LISLEE, a parish, in the barony of IBANE and
BARRYROE, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER,
10 miles (S.W.) from Bandon, on the southern coast;
containing, with the village of Court-McSherry (which
is separately described), 1786 inhabitants. This parish,
which comprises 6250 statute acres, as applotted under
the tithe act, is situated on the western side of the harbour
of Court-McSherry; the land is in general good
and chiefly under tillage, and, from the great facility of
procuring sea manure at the "Broad Strand," is in
some parts well cultivated. At Dunworley is a small
bog overflowed by the sea; there are some quarries of
slate of an inferior quality, but in the vicinity of Court-
McSherry slate of superior quality and colour is obtained.
The seats are Court-McSherry, the residence of
J. Leslie, Esq., beautifully situated on the harbour and
sheltered by a well-planted eminence; Sea Court, of
H. Longfield, Esq.; Butlerstown, of Jonas Travers,
Esq.; and the glebe-house, of the Rev. J. Stewart. The
seneschal of the Earl of Shannon has the power of
holding a court baron here for the recovery of debts not
exceeding 40s. late currency, which has merged into
that of Timoleague, where the courts are now held
The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Ross,
episcopally united in 1705 to the rectory of Kilsillagh,
together constituting the union of Lislee, in the patronage
of the Bishop: the rectory is impropriate in the
Earl of Shannon. The tithes amount to £749. 2. 6.,
of which £203. 13. is payable to the impropriator, and
the remainder to the vicar; the entire tithes of the
benefice amount to £588. 3. 8. The glebe comprises 42
acres, of which 10 were purchased by the late Board of
First Fruits; the glebe-house was built in 1813, by a
gift of £100 and a loan of £750 from the same Board.
The church is a neat edifice in the early English style,
with a square tower, erected in 1830 at the expense of
the parish, aided by a loan of £900 from the Board. In
the R. C. divisions this parish forms part of the union
or district of Abbeymahon; the chapel, a large plain
building, is at Butlerstown. Of the seven schools in
the parish, in which during the summer about 300 children
are edu ated, the parochial schools at Barreragh
are partly supported by the incumbent, and, together
with a school at Court-McSherry, built and supported
by the Leslie family, and a Sunday school, are under
his superintendence; there is a school held in the chapel
yard at Butlerstown, under the patronage of the R. C.
clergy: the remainder are private schools. There are
several ancient circular mounds, or raths; that from
which the parish is said to derive its name Lis-lee is a
little to the west of the church, but the most extensive
is on a hill about half a mile to the south. On a small
peninsula in the bay of Dunworley, are the ruins of the
castle of that name, having a very narrow entrance
similar to that of the strong castle of the O'Driscols on
Cape Clear; and on the cliffs called the "Seven Heads"
is an old signal tower. Near Dunworley is a spring of
very pure water, dedicated to St. Anne, and in several
parts of the parish are springs strongly impregnated
with iron. A little north of the Broad Strand are lofty
cliffs composed of several distinct strata; the fourth
from the surface is a soft ferruginous yellow rock, in
which masses of iron ore are found, almost pure, and
varying in size from 4oz. to nearly 1 cwt.