DROMISKIN

DROMISKIN, a parish, in the barony and county of LOUTH, and province of LEINSTER, on the road from Drogheda to Dundalk; containing, with the post-town of Lurgan-green, 2621 inhabitants, of which number, 377 are in the village. According to the Ordnance survey it comprises 5312 statute acres, mostly of good quality and under an improved system of tillage; there is neither waste land nor bog. The principal seats are Dromisken House, the residence of the Brabazon family; the glebe-house, of the Rev. J. Smythe; and Miltown Grange, of Mrs. Fortescue. The living is a rectory and vicarage, recently separated from Darver, in the diocese of Armagh, and in the patronage of the Lord-Primate: the tithes amount to £573. 17. 7. The glebe-house was built in 1766, at an expense of £993. 10. The glebe comprises 21 acres, valued at £63 per annum. The church is a handsome structure, with a tower, rebuilt in 1823 by aid of a loan of £800 from the late Board of First Fruits.

In the R. C. divisions the parish is part of the union or district of Darver; the chapel is a neat building, erected in 1823, at a cost of £800. About 400 children are educated in the parochial and another school; the former is aided by the incumbent. The castle of Miltown is a quadrangular building, defended at the angles by round towers, 45 feet high, surmounted by tall graduated battlements. Near the summit of a rising ground, two or three furlongs distant, is an arched subterraneous vault, extending for a considerable length, and supposed to have been a secret entrance to the castle. About 30 yards from the church is the lower part of an ancient round tower, which is surmounted by a modern pointed roof and used for a belfry.