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DROMARAGH,
or ANNESBOROUGH, a post-town and parish, partly in the barony of KINELEARTY,
partly in that of LOWER IVEAGH, but chiefly in that of UPPER IVEAGH, county of
DOWN, and province of ULSTER; 5 miles (E.S.E.) from Dromore, and 72 miles (N. by
E.) from Dublin, on the road from Banbridge to Ballynahinch; containing, with
the district of Maghera hamlet, 10,129 inhabitants. It contains part of the
lands granted by patent of Queen Elizabeth, in 1585, to Col. Hill; they are
included in the manor of Kilwarlin. According to the Ordnance Survey, it
comprises 21,192 ¾ statue acres, of which 6,027 ¼ are in Lower Iveagh, 7,024 ½
are in Kilelearty, and 8,141 are in Upper Iveagh.
The
greater part is arable land, and about 9 ½ acres are under water; considerable
improvement has been made in agriculture, and many even of the mountain tracts
have been brought under tillage. The village, which is small, is called
Annesborough, or Annesbury, in a patent which granted a weekly market on
Thursday, and a fair for three days in Sept.; the market has been changed to
Friday, and is held chiefly for the sale of butter and linen yarn; and the fairs
are now held on the first Friday in Feb., May, Aug., and Nov., for farming stock
and pedlery. Petty sessions are held in the village every fourth Monday: here
is a sub-post-office to Dromore and Comber.
Woodford, formerly the residence Jas. Black, Esq., has extensive bleach-works,
and was once the seat of a flourishing branch of linen manufacture. Dromaragh,
with part of the rectory of Garvaghey, constitutes a union and the only prebend
in the Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer at Dromore, in the patronage of the
Bishop: the tithes of the parish amount to UKP620.17.5, and of the union
UKP937.4.3. The glebe house was erected in 1821, for which a gift of UKP100 and
a loan of UKP1,125 was obtained from the late Board of First Fruits. The
ancient glebe, consisting of one moiety of the Townland of Dromaragh, which was
granted to the rector in pure alms by Jas. I., is now in the possession of the
Marquess of Downshire; 20 acres of the same, held at a rent of UKP42 per ann.,
constitutes the present glebe.
The
church is a small handsome edifice, with a tower and clock in good repair, built
in 1811, at the expense of the parishioners. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners
have recommended that this bend, and that of Garvaghey be separated from it, and
consolidated with its vicarage, and the 9 ½ townlands now forming the perpetual
cure of Maghera hamlet be constituted a distinct parish, leaving the remainder
of Dromaragh to form the corps of the prebend. The R.C. parish is co-extensive
with that of the Established Church, with the exception of the district of
Maghera hamlet, which is united to the R.C. parish of Magheradroll: the chapel
is a large handsome edifice at Finnis built in 1833. At Artana is a meeting
house for Presbyterians of the first class, in connection with the Synod of
Ulster.
Here
are 10 public schools, two of which are aided by an annual donation from Capt.
Maginnis; also 11 private and eight Sunday schools. On the mountain of Slieve
Croob is a cairn, having a platform at the top, on which eleven smaller cairns
are raised; and in the townland of Finnis is a remarkable artificial cave, 94
feet long, 6 feet wide, and upwards of 5 feet in heights, with a transept near
the centre, 30 feet long; the walls are rudely arched near the top, which is
covered with slabs of granite: in 1833, the Rev. H. Elgee Boyd, rector of the
parish, caused it to be cleared out and an iron door fixed up to protect it from
injury.
Information kindly donated by
Patrick McKenney |
