PORT-ST.-MARNOCK

PORT-ST.-MARNOCK, a parish, in the barony of COOLOCK, county of DUBLIN, and province of LEINSTER, 7 ½ miles (N. E.) from Dublin; containing 482 inhabitants. On a rock, close to the sea-shore, stands the small gloomy castle of Rob's-Wall, or Robuck's Wall, founded either in the 15th or early in the 16th century by Mac Robuck, descended from Robuck de Birmingham, and the head of a sept of this ancient family. The manor belonged, from a very early period, to the abbey of St. Mary, Dublin, and is now chiefly vested in a branch of the Plunkett family. The parish, which is bounded on the east by St. George's channel, comprises 1729 statute acres. The sea-reed, or bent, grows plentifully, in conjunction with Carex Arenaria, on the sands near Rob's-Wall. There is a good limestone quarry, in which fossils are frequently found, and good potter's clay is procured within the parish.

Here are several respectable seats, the principal of which are Broomfield, the residence of J. Frazier, Esq.; Beechwood, of N. J. Trumbull, Esq., in the grounds of which are some remarkably fine beech trees; Portmarnock House, of L. Plunkett, Esq.; Hazel Brook, of James Frazier, Esq.; St. Helen's, of T. Macartney, Esq.; the Grange, of F. Beggs, Esq.; and Drumnigh, of M. Farran, Esq.

The living is a perpetual curacy, in the diocese of Dublin, and in the patronage of the Archbishop; the tithes amount to £98. 1. 7., of which £23. 1. 7. is payable to Mr. Hudson, and £75 to the perpetual curate, who also receives £20 per ann. from Primate Boulter's augmentation fund. The glebe-house, situated in the parish of Cloghran, was erected in 1791, by aid of a gift of £150 and a loan from the late Board of First Fruits; the glebe comprises nine acres. The church, a small edifice with a tower and spire, was erected in 1788, by a gift of £500 from the same Board.

In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Baldoyle and Howth. A school, in which 23 children are educated, is supported by private subscriptions and an annual charity sermon. Here are two Martello towers, and remains of an old church, near Carrickhill; from which elevation is obtained an extensive view of the surrounding country, with a vast expanse of sea.