described in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837

ARDAGH, a parish, in the barony of IMOKILLY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 3 miles (N. W.) from Youghal, on the new mail-coach road from that place to Tallow; containing 2658 inhabitants.

This parish is situated on the confines of the county of Waterford, and comprises 7629 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £3402 per annum. The general aspect is mountainous, and a large portion of its surface is unreclaimed, affording a plentiful supply of turf. The soil is for the most part poor and stony; and excepting the waste, the land is wholly in tillage and only indifferently cultivated.

The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Cloyne, and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes amount to £600. The church is an old plain building of small dimensions. There is no glebe-house; the glebe comprises five acres.

In the R. C. divisions this parish forms part of the union or district of Killeigh: the chapel is a small thatched building, situated at Inch.

There is a school for boys and girls at Killeigh, aided by a donation of £5 per ann. from Lord Ponsonby, who also gave the school-house rent-free, and contributes to another school for both sexes; there is only one pay school in the parish. On the banks of the Turra, which runs through the centre of the parish, is the ruined castle of Kilnaturra, a massive square tower in excellent preservation.

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