DONOUGHMORE

DONOUGHMORE, a parish, partly in the barony of BARRETTS, but chiefly in that of EAST MUSKERRY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 12 miles (W. N. W.) from Cork, on the new line of road to Kanturk; containing 6794 inhabitants.

This parish comprises 22,000 statute acres, of which 8000 acres, which had been forcibly withheld from the see of Cloyne (to which nearly half the parish belongs), since the year 1539, were, in 1709, recovered by Bishop Crow, and are now the property of that see, but in the hands of the Commissioners under the Church Temporalities act: about 2880 acres are bog and mountain, and the remainder is good arable and pasture land.

The soil is generally cold and wet, except in the neighbourhood of Derry, where the lands are well cultivated and very productive.

Not more than one-fourth of the land is under tillage; the remainder is mountain pasture and bog, especially in the northern part of the parish, where a vast tract of heathy bog and moorland extends to the summit of the Boggra mountain, on which numerous herds of cattle are pastured.

The principal residences are Derry, that of J. B. Gibbs, Esq.; Derry Cottage, of the Rev. W. Meade; Kilcullen, of Jer. Lynch, Esq.; Firmount, of Horace Townsend, Esq.; and Fortnaght, of the Rev. Morgan O'Brien.

The new line of road from Cork to Kanturk passes through this wild district, and will contribute greatly to its improvement: the rivers Dripsey and Awenbeg have their rise in it.

Fairs are held on May 18th and Nov. 21st for general farming stock.

Near the cross of Donoughmore is a constabulary police barrack.

A manorial court is held under the Bishop of Cloyne, and petty sessions monthly.

The rectory constitutes the corps of the prebend of Cloyne in the cathedral of St. Colman, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £1100.

The glebe-house is a very old building; the glebe comprises 14 acres of fertile land.

The church is a small and very old edifice in a state of great dilapidation, and is about to be rebuilt by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church; there are two chapels, one near the cross of Donoughmore, and the other at Fortnaght, the former a spacious and neat edifice, the other a small plain building.

A school is supported by the rector, in which about 20 children are educated; at Garrane is a school, in which about 30 boys and 20 girls are instructed, and for which a house was given by Mr. Stowell; and there are five pay schools, in which are about 300 boys and 160 girls.

Between this parish and Kilshanig is the Pass of Redshard, where Lord-President St. Leger, in 1641, drew up such forces as he could raise to oppose the insurgents coming from the county of Limerick, and commanded by Lord Mountgarret, but on their messengers showing him their pretended commission from the king, he disbanded his forces and retired to Cork.

This place gives the title of Earl to the family of Hutchinson.