No. XVII. PARISH OF Name. KILLUKEN, (Diocese of Elphin, and County of Roscommon.) BY THE REV. WILLIAM DIGBY, ARCHDEACON OF I. The Name of the Parish, Situation, Extent, &c. THE parish of Killuken lies in the barony of Boyle, county of Roscommon, and diocese of Elphin; and is Situation, situate on the great road from Dublin to Sligo, being above seventy-four miles distant from the former, and Extent. Boundaries twenty-seven miles from the latter. It is bounded on the north by the parish of Toomna; on the west, partly by the parish of Eastersnow, and partly by that of Ardcarne; on the south, by the parish of Killumod; and on the east by the river Shannon. Its townlands are twenty-one. It extends in computed miles, about five in its greatest length, and half a mile in its greatContents. est breadth. est breadth. It contains about 308 acres of arable land, 35 of meadow, and 828 of pasture. There is but one small river, (the Killuken river) which, issuing out of the small lake of Knockroe, in the parish of Creeve, takes an easterly or north-easterly course, and passing River. near the Church of Killuken, falls into the Shannon a little below Carrick-on-Shannon. There are no moun- Hills. tains, but many hills, which are all pasturable, or even arable. There is some bog, with moor adjoining, on Bog. the road from Carrick to Croghan, on the left hand; and beyond Croghan, a small bog on the right hand. There are no woods or thickets, nor any remarkably peculiar plants. There are some marshy lands, that are flooded in winter, but which in the summer are used as meadow or pasture. II. Mines, Minerals, &c. No mines or minerals have been discovered in this parish, nor any uncommon natural productions. III. Modern Buildings, &c. There is a bridge over the Shannon at Carrick, of Bridge. which town, that part which is in the county of Roscommon is the only town in the parish. Croghan is the Village. only place deserving the name of a village. The gen-Gentletlemen's seats are, Hermitage, the seat of Thomas Kirk- men's Seats. wood, Esq. Fairview, the seat of Molloy Mc. Dermott, Esq. and Croghan, that of Patrick Brown, Esq. These three are all near Croghan; the former on the right hand side of the road to Frenchpark from Carrick, and the two latter on the left. Mr. Kirkwood's and Mr. Molloy Mc. Dermott's houses are a little beyond Croghan, and nearly opposite to each other, on different sides of the road. P P Roads. The high roads which intersect the parish are, that leading from Carrick-on-Shannon to Frenchpark, through Croghan; and that leading from Carrickon-Shannon to Elphin. The scenery of the parish is that of a number of gentle hills, mostly round and detached. Fine springs of water abound almost every where. The parish is generally destitute of trees or plantations. Raths. Altar. IV. Ancient Buildings, &c. No ruins of monasteries or religious houses, or of castles or round towers are to be met with. There are about fifty Danish forts or raths; but no monuments of Druidical note, or inscriptions. In a field, on the road side from Carrick to Croghan, on the left hand, the traveller may observe a long stone set up obliquely, which the writer Tradition. has been told by antiquaries is a Druidical altar. The common people call this "Clogh-com,”* i. e. the crooked stone; and say that it was thrown there from the top of Shimore, in the county of Leitrim, (a distance of about seven miles) by the Giant Fin-mac-Coole, the print of whose five fingers they say, is to be seen in it. It is said there are other similar stones in different parts of this country. * How similar is Clough-com to the Hebrew words op hd, signifying a rock standing or set up; which, if that was the name which such stones had in the days of Druidism, would seem much to confirm the opinion, that the Druidical religion was derived to these countries from the Eastern parts of the world; an opinion which the author has been told was main tained by the late General Vallancey V. Present & Former State of Population, Food, Fuel, &c. * The number of inhabitants in Killuken parish, from Population. a survey lately taken by the high constable by an order of Government is, 1790, of which 904 are males, and 886 are females. Weaving is the chief trade to which Employthe men are brought up here, and the women's chief employment is in manufacturing or spinning flax. The linens that are made here are mostly of the coarse and narrow kinds. In general there is a want of employ Those who are Of the above population, about 120 are Protestants. mostly of a decent orderly description, have very generally become members of the Arminian Methodist Society; and this not only in this parish, but throughout this country. The cause of this appears to have arisen from the past neglectful conduct, and ignorance in spiritual things of too many of the Established Clergy, which has driven the people to look for instruction elsewhere than at church, and disposed them to throw themselves into the arms of any who came to them, as teachers of religion, with an appearance of zeal. As yet the generality of the methodists in this country, (the older ones at least) remain, from principles of hereditary attachment, united to the Established Church, and attend its worship; and it is likely, that if they generally obtained faithful and affectionate pastors, they could yet, for the most part, be established in that attachment; and would of course instil the same principles into the minds of their chil dren, who are now growing up: but if the occasions they have had for complaint shall continue ;-if they shall yet haye to remark the neglect, and secular or vicious lives, and spiritual ignorance, or absence from their cures, of their appointed ministers, who receive their tythes, it is to be foreseen, that an entire and formal separation of the Methodists from the National Church will before very long take place; an event that cannot be too strongly deprecated, whether it be viewed as it concerns the Methodist body themselves, or the state and community to which they belong; and which, if it once takes place, will perhaps be found to be afterwards for the most part irreparable. ment, Food. ment for the poor (especially labourers) in this country, except at the busy times of the year in the spring or harvest; at other times many are forced to remain idle, who would be willing to work; hence it follows, that the inhabitants are mostly poor; their food is geDiseases. nerally potatoes. They are subject peculiarly to scrofulous complaints, occasioned it is thought by their low Dwellings. diet. Their dwellings are usually very indifferent and dirty, and even devoid of necessaries. Many sleep on the damp floor. Their clothing for day or night is often very scanty; with respect to dress however, there is within these few years past a considerable improvement in their condition and appearance; this is especially observable in the females. They are much given to drunkenness, and the clandestine stills in the country put whiskey easily within their reach. There are not any extraordinary instances of longevity in this parish. Dress. Genius and VI. Genius and Disposition of the Poorer Classes, &c. The people of this country appear a laborious race, patient of hardships, and very kind, according to their ability, to the distressed and wandering poor; hardly ever refusing to such, food of whatever kind they have themselves, or a night's lodging in their houses: they are enterprising, and will undertake a journey even to England, for work, and to earn something for their families they are ready to enlist also into the militia or army, when impelled by poverty: they seem to possess a natural shrewdness, (often ill directed): nor can they be much depended upon for truth or honesty at present, through their ignorance of moral duties: they also appear very quarrelsome and litigious among themselves. |