LOUGHREA, a market-town and post-town, and a parish,
in the barony of LOUGHREA, county of GALWAY,
and province of CONNAUGHT, 18 miles (E. by S.) from
Galway, and 86½| (W. by S.) from Dublin; containing
7876 inhabitants, of which number, 6268 are in the
town and suburbs. This place, which is situated on the
shore of Lough Rea, was chiefly remarkable for its
monastery, founded by Richard de Burgh, about the
year 1300, for Carmelites or White friars; after the
dissolution it was granted to Richard, Earl of Clanricarde,
ancestor of the present proprietor. A castle
was erected here by the Earl of Ulster at an early period,
and the town, from its situation in the approach to
Galway, was deemed of so much importance that it was
fortified. It at present consists of several streets, and
contains 1229 houses, of which many are neat and well
built. There is a promenade called the Mall, which is
much frequented, and the neighbourhood abounds with
pleasingly diversified scenery The lake, which is about
one mile in diameter, has three small islands of picturesque
appearance, and its shores are enlivened by some
pleasing cottages, and embellished on the south and east
with hills of beautiful verdure. An extensive brewery
has been erected on the side of the lake by Mr. L.
Fahy. The market is on Thursday, and is well supplied
with grain and provisions of every kind, and with
poultry in abundance. Fairs are held on Feb. 11th, May
26th and 27th, Aug. 20th, and Dec. 5th; the May fair is
numerously attended by purchasers for horses, cattle,
sheep, and pigs, of which last great numbers are sold at
all the fairs. A chief constabulary police force is stationed
in the town, which is also the head station of the central
district of the revenue police, including those of Loughrea,
Galway, Ballinasloe, and Athlone, and comprising
a force of three lieutenants, three Serjeants, and 58
privates, under the control of a resident sub-inspector.
A manorial court is held before the seneschal; petty
sessions are held every Thursday, and quarter sessions
twice in the year before the assistant barrister for the
county.
The parish comprises 5373 statute acres, as applotted
under the tithe act; the soil is fertile and the
system of agriculture improving; there is a moderate
quantity of bog and scarcely any waste land; building
stone is found and extensively quarried. The living is
a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Clonfert;
the rectory is partly appropriate to the deanery, and
partly to the vicarage, which latter is episcopally united
to the vicarages of Kilteskill Kilrickill, and Kilnadeema,
and in the patronage of the Marquess of Clanricarde.
The tithes amount to £154.12.2¼., of which £23.1.6½.
is payable to the dean, and £131. 10. 7¾. to the incumbent;
there is no glebe-house; the glebes of the union
comprise 27½ statute acres, let on lease for £20. 9. per
ann,; and the entire value of the benefice, including
glebe and tithe, amounts to £517. 16. 9¾. The church,
a neat structure, was built in 1821 by a loan of
£1846. 3. 1. from the late Board of First Fruits; the
spire was struck by lightning and thrown down on the
roof, on the first Sunday in Dec. 1832, about two hours
before the time of divine service; the church has been
recently repaired by a grant of £169 from the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners. The R. C. parish is co-extensive
with that of the Established Church, and is one of the
parishes belonging to the Bishop; the chapel is a spacious
edifice, and there are chapels also attached to the Carmelite
monastery, and to the convent of sisters of
the same order. The Carmelite monastery, originally
founded in 1300 by Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster,
has, notwithstanding the alienation of its revenues at
the dissolution, still preserved a regular succession of
members. In consequence of the dilapidated state of
the buildings, a chapel and a dwelling-house adjoining
it were erected in 1785, of which the former was rebuilt
on a more extensive scale in 1816, and the latter
in 1829, under the superintendence of the prior, the
Rev. Mr. Gannon, at an expense of £4000 (including
both), defrayed partly from the funds of the establishment
and partly by subscription, to which the Clanricarde
family, on whose estate the monastery is situated,
liberally contributed. A convent for nuns of the same
order was founded about the year 1680, and removed to
its present site in 1829, when the building, including a
chapel, was erected under the direction of the Prior of
the abbey, at a cost of £5000, entirely defrayed from
the funds of the nunnery; there are at present 18
sisters in the convent, chiefly young ladies. Nearly 1000
children are taught in three public schools, of which
the parochial school is supported by the rector, and the
national schools are chiefly under the direction of the
Prior and R. C. clergy of the monastery, and the sisters
of the nunnery; the school-houses were built at the
joint expense of the Prior, the nuns, and the New Board
of Education. There are also seven, private schools, in
which are about 230 children, and a Sunday school.
There are some remains of the ancient Carmelite monastery,
and also of the old castle built by the De Burghs,
which was for some time the residence of the Clanricarde
family. There was anciently an hospital for
lepers in the town, but little of its history is recorded,
and even the site of it is unknown. On the summit of
Monument Hill, near the town, is a circular enclosure
in which are seven stones, five still standing erect, and
two lying on the ground; in the centre is a small
tumulus of earth, and near the base ‘of the hill are
vestiges of a circular intrenchment, within which are
the remains of an ancient cromlech.