DERRYNOOSE, DERRAGHNUSE, or MADDEN, a parish

DERRYNOOSE, DERRAGHNUSE, or MADDEN, a parish, partly in the barony of TURANY, but chiefly in that of ARMAGH, county of ARMAGH, and province of ULSTER, 2 ½ miles (N. N. W.) from Keady, on the road to Middleton; containing 8024 inhabitants. This parish was united to Tynan in 1663, and separated from it in 1709, when the first church was built at Madden, from which it is frequently called the parish of Madden. It comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 15,049 statute acres, of which 9653 ¾ are in the barony of Armagh: about 716 are bog, and about 20 water. The land is light, but fertile, and in a high state of cultivation. Leslie Hill, the seat of David Leslie, Esq., is beautifully situated, and the avenue and plantations have been much improved of late years; there are also several good farm-houses in the parish. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Armagh, and in the patronage of the Archbishop: the tithes amount to £646. 10. 6. The glebe-house, which, as well as the church, is at Madden, was erected by the incumbent, the Rev. James Jones, and is large and handsome, and pleasantly situated on a fertile glebe of 460 acres. The church is a very commodious edifice, rebuilt in 1816, by aid of a loan of £1000 from the late Board of First Fruits, and recently repaired by aid of a grant of £157 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also that of Keady, and containing three chapels, two in Keady and one at Derrynoose, near the ruins of the old church; it was built in 1824, at an expense of £500. There is a place of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, which was rebuilt in 1834, at a cost of £800. Besides the parochial schools, there are others at Temple and Kilcreevy; a female school at Fargort, built by Capt. Singleton on two acres of land; and Derrynoose school, built by Lord Charlemont, and supported by his lordship, Colonel Close, and Capt. Singleton; there are also five private schools. The old church is a picturesque object, situated in an extensive cemetery. Near Madden is a valuable chalybeate spring; and lead mines exist in the parish, but are not worked at present.