HOLLYWOOD

HOLLYWOOD, a parish, in the barony of LOWER TALBOTSTOWN, county of WICKLOW, and province of LEINSTER, 5 miles (S. S. W.) from Blessington, on the mail coach road from Dublin to Baltinglass and Tullow; containing 2850 inhabitants, of which number, 161 are in the village. This parish, which is situated on the river Liffey, is for civil purposes divided into two parishes, called respectively Hollywood Boleys and Hollywood Lowlands, the former containing 1550, and the latter 1300 inhabitants. It comprises 18,000 statute acres, of which a very large proportion is waste and the remainder in pasture and under tillage, in nearly equal portions. The surface is mountainous and heathy, and the soil very various; there is a considerable tract of bog, and under a better system of agriculture a great part of the waste land might be brought into profitable cultivation. Tyrone Lodge, the property of Lord William Beresford, was burnt by the insurgents in 1798, and has not been rebuilt; the demesne is finely wooded and contains a picturesque glen. One side of the celebrated waterfall of Poul-a-Phuca, described in the article on Blessington, is within this parish. The village contains 27 houses; and fairs are held on Feb. 1st, May 3rd, Aug. 1st, and Nov. 1st.

The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin, and in the patronage of the Archbishop: the tithes amount to £172. 6. 6. The glebe-house was built by a gift of £300 and a loan of £300 from the late Board of First Fruits; the glebe comprises 20 acres. The church, a small edifice without tower or spire, has a stone roof neatly groined, and some handsome stained glass presented by the Marquess of Waterford. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Ballymore-Eustace; the chapel is a neat and spacious edifice, erected in 1831. About 100 children are taught in the parochial school, which is supported by subscription, aided by the rector; and there are four private schools, in which are about 140 children. In Hollywood glen, which is about a mile in length and remarkable for its wild and romantic scenery, is a very curious sepulchre.