Local history: Killala cathedral was repaired in 1817

PART TWO

By Tom Gillespie

SAMUEL Lewis (circa 1782 to 1865) was the editor and publisher of topographical dictionaries and maps of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The aim of the texts was to give in 'a condensed form' a faithful and impartial description of each place.

The firm of Samuel Lewis and Co. was based in London. Samuel Lewis the elder died in 1865. His son of the same name predeceased him in 1862.

The names of places are those in use prior to the publication of the Ordnance Survey Atlas in 1838.

The dictionary gives a unique picture of Ireland before the Great Famine.

Lewis’ reference to Killala reads:

The diocese is one of the six that constitute the ecclesiastical province of Tuam, and comprehends part of the county of Sligo and a very considerable portion of Mayo; it is 45 miles in length and 21 miles in breadth, comprising an estimated superficies of 314,300 acres, of which 43,100 are in Sligo and 271,200 in Mayo.

The lands belonging to the see comprise 33,668 stature acres, of which 10,176 are profitable land; and the gross annual revenue, on an average of three years, ending December 31, 1831, announced to £2,600. 11. 10, which together with the revenue of the see of Achonry, since the death of the last bishop, is, by the provisions of the Church Temporalities’ Act, vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

The chapter consists of a dean, precentor, archdeacon, and the five prebendaries of Killanly, Errew, Ardagh, Lacken, and Rosserkbeg: there are neither minor canons nor vicars choral belonging to the cathedral, nor is there any economy fund.

The number of parishes in the diocese is 27, comprised in 13 benefices, of which seven are unions of two or more parishes, and six are single parishes; and with the exception of the deanery, which is in the gift of the Crown, all are in the patronage of the Archbishop.

The number of churches is 13, and there are two other places where divine service is performed; and of glebe-houses, 11.

The cathedral, which is also the parish church, is an ancient structure with a spire; it was repaired in 1817, for which purpose the late Board of First Fruits granted a loan of £1,062, 10. 9., and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £600 for its future repair.

In the R.C. divisions this diocese is a separate bishoprick, and one of the six which are suffragan to Tuam; it comprises 23 parochial benefices or unions, containing 30 chapels, which are served by 33 clergymen, 23 of whom are parish priests, and 10 coadjutors or curates.

The parochial benefice of the bishop is Killala; the cathedral is at Ardnaree, near Ballina, and contiguous to it is the bishop’s residence.

The parish includes the island of Bartra, or Bartrach, and is generally in a good state of cultivation: the soil is very fertile, and the pandas are nearly divided in equal portions between pasture and tillage, except the waste land and a large tract of bog.

The surrounding country is rather bleak, especially towards the north, but the scenery is enlivened by several gentlemen’s seats, of which the principal are the Castle, formerly the episcopal palace, and now the residence of W.I. Bourke, Esq.; The Lodge, of T. Kirkwood, Esq.; Ross, of J. Higgins, Esq.; Castleerea, of J. Knox, Esq.; Farm Hill, of Major J. Gardiner; and Summer Hill, of T. Palmer, Esq.

The living wis a rectory and vicarage, constituting the corps of the deanery of Killala, and in the patronage of the Crown.

The tithes amount to £154. 13. 9.: the land belonging to the deanery adjoin the town and comprise of 108 acres; and the dean, in right of his dignity, has the rectorial tithes of the parishes of Ballysakeery, Rafran, Dunfeeny, Kilbreedy, Lacken, Kilcummin and Templenurry; the entire revenue of the deanery, including the lands, is £772.

In the R.C. divisions the crush is the head of a non or district, comprising also the parish of Templemurry; the chapel is a neat slated edifice. There’s a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists.

The parochial school, in which are about 90 children, is supported by the trustees of Erasmus Smith’s fund, who allow the master £30 per annum, with a house and one acre of land rent free; and there are two private schools, in which are about 150 children. There is a dispensary for the poor of the neighbourhood.

On an eminence in the town is an ancient round tower, about 893 feet high, of which the walls are of great strength and nearly perfect.

About a mile to the south-east of the town, at the mouth of the river Moy, are the remains of a friary of Franciscans of the Strict Observance, founded in 1460 by Mac William Bourke, or according to some writers, by Thomas Oge Bourke.

Several provincial chapters of the order were held there, and the establishment continued to flourish till the dissolution, after which t was granted to Edmund Barrett.

The remains consist of a church and some extensive portions of the conventual buildings: the church is a cruciform structure, 135 fit in length, and from the centre rises a lofty tower, supported in four noble arches leading from the nave into the choir and transepts.

At Castlereagh, on the banks of the river Rathfran, about two miles from the sea, are the vestiges of a castle apparently of great strength, which has been levelled with he ground: about a mile to the west is Carrickanass castle, about 35 feet square, and 45 feet high, built by the family of Bourke, and surrounded with a low strong bawn; and there are also several forts.