CARNMONEY,
a parish , in the barony of LOWER BELFAST, county of ANTRIM,
and province of ULSTER; 3 miles (N. by E.) from Belfast;
containing 5423 in habitants.
This place
was anciently called, Coole, and according to tradition there
was a town of that name of considerable extent near the present church,
on the decay of which the parish took its modern name from an adjoining
hill with a large cairn on its summit. It is situated on Carrickfergus
bay, and on the road from Belfast to Londonderry;
and according to the ordnance survey comprises 8937¼ statute
acres, of which 230 are too mountainous to be cultivated, and the remainder
is arable or pasture land excepting about 70 acres of bog. The land
is generally in a high state of cultivation, especially near the shore,
where several gentlemen who are practical agriculturalists, till their
own estates, and their improved methods are almost generally followed
by the farmers. Great quantities of limestone are raised in the parish,
and are shipped to Scotland and other places. The village of
Whitehouse has considerable manufactures: there are a cotton
and flax-spinning manufactory, and extensive works for printing cloths,
which are made here exclusively for the Manchester market; and
at White Abbey also is a cotton and flax spinning manufactory.
These establishments together employ about 670 persons.
The scenery
is embellished with several gentlemen’s seats, the principal of
which are Merville, the residence of J. Rowan, Esq.; Macedon,
of J. Cunningham, Esq; White Abbey of ?? Getty, Esq.;
Claremont of Mrs. Clewlow; Abbey Lands of H.
McCalmont, Esq.; Whitehouse of ?? Shaw, Esq.; and
the glebe-house of the Rev. S. Smythe, the vicar.
The living
is a vicarage in the diocese of Connor,
untied, it is supposed in 1614, to the vicarage of Ballylinney
and the rectory of Ballymartin, together
constituting the union of Carnmoney, in the patronage of the
Marquess of Donegal, in whom the rectory is impropriate. The
vicarial tithes amount to £210: and according to the report of
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, the gross value of the union, including
tithes and glebe, is £575 per annum. The rectorial tithes were
placed under composition in 1835. The church, a modern and spacious
edifice in good repair, is built on an eminence near the site of a former
church, and is intended for the three parishes of the union. The glebe
house is a handsome building, erected by aid of a gift of £300
and a loan of £500 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1814:
the glebe comprises 80 statute acres valued at £115 per annum.
In the
Roman Catholic divisions the parish forms part of the union
or district of Belfast.
There
are two meeting houses for Presbyterians in connection with the
Synod of Ulster, of the first and second classes: charitable
bequests to the amount of £260 have been left, the interest of
which is divided annually among poor Presbyterians. There are also places
of worship for Covenanters, or members of the Reformed Synod
and Independents.
Near the
church is the parochial school, principally supported by the vicar.
A very large school-house was built by the Mssrs. Grimshaw, and
the school is now in connection with the National Board; one has also
been built and is supported by the proprietors of the White Abbey
cotton works; the Presbyterians have built and support a
school at Ballyduff; and there is a school at Ballycraigy,
built and supported by Francis Turnley, Esq. About 400 children
receive education in these schools, and about 200 more in private schools.
About
a mile north from the church, near the shore are the picturesque ruins
of a large religious house, called White Abbey, from which the townland
takes its name, and which was probably the original establishment that
was removed to Woodburn: the principal remains are an elegant chapel,
in the later Norman or early English style. On the verge of the parish,
near Carrickfergus, are the remains of another religious house,
called Monkstown, adjoining which is an ancient cemetery, where,
according to tradition, Fergus, King of Scotland, who was shipwrecked
in the adjacent bay, was interred.
