BALLINDERRY,
a parish, in the barony of UPPER MASSAREENE, county of ANTRIM,
and province of ULSTER, 31/2 miles (N.) from Moira; containing
5356 inhabitants.
At Portmore,
an extensive castle was erected by Lord Conway, in 1664, on the
site of a more ancient fortress; it contained accommodation for two
troops of horse, with a range of stabling 140 feet in length, 35 feet
in breadth, and 40 feet in height; the remains consist only of the ancient
garden wall, part of the stables, and the ruins of one of the bastions.
During the Protectorate the learned Jeremy Taylor retired to
this place, and remained at the seat of Lord Conway till the Restoration,
when he was promoted to the bishoprick of Down and Connor. On a small
island in the lough are still some remains of a summer-house, in which
he is said to have written some of the most important of his works,
and in the neighbourhood his memory is still held in great respect.
The parish is situated on the road from Antrim to Dublin, and is intersected
by the mail coach road from Lurgan to Antrim; it comprises,
according to the Ordnance Survey, 10,891 statute acres, of which 283
1/2 are in Portmore Lough. The land is almost all arable and
in a good state of cultivation; the system of tillage is improving.
There is little or no waste land; in the north-east and south-west parts
of the parish are some valuable bogs. The weaving of linen and cotton
affords employment to a considerable number of persons, but the greater
number of the inhabitants are engaged in agriculture. The Lagan canal
from Lough Neagh, on the north-west, to Belfast passes
within the distance of a mile. The parish is within the jurisdiction
of the manorial court of Killultagh held at Lisburn.
The living
is a vicarage, in the diocese of
Connor,and in the patronage of
the Marquess of Hertford, in whom the rectory is impropriate;
the tithes amount to £480, of which £400 is paid to the
vicar, and £80 to the impropriator. The church was erected in
1827, through the exertions of Dean Stannus, at an expense of
£2200, of which the Marquess of Hertford gave £1000, and
the late Board of First Fruits the remainder; it is a handsome edifice,
in the later style of English architecture, with a tower and spire 128
feet in height, and is beautifully situated on rising ground near the
small village of Upper Ballinderry. There is a glebe of eight
acres, but no glebe house.
In the
R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of
Aughagallon and Ballinderry
: the chapel is a small building.
There
is a place of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod
of Ulster, of the third class; also a Moravian meeting house.
In addition
to the parochial school, there are schools at Lower Ballinderry,
Killultagh, and Legartariffe; all, except the last, were
built within the last ten years, chiefly through the benevolent exertions
of Dean Stannus, at an expense of £600; they are well conducted,
and will accommodate 300 children; there are also several private pay
schools. ?? Murray, Esq., bequeathed £100 British; J.
Moore Johnston, Esq., £83. 6sh. 8d. ; and Hugh Casement,
Esq., £25 Irish currency, to the poor of the parish.
The old
parish church, which was built after the Restoration of Chas. II., still
remains; and on the eastern side of it is a burial-place, called Templecormack,
in the centre of which the foundations of a small building may be traced.
There are also some remains of an ancient church close to Portmore
Lough, at the western extremity of the parish, The manor of Killultagh
gives the title of Baron Conway of Killultagh to the Seymour
family.
