CLONMORE, a parish

CLONMORE, a parish, partly in the barony of SHELMALIER, but chiefly in that of BANTRY, county of WEXFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 4 miles (S. S. W.) from Enniscorthy; containing 1371 inhabitants. This place, anciently called Cluain dicholla gairbhir, is of great antiquity; St. Maidoc having founded a monastery here in the 6th century, for canons of the order of St. Augustine, which, in 740, was burnt. In 832 it was plundered by the Danes, and in 833 they burnt the abbey on Christmas night, killed many of the monks, and carried others into captivity. Dermot Mac Moilnambo, Lord of Kennselach, plundered and destroyed Clonmore in 1040, and in 1041 it met a similar fate from Donogh, the son of Bryan. It is situated on the river Slaney, which is navigable for flat-bottomed lighters to Enniscorthy.

The parish comprises 6987 statute acres of arable and pasture land. Good building stone is abundant in different places. Wilton, the residence of H. Alcock, Esq., occupies the site of one of the ancient castles of the Furlongs, and is being remodelled, in the castellated style, considerably enlarged, and faced with fine white granite from Mount Leinster: in the park is a fine sheet of water, abounding with wild fowl, which has lately been much enlarged and rendered ornamental. The other seats are Macmine Castle, the residence of Pierce Newton King, Esq., an ancient castellated mansion on the banks of the Slaney; Merton, the property of T. A. Whitney, Esq.; Kilgibbon, of H. Alcock, Esq.; Birmount, a deserted mansion of the Leeson family; Clonmore, the seat of W. Woodcock, Esq.; and Birmount Cottage, the neat residence of J. Gethings, Esq. It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Ferns, and is part of the union of St. Mary, Enniscorthy; the rectory is appropriate to the see. The tithes amount, to £458. 18. 7 ½., of which £305. 19. 1. is payable to the bishop, and £152. 19. 6 ½. to the vicar.

A neat church, in the later English style of architecture, with an embattled tower, was erected at Bree, in the year 1827, on a site given by H. Alcock, Esq., by aid of a grant from the late Board of First Fruits; and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £128. 2. 4. towards its repair. It forms a perpetual curacy, with a stipend of £100, in the patronage of the Rector of Enniscorthy. In the R. C. divisions, part of the parish is in the union or district of Davidstown, also called Clough; and the remainder is the head of a district, called Bree, comprising the greater portion of the parishes of Clonmore and Ballyheogue, in each of which is a chapel; that of Clonmore is situated at Bree. A parochial school was established about five years since, to which the bishop subscribes £10 per annum; about 12 children are educated in it, and about 100 in three pay schools. There is also a Sunday school, under the superintendence of the perpetual curate. Some vestiges of the old church still exist in the burial-ground; and on a hill are the remains of a cromlech, in a state of tolerable preservation. At Dononore, on Mr. Alcock's estate, is a waterfall, formed by the river Boro; and near it is an ancient rath or fort.