CLONE, a parish
CLONE, a parish, partly in the barony of GOREY, but chiefly in that of SCARAWALSH, county of WEXFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 4 miles (N. E. by N.) from Enniscorthy; containing 1270 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the eastern road from Enniscorthy to Ferns, comprises 6348 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £3099 per annum; the land is principally under an improving system of tillage, and drill husbandry is in general use; there are only a few patches of bog, and no waste land. There are some quarries of excellent building stone, from which has been raised the stone for the new church; and a slate quarry has lately been opened on the Portsmouth estate at Killibeg, about three miles distant from the town of Enniscorthy, yielding slates not inferior to those generally in use. Solsborough, the seat of the Rev. Solomon Richards, is a handsome mansion, situated in a finely wooded demesne, and commanding a pleasing view of the town of Enniscorthy and the river Slaney. The other seats are Killibeg, the residence of Mrs. Sparrow, and Tomsollagh, of Mr. Rudd. This was formerly one of the three parishes constituting the union of Ferns, from which it has been recently separated, and is now an independent rectory, in the diocese of Ferns, forming the corps of the prebend of Clone in the cathedral of Ferns, and in the patronage of the Bishop.
The tithes amount to £332. 6. 1 ¾. The church, a neat edifice in the later English style, was erected in 1833, by aid of a grant of £900 from the late Board of First Fruits, on a site given by the Rev. Solomon Richards. The ruins of the old church are near Ferns, and attached to them is a burial-ground. The glebe comprises 21a. 0r. 9p. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of the union or district of Monageer, comprising also part of the parish of Monimolin, and those parts of the parishes of Ballyhuskard, Templeshannon, and Kilcormuck, which lie on the north-west side of the river Blackwater; the chapel at Monageer is a neat edifice. The parochial school, in which about 40 children are instructed, is supported by the rector, and it is in contemplation to build a school-house near the church, on a site to be given by the rector; there is also a private school, in which are about 50 children. In removing a tumulus, or, as it is frequently called, a moat, on the demesne of Mr. Richards, some time since, an ancient urn of unbaked clay, rudely carved and containing calcined bones, enclosed by flags, was discovered.