FANLOBBUS

FANLOBBUS, a parish, in the Western Division of the barony of EAST CARBERY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, on the river Bandon, and on the road from Cork to Bantry; containing, with the post-town of Dunmanway (which is described under its own head), 11,405 inhabitants. It comprises 32,743 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £12,494 per annum; about 370 acres are woodland, 16,100 good arable and pasture, and the remainder mountain and bog, of which a great part is reclaimable. Much of the land was brought into cultivation for flax during the prosperity of the linen manufacture, for which the town of Dunmanway was one of the principal marts in this part of the country; but at present wheat is the principal produce and is raised in large quantities for the supply of the boulting-mills in the neighbourhood.

The system of agriculture is still capable of improvement; the old heavy wooden plough is in general use. There is a large proportion of bog, and at Dareens are some remains of an extensive forest of oak. At Mohany are some small slate quarries, and at Corrigscullighy is found calcareous schist.

The principal seats are the Manor House, a handsome building, erected by the late H. Cox, Esq., and now the residence of his family; Manch House, the seat of D. Conner, Esq., an elegant villa four miles from the town, situated on a terrace, and surrounded with a highly cultivated demesne; Woodbrook, of H. Gillman, Esq.; Kilronan, of N. B. Jagoe, Esq.; and Laurel Mount, of R.Townsend, Esq.

There are fairs at Dunmanway, and a fair is annually held at Ballybuie on the 5th of August. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Cork, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the rectory is partly appropriate to the vicars choral and partly constitutes the corps of the prebend of Dromdaleague in the cathedral of St. Finbarr, Cork. The tithes amount to £923. 1. 4 ½., which is equally divided between the appropriators and the vicar. There is no glebe-house; the glebe comprises 23 acres.

The church, situated in the town of Dunmanway, was rebuilt in 1821, by aid of a loan of £1200 from the late Board of First Fruits, and has recently been repaired by a grant of £210 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. In the old burial-ground, about a mile and a half from the town, are some remains of the former church, consisting only of a circular-headed window.

In the R. C. divisions the parish is united to part of Ballymoney, forming the union of Dunmanway, in which are three chapels, two being in this parish, one at Dunmanway, and the other at Togher. There is a place of worship at Dunmanway for Wesleyan Methodists.

About 500 children are taught in eight public schools, of which one is aided by the vicar, one supported by D. Connor, Esq., one by W. L. Shuldham, Esq., and two under the National Board; and there are 13 private schools, in which are about 480 children, and two Sunday schools.

About three miles to the north of the town is Togher Castle, a lofty tower, said to have been built by Randal McCarty, who also built the castle of Ballinacorrigy, at the same distance to the south-east, in the adjoining parish of Ballymoney. In Owen Mountain, in this parish, the rivers Bandon, Ilen, and Moyalla, have their sources.