DROMDALEAGUE, or DRIMOLEAGUE

DROMDALEAGUE, or DRIMOLEAGUE, a parish, in the East Division of, the barony of WEST CARBERY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 7 miles (S. W. by S.) from Dunmanway, on the river Ilen, and the road from Cork to Bantry; containing 4870 inhabitants. It comprises 17,565 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £5150 per annum; of these 124 are woodland, 8152 arable, 2689 pasture, 4756 barren, and 1844 mountain, waste, and bog. The surface is very uneven, rising into hills of considerable elevation, particularly in the northern part of the parish, which is mostly rocky and bare, though in some places affording herbage for numerous herds of young cattle. Agriculture is in a very backward state. There is an excellent slate quarry, though but little used. Dromdaleague House is the residence of the rector, the Rev. T. Tuckey. Fairs are held on May 20th, September 25th, and October 27th, principally for cattle, sheep, and pigs; and there is a constabulary police station. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Cork, united to part of the rectory of Fanlobbus, and constituting the corps of the prebend of Dromdaleague, in the cathedral of St. Finbarr, Cork, and in the patronage of the Bishop. The tithes amount to £450. The church is a small edifice built in 1790.

In the R. C. divisions this parish is the head of a union or district comprising also the parish of Drinagh, in each of which is a chapel; that of Dromdaleague, a large cruciform edifice, is well built and roofed with slate. About 150 children are educated in the parochial and another school, the former aided by donations from Lord Carbery and the incumbent; and about 130 children are taught in three private schools: there is also a Sunday school. Near Dromdaleague House is a chalybeate spring, similar to that of Dunmanway. Two miles north from the church is Castle Donovan, erected by the head of the sept of that name in the reign of Henry IV.; a lofty square tower, with some other detached portions of the castle, rise in majestic grandeur in a pass between two lofty mountains.