LISMORE, a market-town and post-town (formerly a parliamentary borough), a
parish, and the seat of a diocese, partly in the barony
of CONDONS-AND-CLONGIBBONS, in the county of CORK, but chiefly in that of
COSHMORE and COSHBRIDE, county of WATERFORD, and in the province of MUNSTER,
34 miles (S. S. W.) from Waterford, and 109½ (S.W.byS.)
from Dublin, on the mail-coach road from Waterford
to Cork; containing, with the post town of Cappoquin
(which is separately described), 14,938 inhabitants, of
which number, 2894 are in the town of Lismore. This
place, called anciently Dun-sginne, from an old fortification
to the east of the town (now called the Round Hill),
to which, on his expulsion from Rathenin by King
Blathmac, in 631, St. Carthagh fled for shelter, derived
its present name, signifying ? a great house or village,"
from a monastery founded here by that saint, which
subsequently became a celebrated seat of learning and
the head of a diocese. St. Carthagh, who died in 638,
and was interred in his own church, was succeeded by
St. Cataldus, afterwards Bishop of Tarentum, in Italy,
whose successors were indifferently styled abbots or
bishops; and the school, which was attended by
numbers not only from the neighbouring districts, but
also from remote countries, was in the zenith of its
reputation about the commencement of the 8th century.
The establishment continued to flourish; and such was
the fame of this place, that not less than 20 churches
were founded in its immediate vicinity; but in 812 it
was plundered by the Danes, who, from that period till
915, five times repeated their devastations. In 978 the
town and abbey were burned by the Ossorians; in 1095
the town was destroyed by an accidental fire, and in
1116, 1138, and 1157 both the town and the monastery
suffered from conflagration. Hen. II., after landing at
Waterford, marched to this place, where he was met by
the chiefs of Munster, who with the archbishops,
bishops, and abbots of Ireland swore allegiance to him,
and gave him a charter confirming the kingdom of
Ireland to him and his heirs for ever. While here the
king chose a site, and gave the necessary orders for the
erection of a fortress for its defence. In 1173, Raymond
Le Gros, with the English army, marched to this
place with the plunder they had taken in Ophaly; and
after ravaging the city and neighbourhood, proceeded
on his route to Dungarvan. A castle was erected here,
in 1185, by John, Earl of Morton, and Lord of Ireland:
but four years afterwards it was taken by the Irish, who
put Robert de Barry, the commander, and the whole of
the garrison to the sword; it was, however, soon afterwards
rebuilt by the king, and for many ages continued
to be the residence of the bishops of the see, till Miler
Magrath, archbishop of Cashel and bishop of Lismore,
in 1518, granted the manor and other lands to Sir Walter
Raleigh, from whom, with the rest of his possessions,
they were purchased by Sir Richard Boyle, afterwards
created Earl of Cork. The castle was greatly strengthened
and improved by the Earl, who built three other forts in
the neighbourhood, one of which was at the park, one
at Ballygarran, and the third at Ballyinn; he also
obtained a charter of incorporation for the town, and
the grant of a market and fairs. At the commencement
of the war in 1641, the castle was besieged by a force of
5000 Irish under Sir Rich. Belling, but was bravely
defended by the Earl's son, Lord Broghill, who compelled
them to abandon the attempt. In 1643, a party
of 200 insurgents, in retaliation for the destruction of
Clogheen by the garrison of this place, entered the town
and burned most of the thatched houses and cabins,
killed 60 of the inhabitants, and carried off several
prisoners; and in July of the same year, Lieut.-Gen.
Purcell, commander-in-chief of the insurgent forces, at
the head of 7000 foot and 900 horse, with three pieces
of artillery, marched to Cappoquin, where he remained
for four days laying waste the adjacent country; and
being there joined by Lord Muskerry, he advanced to
besiege the castle of Lismore. After a week's siege, a
cessation of arms was mutually agreed on, and the
assailants immediately retired; but the castle suffered
great injury during this war, and in 1645, being burned
by Lord Castlehaven, it was reduced almost to a ruin,
and the town became a neglected village, consisting
only of a few miserable cabins. In 1686, the Earl of
Clarendon, on his progress through Munster, passed a
night in this castle, which was also visited by Jas. II.,
in 1689; and in 1785 the Duke of Rutland, Lord-
Lieutenant of Ireland, held a council in the castle, from
which he issued several proclamations. The castle,
with all its lands and other property, descended from the
Earls of Cork and Burlington, by marriage, to the
ancestor of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, who is
the present proprietor.
The town, which has been greatly improved by the
late and present Duke, is romantically situated on the
summit of a steep eminence, rising to the height of 93
feet From the southern bank of the river Blackwater,
over which is a fine bridge of stone, erected by the late
Duke of Devonshire at an expense of £9000, and of
which the central arch has a span of 100 feet. Some
new streets have been made: the total number of
houses, in 1831, was 366, of which several are neat and
well built; the place has a cheerful and thriving
appearance. The castle, restored by the late Duke in
1812, forms an imposing object, rising majestically from
the' elevated bank of the river, and occupying the
verge of a precipitous cliff, partly clothed with wood
and towering above the foliage which conceals its base.
The approach is through an outer gateway, called the
Riding House, from which a long avenue of stately
trees, flanked with high stone walls, leads to the
principal entrance through a lofty gateway tower, over
which are the arms of the first Earl of Cork, into the
square of the castle, of which several of the towers are
still in their original state, though other portions of the
building have been restored and embellished in a more
modern style. The state apartments are spacious and
very elegantly fitted up; the drawing-rooms are hung
with splendid tapestry and paintings by the first
masters. From the summits of the tower and the flat
roofs of the building are magnificent views of the
surrounding country; in front is the lofty mountain of
Knockmeledown, rising above the range of hills extending
eastward, from which a deep ravine thickly
wooded and alternated with projecting masses of rugged
rock appearing through the foliage, descends to the
vale immediately below it, which is embellished with
handsome, residences and rich plantations; and near
its apparent extremity is seen the town, of Cappoquin,
with the spire of its church and its bridge of light
structure over the river. In the grounds are some
remarkably fine yew trees of great age, forming an
avenue and assuming the appearance of cloisters. The
trade is very inconsiderable; but on the river, immediately
below the castle, is an extensive salmon fishery,
and during the season great quantities of fish are taken,
which are packed in ice, and exported to Liverpool and
to other distant ports. The Blackwater affords great
facility of commerce with the port of Youghal; the
navigation has been extended from the point to which
the tide reaches, about a mile to the east, up to the
bridge by a canal constructed at the expense of the late
Duke, by means of which corn and flour are exported,
and timber, iron, coal, and miscellaneous articles are
imported in lighters plying between this place and
Youghal. There are no stated market days: the fairs
are on May 25th, Sept. 25th, and Nov. 12th; and
there is a constabulary police station.
By charter of Jas. I., granted in 1613 to Sir Richard
Boyle, first Earl of Cork, the town, with the circumjacent
lands within a mile and a half round the parish church,
was made a free borough; and the corporation was
directed to consist of a portreeve, free burgesses and
commonalty. The charter also invested the corporation
with the privilege of returning two members to the
Irish parliament, which they continued to exercise till
the Union, when the borough was disfranchised, and
the £15,000 awarded as compensation was paid to the
trustees under the will of the late Earl of Cork and
Burlington, whose seneschal was the returning officer.
Whether the officers of the corporation, nominated in
the charter, were ever regularly chosen, cannot be
ascertained; but it appears that few municipal functions
were exercised, except by the seneschal of the manor,
who still holds his court, at which debts not exceeding
£10 are recoverable every third week; but since the
Union the corporation has become virtually extinct.
Petty sessions are held. on alternate Wednesdays: the
sessions-house is a spacious building, and there is also
a bridewell.
The soil is in general fertile, and the lands alternately
arable and pasture, with very little waste, except roads
and river, and a small quantity of bog; the system of
agriculture, is improved. Limestone abounds in the
southern parts of the parish, and towards the north is
found in strata of great depth. Slate of good quality
for roofing is quarried on the north side of the Blackwater
and at Glenribben, and there are several other
quarries, of which one near the bridge of Lismore has
been worked for a long time; there is slate also on the
side of Knockmeledown; and coarse clay slate; silicious
rock, conglomerate, and sandstone are found in various
parts. Iron, copper, and lead ores are frequently
discovered, and have formerly been worked, but discontinued
for want of fuel; a lead mine was discovered
in 1836, a little below Cappoquin, near the navigable
part of the Blackwater, on the estate of Mr. Usher,
but it is not yet worked. The scenery abounds with
features of grandeur and beauty; on the north, towards
the county of Tipperary, the parish is bounded by a
mountainous ridge, of which the highest point is the
conical summit of Knockmeledown, 2700 feet above the
level of the sea, commanding a magnificent and extensive
prospect, embracing the rock of Cashel and its
cathedral church; and the ocean, with the bays of
Youghal and Dungarvan. On the summit of this mountain,
Mr. Eccles, a writer on electricity, was buried in
1781, at his own request. Some very rich scenery is
also observable on the roads to Clogheen and Cappoquin,
about two miles distant; in various places deep ravines
intersect the range of hills, and the whole of the
adjoining district presents features of interest and
variety. The principal seats are Tourin, the residence
of Sir R. Musgrave, Bart., composed partly of an
ancient castle, and commanding an extensive and picturesque
view; Ballysaggartmore, of Arthur Keily,
Esq., in an ample and tastefully planted demesne near
the river, also commanding some fine views; Flower
Hill, of B. Drew, Esq., a beautiful residence in the
cottage style, surrounded by richly diversified scenery;
Fort William, of J. Gumbleton, Esq., a handsome
demesne on the opposite side of the Blackwater, in
which a newshouse is now being erected by the proprietor;
Glencairne, of Gervaise Bushe, Esq., a handsome
residence beautifully situated; Ballygally, the
occasional residence of G. Holmes Jackson, Esq.;
Glanbeg, of G. Bennett Jackson, Esq.; Tourtain, of
T. Foley, Esq.; Ballyinn, of P. Foley, Esq.; Ballyrafter,
of M. Quinlan, Esq., M. D.; and Salterbridge,
of A. Chearnley, Esq., beautifully situated in thriving
plantations. At Ballyinn are some flour-mills.
The SEE of LISMORE, soon after the arrival of the
English, was enlarged by the annexation of the ancient
see of Ardmore. Bishop Felix, who succeeded to the
prelacy in 1179, gave the church of St. John to the
abbey of Thomas-Court, near Dublin; and from this
time fierce disputes were carried on between the prelates
of this see and the bishops of Waterford, which were
frequently renewed and continued by several of his
successors, till 1358, when, during the prelacy of Bishop
Reve, the two sees were united, and continued to be
held as one by Thomas Le Reve, bishop of Lismore and
Waterford, and by his successors till the passing of the
Church Temporalities' Act, in the 3rd and 4th of Wm.
IV., when, on the decease of Dr. Bourke, both were
annexed to the archiepiscopal see of Cashel, and the
temporalities became vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
Lismore is one of the eleven dioceses
which constitute the ecclesiastical province of Cashel:
it includes the greater part of the county of Waterford
and part of Tipperary, extending 38 miles in length and
37 in breadth, and comprising an estimated superficies
of 323,500 acres, of which 92,000 are in Tipperary and
the remainder in Waterford; the lands belonging to the
see and its gross revenue are comprised in the return
for the see of Waterford. The chapter consists of a
dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, archdeacon, and
the prebendaries of Tulloghorton, Dysart, Donoughmore,
Kilrossanty, Modeligo, Kilgobinet, Seskinan, and Clashmore.
There are five vicars choral, who were first
instituted by Bishop Christopher about the year 1230,
and are all appointed by the dean, who has a peculiar
jurisdiction over the parishes of Lismore, Tallow, and
Macollop during eleven months of the year, till inhibited
by the bishop, a month before the episcopal visitation;
he has also a right to appoint a registrar, and can grant
licences under his own consistorial seal; the deanery,
it is said, may be held by a layman. There are comprehended
in the see the rural deaneries of Lismore,
Whitechurch, Dungarvan, Carrick, Clonmel, and Cahir.
The number of parishes in the diocese is 76, comprised
in 43 benefices, of which 23 are unions of two or more
parishes, and 20 single parishes; of these, 6 are in the
patronage of the Crown, 26 in that of the Archbishop of
Cashel, and the remainder in lay patronage. There are
in the diocese 36 churches, and one other episcopal
place of worship, and 15 glebe-houses.
In the R. C. divisions the diocese is united with that
of Waterford, together forming one of the seven bishopricks
suffragan to the archiepiscopal see of Cashel:
it contains 65 chapels; the number of parochial benefices
and clergy is stated in the account of the see of
Waterford.
The cathedral church, dedicated to St. Carthagh,
the only one remaining of the numerous ancient
churches of this place, and now used as the parochial
church, after being almost destroyed in the reign of
Elizabeth by Edmund Fitzgibbon, called the "White
Knight," was restored in 1663 at the expense of the
Earl of Cork. It is a handsome structure, chiefly in
the later English style, with a square tower surmounted
by a light and elegant spire, which were added to it
some few years since, when extensive alterations and
repairs were made. The entrance is at the extremity
of the south transept under a pure Norman arch of
elegant design; the choir, in which the parochial service
is performed, is embellished with windows of stained
glass, executed by the late George McAllister, of Dublin;
and the bishop's throne and prebendal stalls are of oak
richly carved. The only ancient monument now remaining
is one to the family of Mac Grath, dated 1548,
and very richly sculptured; there are some handsome
tablets to the memory of the late Dean Scott, Archdeacon
Ryan, J. H. Lovett, Esq., and to the families of
Musgrave, Chearnley, and others. The economy fund,
on an average of three years ending May 1831, amounted
to £823. 10. 8. per ann., arising from the tithes of the
parishes of Lismore and Macollop; it is appropriated
to the payment of two preachers in the cathedral,
who have respectively stipends of £80 and £65; to the
curate of Cappoquin, whose stipend is £90, and to
the payment of salaries to the cathedral officers, and
repairs.
The rectory of Lismore has been united from time
immemorial to that of Macollop, and both are appropriate
to the economy fund of the cathedral; the
vicarage is also united to that of Macollop, and both are
appropriate to the vicars choral, who have cure of souls.
The tithes amount to £1969. 4. 7. for both parishes,
which, with the exception of four townlands in the
county of Cork, comprise about 60,000 statute acres;
there is no glebe-house, but a residence for the Archdeacon.
The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of
the Established Church; the chapel is a large and neat
edifice, and there is a chapel also at Ballyduff. There
are places of worship for Presbyterians in connection
with the Synod of Ulster, of the third class, and for
Wesleyan Methodists. About 650 children are taught
in six public schools, of which the classical school is
endowed with a house and £30 per ann. by the late
Earl of Cork; two are partly supported by the Dean
and Chapter and vicars choral, one of which is aided by
a bequest of £17 per ann. from the late Mr. Magner, of
Boston, in the United States; two by Sir R. Musgrave
and Capt. Bushe, and one by the Duke of Devonshire.
There are also 15 private schools, in which are about
700 children, and a Sunday school. Six almshouses
were founded and endowed by the first Earl of Cork
for decayed Protestant soldiers; and there are a fever
hospital and dispensary. Mr. Lovett, in 1805, bequeathed
£500 to the poor. At Kilbree are some remains of a
castle built by King John, situated on an eminence
commanding the Blackwater. There are vestiges of a
double and single trench in this parish, the former,
called Rian-Bn-Padruic, extending eastward from Knock -
meledown, and twice crossing the river in its line
towards Ardmore; and the latter from Cappoquin along
the side of the mountains into the county of Cork.
Halfway between Lismore and Cappoquin is a weak
chalybeate water, and there is another between Lismore
and Knockraeledown; there is also a very strong chalybeate
spring near Glenmore. Near the church are two
small caves, and one in the grove near the castle; there
is also a cave at Ballymartin, through which flows a
rivulet; there are numerous circular intrenchments in
the parish, especially on both sides of the high road to
Dungarvan and the mountains. Roger Boyle, first Earl
of Orrery, and fifth son of Richard, first Earl of Cork,
an eminent statesman and soldier; Robert Boyle, his
brother, the celebrated natural philosopher; and Jonathan
Henry Lovett, distinguished by his attainments
in the Persian, Hindostanee, and Arabic languages, and
who died off the Cape of Good Hope, in 1805, on his
voyage from India, in the 25th year of his age, were
natives of this parish. Lismore gives the titles of Baron
and Viscount to the family of O'Callaghan.