ROSSORY

ROSSORY, a parish, partly in the barony of GLENAWLEY, but chiefly in that of MAGHERABOY, county of FERMANAGH, and province of ULSTER; containing, with part of the suburbs of Enniskillen, 4338 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the shores of Lough Erne, and on the roads leading respectively from Enniskillen to Sligo and Ballyshannon, comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 7654 statute acres, of which 2302 ¼ are in the barony of Glenawley, and 5351 ¾ in Magheraboy: of these, about 494 acres are water, and by far the greater portion of the remainder is meadow and pasture. The land is of good quality, and that portion of it which is under tillage is in a state of profitable cultivation: there is a moderate proportion of bog, and limestone is quarried for agricultural purposes and also for repairing the roads; the system of agriculture is much improved, and there is no waste land.

The principal seats are Lisgoole abbey, the residence of M. Jones, Esq.; and Gortudrate, of A. Crawford, Esq.

The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Clogher, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £240. The glebe-house, a handsome residence, was erected at an expense of £1107, for which purpose the late Board of First Fruits granted a gift of £323 and a loan of £461; the glebe comprises 73 acres, valued at £136. 10 per annum. The church is an ancient edifice.

In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Enniskillen. At Portora, within the limits of the parish, is the Royal endowed school of Enniskillen, a handsome building, erected at an expense of £4000. About 120 children are taught in three public schools; and there are three private schools, in which are about 220 children, and a Sunday school. The interest of a bequest of £50 by Mrs. Noble is annually divided among twelve aged women. A very ancient religious foundation appears to have subsisted here, upon the site of which Lisgoole abbey was afterwards founded for Canons Regular by Mac Noellus Mackenleff, King of Ulster, about the year 1106. This establishment was destroyed by fire in 1360, and in the reign of Henry VIII., having fallen into ruin, it was surrendered by the last abbot to Maguire, tanist of Fermanagh, by whom it was assigned to the Franciscans, and the abbey rebuilt as a place of sepulture for the principal families of that country; at the dissolution it was granted to Sir John Davies. Here is a sulphureous spring in great repute.