Armagh Breague District parish, Co. Armagh

ARMAGH-BREAGUE, a district parish, partly in the barony of ARMAGH, and partly in the barony of LOWER FEWS, county of ARMAGH, and province of ULSTER, 7 miles (8.) from Armagh city, on the road from Keady to Newtown-Hamilton; containing 3632 inhabitants.

It was formed into a parish under the provisions of an act of the 7th and 8th of Geo. Ill., cap. 43, by taking three townlands from the parish of Lisnadill, and three from that of Keady, the former principally heath and mountain, and the latter tithe-free; and comprises 9113 statute acres, of which 5000 are arable, and the remainder waste and bog. The mountains abound with clay-slate; and there are also indications of lead and copper ores, but no attempt has yet been made to work either. About two miles from the village is Mountain Lodge, the residence of Hugh Garmany, Esq. At Linen Vale there is an extensive bleach-green, where 20,000 pieces of linen are annually finished for the English markets. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the weaving of linen and in agricultural pursuits.

The living is a perpetual curacy, in the diocese of Armagh, and in the alternate patronage of the Rectors of Armagh and Keady, the former of whom contributes £60 and the latter £40 per annum as a stipend for the curate; there is neither glebe-house nor glebe. The church, situated on the summit of one of the Fews mountains, is a small neat edifice, in the early English style; it was built in 1831, at an expense of £660, a gift from the late Board of First Fruits.

In the Roman Catholic divisions this parish is one of three that form the union or district of Lisnadill or Ballymacnab, and contains a small chapel at Granemore.

In the parochial school are 80 boys and 40 girls; the master has a house and three roods of land rent-free: The school-room, a large and commodious building, was erected by subscription in 1826. There are also a Sunday school for gratuitous instruction, and a hedge school.

Lough Aughnagurgan, the source of the river Callan, is in this district; and on the summit of one of the mountains stands the South Meridian Arch belonging to the observatory of Armagh.

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