KILLORGLIN

KILLORGLIN, a parish, partly in the barony of DUNKERRIN, partly in MAGONIHY, but chiefly in the barony of TRUGHENACKMY, county of KERRY, and province of MUNSTER, 3 miles (S. W.) from Milltown, on the road from Tralee to Cahirciveen; containing 7919 inhabitants, of which number, 893 are in the village. The Moriarty family anciently possessed this district, from which they were expelled by McCarty-More. It was subsequently the property of the Fitzgeralds, who bestowed the castle and manor on the Knights Templars: on the dissolution of that order it reverted to the Fitzgeralds, by whom it was forfeited in the Desmond rebellion, when it was granted by Queen Elizabeth to Captain Conway, after whom it is sometimes called Castle-Conway. It is now the property of the noble family of Mullins. Including a detached portion, called the West Fractions, it comprises 7129 statute acres, of which 7006 are applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £2738 per annum. The soil is light and gravelly, and chiefly under tillage: agriculture is improving, and there is a considerable quantity of bog and limestone. There is a small flour-mill at Menus.

The river Laune divides the parish into two nearly equal parts: it contains fine salmon, and is navigable for vessels of 180 tons near to the village, which is a short distance from its mouth. The village comprises 163 houses, and close to it is a bridge on the great line of road. It exports corn and salmon, and imports iron, timber, and salt. Fairs are held on Aug. 11th and Nov. 19th; the former is called Puck Fair, at which unbroken Kerry ponies, goats, &c., are sold, and a male goat is sometimes ornamented and paraded about the fair. It has a penny post to Cahirciveen, Tralee, and Newcastle; it is a constabulary police station, and has petty sessions monthly. A manorial court is held occasionally, for the recovery of debts under 40s.: the manor is nearly coextensive with the parish, comprising 6170 ½ statute acres, and descended from Captain Conway to the Blennerhassett family, from which it was purchased, in 1797, by Lord Ventry. The romantic glen of the river Cara is on the western border of this parish.

The principal seats are Annagarry, the residence of R. Blennerhasset, Esq.; Ardmoniel Cottage, of R. Rae, Esq.; Clifton Cottage, of F. S. Walker, Esq.; Altavilla, of J. Morrogh, Esq.; and Annadale, of C. Colter, Esq.

The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes amount to £645, of which £400 is payable to the rector, and the remainder to the Mullins family, in whom the tithes of the manor are impropriate. The church is a plain structure with a square tower, erected on land given by the late Rev. F. Mullins, and for the building of which the late Board of First Fruits gave £800, in 1816. There is a glebe-house, with a glebe of 11 acres.

In the R. C. divisions this parish is the head of a union or district, including also the whole of Knockane, except Glencare, and has a chapel built on an acre of land given by the late Lord Ventry, and lately much improved and ornamented. Here is a meeting-house for Methodists. About 60 children are educated in a charity school, and about 200 in private schools. At Droumavalley are the ruins of an old church, to which a large burial-ground is attached; and there are remains of the old church of Killorglin at Dungeel, also extensive remains of the castle of the Knights Templars, which till lately was inhabited.