DUNGOURNEY

DUNGOURNEY, a parish, partly in the barony of IMOKILLY, but chiefly in that of BARRYMORE, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 4 ½ miles (N.) from Castlemartyr, on the road from Cork to Youghal; containing 2640 inhabitants. This parish comprises 8991 statute acres, of which 5925 are applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £4529 per annum; about 70 acres are woodland, nearly one-fourth of the land is waste, and the remainder is arable and pasture. The soil is generally good, but the system of agriculture is in an unimproved state; there are some quarries of common red stone, which is worked for various purposes, and there is a moderate supply of turf for fuel.

The Dungourney river rises in the neighbouring hills of Clonmult, and flows through a deep glen in the parish, assuming near the church a very romantic appearance, and towards the southern boundary adding much beauty to the highly cultivated and richly wooded demesne of Brookdale, the seat of A. Ormsby, Esq. The other seats are Ballynona, that of R. Wigmore, Esq.; Ballynona Cottage, of H. Wigmore, Esq.; and Young Grove, of C. Foulke, Esq.

An agricultural school, in connection with the Protestant Agricultural Society of Cork, has been established at Brookdale, under the patronage of Mr. Ormsby, for the instruction of 30 boys in the practical knowledge of agriculture, combined with a useful and religious education, and including board and clothing; the institution is maintained by a payment of £5 per annum from each of the scholars, and the produce of the farm, aided by donations and subscriptions; when qualified to become useful, the scholars are provided with situations by the Committee, and receive a gratuity of £5.

There is also a female school on the same principle, in which 35 girls are boarded, clothed, and educated, under the personal superintendence of Mrs. Ormsby; on leaving the institution they are provided with situations. The buildings for both these establishments have cost more than £1000.

The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Cloyne, and in the patronage of Major Fitzgerald: the tithes amount to £664. 12. 3 ½. The glebe-house is a good residence, and the glebe comprises 12 acres. The church, a plain building with a shingled spire, was erected by a gift of £500 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1800, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £119 for its repair. Attached to Brookdale House is a private chapel, in which a clergyman of the Established Church officiates. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union of Imogealy, or Castlemartyr. There is a private school, in which are about 170 children.