ARDCRONEY, a parish

ARDCRONEY, a parish, in the barony of LOWER ORMOND, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 2 miles (S. by W.) from Burris-o-kane, on the road to Nenagh; containing 1681 inhabitants. It comprises 5810 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The soil is mostly light; there are several small bogs in the parish, which abounds also with limestone. The water of a lake covering about 172 plantation acres was drained off by the late Rev. R. Falkiner, of Mount Falcon, in 1800, and the land is now highly productive. The principal seats are Mount Falcon, the property and residence of Mrs. Falkiner; Beechwood, the property of Col. Toler Osborne, but in the occupation of D. Falkiner, Esq.; Conger House, the residence of F. Falkiner, Esq.; Willsborough, the property and residence of J. Falkiner, Esq.; Ballinderry, the property of T. Sadleir, jun., Esq., on which a house is about to be erected; Ballyrickard, the residence of N. Falkiner, Esq.; Woodlands, of R. Falkiner, Esq.; and Whitstone, the property of Elias Bowler, Esq. Beechwood was once the residence of the late Earl of Norbury, and was originally a castle, of which the present house is a part; on a stone is the date 1594, with the initials O. H.

The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Killaloe, and in the patronage of the Bishop, to whose mensal the rectory is appropriate: the tithes amount to £307. 11. 6 ¾., of which £205. 1. 0 ½. is payable to the Bishop, and £102. 10. 6 ¼. to the vicar. The church is a very neat structure, built in 1824. There is a glebe of three acres, but no glebe-house. In the R. C. divisions this parish forms part of the union or district of Modreeny, or Cloghjordan: the chapel is a small building on the townland of Ardcroney., There is a parochial school, also a private pay school. On an eminence near the high road are the remains of the old church, forming a conspicuous ruin; and on the townland of Ballyluskey is an ancient castle, consisting of one square tower. At the rear of Beechwood House, on an eminence, is a large fort or rath, planted with trees, the summit of which is encircled by a stone wall.