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LAR
ing the same year, 113 vessels, of the aggregate burden
of 4329 tons, cleared out from this port, of which 64
were bound to British ports and 49 were coasters. The
port, which is a member of that of Belfast, has an ex-
cellent harbour for small vessels, for which there is good
anchorage between the Curraan, and the peninsula of
Island Magee, in 2 or 2½ fathoms, quite land-locked;
great numbers of vessels from Scotland anchor off this
place, while waiting for their cargoes of lime from the
Maghramorne works. There are some good quays on
both sides of the lough about a mile from the town,
the water being too shallow to float vessels further
up. The royal military road along the coast passes
through the town. The market is on Tuesday; a
great market is held on the first Monday of every
month, and there are fairs on Dec. 1st and July 31st,
principally for black cattle, a few inferior horses and
pigs. A constabulary police force has been established
in the town, and there is also a coast-guard station
belonging to the Carrickfergus district. A court for
the manor of Glenarm is held here every six weeks;
and petty sessions are held every alternate week.
The parish comprises, according to the Ordnance
survey, 2210 statute acres of good arable and pasture
land; the system of agriculture is slowly improving,
and there is neither waste land nor bog. Limestone
abounds, and is quarried both for building and agricul-
tural purposes; at Ballycraigey, about a mile to the
north of the town, is a quarry of felspar, worked occa-
sionally for building; and at Bankhead a fine stratum
of coal has been discovered, but is not worked. The
principal seats are Gardenmore, the elegant villa of
S. Darcus, Esq.; the Curraan, the residence of M.
M c Neill, Esq.; and the glebe-house, of the Rev. S.
Gwynn. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the dio-
cese of Connor, and in the patronage of the Dean; the
tithes amount to £135. 11. 11., of which £123. 15. 7. is
payable to the curate, who receives also £23. 8. from
Primate Boulter’s fund. The glebe-house was built in
1824, by a gift of £450 and a loan of £50 from the
late Board of First Fruits; the glebe comprises 3¼
acres. The church, previously to its alteration in 1819,
had some interesting details of ancient architecture. In
the R, C. divisions the parish forms part of the union
or district of Carrickfergus and Larne; a chapel was
erected here in 1832 by subscription. There are places
of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the
Synod of Ulster and the Seceding Synod, each of the
second class, and with the Presbytery of Antrim of the
first class, also for Wesleyan Methodists. About 150
children are taught in the national school of the parish,
and a dispensary is supported by subscription. There
are some remains of the ancient castle of Olderfleet on
the promontory of Curraan; and on the sea side, about
a mile north of the town, is a cavern called the Black
Cave, passing under the projecting base of a huge
rock; the length of the cave, which is open at both
ends, is 60 feet, and its height from 3 to 30 feet;
the sides are formed of basaltic columns of large di-
mensions. On the shore of the lough, near the town,
are some singular petrifactions of a blue colour, ap-
parently the result of a spring issuing from a bank
at high water mark. In a short road leading from the
east to the north of the town is a chalybeate spring,
at present little used.
246
LAU
LATTERAGH, a parish, in the barony of UPPER
ORMOND, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUN-
STER, 3½ miles (N. by W.) from Burris-o’-leagh, on the
new line of road from Nenagh to Clonmel; containing
995 inhabitants. This place was celebrated at a very
early period for its monastery, the foundation of which
is uncertain. It became an extensive seat of learning,
and St. Odran of Leatrach-odhrain, who died in 548,
presided over this establishment, in which were at that
time not less than 3000 monks. In 1304, the neigh-
bourhood was laid waste by Tirlogh, son of Teig-Cao-
luiske, King of Thomond, who spared only the churches
and the dwellings of the clergy. From this period no
further notice of the monastery occurs, neither are there
any remains of the ancient buildings. The parish com-
prises 4050 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe
act. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Killaloe,
united at a period unknown to the rectory and vicarage
of Innisdadrom, together constituting the corps of the
precentorship in the cathedral of Killaloe, in the patron-
age of the Bishop. The tithes amount to £138. 9. 2¾.
There are two private schools, in which are about 120
children.
LATTIN, a parish, in the barony of CLANWILLIAM,
county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 4¼
miles (S. W.) from Tipperary; containing 1423 inha-
bitants. It comprises 2932 statute acres, principally in
pasture and of a superior quality. A fair is held at
Knockordan on Nov. 7th. Here is Mooresfort, the
handsome seat of Maurice Crosbie Moore, Esq., situ-
ated in a well-planted demesne. The living is a rectory,
in the diocese of Emly, united at a period unknown to
the rectory of Bruis and the vicarages of Corroge,
Clonpet, and Cordangan, which union forms the corps
of the prebend of Lattin in Emly cathedral, and in the
gift of the Archbishop of Cashel. The tithes are
£97. 15. 4¼., and the annual value of the prebendal
union is £355.10. 5, In the R. C. divisions it is the
head of a district, comprising the parishes of Lattin,
Cullen, Shronell, Bruis, and Clonpet, and containing
a neat chapel at Lattin and one at Cullen.
LAURENCETOWN, a village, in the parish of CLON-
FERT, barony of LONGFORD, county of GALWAY, and
province of CONNAUGHT, 6 miles (S.) from Ballinasloe,
on the road to Eyrecourt, to which places it has a penny
post: the population is returned with the parish. It is
a chief constabulary police station, and petty sessions
are held weekly on Thursday. A considerable quantity
of wooden ware and furniture is manufactured here,
and fairs are held on May 8th, Aug. 22nd, and Dec. 15th,
for cattle, sheep, and pigs. The R. C. chapel for this
part of the district is a good modern building; and the
Wesleyan Methodists also have a chapel here and sup-
port a school. The seats in the vicinity are Bellevue,
or Liscreaghan, the residence of Walter Laurence, Esq.,
situated in an extensive and well-wooded demesne con-
taining a number of remarkably fine cedars of Lebanon
and evergreen oaks; Gortnamona, the elegant seat of
P. Blake, Esq.; Somerset House, of Simeon Seymour,
Esq. 5 Somerset Glebe, of the Rev. J. Hanigan; and
Ballymore Castle, of Thos. Seymour, Esq., a fortified
structure erected in 1620, and modernised at a consi-
derable expense in 1815. Near the town are the ruins
of the castle of O’Hill, from which it formerly took the
name of Ohillmore.