MOHILL

MOHILL, a market and post-town, and a parish, partly in the barony and county of LONGFORD, province of LEINSTER, and partly in the barony of LEITRIM, but chiefly in the barony of MOHILL, county of LEITRIM, and province of CONNAUGHT, 85 miles (S. E.) from Carrick-on-shannon, and 74 ¼ (W. N. W.) from Dublin, on the mail coach road to Sligo; containing 16,664 inhabitants, of which number, 1606 are in the town. This place, at a very early period, was the site of an abbey founded for canons regular in 608, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, by St. Manchan, who died in 652. The establishment, which was amply endowed with glebes, tithes, vassals' fees, and other lands, existed till the dissolution, and in 1621, the rectory, as part of its possessions, was granted to Henry Crofton, Esq., under the commission for the plantation of Leitrim.

The town, which is neatly built, contains 305 houses; and derives its chief trade from its situation on a public thoroughfare. The market is on Thursday, and is well supplied with grain and provisions of every kind; the fairs are on the first Thursday in January, Feb. 3rd and 25th, March 17th, April 14th, May 8th. first Thursday in June, July 31st, Aug. 1st and 18th, second Thursday in Sept., Oct. 19th, Nov. 10th, and the first Thursday in December. A chief constabulary police force is stationed here, and petty sessions are held on alternate Saturdays.

The parish comprises 29,782 statute acres, of which 19,450 are good arable and pasture land, 60 woodland, and 10,270 are bog and waste; the soil is fertile, but the system of agriculture has hitherto been much neglected, though at present exertions are being made for its improvement. Limestone abounds and is quarried for agricultural purposes; and there are some quarries of very good freestone, which is raised for building; iron ore is found, but no mines have been yet opened.

The principal seats are Clooncar, the residence of the Rev. A. Crofton; Drumard, of Theophilus B. Jones, Esq.; Drumrahan, of J. O'Brien, Esq.; Drumregan, of J. W. O'Brien, Esq.; Bonnybeg, of W. Lawder, Esq.; and Aughamore, of C. Armstrong, Esq. The scenery is greatly varied and in some parts enlivened by the fiver Shannon, which skirts a portion of the parish on the south-west.

The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Ardagh, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the rectory is impropriate in Sir M. Crofton, Bart.

The tithes amount to £651. 10. l ½., of which £218. 3. 4 ½. is payable to the impropriator, and the remainder to the vicar. The glebe-house was built in 1823, at an expense of £1569. 4. 7 ½., of which £969. 4. 7 ½. was a loan and £92. 6. 1 ¾. a gift from the late Board of First Fruits; the glebe comprises 500 acres, valued at £380 per annum. The church, a modern edifice, towards the erection of which the late Board of First Fruits granted a loan of £378, in 1815, is built partly on the site of the old abbey, and was recently repaired by a grant of £768 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

In the R. C. divisions the parish constitutes a benefice in two portions; there are chapels respectively at Mohill, Cavan, Clonturk, and Clonmorris; and there is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. Nearly 700 children are taught in eight public schools, five of which are aided by an annual donation of £10 each from Lord Clements, who also gave the sites for the school-houses; and there are fifteen private schools, in which are about 900 children. There are also a dispensary, and a loan fund with a capital of £300. The only remains of the ancient abbey are a small circular tower; at Clonmorris are the ruins of a monastery, said to have been founded by St. Morris, and at Tullagoran is a druidical altar. There is a strong sulphureous spring at Mulock, more aperient than that of Swanlinbar; and at Athirnonus, about half a mile distant, is another of similar quality.