CHARLESTOWN, a parish, in the barony of ARDEE:,
county of LOUTH, and province of LEINSTER, 2 miles
(N. by W.) from Ardee; containing 1407 inhabitants.
This parish is situated on the road from Ardee to Monaghan;
and comprises, according to the Ordnance survey,
2699½ statute acres, of which 1797 acres are applotted
under the tithe act and valued at £2870 per
annum. The land is very fertile, and the system of
agriculture much improved: there is some bog, which
supplies the inhabitants with fuel, but very little waste
land in the parish. A few individuals are employed
in weaving linen; but the principal part of the population
are engaged in agricultural pursuits. There are
some quarries of stone fit for building, but none of limestone.
Rahanna, the seat of Clarges Ruxton, Esq., is
in this parish. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese
of Armagh, united by acts of council, in 1737 and 1754,
to the vicarage of Tallanstown, and the rectories of
Philipstown, Maplestown, and Clonkeehan, which five
parishes constitute the union of Charleslown or Philipstown,
in the patronage of the Lord-Primate; the rectory
is impropriate in the Hon. Baron Foster. The tithes of
the parish amount to £271. 17. 6., of which £234. 17. 6.
is payable to the impropriator, and £37 to the vicar:
the amount of tithes for the union, including glebe,
payable to the incumbent, is £476. 15. 4. The church,
a handsome edifice in the later English style, with a
tower and spire, together 108 feet high, was erected in
1827, at an expense, exclusively of the spire, of £1385,
a loan from the late Board of First Fruits: the spire was
added at an expense of £220, defrayed by the Rev. R.
Olpherts, the present incumbent, and several of the resident
gentry. The churchyard is enclosed with a handsome
iron palisade resting on a low wall of hewn stone,
towards the expense of which the lord-primate contributed
£50. The glebe-house, a handsome residence
within a quarter of a mile from the church, was built by
a gift of £250 and a loan of £550 from the late Board
of First Fruits: the glebe comprises seven acres of land,
valued at £3 per acre, but subject to a rent of £11.10. 9.
per annum, payable to the representatives of the late
Alexander Dawson, Esq. In the R. C. divisions the
parish forms part of the union or district of Tallanstown.
Adjoining the church is the parochial school-house, containing
two large school-rooms, each for 60 boys and girls
respectively, with suitable apartments for the master and
his family; it was built in 1827, chiefly at the expense oi
the Rev. R. Olpherts, aided by a grant from Government
and some charitable donations: the master, in addition
to other contributions, receives £10 per annum from the
incumbent. There are some remains of the ancient parish
church.
Tt2
CHARLEVILLE, an incorporated
market-town and post-town
(formerly a parliamen.
tary borough), in the parish
of RATHGOGAN, barony of
ORRERY and KILMORE,
county of CORK, and province
of MUNSTER, 29 miles
(N. by W.) from Cork, and
114¼ miles (S. W.) from Dublin;
containing 4766 inhabitants.
This town, so named
in honour of Chas. II., is of
comparatively recent origin, having been founded by
Roger, first Earl of Orrery and Lord-President of
Munster, in the year 1661. That nobleman erected a
magnificent mansion here for his own residence, in
which his kept his court of presidency, and by his infuence
obtained for the inhabitants a charter of incorporation
from Chas. II., dated May 29th, 1671. Charleville
House was burnt by the Irish under the command
of the Duke of Berwick, in 1690, and by his order,
after he had dined in it. In 1691, Col. Lumley came
to this place on the 18th of August, with a party of
soldiers, when the enemy posted here fled, leaving
many of their men killed and wounded. Captain Massey,
who had been left behind, fired his pistols at the soldiers
of Williara's army; and he and a cornet, being
taken prisoners with protections in their pockets, were
hanged as deserters. The town is situated on the mail
coach road from Cork to Limerick, near the border of the
latter county, and on the north-east side of an elevated
tract, from which stretches an extensive plain of rather
cheerless aspect. The land to the south is of superior
quality, producing abundant crops. At the western end
of the town the plantations of Sanders Park, the demesne
of C. Sanders, Esq., have a pleasing appearance. It
consists principally of two parallel streets communicating
by two others crossing them at right angles; one
of which is a wide and spacious thoroughfare, the chief
place of traffic, particularly on market days. It is
neither paved nor lighted, but the inhabitants are well
supplied with water from springs and a public pump.
Nothing appears to have been done for the improvement
of this place for some years; but the lord of the manor,
the Earl of Cork and Orrery, is now renewing upon
advantageous terms a number of long leases that have
recently fallen in, which has given an impulse to its
improvement, and several new houses have in consequence
been lately erected: the number of houses, in
1831, was 741. A new road, eight Irish miles in length,
has been just completed from Charleville to Croom, that
will shorten the distance to Limerick. There are three
tanyards and a small blanket-manufactory in the town;
and immediately adjoining it are two large flour-mills.
The market is on Saturday, and is well supplied with
provisions. Fairs are held on the lOth of January,,
March I6th, May 12th, Aug. 15ths Oct. lOth, and Nov.
12th, for fat cattle, pigs, hardware, and other merchandise;
the last two are held by patent, the others are
of recent establishment. The shambles for butehers'
meat are in a small enclosed area at the back of the
court-house. A sub-branch of the National Bank of
Ireland has been recently established here, in connection
with. the Branch Bank of Limerick. A military
force of two officers and 40 men is stationed here, but
there is no permanent barrack; and a constabulary
police station has been also established in the town.
By charter granted in the 23rd of Chas. II. to
Roger, Earl of Orrery, erecting his lands into a manor,
this town was made a free borough, and the inhabitants
were incorporated under the designation of the "Sovereign,
Bailiffs, and Burgesses of the Borough of Charleville."
The Corporation consists of a sovereign, two
bailiffs, twelve burgesses, and an indefinite number of
freemen. The sovereign and bailiffs are elected annually
from the burgesses, by the corporation, on the Monday
after St. John's day, and sworn into office on the Monday
after Michaelmas-day. The burgesses are elected
by the corporation as vacancies occur by death or
otherwise, and the persons proposed are at the same
time made freemen of the borough. The sovereign is
a justice of the peace within the borough, andacts occasionally
in that capacity; he is also coroner and billetmaster.
The corporation was some years since nearly
extinct, the members being reduced to the sovereign
and one bailiff only. In 1826 the sovereign and the
remaining bailiff re-elected themselves, and also filled up
all the vacancies; and the corporation at present consists
of a sovereign, two bailiffs, and twelve burgesses,
as originally constituted. The charter conferred
upon the corporation the privilege of returning two
members to the Irish parliament, which was regularly
exercised till the Union, when the borough was
disfranchised, and the £15,000 awarded as compensation
was paid in moieties to the Earls of Shannon and
Cork. The sovereign, or his deputy, is usually appointed
seneschal of the manor, the greater portion of which
extends into the county of Limerick; and as such. he
holds a court of record, the jurisdiction of which extends
to the determination of pleas not exceeding £200
late currency: the proceedings are according to the usual
course of common law, and actions are commenced either
by arrest of the person, attachment of the goods, or serviceable
writ; and under the act of the 7'th and 8th of
Geo. IV., cap. 59, he has also a civil bill jurisdiction.
Petty sessions are held in the town every alternate
Monday, by the county magistrates. The court and
market-house is a small plain building on the north.
side of the main street.
The ancient parish church of Rathgogan has been for
a long time in ruins, and the present church, erected by
the founder of the town, is situated on the south side of
the main street: it is a plain building without either
tower or spire; the walls have been lately embattled.
with hewn limestone. The Roman Catholic chapel, a neat
and spacious edifice, erected by subscription in 1812, is
ornamented with quoins, cornices, and window mouldings
of hewn stone; the altar is large and remarkably
elegant, and is embellished with several paintings of superior
execution; a handsome cupola was added to the
chapel in 1829, and adjoining it is a parochial house for
the priest. An edifice has been lately erected for the
meetings of Bible and other similar associations, also as a
place of preaching for occasional preachers. There are several
schools, the minuter details of which will be found
in the article on the parish of Rathgogan. Among these
is a national school recently established, for which.
a reraarkably neat building of hewn limestone has been
erected, at an expense of £800, of which £600 was raised
by subscription, and the remainder granted by the new
National Board. A classical school was founded by the
first Earl of Cork and Orrery, who endowed it with £40
per annum, continued by the present earl, who appoints
the master: the celebrated Barry Yelverton, Attorney-
General for Ireland, subsequently Chief Baron of the
Exchequer, and afterwards created Viscount Avonmore,
was educated here. A dispensary is supported, and a
fever hospital is about to be erected, towards which the
Earl of Cork has subscribed £100. Near the town was
formerly a charter school for female foundlings, which
has been discontinued for many years: the buildings are
at present occupied as a dwelling-house by the incumbent,
the Rev. J. R. Cotter, the inventor of a new and
very powerful bass wind instrument, called the Basso
Hibernico, which obtained the patronage of Geo. IV.,
and was introduced into his band. The interest of a
bequest of £100 by the late Mr. Ryan is to be applied
towards the support of the national school; and a further
bequest of £50 in clothing to the poor of Charleville.
At Belfort, near the town, is a spring of remarkably
pure water, with a slight mineral tinge; it is
held in great veneration by the peasantry, who resort
to it in great numbers. John Macdonald, commonly
called Shaun Claraugh, an Irish poet, resided here for
several years, and was buried at Ballysally, near the town.