KILMONOGUE

KILMONOGUE, a parish, in the barony of KINNALEA, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 5 miles (N. E.) from Kinsale, on the southern coast; containing 1217 inhabitants. This place, in 1642, became the head-quarters of a numerous body of the Irish forces, who encamped at Belgoley with the design of making a simultaneous attack upon Cork, Bandon, and Kinsale, of which plan part only was carried into execution. A very thriving village has recently sprung up here. In 1832, Mr. Downing erected some spacious boulting-mills, at an expense of £7000, which are worked by machinery of the most improved description, and are capable of producing 15,000 bags of flour annually. There are also a manufactory of starch from potatoes alone, and a vinegar distillery belonging to Mr. Jennings, of Cork. Several neat houses are now in progress, and it is intended to erect a court-house, in which petty sessions will be held. Herrings frequent the bay in large shoals, and are sometimes taken in great quantities. Oyster haven, on the shore of which this place is situated, is a creek about two miles to the east of the entrance to the harbour of Kinsale, affording good shelter for vessels in nine feet at low water, and to which the entrance is on the west side of the Sovereign's Isles; the best anchorage is on the west side, in the mouth of that branch which runs to the westward.

The parish comprises 3113 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £2626 per annum: the soil is for the most part deep and rich; about one-fourth is under tillage, and the remainder principally in large dairy farms. The system of agriculture is very indifferent: there are large tracts of slab both at Newborough and Mount Long, which might be reclaimed and brought into cultivation. The principal manure is sea-sand, which is raised in great quantities in the haven, and brought up in large boats, of which about 40 are thus engaged, each employing three men. The chief seats are Newborough, that of G. A. Daunt, Esq., a retired and pleasant residence on the eastern side of the haven, and in the midst of thriving plantations; and Oatlands, of Captain Knolles, a handsome modern mansion, occupying an eminence commanding an extensive and varied inland prospect of great beauty, with a pleasing view of the groves of Newborough on the south; the ancient residence of this family, at Killeigh, is now in ruins.

The living is a rectory and perpetual curacy, in the diocese of Cork; the rectory is partly impropriate in the Earl of Shannon, and partly in the union of St. Peter's, Cork, and the corps of the archdeaconry; and the perpetual curacy is united to that of Nohoval.

The tithes amount to £213. 3. 10., of which £66 is payable to the impropriator, and the remainder to the archdeacon of Cork.

In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Clontead. The male and female parochial schools, for which the houses were built partly from the lord-lieutenant's fund, are supported by subscription and endowed with an acre of land, and a male and female school at Newborough is supported by Mr. Daunt and the Cork Diocesan Association. On the shore of the haven are the ruins of the old parish church, and not far distant are those of Mount-Long Castle, built by the family of Long in the reign of Elizabeth, which in the war of 1641 was taken by Cromwell, and with the annexed estate given to some of his soldiers.