KILMORE, a parish, in the barony of UPPER-DEECE,
county of MEATH, and province of LEINSTER, ½ a mile
(S. E.) from Summerhill, on the road from Dublin to
Navan; containing 1266 inhabitants. It comprises
4000 acres, about one-third of which are arable, and the
remainder pasture land, with about 16 acres of ornamental
plantations, and two nurseries. The principal
seats are Larch Hill, the residence of S.E.Watson, Esq.,
the grounds of which are embellished with grottoes and
temples; and Philpotstown, the handsome residence of
T. Walsh, Esq. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in
the diocese of Meath, and in the patronage of the Crown:
the tithes amount to £330. 13. 4. There is a glebehouse,
which cost £1300, towards which the late Board
of First Fruits, in 1813, gave £250 and lent £500:
the glebe comprises 12 acres, and is beautifully laid out
as a landscape garden. The church is a small ancient
building, and the churchyard is judiciously planted.
In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union
or district, called Moynalvey, containing Kilmore, Galtrim,
Kiltale, and Dirpatrick; there are chapels at Kilmore
and Galtrim, the former a large building in the
village of Moynalvey, which was erected in 1834, by
2 B
subscription, of which the greater part was contributed
by members of the Established Church. On the outside
is a fine bust of our Saviour, after Michael Angelo,
presented by Miss Gregory. Here is a school for all
denominations, superintended and entirely supported by
the rector, Dr. Tighe Gregory, and containing about 30
children; also a private school of about 60 children.
A dispensary, Dorcas institution, repository, and poor
shop, have been founded by Dr. Gregory, who intends
to erect dwellings for destitute widows and orphans.
In the churchyard is a curious round stone, placed on
a pillar by the present incumbent, by whom it was discovered.
The crucifixion is represented on one of its
sides, and the crown of thorns, bleeding heart, &c, on
the other. Dr. Gregory also found a fiat stone, dated
1575, containing a representation of the crucifixion,
with a legible inscription in Latin, and a defaced one in
Irish, and a request to pray for the soul of Roger Mac
Mahon Guineff, or Guiness. About 2½ miles north-west
from the present are the ruins of an ancient church,
and of a castle, called Arodstown; the remains of a
church are also visible at Moynalvey, about a mile to
the south, of which cells, extending a considerable distance
under ground, were discovered in 1834; and near
them is a tract still retaining the name of "the college."
To the south of the parish, sepulchral remains have been
discovered within a considerable embankment: these
ruins, between which are visible the remains of fortified
stations, encircle the parish; and in the centre stands
an ancient bush on a mount, known by the name of
Killa-more, the "great hill," and Seach-na-Killa-more, or
the "bush of Kilmore." The. number of these antiquities
creates an opinion that Kilmore was formerly a
place of religious importance.