TANDERAGEE, or TAWNATELEE, a market-town and
post-town, intheparish of BALLYMORE, barony of LOWER-ORIOR,
county of ARMAGH, and province of ULSTER, 4½
miles (N. W.) from Loughbrickland; containing 1559
inhabitants. This town appears to owe its origin to the
erection of a baronial castle here by the O'Hanlons,
proprietors of the surrounding territory, on whose participation
in the Earl of Tyrone's rebellion, in the reign
of Elizabeth, the estates became forfeited to the crown,
and were on the plantation of Ulster granted by
Jas. I., in the Sth year of his reign, to Sir Oliver
St. John, who rebuilt the castle and laid the foundation
of the present town, which he peopled with English
inhabitants. Sir Oliver, in 1622, also built the church,
which afterwards became the parish church of Baliymore;
and it appears to have been the intention of
the King to make the town a free borough and to incorporate
the inhabitants; but this design was never
carried into effect; the only privileges they received
were those of a market, fairs, and courts leet and baron.
The town is beautifully situated in a richly cultivated
part of the country, on the confines of the county of
Down; within a mile of the Newry canal, which opens
a communication between that town and Belfast; and
on the estate of Lord Mandeville. It consists of two
principal and three smaller streets, and in 1831 contained
253 houses, most of which are handsome and
well built; its general appearance is prepossessing,
4 G
and as seen from a distance, ascending from a beautiful
vale, through which the river Cusher winds between
its lofty and richly wooded banks at one extremity,
the demesne of Tanderagee crowning the hill at the
other, forms a strikingly picturesque feature in the landscape.
Several coaches pass and re-pass through it to
and from Bristol. The linen manufacture is carried on
extensively in all its various branches: there are two
large establishments in the town, and one at Derryallen,
in all which linens, sheetings, damasks, diapers, drills,
and other articles are manufactured in large quantities.
There are also several extensive flax-mills, and in the
various departments of the linen trade carried on here
and in the immediate neighbourhood, more than 6000
persons are employed. The manufacture of damask
was first introduced here in 1805, by Mr. J. Davis, who
is now the only manufacturer of that article in the
county. On the river Cusher, near the town, is a very
extensive flour and meal-mill, the property of John
Creery, Esq., in which more than 2000 tons of wheat
and 1000 tons of oats are annually ground. This river
and the Newry navigation join the Bann at about two
miles distance from the town, affording facilities of conveyance
and a supply of coal from Newry. The market
is on Wednesday, and is largely supplied with flax, the
weekly sale of which has amounted to £7000; besides
linen, butter, and pork, averaging nearly £3000 weekly;
much pork is bought in this market for Belfast. Fairs
are held on the first Wednesday in every month, and
also by charter on the 5th of July and Nov. A constabulary
police force is stationed in the town; courts leet
are held twice in the year, and courts baron, at which
debts tinder 40s. are recoverable, every third Thursday;
petty sessions for the division are held once a fortnight.
Adjoining the town is Tanderagee Castle, the splendid seat
of Viscount Mandeville, erected on the site of the ancient
castle of O'Hanlon, which, after it was rebuilt by Sir
Oliver St. John, was surprised and completely destroyed
by the O'Hanlons in the war of 1641: the present
structure, which is still in progress, is spacious and of
elegant design, and is situated in an ample demesne,
richly embellished and pleasingly diversified with bold
eminences clothed with stately timber. In the immediate
neighbourhood is also the glebe-house, the elegant
residence of the rector, the Very Rev. Thos. Carter,
Dean of Tuam, situated on a hill overlooking the town.
The church, originally built by Sir Oliver St. John,
was nearly demolished during the war of 1641, and
rebuilt in 1684; having fallen into decay it was taken
down in 1812, and the present handsome structure built
upon its site. In removing the materials of the old
church, the skull of its founder, who was shot by an
assassin on his return to the castle, was discovered, perforated
by a bullet. A very extensive and important
charitable establishment has been founded on the moral
agency system by Lord and Lady Mandeville, upon the
estate of Tanderagee, the benefits of which are open to
the whole of their numerous tenantry, in the improvement
of whose moral, intellectual, and social condition,
it has, though comparatively in its infancy, already produced
the most beneficial effects. The establishment
includes a loan fund, a clothing fund, three dispensaries,
an orphan asylum, a circulating library, and 25 public
schools, to each of which is attached a lending library.
The loan and clothing funds are conducted by the moral
agent resident at the castle; the dispensaries are in the
towns of Tanderagee, Portadown, and Tullahappy, and
are open one day in every week, under the care of a
physician, who devotes the whole of his time in dispensing
medicines and in visiting the poor tenants at their
own dwellings. The orphan asylum, at Tanderagee, is
open to the female orphans of the Protestant tenantry,
who are boarded, clothed, and educated for service in
respectable families. The schools, for which spacious
and handsome buildings, with houses for the master
and mistress, have been erected, are scattered over the
whole estate; those in this parish are at Tanderagee,
Corvernagh, Cargans, and Ballymore, in which are about
260 children and 100 infants. There are also schools at
Portadown and Mullantine, in the parish of Drumcree,
and also in the parishes of Seagoe, Kilmore, and Killevy;
to each is attached a Sunday school, and the aggregate
number of children in all the schools exceeds 2000. An
annual festival takes place at the castle, where all the
children assemble and are hospitably entertained by
Lord and Lady Mandeville; on the last occasion more
than 2000 children attended. To the south-east of the
town is the pass of Scarva from the county of Down
into that of Armagh, which was formerly defended by
the strong and ancient castle of Glan Flusk, erected by
Col. Monck, afterwards Duke of Albemarle, and of
which there are considerable portions remaining.