CROSSMOLINA

CROSSMOLINA, a market and post-town, and a parish, in the barony of TYRAWLEY, county of MAYO, and province of CONNAUGHT, 6 ½ miles (W. by S.) from Ballina, and 131 ¼ (W. N. W.) from Dublin; containing 11,479 inhabitants, of which number, 1481 are in the town. It stands on the river Deel, over which is a large stone bridge, on the direct road to the barony of Erris from Castlebar, and consists of a good main street and two converging ones, containing 310 houses. The market is on Thursday; and fairs are held on May 23rd, Sept. 12th, Oct. 26th, and Dec. 17th; and at Rakestreet on Feb. 2nd, March 25th, Aug. 23rd, and Dec. 8th. Petty sessions are held weekly, and here are also revenue and constabulary police stations. The parish contains a portion of the stupendous mountain of Nephin, 2840 feet above the level of the sea, on the western extremity of Lough Conn, a grand sheet of water, extending 10 miles in length, and in some places 4 in breadth. It comprises about 24,300 statute acres, one-third of which is arable land; the remainder is bog and mountain, the greater part reclaimable, but little improvement has taken place in agriculture.

About a mile from the town, on the bank of the river Deel, are quarries of very fine stone; and limestone and freestone abound. There are several gentlemen's seats in the vicinity: the principal are Eniscoe, the residence of M. Pratt, Esq.; Gurtner Abbey, of G. Ormsby, Esq.; Abbeytown, of W. Orme, Esq.; Knockglass, of T. Paget, Esq.; Fortland, of Major Jackson; Glenmore, of W. Orme, Esq.; Greenwood Park, of Capt. J. Knox; Belleville, of W. Orme, Esq.; Millbrook, of W. Orme, sen., Esq; Netley Park, of H. Knox, Esq.; Castle Hill, of Major McCormick; Ballycorroon, of E. Orme, Esq.; Stone Hall, of T. Knox, Esq.; Fahy, of Ernest A. Knox, Esq.; Cottage, of W. Ormsby, Esq.; Rappa Castle, of Annesley Gore Knox, Esq. (See Kilfyan); and the Vicarage-house, the residence of the Rev. — St. George, rector. Deel castle, on the banks of the river of the same name, now a fine modern residence, surrounded with much old timber, stands on the site of a very ancient structure.

The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Killala, united to the vicarages of Addergoole, Kilfyan, and Magaunagh, together forming the union of Crossmolina, in the patronage of the Bishop: the rectory is partly appropriate to the vicars choral of the cathedral of Christ-Church, Dublin, and partly to the prebend of Errew in the cathedral of Killala. The tithes amount to £460, of which £17 is payable to the vicars choral, £213 to the appropriators, and £230 to the vicar: the gross amount of the tithes of the union is £550. The glebe-house was built by a gift of £ 100, and a loan of £825, in 1814, from the late Board of First. Fruits: the glebe comprises 35 acres.

The church is a neat plain edifice, with a square tower and spire, erected in 1810, by aid of a loan of £1000, in 1809, from the late Board of First Fruits; and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £197 for its repair. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Glanbest, and partly a district or parish in itself, in which are two chapels, one at Kilmurra and one at Crossmolina; the former was built in 1785, at an expense of £50, and the latter in 1806, and cost £200. A painting of the Madonna over the altar was brought from Rome by Archbishop McHale. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists at Crossmolina.

There are seven schools, one of which is aided by a donation of £10 per annum from Mrs. Palmer, and a house and two acres of ground, valued at £10 per annum, given by the late Mrs. Palmer; also six hedge schools and a Sunday school. The total number of children on the books of these schools is upwards of 1000. A dispensary has been established. At Errew, a peninsula stretching from the barony of Tyrawley into Lough Conn, are the ruins of a friary, which was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, having a beautiful east window. There is also a ruin at Abbeytown; at Kildavarrogue are the remains of the old church, with a burial-place; and near the church are the ruins of an old castle.