GLENAVY,
or LYNAVY, a post-town and parish, in the barony of UPPER
MASSAREENE, county of ANTRIM,
and province of ULSTER, 7½ miles (S.) from Lurgan, on
the road to Antrim; containing 3390
inhabitants, of which number, 399 are in the town.
According
to the Ordnance survey it comprises 16,786 statute acres, 9219½
of which are in Lough Neagh and 342½ in Lough Portmore.
The soil is well cultivated, and there is very little waste land or
bog ; there is some basalt. The town contains 68 houses, and is divided
into two equal parts by the river Glenavy. It has four
quarterly fairs, principally for horned cattle and pigs. Here is a large
cotton-mill, and much flax is spun and woven in the cottages. At Glenconway
is an extensive bleach-green. From its situation on Lough Neagh, this
parish has a communication by water with Belfast
and Newry.
The principal
seats are Goremount, the residence of Mrs. Gore; Ballyminimore,
of W.
Oakman, Esq.; and Glenconway, of Mrs. Dickson.
The living
is a vicarage, in the diocese of Connor,
united to the vicarages of Camlin and
Tullyrusk. and in the patronage of
the Marquess of Hertford, who is impropriator of the rectory
and proprietor of the parish : the tithes amount to £221. 19s.
4d., of which £172. 17s 4d., is payable to the vicar, and £49.
2s.2d., to the impropriator ; and the gross value of the benefice is
£380 per annum. The glebe-house, in the parish of Camlin, was
built in 1819, on a site given by the Marquess of Hereford, at an expense
of £1072, of which £500 was a loan and £300 a gift
from the late Board of First Fruits. The church was rebuilt in 1814
; it is a handsome edifice with a square tower, for the erection of
which the Marquess of Hertford subscribed £100 and the late Board
gave £200 and lent £250.
In the
R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district,
comprising also Camlin, and Killead,
and containing two chapels, one of which is a large building near Glenavy.
There
is also a place of worship for Primitive Methodists.
There
are schools at Ballynacoy, Crew, Fourscore, Ballyvanen and Old
Park. On Ram's island, in Lough
Neagh, are the remains of a round tower ; and in the parish are several
raths and tumulti. From Crew hill a fine view is obtained of
Lough Neagh and of parts of six counties, with several towns and seats.
