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Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

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LOU<br />

devious course of 13 miles falls into the sea at Bush-<br />

mills. It compiuses, according to the Ordnance survey,<br />

30,165 statute acres, of which 6466¼ are in the barony<br />

of Kilconway, and 23,689¾ are in Upper Dunluce; 59½<br />

are water, and of the land, about one-third is wild and<br />

boggy pasture, and the remainder chiefly arable land.<br />

The surface is boldly undulating, rising in some parts<br />

into lofty eminences, of which Mount Aura has an ele-<br />

vation of 1530 feet. The soil is principally light and<br />

gravelly, but in the valleys extremely fertile: the system<br />

of agriculture has greatly improved since the decline of<br />

the linen manufacture, and excellent crops are raised.<br />

There are some extensive tracts of limestone, which is<br />

quarried and burnt into lime, in which a considerable<br />

trade is carried on; and there is an ample supply of<br />

bog turf. Lisanour Castle, situated on the shores of<br />

the Lough, was originally built by Sir Philip Savage in<br />

the reign of John, and in 1723 was purchased by the an-<br />

cestors of the Macartney family, of whom George, Earl<br />

Macartney, was born and for some time resided here.<br />

The last remains of the ancient building were removed<br />

in 1829, on the erection of the present mansion, the seat<br />

of George Macartney, Esq., which is beautifully situated<br />

in a fertile valley romantically interspersed with woods<br />

and lakes, and adorned with extensive and flourish-<br />

ing plantations; near the margin of one of the lakes is<br />

an elegant cottage in the later English style, richly<br />

embellished, and forming a picturesque feature in the<br />

scenery of the vale. Fairs are held here on the 19th of<br />

Feb., June, Aug., and Nov., chiefly for horses, cattle, pigs,<br />

and linen yarn. A constabulary police force is stationed<br />

here, and petty sessions are held on alternate Tuesdays.<br />

On the death of Dr. Trail, the last chancellor of Connor,<br />

and under Bishop Mant’s act for dissolving the union<br />

attached to the chancellorship of that see, the living,<br />

previously a vicarage, became a rectory and vicarage, in<br />

the diocese of Connor, and in the patronage of the<br />

Bishop: the tithes amount to £515. The church, a small<br />

plain edifice with a tower surmounted by a spire, was<br />

rebuilt in 1733, chiefly at the expense of the late Earl<br />

Macartney. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that<br />

of the Established Church; the chapel is a spacious<br />

edifice, built in 1785, near the entrance of Lisanour<br />

Castle. At Magheraboy is a place of worship for Sece-<br />

ders. About 300 children are taught in four public<br />

schools, of which a female school and Sunday school<br />

are supported by Mrs. Macartney; and there are seven<br />

private schools, in which are about 280 children. A<br />

dispensary affords medicine and advice to the poor,<br />

who are visited afc their own dwellings when unable to<br />

attend. There are several Danish forts in the parish.<br />

LOUGHILL, a parish, in the Shanid division of the<br />

barony of LOWER CONNEIXO, county of LIMERICK, and<br />

province of MUNSTER, 11¼ miles (N. W.) from Rath-<br />

keale, on the mail road from Limerick to Tarbert; con-<br />

taining 1849 inhabitants, of which number, 277 are in<br />

the village. This parish is situated on the southern<br />

bank of the river Shannon, which is here about three<br />

miles in breadth; it comprises 2098 statute acres. The<br />

land is in general rocky and the soil light, but near the<br />

village it is of better quality and the soil of greater<br />

depth; about one-half is under tillage; the system of<br />

agriculture is gradually improving, but a considerable<br />

portion is cultivated by spade labour. The principal<br />

manure is sea-sand and sea-weed, either collected on the<br />

315<br />

LOU<br />

slab or brought from the opposite coast of Clare.<br />

Throughout the whole of the lower or northern part of<br />

the parish are extensive beds of coal lying above each<br />

other in five different strata, of which the uppermost<br />

only, which is the thinnest, has been worked, but so<br />

inefficiently that, though it is of excellent quality, coal is<br />

imported from England and Wales at a cheaper rate,<br />

and the works have been consequently discontinued.<br />

The substrata are chiefly silicious grit, greenstone, and<br />

quartz, the last penetrating the entire country in veins<br />

of considerable thickness, and in some parts nearly<br />

white and of great purity. The principal seats are<br />

Mount Trenchard, that of the Rt. Hon. Thos. Spring<br />

Rice, Chancellor of the Exchequer, a handsome man-<br />

sion formerly called Cappa, and beautifully situated on<br />

the banks of the Shannon; Rock Lodge, of S. Hard-<br />

ing, Esq.; Fairy Lawn, of P. Griffin, Esq.; Woodcliff,<br />

of A. E. Taylor, Esq.; Curragh, of the Rev. D. OSulli-<br />

van; and Ouvane Cottage, of Lieut. Hewson, R.N. The<br />

village contains 53 houses, most of which are small<br />

thatched cabins. Nearly adjoining Ouvane Cottage is<br />

a good quay, where sloops may receive or deliver their<br />

cargoes. Fairs are held at Mount-Trenchard in March,<br />

June, September, and December. The townland of Kil-<br />

fergus, on which is the old church of Glin, and the ad-<br />

joining townland of Ballyoulihan, though both in this<br />

parish, pay tithes to the rector of Glin. In the town-<br />

land of Knockabooley a singular tenure prevails, by<br />

which the Bishop of Limerick is enabled to grant leases<br />

for three lives; whereas, in the other townlands of the<br />

parish, he can grant leases only for 21 years. The living<br />

is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Limerick,<br />

forming part of the union and corps of the precentor-<br />

ship of the cathedral of Limerick: the tithes amount<br />

to £95; there is a glebe of 16 acres, but no glebe-<br />

house. The church, a small but neat edifice in the early-<br />

English style, with a square tower, was built on a new<br />

site by a loan of £800 from the late Board of First<br />

Fruits, in 1812; and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners<br />

have recently granted £116 for its repair. In the R. C.<br />

divisions the parish forms part of the union or district<br />

of Glin; the chapel is a large plain edifice. About half<br />

a mile from the village are the ruins of the old church;<br />

and near the shore was a very strong castle, said to<br />

have been the property of the Bishop, which was taken<br />

down by the late Mr. Hewson, who built a garden wall<br />

with the materials. On the demesne of Woodcliffe is a<br />

piece of ground called the Field of Sculls, where more<br />

than 100 skeletons were found; and on the Curragh<br />

estate have been dug up numerous brass coins of the<br />

reign of Jas. I.<br />

LOUGHIN-ISLAND, a parish, in the barony of<br />

KINELEARTY, county of DOWN, and province of ULSTER,<br />

on the road from Newry to Downpatrick; containing,<br />

with the post-town of Clough and the villages of Seaford<br />

and Anadorn (which see), 6574 inhabitants. The pa-<br />

rish, according to the Ordnance survey, comprises<br />

12,485¾ statute acres, of which 124¾ are water, and<br />

9767 are applotted under the tithe act; about one-half<br />

of the land is of the richest quality, and of the re-<br />

mainder, with the exception of a small proportion of<br />

waste and bog, the greater part is tolerably fertile.<br />

There are some quarries of stone, which is used for<br />

building and mending the roads; and near the moun-<br />

tains some very good slate for roofing is obtained. The<br />

2 S 3

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