TYDAVNET

TYDAVNET, a parish, in the barony and county of MONAGHAN, and province of ULSTER, 3 ½ miles (N. N. W). from Monaghan, on the road by Brookborough to Enniskillen; containing 11,352 inhabitants. This parish, which is intersected by a rapid stream descending from the Slievebaugh mountains, comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 26,502 statute acres, of which 163 are water, and 20,253 are applotted under the tithe act and valued at £14,400 per annum. There is an extensive tract of mountain and bog, the former of which, though rough, is capable of being reclaimed; and there are nineteen lakes within the parish, of which only one near Mount Louise and one near Slack's Grove are considerable.

The Slievebaugh mountains entirely enclose the parish on the north and west; on the former side is their highest point called Cairnmore, commanding a most extensive and interesting prospect. Immediately around this point is the only part of these mountains susceptible of improvement or embellishment, and here a picturesque glen opens towards the low country. On the north-east border of the parish is a very large tract of bog; and there are numerous smaller bogs, supplying an abundance of fuel. The lands under cultivation vary very much in quality; the principal crops are wheat, oats, barley and flax, of the last of which much is grown, and there is at Lemacallagh a mill for scutching it, which is of great benefit to the neighbourhood: there is but a small proportion of grass land, except what is in demesne, though portions of the mountains afford rough pasture.

Near Cairnmore is a limestone quarry, and on the summit of the mountain is an extensive quarry for millstones; the stone on the northern side is a soft whitish freestone, and on the southern, a hard reddish grit interspersed with flint. At Scotstown is a depot for these stones, which, after being worked to their proper form in the quarry, are suffered to roll down the mountain; on the north side, just below the rock, is a large, deep, and stormy lake. On the townland of Knockotally good freestone for building is quarried for the supply of the neighbourhood; and the hills also abound with potters' clay.

The principal seats are Tullaghan, the property of the Rev. Sir Thomas Forster, Bart., whose family formerly resided here; Gold, of J. Woodright, Esq.; Poplar Vale, of Major E. Richardson; Raconnel, of Colonel R. Lucas; Mount Louise, of R. Evatt, Esq.; Clenamully, of E. Fiddes, Esq.; Slack's Grove, of R. Jackson, Esq.; Newgrove, of M. Hawkshaw, Esq.; Mullaghmore, of J. Rose, Esq., greatly improved and extensively planted by the proprietor; and Carrachor, of J. Wright Esq. Fairs are held at Scotstown on the 17th of every month, and also in the village of Tydavnet on Jan. 19th, March 2nd and 31st, June 24th and Sept. 28th, and there is a constabulary police force at each of those places.

The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Clogher, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the tithes amount to £664. 12. 3 ¾. The glebe-house was built in 1824, at an expense of £1581 British, of which £900 was a loan from the late Board of First Fruits, and the remainder was defrayed by the then incumbent; the glebe comprises 40 acres, valued at £80 per annum. The church is a neat modern edifice, situated in the village of Ballinode; it was enlarged in 1830, at an expense of £471, defrayed by the parish, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have lately granted £116 for its further improvement.

The R. C. parish is coextensive with that of the Established Church; there are two chapels, one of which is near Scotstown. On the eastern verge of the parish is a place of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Seceding Synod, of the first class, to which a school is attached, and there is another for Wesleyan Methodists. About 1100 children are taught in ten public schools, of which four are partly supported by the rector, and one on his own estate by Captain Woodright; and there are four private schools, in which are about 250 children, and a dispensary. A portion of this parish is about to be attached to a perpetual curacy in the parish of Aghalurcher, where a church is now being built from a grant by the late Board of First Fruits, and which will be formed into a district parish.