BALLYBEG, or BALLYBEGSHANAGH, a parish,
in the barony of ORRERY and KILMORE, county of CORK,
and province of MUNSTER, 1 mile (S.) from Buttevant,
with which parish its population is returned. This
place, which appears to have merged into the parish of
Buttevant, is situated on the river Awbeg, and on the
mail coach road from Cork to Limerick, which towards
Mallow winds for some distance through a rocky glen recently
embellished with plantations, and at the northern
opening of which are situated the venerable remains of
the abbey of St. Thomas. This establishment was a
priory for Canons Regular of the order of St. Augustine,
founded by Philip de Barry, who, in 1229, endowed
it with ample revenues, in remembrance of which his
equestrian statue of brass was erected in the church.
The endowment was subsequently augmented, in 1235,
by Sir David de Barry, who founded the friary of Buttevant.
The priory and its possessions were, in the 10th
of Jas. I., granted to Sir. J. Jephson, whose descendant,
C. D. O. Jephson, Esq., is the present proprietor of the
parish. The parish comprises 2045 statute acres, as
applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £1693 per
annum. The only seat is Springfield, the residence of
J. Norcott, Esq. The living is an impropriate rectory,
in the diocese of Cloyne; the tithes, being wholly the
property, of Mr. Jephson, are not under composition;
the occasional duties of the parish devolve on the
incumbent of Buttevant. In the R. C. divisions it is
included in the union or district of Buttevant. The
remains of the abbey consist of the steeple, part of
the chancel with the east window, and a lofty tower
detached from the rest of the building, of which it
originally formed a part, and which shews the whole to
have been an extensive pile. Close to the abbey are
the vestiges of an ancient round tower. Many years
since a stone coffin was excavated from the ruins of the
abbey, containing a skeleton ornamented with a cross
and chains of gold.