RUTLAND, an island, in the parish of TEMPLECROAN,
barony of BOYLAGH, county of DONEGAL, and
province of ULSTER, 18 mites (N.) from Narin: the
population is returned with the parish. This island,
anciently called Innismacdurn, received its present name
from its proprietor, an ancestor of the Marquess of
Conyngham, in compliment to Charles, Duke of Rutland,
who was at that time Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
At the time of Pynnar's survey here was a small old
castle with a bawn, where a few English families had
settled. It is situated off the north-western coast, forming
one of the group of islands called the Rosses, and
contains about 180 acres, chiefly rocky and coarse
mountain land, with a considerable quantity of bog.
The harbour is narrow and fit only for small vessels.
The inhabitants, in each of the years 1784 and 1785,
realised £40,000 from the herring fishery off the coast;
and the great abundance of herrings found here at
that time induced Col. Conyngham to expend £50,000
in building houses and stores and forming a town here,
and in constructing roads through the mountains on
the coast to the champaign country in the interior.
From that period the fishery began to decline, and in
1793 it entirely failed; and though it afterwards began
to revive, it never regained its former prosperity. The
females are employed in knitting coarse yarn stockings.
On the 16th of September, 1798, James Napper
Tandy landed here from the French brig Anacreon from
Brest, with three boats full of officers and men, accompanied
by Gen. Rey and Col. Blackwell; but after
remaining for a day and a night, hearing that the
French, who had landed at Kilcummin, had surrendered
and been, made prisoners, they re-embarked. On
the island is a coast guard station, forming one of the
seven that constitute the district of Dunfanaghy; a dispensary
is maintained in the usual way.
S
SAGGARD, or TASSAGGARD, a parish, in the
barony of NEWCASTLE, county of DUBLIN, and province
of LEINSTER, 1 mile (B. by S.) from Rathcoole, on the
roads leading from Dublin to Blessington and Naas;
containing 1673 inhabitants, of which number, 266 are
in the village. This parish comprises 4260 statute
acres, as applotted under the tithe act; the surface is
mountainous, but the lower grounds are in good cultivation;
limestone is quarried, and the mountains abound
with peat. The principal seats are Saggard House, the
residence of P. Smith, Esq.; Kingswood, of Mrs. Walsh;
and Ashtree Cottage, of J. Wade, Esq., where the
Saggard hounds are kept. The village is pleasantly
situated near the Tallaght hills, and contains 71 houses,
neatly built. The manufacture of paper is carried on
in mills belonging to Mr. McDonnell, at Swift's Brook,
where was formerly a residence of Dean Swift. Fairs
are held on Corpus Christi day, Oct. 10th, and Nov. 8th.
The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Dublin, and in
the patronage of the Archbishop, partly appropriate to
the deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin, and partly constituting
the corps of the prebend of Saggard in the cathedral
of St. Patrick. The tithes amount to £250, of
which £110 is payable to the dean, and the remainder
to the prebendary. The church has long been in ruins,
and the parishioners attend the church of Rathcoole;
the churchyard is still used as a burial-place. In the
R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district,
comprising also the parishes of Newcastle and
Rathcoole, and part of the parish of Tallaght. There
are chapels at Saggard and Newcastle; on the west
side of the former is a monument of marble to the
Rev. A. Hart, P. P., and dean of Maynooth, with his
effigy in bass relief. About 100 children are taught in
a public school near the village. A monastery is said
to have been founded here by St. Mosacre, who flourished
about the middle of the 7th century, of which
there is no further record; perhaps it was destroyed in
1131, when this place was ravaged by the septs of the
Byrnes and O'Tooles.