TYNAN

TYNAN, a post-town and parish, partly in the barony of ARMAGH, but chiefly in that of TURANEY, county of ARMAGH, and province of ULSTER, 6 ½ miles (W. by S.) from Armagh, and 72 (N. by W.) from Dublin, on the road from Armagh to Monaghan; containing with the town of Middleton and the village of Killyleagh (both separately described), 11,542 inhabitants, of which number, 243 are in the town of Tynan. This was formerly a parish of great extent and importance: it is noticed in Pope Nicholas's Taxation in 1291 as belonging to the Colidei or Culdees of Armagh, who are said to have retained possession of it for some time after the Reformation. It was united with Derrynoose in the 14th and 15th of Charles II., but the union was severed by an act of the 8th of Anne, c. 13, and lately the district parishes of Killyleagh and Middleton have been separated from it. It contains 17,646 statute acres, of which 80 ¾ are under water, being the small lakes of Portnelligan, Houslough, and Kiltubrit, which discharge their superfluous waters into Glaslough, in the county of Monaghan.

The soil is generally a rich loam of considerable depth: tillage is carried on to a great extent and under an excellent system: flax of the best quality is grown in very large quantities. There is no waste land; bogs were numerous, but they are now mostly cut out or reclaimed: there are several quarries of limestone and freestone. Though the coal formation extends over a considerable district, little advantage has been derived from it, as the veins hitherto discovered are too thin to be worked with profit. Here was formerly an extensive forest, known by the name of the Bondville wood, consisting chiefly of oak, ash and fir, and extending over several hundred acres, but it was all cut away during a period in which the estate was under litigation. At Doogary and at Belteagh are large flour-mills. The Ulster canal, designed to connect Loughs Neagh and Erne, passes through the parish.

The town, situated on an eminence, contains 40 houses; it has a dispensary, and petty sessions are held in it every second Wednesday and at Middleton on the alternate Wednesdays. The lands of the parish are divided among several proprietors in fee. Ten townlands belong to the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin; eight to the trustees of Bishop Sterne's charities; the remainder to Lord Gosford, Lord Caledon, Sir James Stronge, Bart., and several others. The great number of resident gentlemen who spend their incomes in the improvement of their property and in the diffusion of comfort and useful information throughout the district has tended much to the prosperity of all classes, the existence of which is apparent in the highly improved culture of the land, the exterior of the farm-houses and cottages, and the general appearance and demeanour of the population. The most remarkable seats are Tynan Abbey, the residence of Sir J. M. Stronge, who is proprietor of the village of the same name; Woodpark, of Captain Acheson St. George; Fellows Hall, of T. Knox Armstrong, Esq.; Mount Irwin, of W. Irwin, Esq.; Darton, of Maxwell Cross, Esq.; Portnelligan, of Alex. Cross, Esq.; Ashfort, of Hugh Harris, Esq.; Bondville, of H. Coote Bond, Esq.; the glebe, of the Rev. W. Mauleverer; and Chantilly glebe, of the Rev. J. W. Trew.

The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Armagh, being the corps of the prebend of Tynan in the cathedral of Armagh, and in the patronage of the Lord Primate: the tithes amount to £800. 1. 7., out of which the curates of Killyleagh and Middleton are paid: the townland of Cortaynan, comprising 564 acres, is tithe-free: the incumbent of Tynan has the appointment of the curate of Middleton and every third turn of that of the curate of Killyleagh. The glebe-house was built in 1777, at an expense of £1108 British, and has been since improved at a cost of £1442: the glebe contains 217a. 3r. 6p., statute measure, valued at £190. 12., of which the incumbent holds 58 acres in his own hands, and the remainder is let to tenants. The church, situated in the village of Tynan, two miles from the church of Middleton and one and a half from that of Killyleagh, was built in 1784 and considerably enlarged in 1822, by the addition of a north and south transept and chancel, by which it has been made a commodious cruciform edifice, at an expense of £646, which was a loan from the late Board of First Fruits.

In the R. C. arrangements the parish is divided into the Upper and Lower parishes, each having a chapel, one of which is in the village of Tynan, and the other at Ashford near Middleton: the former, erected in 1810 at an expense of £1800, has a very fine altar: the latter, built in 1838 at an expense of £1250, and to which two galleries were added in 1834, at a further expense of £300, has also an altar of very superior workmanship, which cost £100. At Lisdooney there is a place of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, of the second class; and there are two for Seceders, one at Middleton of the third class, the other at Drumhillary of the second: they are all neat and commodious buildings.

A female school on the glebe was built and is supported by the rector; a large school-house in the village of Tynan, with a residence for the master and an endowment of an acre of land, established by the trustees of Erasmus Smith's charities, affords instruction to 45 boys and 20 girls; and at Derryhaw is also a male and female school: in all these schools about 240 children are educated. There are also three private schools, in which are about 100 pupils; and five Sunday schools. A considerable tract of land, comprising 1312 acres, was bequeathed by Dr. Sterne, Bishop of Clogher, for supporting hospitals and schools, and for other charitable purposes; the management of this charity was vested in trustees by act of parliament in 1772. The remains of an ancient and highly ornamented stone cross, which originally stood in the churchyard, but was thrown down and defaced by Cromwell's soldiers, have been built into the wall of the churchyard for their better preservation.