ENNISKEEN, a parish, partly in the baronies of
LOWER-KELLS and LOWER-SLANE, county of MEATH,
and province of LEINSTER, but chiefly in the barony of
CLONKEE, county of CAVAN, and province of ULSTER, on
the road from Carrickmacross to Bailieborough; containing,
with the post-town of Kingscourt (winch is described
under its own head), 10,368 inhabitants. This place, ancientlythe
principal seat of the Danes, was called Dumaree,
and still retains that name; it is surrounded by Danish
forts, and on the summits of the neighbouring hills
great quantities of money and of ancient military weapons
have been dug up at various times. The parish
comprises 28,814 statute acres, of which about 500 are
woodland, from 200 to 300 bog, and the remainder
under tillage; the system of agriculture is greatly improved,
and great quantities of bog and waste land have
been reclaimed. Limestone abounds; there are excellent
quarries of every kind of building stone, and near
the rock at Carrickleck is very superior freestone, which
is extensively worked for flagstones and pillars of large
dimensions. On the estate of Lord Gormanstown, in
the Meath district, are coal, lead and iron ore, but none
is raised at present; a coal mine and an alabaster
quarry were formerly worked, but have been discontinued.
The principal seats are Cabra castle, the handsome
residence and richly planted demesne of Col.
Pratt; Corinsica, of J. Pratt, Esq.; Northlands, of
the Very Rev. Dean Adams; Newcastle, of J. Smith,
Esq.; Woodford, of J, Armstrong, Esq.; Lisnaboe, of
- Jackson, Esq.; Plantation, of - Irwin, Esq.;
Larehfield, of W. Pratt, Esq.; and Cornakill, of -
Moore, Esq. An annual fair is held at Muff on the 21st
of August, and there are several at Kingscourt, noticed
in the account of that town, where petty sessions are
also held. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the diocese
of Meath, and in the patronage of the Bishop,
to whom the rectory is appropriate: the tithes amount
to £900. The glebe-house is a neat residence, erected
by a gift of £450 and a loan of £50 from the late
Board of First Fruits, in 1831; the glebe comprises
28½ acres. The church, at Kingscourt,is a neat plain
edifice, to the repair of which the Eeclesiastical Commissioners
have recently granted £173. The R, C.
parish is co-extensive with that of the Established
Church, and is called Kingscourt; the chapel in that
town is a spacious and handsome edifice, in the later
English style, and there is also a chapel at Muff. There
is a place of worship for Presbyterians in connection
with the Synod of Ulster, of the third class, and one for
Wesleyan Methodists. About, 130 children are taught
in the public schools, and there are 16 private schools,
in which are about 960 children. Between Bailielmrough
and Kingscourt, about two miles from the
former, is a pool called Lough-on-Leighaghs, or the
"healing lake," which is much resorted to by patient.
afflicted with scorbutic complaints; it is situated on
the summit of a mountain, rising, according to the
Ordnance survey, 1116 feet, above the level of the sea.
On a lofty eminence, about a mile from the lake, is a
remarkable cairn; and about, two miles from kingscourt,
on the Dublin road, is the singularly beautiful
and romantic glen of Cabra. There are ruins of Muff
and Cabra castles, and some remains of an old bridge.