RICHHILL

RICHHILL, a post-town, in that part of the parish of KILMORE, which is in the barony of ONEILLAND WEST, county of ARMAGH, and province of ULSTER, 4 miles (E. by N.) from Armagh, and 64 (N. by W.) from Dublin, on the old road from Armagh to Belfast: containing 937 inhabitants. This town is situated on the river Tallwater, in the heart of a rich agricultural and populous manufacturing district, and from its elevated situation has an interesting appearance. It consists of two principal streets and contains 189 houses, of which several are handsome and well built; its chief commercial importance arose from its extensive linen market, in which the average weekly sales amounted to £2600, and the supply of which afforded constant employment to a great number of persons in the neighbourhood. But since the construction of a new line of road from Armagh to Belfast, which in shortening the distance between those places avoids this town, the market has declined, except for the sale of a little linen yarn, and the trade has been greatly diminished. Fairs are held on Shrove-Tuesday, July 26th, and Oct. 15th, principally for cattle; and a constabulary police force is stationed in the town. The market-house, a substantial and commodious building, was erected in 1753 by W. Richardson, Esq.

There are places of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, the Society of Friends, and Wesleyan Methodists; a school on Erasmus Smith's foundation, for which a handsome house was built in 1819, at the expense of the late Lord-Primate, and W. Richardson, Esq., who endowed it with two acres of land; a dispensary, and a clothing society. The neighbourhood is beautifully varied, and the scenery pleasingly picturesque. The ancient mansion of the Misses Richardson, proprietors of the town, with its castellated turrets, embosomed in a highly cultivated tract of country, chiefly in demesne, and richly wooded, forms an interesting feature; and within two miles is Castle Dillon, the seat of Sir Thomas Molyneux, Bart., in a demesne abounding with stately forest trees and embellished with a fine sheet of water, and an obelisk 60 feet high, erected by the late Rt. Hon. Sir Capel Molyneux, in commemoration of Irish legislative independence obtained in 1782 by the volunteers of Ireland; the same baronet also erected a column to commemorate the foundation of the order of the Knights of St. Patrick. Adjoining Castle Dillon is Hockley Lodge, the seat of the Hon. Henry Caulfield, brother of Lord Charlemont, an elegant modern residence, containing some stately apartments and an extensive and valuable library. The poor of the neighbourhood of Richhill derive great benefit from the munificence and philanthropy of the Hon. Mrs. Caulfield and the Misses Richardson.