BELAN, a parish
BELAN, a parish, in the barony of KILKEA and MOONE, county of KILDARE, and province of LEINSTER, 3 miles (S. S. W.) from Ballytore: the population is returned with the parish of Timolin. It is situated on the road from Dublin to Castledermot, and comprises 1176 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £865 per annum. Belan House, the seat of the Earl of Aldborough, is an extensive pile of building, situated at the foot of Bolton hill and occupying the site of an ancient castle which formerly belonged to a branch of the Fitzgerald family, and was destroyed by Cromwell in the parliamentary war; in the house is preserved an ancient bed, in which James II. and William III. successively slept in the year 1690. It is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin, and is part of the union of Timolin: the tithes amount to £102. 10. In the R. C. divisions it is included in the union or district of Castledermot.