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LIF
LICKMOLASSY, a parish, in the barony of LONG-
FORD, county of GALWAY, and province of CONNAUGHT,
on the road from Gort to Roscrea; containing, with
the post-town of Portumna (which is separately de-
scribed), 5396 inhabitants; and comprising 6882 statute
acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The living is
a vicarage, in the diocese of Clonfert, united about
1735 to the rectory of Ballynakill and the vicarage of
Leitrim, together constituting the union of Lickmolassy,
m the patronage of the Marquess of Clanricarde: the
rectory is appropriate to the see. The tithes amount
to £276. 18. 5½., of which £46. 3. 1. is payable to the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and £230. 15. 4½. to the
incumbent; and the entire tithes of the benefice amount
to £520. 10. 9¾. The glebe-house was built about 1812,
when the late Board of First Fruits gave £400, and
lent a similar sum, towards its erection: the glebe of
the union comprises 28 acres. There are two churches,
one in the town of Portumna, and the other at Woodford,
in the parish of Ballynakill. In the R. C. divisions this
parish forms part of the union or district of Portumna,
which also comprises the parish of Kilnabronogue, and
contains the chapels of Portumna and Lickmolassy, and
the friary chapel of Boula, in the parish of Kilnabronogue.
About 30 children are educated in the parochial school
at Portumna, which is partly supported by the incum-
bent; and there are three private schools, in which are
about 210 children, and a Sunday school.
LICKORAN, or LAWCORAN, a parish, in the
barony of DECIES-WITHOUT-DRUM, county of WATER-
FORD, and province of MUNSTER, 5 miles (N. E.) from
Cappoquin; containing 529 inhabitants, and comprising
between 3000 and 4000 acres. It is in the diocese of
Lismore; the rectory is impropriate in the Duke of
Devonshire, and the vicarage forms part of the union
of Whitechurch: the tithes amount to £76. 17. 6., of
which two-thirds are payable to the impropriator and
the remainder to the vicar. About 60 children are
educated in a private school.
LIFFORD, an assize town (formerly a parliamen-
tary borough) and parish, in the barony of RAPHOE,
county of DONEGAL, and province of ULSTER, 1 mile
(W.) from Strabane, and 102 (N. by W.) from Dublin,
on the road from Strabane to Letterkenny; containing
5941 inhabitants, of which number, 1096 are in the
town. This place, formerly called Ballyduff and Liffer,
and of which the parish still retains its ancient name of
Clonleigh, was first distinguished as the residence of the
chiefs of the sept of the O’Donells, who had a strong
castle here, in which Manus O’Donell, Prince of Tyrcon-
neil, after being detained prisoner for the last, eight
years of his life by his own son Calvagh, died in 1563.
Hugh O’Donell, called Red Hugh, in 1596, entertained
in this castle Don Alonzo Copis, emissary of Philip III.
of Spain, who had been sent to ascertain the state of
Ireland previously to the embarkation of a Spanish force
for its assistance against the English. In 1600, Nial
Garbh O’Donell, who had abandoned the cause of Hugh,
led 1000 men of the English garrison of Derry to this
place, which, from the previous destruction of its castle,
was defended only by ramparts of earth and a shallow
ditch. On the approach of the English, the garrison of
Hugh O’Donell abandoned the place and encamped
within two miles of it, and the English took possession
of the post, which they fortified with walls of stone.
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LIF
Nial O’Donell, after some weeks had elapsed without
any action taking place, observing some disorder in the
camp of Hugh, advised the English to attack it; but
after an obstinate battle, in which many were killed on
both sides, the English retreated to their fortifications,
and O’Doixell soon after led his forces into Connaught
to oppose the young Earl of Clanrickarde. Under the
protection of this English fortress the present town first
arose, and in 1603 had attained such importance that
a market was granted by Jas. I. to Sir Henry Docwra,
Knt., governor of Lough Foyle. In 1611, the village of
Liffer, with the fortress and about 500 acres of land
adjoining, were, on the settlement of Ulster, granted by
Jas. I. to Sir Richard Hansard, with right to hold two
fairs in the town, on condition that he should within
five years assign convenient portions of land to 60
inhabitants for the erection of houses with gardens, and
200 acres for a common, and that he should also set
apart 100 acres for the keep of 50 horses, should His
Majesty think proper to place a garrison of horse in the
town. The same monarch, in the 10th of his reign,
granted to the inhabitants a charter of incorporation,
under the designation of the “Warden, Free Burgesses,
and Commonalty of the Borough of Liffer,” from which
time its progress was gradual.
The town is situated in a beautiful valley at the base
of an extensive range of mountains, and on the western
bank of the river Foyle, over which is a stone bridge of
twelve arches leading into the county of Tyrone. It
consists of two streets, and contains 161 houses, of
which several are neat and well built: the market and
fairs have been discontinued. There are infantry barracks
for 3 officers and 54 non-commissioned officers and
privates. A penny post to Strabane has been esta-
blished, and there is a constabulary police station in
the town. The corporation by the charter consisted
of a warden, 12 free burgesses, and an indefinite number
of freemen, assisted by two serjeants-at-mace and other
officers. The warden, who was also clerk of the market,
was annually elected from the free burgesses, who were
chosen for life from the commonalty or freemen by a
majority of their own body, by whom also the freemen
were admitted and the serjeants-at-mace and other
officers appointed. The borough returned two mem-
bers to the Irish parliament till the Union, when it-
was disfranchised. A court of record for the re-
covery of debts to the amount of £3. 6. 8. was granted
by the charter to be held weekly before the warden;
but no proceedings appear to have issued from it for
a long period; the corporation seems to have ceased to
exercise any other municipal function except that of
returning members to the Irish parliament, and since
the Union it has become quite extinct. The assizes
and December quarter sessions are held in the town.
The court-house and county gaol is a very spacious and
handsome building in the castellated style; the former
is well adapted for holding the various courts; and the
latter, which is divided into six wards, is well arranged
for classification, and capable of receiving 124 prisoners;
the men are employed in breaking stones and in pound-
ing bones for manure, for which there is a large demand,
and the women in needlework, spinning, and washing;
there is a good school, and the discipline and interior
economy have been recommended to the imitation of
the managers of other prisons.