CARNE, a parish

CARNE, a parish, in the barony of FORTH, county of WEXFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 2 ½ miles (S. E. by S.) from Broadway; containing 828 inhabitants. This place, of which the present name in the Irish language signifies a stone, was anciently called Salanga, afterwards Slieve Domangaird, and in the time of Ptolemy, Hieron, or "the Sacred Promontory." According to Archdall, St. Domangart founded a monastery here at the foot of the mountain, but no traces of it can be discerned: near the spot, however, is a burial-ground with the ruins of a chapel, called St. Vaugh's, the rude architecture of which denotes its remote origin. The parish is situated on the shore of St. George's channel, and terminates in Carnsore Point, the south-eastern extremity of Ireland, in lat. 52¦ 10' (N.) and lon. 6¦ 16' 45" (W.); it is bounded on the south and east by the sea, and on the west by the lough of Lady's Island, and comprises 1739 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, nearly the whole of which is arable and pasture.

With the exception of a small eminence called the hill of Chour, at the south-west point, the surface is flat, and being destitute of timber has a very naked aspect: the soil, though naturally poor, is, from the extensive use of sea-weed and marl as manure, rendered very productive. Little improvement has taken place in the system of agriculture, except the practice of drilling potatoes, which has been lately introduced; the arable lands in many parts are so interspersed with large stones as greatly to obstruct the progress of the plough. Beans, which form one of the principal crops, find a ready market at Wexford for exportation. The farm buildings are neat, and the dwellings of the peasantry have an appearance of cleanliness and comfort. The principal articles of fuel are furze and bean-stalks; some sea coal is brought from Wexford. The road from Carnsore Point to that town divides the parish into two nearly equal parts.

Castletown, situated in the centre of the parish, about a quarter of a mile to the west of the main road, was formerly the ancient mansion of the Pallisers. Castle Palliser was erected by the late Capt. Pierce Harvey, and is now in the occupation of Sir Hugh Palliser, Bart. On the beach is Carna House, the seat of J. Howlin, Esq. Some coarse linen and linsey woolsey are manufactured for home consumption; and during the season about twelve boats are employed in the herring and lobster fisheries carried on off the coast, on which are two small but convenient creeks, one at Carne and the other at Nethertown. At Carne bay is a coast-guard station, which is one of the six stations comprehended within the Wexford district, and has a detachment at Tacumshane.

The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Ferns, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £280. The church is a plain edifice of great antiquity, without tower or spire, for the repairs of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £114. The glebe-house, a neat substantial building with suitable out-offices, was erected in the year 1802 by the present incumbent, the Rev. R. Bevan, at an expense of £1039, of which £100 was granted by the late Board of First Fruits: the glebe comprises nine acres. In the R. C. divisions the parish is in the district of Lady's island, attached to which is a school attended by the children of this parish. On the estate of the Waddy family are the remains of the ancient castle of Cloest, built by the earliest English settlers in the reign of Henry II., and consisting of a tower between 70 and 80 feet high in good preservation.