CARRENTEEL, a parish

CARRENTEEL, a parish, in the barony of DUNGANNON, county of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER; containing, with the post-town of Aughnacloy, 7459 inhabitants. This place formed part of the manor of Portclare, a very extensive district granted to Sir Thomas Ridgeway, in 1611, by James I., by whose order a fortress called Lismore Bawn was erected here in 1619, of which there are extensive ruins. During the war in 1641, this parish was visited by the contending parties and the church was destroyed; some vestiges of it may still be traced in the ancient cemetery adjoining the village. The parish is situated on the river Blackwater, and on the mail coach road from Dublin to Londonderry including twelve townlands forming part of the district parish of Ballygawley, it comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 13,431 ¾ statute acres, of which 13,080 acres are applotted under the tithe act, and 61 are water; the land is chiefly under an excellent system of cultivation, and produces good crops. The northern side of the parish is mountainous, and contains a tract of bog; and there are extensive quarries of limestone and freestone of very good quality.

The seats are Storm Hill, that of R. Montgomery Moore, Esq.; the Bawn, of E. Moore, Esq.; Millview, of S. Simpson, Esq.; and the glebe-house, the residence of the Rev. Archdeacon Stopford. The inhabitants, in addition to their agricultural pursuits, employ themselves at home in weaving linen and cotton. Fairs are held in the village on the first Wednesday in every month, chiefly for cattle and horses. By order of council under the provisions of an act of the 7th and 8th of George IV., twelve townlands were separated from this parish, in 1830, to form part of the district parish of Ballygawley. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Armagh, united by charter in 1637 to the rectory and vicarage of Aghaloo, together constituting the union of Carrenteel and corps of the archdeaconry of Armagh, in the patronage of the Lord-Primate. The tithes amount to £406. 3. 1., and of the union to £1015. 7. 8.

It is recommended by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to dissolve this union on the next avoidance, and to make each parish a separate benefice. After the destruction of the church of Carrenteel, in 1641, a church was erected at Aghaloo, but it was taken down after the erection of the present church at Aughnacloy, which was built in 1736, at the sole expense of the late Acheson Moore, Esq., to which, in 1796, his daughter and heiress, Mrs. Malone, added a tower surmounted by a lofty octagonal spire; and to the repairs of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £190. 18. The glebe-house, about half a mile from the church, was erected in 1790, and £2000 has been expended on its repair and improvement; the glebe comprises 1046 statute acres, valued at £969 per annum.

The R. C. parish is coextensive with that of the Established Church, and is called Aughby; there are chapels at Aughnacloy, Caledon, and Killin. There are two meeting-houses for Presbyterians, one in connection with the Synod of Ulster, of the second class, and the other with the Seceding Synod; and places of worship for Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists. The parochial male and female school is wholly supported by Archdeacon Stopford, and there are four other schools; in these about 240 boys and 150 girls are instructed, and there are also a private school of 60 boys and 20 girls, and five Sunday schools. At Garvey are the ruins of an extensive and elegant castle, erected by the late Colonel Moore, which, very soon after its completion, was suffered to fall into decay; they are situated near those of Lismore Bawn. In this townland, which is about a mile from Aughnacloy, is a very valuable mineral spring; the water contains sulphur, nitre, magnesia, and steel held in solution with carbonic acid; it has been found efficacious in cutaneous diseases and in dyspeptic complaints; a large room has been erected over the spring, and the water issues from a fountain of marble in the centre. Near it is a good house for the accommodation of persons frequenting the spa.—See AUGHNACLOY.