TYNAN, a post-town and parish, partly in the
barony of ARMAGH, but chiefly in that of TURANEY,
county of ARMAGH, and province of ULSTER, 6½ miles
(W. by S.) from Armagh, and 72 (N. by W.) from Dublin,
on the road from Armagh to Monaghan; containing
with the town of Middleton and the village of Killyleagh
(both separately described), 11,542 inhabitants,
of which number, 243 are in the town of Tynan. This
was formerly a parish of great extent and importance:
it is noticed in Pope Nicholas's Taxation in 1291
as belonging to the Colidei or Culdees of Armagh, who
are said to have retained possession of it for some time
after the Reformation. It was united with Derrynoose
in the 14th and 15th of Chas. II., but the union was
severed by an act of the 8th of Anne, c. 13, and lately
the district parishes of Killyleagh and Middleton have
been separated from it. It contains 17,646 statute
acres, of which 80¾ are under water, being the small
lakes of Portnelligan, Houslough, and Kiltubrit, which
discharge their superfluous waters into Glaslough, in
the county of Monaghan. The soil is generally a rich
loam of considerable depth: tillage is carried on to a
great extent and under an excellent system: flax of
the best quality is grown in very large quantities. There
is no waste land; bogs were numerous, but they are
now mostly cut out or reclaimed: there are several
quarries of limestone and freestone. Though the coal
formation extends over a considerable district, little
advantage has been derived from it, as the veins hitherto
discovered are too thin to be worked with profit. Here
was formerly an extensive forest, known by the name
of the Bondville wood, consisting chiefly of oak, ash
and fir, and extending over several hundred acres, but
it was all cut away during a period in which the estate
was under litigation. At Doogary and at Belteagh are
large flour-mills. The Ulster canal, designed to connect
Loughs Neagh and Erne, passes through the
parish. The town, situated on an eminence, contains
40 houses; it has a dispensary, and petty sessions are
held in it every second Wednesday and at Middleton
on the alternate Wednesdays. The lands of the parish
are divided among several proprietors in fee. Ten townlands
belong to the Provost and Fellows of Trinity
College, Dublin; eight to the trustees of Bishop Sterne's
charities; the remainder to Lord Gosford, Lord Caledon,
Sir James Stronge, Bart., and several others. The
great number of resident gentlemen who spend their
incomes in the improvement of their property and in
the diffusion of comfort and useful information through
out the district has tended much to the prosperity of
all classes, the existence of which is apparent in the
highly improved culture of the land, the exterior of
the farm-houses and cottages, and the general appearance
and demeanour of the population. The most remarkable
seats are Tynan Abbey, the residence of Sir
J. M. Stronge, who is proprietor of the village of the
same name; Woodpark, of Capt. Acheson St. George;
Fellows Hall, of T. Knox Armstrong, Esq.; Mount
Irwin, of W. Irwin, Esq.; Darton, of Maxwell Cross,
Esq.; Portnelligan, of Alex. Cross, Esq.; Ashfort, of
Hugh Harris, Esq.; Bondville, of H. Coote Bond, Esq.;
the glebe, of the Rev. W. Mauleverer; and Chantilly
glebe, of the Rev. J. W. Trew.
The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese
of Armagh, being the corps of the prebend of Tynan
in the cathedral of Armagh, and in the patronage of the
Lord Primate: the tithes amount to £800. 1. 7., out of
which the curates of Killyleagh and Middleton are
paid: the townland of Cortaynan, comprising 564 acres,
is tithe-free: the incumbent of Tynan has the appointment
of the curate of Middleton and every third turn
of that of the curate of Killyleagh. The glebe-house
was built in 1777, at an expense of £1108 British, and
has been since improved at a cost of £1442: the glebe
contains 217a. 3r. 6p., statute measure, valued at
£190. 12., of which the incumbent holds 58 acres in his
own hands, and the remainder is let to tenants. The
church, situated in the village of Tynan, two miles from
the church of Middleton and one and a half from that
of Killyleagh, was built in 1784 and considerably enlarged
in 1822, by the addition of a north and south
transept and chancel, by which it has been made a
commodious cruciform edifice, at an expense of £646,
which was a loan from the late Board of First Fruits.
In the R. C. arrangements the parish is divided into the
Upper and Lower parishes, each having a chapel, one
of which is in the village of Tynan, and the other at
Ashford near Middleton: the former, erected in 1810
at an expense of £1800, has a very fine altar: the
latter, built in 1828 at an expense of £1250, and to
which two galleries were added in 1834, at a further
expense of £300, has also an altar of very superior
workmanship, which cost £100. At Lisdooney
there is a place of worship for Presbyterians
in connection with the Synod of Ulster, of the
second class; and there are two for Seceders, one at
Middleton of the third class, the other at Drumhillary
of the second: they are all neat and commodious
buildings. A female school on the glebe was built and
is supported by the rector; a large school-house in the
village of Tynan, with a residence for the master and
an endowment of an acre of land, established by the
trustees of Erasmus Smith's charities, affords instruction
to 45 boys and 20 girls; and at Derryhaw is also
a male and female school: in all these schools about
240 children are educated. There are also three private
schools, in which are about 100 pupils; and five Sunday
schools. A considerable tract of land, comprising
1312 acres, was bequeathed by Dr. Sterne, Bishop of
Clogher, for supporting hospitals and schools, and for
other charitable purposes; the management of this
charity was vested in trustees by act of parliament in
1772. The remains of an ancient and highly ornamented
stone cross, which originally stood in the churchyard,
but was thrown down and defaced by Cromwell's soldiers,
have been built into the wall of the churchyard for their
better preservation.