KILROOT,
or KILROI, a parish, In the barony of LOWER BELFAST,
county of ANTRIM, and province
of ULSTER, 2½ miles (E. N, E.) from Carrickfergus,
on the road to Larne ; containing 536
inhabitants.
At Kilroot
Point, the French general Thurot, with three ships and 600 men,
landed in 1760 and attacked Carrickfergus, which being at the
time un-provided with a regular garrison, was obliged to capitulate.
He also threatened to lay siege to Belfast,
but on the approach of the forces which were advancing to expel him,
he re-embarked his troops at this place, and set sail for France.
The
parish, which is situated on the bay of Carrickfergus, comprises,
according to the Ordnance survey, 2418 statute acres ; the land is
in general, in a good state of cultivation, and the most improved
system of husbandry prevails. Basalt and limestone exist in great
abundance : of the former a regular quarry of the columnar formation
has been opened the tops of the columns, which are of four, five,
and six sides, are only a few inches below the surface; all dip to
the north-ward, and are nearly as perfect as those of the Giants'
Causeway, resembling in some degree those massive columns called
the Giants' Organ; between them are thin layers of decomposed rock;
the ends of the joints are in some almost eat, and in others concave
and convex. There is an extensive bleach-green belonging to Michael
Andrews, Esq., of Ardoyne, in which the elegant royal damasks
from the Ardoyne manufactory are finished, to the number of more than
10,000 pieces annually, affording constant employment to 25 persons.
A constabulary police force is stationed here.
Castle
Dobbs, the residence of R. Dobbs, Esq., and Bella Hill,
the property of Marriott Galway, Esq., are the principal seats
: there are some interesting ruins of the ancient mansion of Castle
Dobbs.
The living is a vicarage, in the diocese
of Connor, united by charter of Jas. I. to the rectory of
Ballynure and the vicarage of Templecorran,
together forming the union and corps of the prebend of Kilroot in
the cathedral of Connor, and in the patronage of the Bishop ; the
rectory is impropriety in the Marquess of Donegal. The tithes
amount to £151. 6s. 7d., of which £101 is payable to the
impropriator, and £50. 6s. 1d. to the vicar ; those of the entire
benefice amount to £560. There is neither glebe-house nor glebe.
The church has been in ruins for more than 500 years ; the church
of the union is at Ballynure.
In the
Roman Catholic divisions the parish forms part of the union
or district of Carrickfergus and Larne.
A school
for girls was built and is supported by Mrs. Dobbs ; and a
school-house was built in 1836, which is in connection with the New
Board of Education. A nitrous spring rises in a bed of marry clay
in the parish, the water of which has an aperient quality. Dean
Swift held the prebend of Kilroot, which was his first preferment.
