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AUG
an ancient round tower of breccia, measuring 50 feet in
circumference above the base.
AUGHER, a market-town (formerly a parliamentary
borough), in the parish and barony of CLOGHER, county
of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER, 2 miles (N. E. by E.)
from Clogher, and 75¼ (N. N. W.) from Dublin; con-
taining 726 inhabitants. Of the origin and early
history of this place but very little is known. In the
reign of Elizabeth, Lord-Deputy Mountjoy placed in it
a powerful garrison to defend the pass through the
valley in which it is situated, that retained possession
for some time, constantly harassing the army of the
Earl of Tyrone till his final surrender at Mellifont.
From this place the queen’s army marched when it
crossed the mountains to give battle to the earl at
Magheralowney, where that chieftain’s principal maga-,
zine was taken, in June 1602. At the time of the
English settlement of Ulster, by virtue of a decree by
James I. in 1611, Sir Thomas Ridgway, Knt., Treasurer
at War for Ireland, received, in 1613, a grant of 315
acres of land in the barony of Clogher, under an agree-
ment that he should, within four years, settle on a
parcel of land called Agher twenty Englishmen or Scots,
chiefly artificers and tradesmen, to be incorporated as
burgesses and made a body politic within the said four
years; and should set apart convenient places for the
site of the town, churchyard, market-place, and public
school; he was likewise to assign to the burgesses
houses and lands and 30 acres of commons. Sir Thomas
received also, in 1611, the grant of a market and two
fairs to be held here; and in 1613, the town and pre-
cincts, with the exception of a fort and bawn called
Spur Royal castle, which had been erected, were created
a borough. Besides the 315 acres of land on which
he was to found the borough, Sir Thomas received a
grant of 2000 acres called Portclare; and according to
Pynnar’s report in 1619, it appears that, besides the fort
and bawn, he had built 16 houses of stone in the town,
which were inhabited by English artificers who were
burgesses, and had each two acres of land, and commons
for their cattle. In 1630, Sir James Erskine, Knt.,
then proprietor of the manor, received a grant of two
additional fairs. On the breaking out of the war in
1641, a garrison was stationed here by Col. Chi Chester
and Sir Arthur Tyringham, and the castle was gallantly
defended against the insurgent forces, who, in an attempt
to take it by storm, were repulsed. This defeat so
exasperated their leader, Sir Phelim O’Nial, that in
revenge he ordered his agent, Mac Donnel, to massacre
all the English Protestants in three adjacent parishes.
Sir James Erskine dying without male issue, the exten-
sive manor of Portclare, which in 1665 was confirmed
in the family by Chas. II., under its present name of
Favour Royal, was divided between his two daughters,
who married into the families of Richardson and Mou-
tray, and the respective portions are still in the posses-
sion of their descendants, of whom the present proprietor
of Augher castle has assumed the additional surname
and arms of Bunbury. The castle was finally dismantled
by order of parliament, and continued in a state of
dilapidation and neglect till 1832, when it was restored
and a large and handsome mansion built adjoining it
by Sir J. M. Richardson Bunbury, Bart. The ancient
building consisted of a pentagonal tower surrounded
by a wall 12 feet high and flanked by four circular
95
AUG
towers: the wall has been removed, but one of the
round towers has been restored; and the entrance
gateway has also been removed and rebuilt on an
elevated situation commanding some fine views, in which
the remains of the old castle form an interesting object:
the mansion is situated in a well-wooded demesne of
220 acres, and upon the margin of a beautiful lake.
The town is situated on the river Blackwater, over
which is a bridge adjoining it, and in a fertile valley
between two ridges of lofty mountains clothed with
verdure to the summit, of which the highest, Knock-
many, is covered on its south side with thriving plan-
tations. It consists of one principal street, from which
another branches at right angles on the south leading
to Clogher; and has a penny post to Aughnacloy.
Several new roads have been lately formed; and not
far distant is an excellent bog. The lands in the neigh-
bourhood are well cultivated. Besides Augher Castle,
there are several gentlemen’s seats near the town,
described in the article on the parish of Clogher, which
see. The market is on Monday, and has lately become
a good market for oats; and fairs for the sale of cattle,
sheep, pigs, and other commodities, are held on the last
Monday in every month, in the market-place set apart
under the original grant at the bottom of Clogher-
street; the market-house is the only public building in
the town. The collection of tolls and customs has been
discontinued by the proprietors of the manor. Here is
a chief station of the constabulary police.
The charter granted in 1613 incorporated the inha-
bitants under the style of “The Burgomaster, Free
Burgesses, and Commonalty of the Borough of Agher,”
with the privilege of holding a civil court of record
with jurisdiction to the extent of five marks, and of
returning two members to the Irish parliament, which
they continued to exercise till the Union, when the
£15,000 compensation money for the abolition of its
franchise was awarded to James, Marquess of Abercorn.
Since that period no corporate officers have been ap-
pointed, and the town is now entirely within the juris-
diction of the county magistrates, who hold petty ses-
sions irregularly. The seneschal of the manor holds a
court here every third Monday, for the recovery of
debts to the amount of 40s., the jurisdiction of which
extends into the parishes of Errigal-Kerogue, Errigal-
Trough, Ballygawley, and Clogher; and a manorial
court leet is held once in the year. Divine service is
performed in the market-house every Sunday by the
officiating clergyman of Clogher. A school for boys
was built on part of the Commons Hill, or Fair Green,
granted by the proprietors of the manor to the deans of
Clogher, in trust for a school-house, and with funds
provided from the “Lord-Lieutenant’s School Fund:”
it is supported by private subscriptions and by a weekly
payment of 1d. from each pupil; and a school for girls
is supported in a similar manner.
AUGHNACLOY, a market and post-town, in the
parish of CARRENTEEL, barony of DUNGANNON, county
of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER, 16 miles (S.E.)
from Omagh, and 75½ (N. N. W.) from Dublin; contain-
ing 1742 inhabitants. This place, which is on the con-
fines of the county of Monaghan, is situated on the river
Blackwater, and on the mail coach road from Dublin to
Londonderry. The town was built by Acheson Moore,
Esq., who also erected the parish church, and it is now