KILDRUMFERTON

KILDRUMFERTON, or CROSSERLOUGH, a parish, partly in the baronies of UPPER LOUGHTEE and CLONMAHON, but chiefly in that of CASTLERAHAN, county of CAVAN, and province of ULSTER, 9 miles (N. W.) from Oldcastle, on the road from Killesandra to Ballinagh; containing 9687 inhabitants. It comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 16,436 ¾ statute acres (including 207 ½ under water), of which 11,729 ¾ are in Castlerahan, 4445 ½ in Clonmahon, and the remainder in Upper Loughtee, and of which 15,535 are applotted under the tithe act; about two-thirds are arable, one-third pasture, and the remainder woodland and bog. Fairs for live stock are held here on June 29th and Aug. 26th. The principal seats are Kilnacrot, the residence of Pierce Morton, Esq., and Kilmainham, of A. Bell, Esq.

The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Kilmore, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the rectory is impropriate in the representatives of Richard Earl of Westmeath, and the tithes amount to £672, of which £272 is payable to the impropriators and £400 to the vicar. In 1831, four townlands were separated from this parish to form part of the perpetual curacy of Ballyjamesduff, to the incumbent of which the vicar of Kildrumferton pays an annual stipend of £20. The church is a very neat structure, rebuilt in 1812, for which the late Board of First Fruits granted a loan of £550, and recently repaired by aid of a grant of £114 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The glebe-house was built by aid of a gift of £100 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1810: the glebe comprises 420 acres. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church, but is commonly called Crosserlough; there is a large and well-built chapel at Drumkeely, and the chapel at Crosserlough has lately been rebuilt. About 400 children are educated in four public schools, one of which is supported by Lord Farnham, and about 560 in seven private schools.