BALSCADDEN, a parish

BALSCADDEN, a parish, in the barony of BALROTHERY, county of DUBLIN, and province of LEINSTER, 2 miles (W.) from Balbriggan; containing 1011 inhabitants. This parish borders on the county of Meath, from which it is separated by the Naul river: it contains two commons, called the common of Balscadden and the bog of the Ring; and there is a quarry of good building stone on the lands of Milestown. Part of the demesne of Gormanston Castle is within its limits, but the castle itself is in the adjoining county. Winter Lodge, theresidence of the late J. Woods, Esq., is not now inhbited. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Christ-Church, Dublin; the rectory forms the corps of the treasurership in the cathedral of Christ-Church, in the gift of the Crown. The tithes amount to £180, of which £120 is payable to the treasurer, and £60 to the vicar. There is neither church nor glebe-house, but in a burial-ground in the village are the ruins of a church: the glebe consists of 4 ½ acres of profitable land.

In the R. C. divisions this parish forms part of the union or district of Balrothery and Balbriggan: the chapel, situated in the village, is a neat structure, built by subscription in 1819, at an expense of more than £500. There is a school on the common of Balscadden, in which about 80 boys and 70 girls are taught: the school-house was built in 1832, when 3 ½ acres of the common were enclosed and attached to it; and it is in contemplation to erect a house for the master and mistress. There are also two private pay schools in the parish. Local tradition states that a battle was fought near the village, at a place called Cross Malin, where a small mound has been raised and a wooden cross erected on its summit; and it is said that there was an encampment on the common. The well of Tubbersoole was formerly resorted to from an opinion of its efficacy in healing diseases of the eye.