KILLARNEY SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES
The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, united from time immemorial to the vicarage of Kilcummin, and in the patronage of the Crown during the legal incapacity of the Earl of Kenmare; the rectory is impropriate in the Earl of Donoughmore. The tithes amount to £475, of which £235 is payable to the impropriator, and £240 to the vicar; five townlands pay tithes, amounting to £65. 1. 6 ½., to the archdeacon of Aghadoe; and the tithes of the whole union amount to £461. 10. 9 ¼. The church, to the erection of which the late Board of First Fruits contributed a loan of £700, was built in 1812, and has been recently repaired by a grant of £282 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners: it is a neat but irregular structure, with a tower surmounted by a slated spire, and contains several mural tablets, among which are two to the Earls of Kenmare, whose family vault is beneath; the east window is embellished with a painting of Christ and the two disciples at Emmaus, in stained glass.
Near it is the glebe-house, a large and substantial building, on a small glebe; and there is a glebe of 45a. 3r. 21p. in the parish of Kilcummin. Mr. Herbert, of Muckross, has it in contemplation to build a church near Cloghereen, in this parish, and endow it with £100 per annum for the support of a curate. In the R. C. divisions the parish is partly in the union or district of Glenflesk, but chiefly forms the head of a district, comprising also the greater portion of Aghadoe; the chapel, a spacious edifice of plain exterior but handsomely fitted up, is in the town; and the chapel belonging to the nunnery is open to the public on Sunday mornings: there is also a chapel of ease at Fossa, in the parish of Aghadoe. A place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists has been lately erected in the town.
About 50 children are taught in the parochial school, which was built and is supported by subscription; 400 boys in the school under the superintendence of the R. C. Clergyman, for which a spacious building was erected at an expense of £400, by the late Dr. Sughrue, R. C. bishop; and more than 300 girls in the school annexed to the nunnery: the two last are liberally aided by the Earl and Countess of Kenmare, by whom also the children are, partially clothed and apprenticed. The college school, formerly founded by Dr. Sughrue for the education of young men for the R. C. priesthood, is now a private classical school; and the rent, £50 per ann., is appropriated to charitable purposes: there is also another private school of about 50 children in the parish. A fever hospital and a dispensary are supported for the relief of the poor, the former is adapted to the reception of 50 patients, and has a ward attached to it for surgical cases; and an almshouse for aged women has been established and is supported by the Countess of Kenmare.
At Lissavigeen, about 2 ½ miles east of the town, is an ancient fort, or rath, called the Druids' Circle, consisting of a circular embankment about 35 feet in diameter, within which is a circle of seven upright stones, about 4 feet high; and about the distance of 36 feet from the embankment are two upright stones of much larger dimensions, about seven feet apart. A very curious relic of antiquity, in form resembling a kettle-drum, was found some years since in a bog near Muckross; it is of bronze, about two feet in diameter, and on being struck emits a deep-toned, hollow sound, resembling that of the Indian gong; it is deposited in the library of Charlemont House, Dublin. A smaller one, which was found near it, was broken in attempting to raise it. The wild, romantic, and rocky mountain pass called the Gap of Dunloe, together with the castle of that name, is described in. the article on Knockane; and the ruins of the ancient cathedral, the ancient round tower, and the Bishop's chair, are noticed in the article on Aghadoe. Several of the O'Donoghues, ancient Irish chieftains or princes, were interred in Muckross abbey, of whom the most powerful were the O'Donoghues of Ross, and the O'Donoghues of the Glens.
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