LISLEE

LISLEE, a parish, in the barony of IBANE and BARRYROE, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 10 miles (S. W.) from Bandon, on the southern coast; containing, with the village of Court-McSherry (which is separately described), 1786 inhabitants. This parish, which comprises 6250 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, is situated on the western side of the harbour of Court-McSherry; the land is in general good and chiefly under tillage, and, from the great facility of procuring sea manure at the "Broad Strand," is in some parts well cultivated. At Dunworley is a small bog overflowed by the sea; there are some quarries of slate of an inferior quality, but in the vicinity of Court-McSherry slate of superior quality and colour is obtained.

The seats are Court-McSherry, the residence of J. Leslie, Esq., beautifully situated on the harbour and sheltered by a well-planted eminence; Sea Court, of H. Longfield, Esq.; Butlerstown, of Jonas Travers, Esq.; and the glebe-house, of the Rev. J. Stewart. The seneschal of the Earl of Shannon has the power of holding a court baron here for the recovery of debts not exceeding 40s. late currency, which has merged into that of Timoleague, where the courts are now held.

The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Ross, episcopally united in 1705 to the rectory of Kilsillagh, together constituting the union of Lislee, in the patronage of the Bishop: the rectory is impropriate in the Earl of Shannon.

The tithes amount to £749. 2. 6., of which £203. 13. is payable to the impropriator, and the remainder to the vicar; the entire tithes of the benefice amount to £588. 3. 8. The glebe comprises 42 acres, of which 10 were purchased by the late Board of First Fruits; the glebe-house was built in 1813, by a gift of £100 and a loan of £750 from the same Board. The church is a neat edifice in the early English style, with a square tower, erected in 1830 at the expense of the parish, aided by a loan of £900 from the Board.

In the R. C. divisions this parish forms part of the union or district of Abbeymahon; the chapel, a large plain building, is at Butlerstown. Of the seven schools in the parish, in which during the summer about 300 children are educated, the parochial schools at Barreragh are partly supported by the incumbent, and, together with a school at Court-McSherry, built and supported by the Leslie family, and a Sunday school, are under his superintendence; there is a school held in the chapel yard at Butlerstown, under the patronage of the R. C. clergy: the remainder are private schools.

There are several ancient circular mounds, or raths; that from which the parish is said to derive its name Lis-lee is a little to the west of the church, but the most extensive is on a hill about half a mile to the south. On a small peninsula in the bay of Dunworley, are the ruins of the castle of that name, having a very narrow entrance similar to that of the strong castle of the O'Driscols on Cape Clear; and on the cliffs called the "Seven Heads" is an old signal tower. Near Dunworley is a spring of very pure water, dedicated to St. Anne, and in several parts of the parish are springs strongly impregnated with iron. A little north of the Broad Strand are lofty cliffs composed of several distinct strata; the fourth from the surface is a soft ferruginous yellow rock, in which masses of iron ore are found, almost pure, and varying in size from 4oz. to nearly 1 cwt.