principalities,
with the more northern parts of the present King’s
county, occupied by the Mac Coghlans, O’Molloys, and
O’Conors, were afterwards united into one kingdom,
under the ancient title of the kingdom of Hy Falgia, or
Offallia, which comprehended also a part of the county
of Kildare, and the lands of the O’Dempsies and O’Duins,
in the Queen’s county. It retained this title for several
centuries after the landing of the English, and included
a smaller territory, called Hy Bressail. So early as 1170,
the English power was extended into this part of Ire-
land, though not with permanent vigour. Thus the
lands of Cryngidubh were deemed in all matters of
English jurisdiction to form part of Meath; the manor
of Geashill, held by the Fitzgeralds, was esteemed part
of the county of Kildare; and from the Black Book of
the Exchequer, and divers pipe rolls, it appears that the
whole of Offallia was charged with twelve knights’ fees
to the king as part of the county of Kildare. But as
the English power declined, its laws and customs were
disregarded, and under the name of West Clonmalugra,
or Glenmalire, this district was for successive centuries
one of the most turbulent and hostile to the Anglo-Irish
government. Eastern Glenmalire, or Glennmleiry, and
Leix, were the names then given to the Queen’s county,
the Barrow river being the boundary between the
two districts. The O’Conors were the commanding
sept in Offallia; in the reign of Edward VI., uniting
with the O’Mores of Leix, they spread disorder through
the province of Leinster; but the lord-deputy, Sir An-
thony Saintleger, aided by a force sent from England
under Sir William Bellingnam, dispersed them with little
difficulty, ravaged their lands, drove the inhabitants
into their fastnesses in the bogs and woods, where they
were reduced to the last extremities by famine, and se-
cured their subjection by building six castles in their
territory. The chiefs themselves submitted, and attended
Saintleger into England, where they were thrown into
confinement, and their lands being declared forfeited were
shared among English officers and settlers: the O’Car-
rols, occupying the remotest situation, appear to have
been the least affected by these disastrous events. The
new arrangements were completed in 1548, and procured
for Bellingham the honour of knighthood and the go-
vernment of Ireland. But the old Irish families did not
patiently relinquish their claims and possessions. They
were indefatigable in their efforts to resist what they
deemed an unjust usurpation. Numbers were conse-
quently cut off in the field, or executed by martial law;
and the whole race would have been extirpated in the
reign of Mary, had not the Earls of Kildare and Ormonde
interceded with the Queen, and become sureties for the