RATHFRILAND

RATHFRILAND, a market and post-town, partly in the parish of DRUMBALLYRONEY, but chiefly in that of DRUMGATE, barony of UPPER IVEAGH, county of DOWN, and province of ULSTER, l6½ miles (W.) from Downpatrick, and 57¼ (N.) from Dublin, on the mail road from Newry to Downpatrick; containing 2000 inhabitants. This town was founded, soon after the Restoration, by Alderman Hawkins, of London, to whom, in acknowledgment of his very important services during the parliamentary war, Chas. II. granted the whole of the extensive manor, which is now the property of his lineal descendant, Gen. Meade. The benevolent alderman, at his own cost, provided food, clothing, and lodging for 5000 Protestant royalists, who, during the calamitous progress of the war, had fled to London for protection; collected in England £30,000 for the purchase of corn, wearing apparel, and other necessaries for the support of such as had not been able to effect their escape; and, with the assistance of a few of his friends, raised the sum of £45,000 for the public service and the use of the king. The town is situated on an eminence, previously the site of an ancient fortress) about three miles to the north of the Mourne mountains; and consists of a spacious square, and five principal and several smaller streets, containing together 447 houses, which are in general well built and of handsome appearance, surrounding the crown of the hill. The principal streets communicate with five great roads from different parts of the county, but, from the acclivity of the site, form steep entrances into the town, from which in every direction are extensive and interesting views of the surrounding country. A considerable traffic is carried on with the adjacent district, and the town itself is the residence of numerous respectable families. The market is on Wednesday and is amply supplied; and fairs are held on the second Wednesday in April (O. S.),the Wednesday after Trinity, the second Wednesday in September (O. S.), and the second Wednesday in December. The market-house is a handsome building in the centre of the square; the lower part is appropriated to the use of the market, and the upper part contains accommodation for holding courts. A constabulary police force is. stationed in the town, and petty sessions are held on alternate Fridays. The manorial court, with which has recently been incorporated that for the manor of Gilford, is held on the first Tuesday in every month before the seneschal; its jurisdiction extends to pleas of debt to the amount of £100, which may be recovered by civil bill process. The parish church of Drumgath, a small neat edifice with a tower on the north side, is situated on the south side of the square it was originally founded by Alderman Hawkins, and rebuilt in 1818. There are also in the town a spacious R. C. chapel, and places of worship for the Society of Friends, Presbyterians, Covenanters, and Wesleyan Methodists, and a dispensary. On the very summit of the hill round which the town is built are some slight remains of the ancient castle of the powerful sept of the Magennises, Lords of Iveagh, commanding the entire country for ten miles round; a modern house was erected on the site in 1812, when, in digging the foundation, many small cells were discovered, in some of which were found human bones, pieces of armour, coins, and other relics.

RATHMULLAN

RATHMULLEN, a parish, in the barony of LECALE, county of DOWN, and province of ULSTER; Containing, with the post-town of Killough (which is separately described), 2742 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the eastern coast and intersected by the road from Downpatrick, takes its name from an ancient rath to the south of the church, near which are still some vestiges of an ancient castle. The parish, which is bounded on the south by Dundrum bay, comprises, according to the Ordnance survey (including detached portions), 3369¾ statute acres, of which 9½ are water, and the remainder principally under tillage. A considerable tract of sand-bank extends along the shore; about 80 acres are marshy land, and there is a small portion of bog; but, with the exception of the town parks, there is very little meadow or pasture. The surface is uneven and in some parts marked by rocky elevations; but the soil in general is rich, and the system of agriculture greatly improved. Coal is supposed to exist in the lands towards the coast, but no attempt has been hitherto made to work it. A lead mine was discovered some few years since, which on examination was found to contain a large proportion of silver. Janeville, the residence of Capt. Browne, is the principal seat; there are also many excellent farm-houses in the parish. During the season, some of the inhabitants are employed in the herring and lobster fishery; and a considerable coasting trade is carried on between Killough and the different ports in the channel, which is highly beneficial to the agricultural interests of the neighbourhood. St. John's Point, in this parish, is the most prominent southern headland between Dublin and the North of Ireland, and together with the adjacent bay of Dundrum has been more disastrous to shipping than any other part of the coast. From the number of wrecks that have occurred here, the erection of a lighthouse is imperatively called for, not only for the safety of trading vessels but also of the numerous fleets of fishing boats which annually rendezvous at Killough and Ardglass. This point is situated in lat. 54° 27' 40" (N.), and ion. 5° 24' 30" (W.) and a coast-guard is stationed here, which is one of the seven stations constituting the district of Newcastle. Fairs are held at Killough, as is also a monthly court for the manors of Killough, Hamilton, and Down, of which the two former are wholly within the parish. The detached townland of Rossglass was, in 1834, separated by act of council from the parish of Kilclief and united to this parish. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Down, and in the alternate patronage of the Earl of Carrick and Viscount Bangor; the rectory is impropriate in Viscount Bangor, Stephen Woolfe, Esq., and Miss Hamill. The tithes amount to £343. 6. 1., of which £113. 17. is payable to the impropriators, and £229. 9. 1. to the vicar. The glebe-house, towards the erection of which the late Board of First Fruits contributed a gift of £450 and a loan of £150, was built in 1817; the glebe comprises 4¾ acres, valued at £5. 18. 9. per annum. The church, a small edifice in the Grecian style, situated on an eminence overlooking the bay, was built in 1701, from the proceeds of forfeited impropriations. At Killough is a chapel of ease, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Rathmullen. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union of Bright, and contains chapels at Killough and Rossglass. There are places of worship for Presbyterians and Wesleyan Methodists. About 250 children are taught in two public schools; and there are three private schools, in which are about 100 children, and a Sunday school: the parochial school is about to be rebuilt on a larger scale, at the expense of the vicar. There are several mineral springs, which are warm in winter and cold in summer; one is said to have a petrifying quality, equal, if not superior, to the celebrated waters of Lough Neagh. In various parts of the parish are several small forts and on a hill to the west of the church is a cave, 34 yards in length, divided into four chambers, of which the farthest is circular and larger than the others. The headland of St. John's Point was anciently the site of a preceptory of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. There are still some slight remains of the church on the estate of Capt. Browne, near which several stone coffins of singular form were dug up recently, together with massive gold ornaments and curious coins; the church itself, as far as can be conjectured from its ruins, was of very singular construction, its style of architecture much resembling the Egyptian. There is also a fine spring of clear water, covered over with stones taken from the ruins of the church.

ROSTREVOR

ROSTREVOR, or ROSETREVOR, a sea-port and post-town, in the parish of KILBRONEY, barony of UPPER IVEAGH, county of DOWN, and province of ULSTER, 7 miles (E. by S.) from Newry, and 57 (N.) from Dublin; containing 996 inhabitants. This place was anciently called Castle Roe or Rory, from its original founder, Rory, one of the family of the Magennises, Lords of Iveagh, of whose baronial castle, subsequently occupied by the Trevor family, there are still some remains near the town; it derived its present appellation from Rose, youngest daughter of Sir Marmaduke Whit-church, after whose marriage with Trevor, Viscount Dungannon, the family seat, Iveagh castle, was invariably called Rosetrevor. The town is beautifully situated in a cove of Carlingford Lough, at the western termination of the Mourne mountains, and contains 185 houses, which are large and handsomely built. The streets are wide and open, and the whole town has a cheerful and attractive appearance. The air is salubrious, and the town is very desirable as a residence from its fine situation on a gentle eminence sheltered by mountains on the north, south, and east, and open on the west to Carlingford bay, the shores of which are richly planted and embellished with numerous seats, handsome villas, and picturesque cottages. The port is principally frequented by fishing boats, for the accommodation of which there is a small quay, from which is a walk nearly a mile in length, thickly shaded with trees; and on the side of the mountain is a stone of very large dimensions, called Cloughmorne, which is frequently visited for the very extensive and beautiful prospect it commands. Between this place and Warrenspoint, in Carlingford Lough, is a large extent of soft ground, on which are two fathoms of water, where large vessels frequenting the port of Newry lie at their moorings. In the vicinity of the town are some salt-works. Fairs are held here on Shrove - Tuesday, Aug. 1st, Sept. 19th, Nov. 1st, and Dec. 11th. The parish church, a handsome cruciform edifice with a lofty embattled tower crowned with pinnacles, is situated in the principal street; and near it is a neat R. C. chapel, with a campanile turret. Here are handsome school-houses, with residences for the masters and mistresses; the schools are supported by Mrs. Ross and Mrs Balfour. There are some remains of Castle Roe and Greencastle, and of the old churches of Kilbroney and Killowen; and near the town is a monumental obelisk, erected to the memory of Gen. Ross, who fell in a battle near Baltimore, in America, while leading on the British troops to the victory which they obtained on the 12th of Sept., 1814; on the four sides of the pedestal are recorded the principal engagements in which that gallant officer bore a conspicuous part.