DONOUGHPATRICK

DONOUGHPATRICK, a parish, partly in the barony of LOWER NAVAN, but chiefly in that of UPPER KELLS, county of MEATH, and province of LEINSTER, 4 miles (N. W.) from Navan; containing 931 inhabitants. St. Patrick is said to have founded an abbey here, to which Conal Mac Neill was a great benefactor; it was frequently plundered and burnt by the Danes prior to its final destruction by them in 994. The parish is situated on the road from Enniskillen to Drogheda, and on the river Blackwater: it comprises 3605 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. The land is about half under tillage and half pasturage, and of superior quality: there are quarries of limestone and brownstone. The gentlemen's seats are Gibbstown, that of J. N. Gerrard, Esq., situated in a well-planted demesne of about 1270 statute acres; and Randlestown, the property of Colonel Everard, but the residence of Henry Meredith, Esq.

The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Meath, united, by act of council, in 1801, to the rectory of Kilberry, and in the patronage of Colonel Everard, in whom the rectory is impropriate. The tithes amount to £280, of which £180 is payable to the impropriator, and £100 to the vicar; the gross value of the benefice, tithe and glebe inclusive, is £509. 9. 2. The glebe-house was erected in 1812, by aid of a gift of £200, and a loan of £600, from the late Board of First Fruits: the glebe comprises 18 acres, valued at £36 per annum. The church is a neat edifice; the body was rebuilt in 1805, and attached to an ancient tower; the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £104. 3. 7. for its repair. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union of Kilberry and Telltown. The parochial school is aided by the incumbent, who has also given a house and garden, and in three private schools about 120 boys and 50 girls are educated. A large Danish fort at Gibbstown has been planted. A castle formerly existed here.