FIDDOWN,
a parish and village, in the barony of IVERK, county of KILKENNY,
and province of LEINSTER, on the high road from Kilkenny
city to Carrick (Carrick on Suir); containing, with the
post-town of Pilltown (which is separately described), 4296 inhabitants,
of which number, 193 are in the village.
This parish,
the name of which is said to be derived from Fiodh, "a wood,",
and Doon, a "rath" or" fort," is bounded
on the west by the river Lingawn, which is crossed by a good
stone bridge, and on the south by the river Suir; it comprises
10,485 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at
£8145 per annum. The soil in some parts is of astonishing fertility,
and there is no wasteland; the system of agriculture has much improved
within the last seven years, through the exertions of the Irish Farming
Society. There are numerous limestone and sandstone quarries; and near
Pilltown is a quarry of variegated grey marble, susceptible of
a high polish.
The village
of Fiddown consists of 36 houses, and has fairs on April 25th, June
10th, Sept. 29th, and Nov. 30th. It is situated on the bank of the river
Suir, which is navigable throughout the extent of the parish for vessels
of large burden, and abounds with excellent salmon and trout.
Besborough,
the fine old mansion of the Earl of Besborough, and from which
his lordship takes his title, is situated in a well-wooded park of more
than 500 acres. The house, which is built of hewn blue limestone, is
100 feet in front by 80 in depth; the great hall is supported by four
Ionic columns of Kilkenny marble, each of a single stone 10½
feet high; it was erected in 1744 from a design of David Bindon, Esq.,
and contains a fine collection of pictures. The other seats are Belline,
the elegant residence of W. W. Currey, Esq., surrounded by a
beautiful demesne; Fanning town, of J. Walsh, Esq.; Tyburoughny
Castle, of M. Rivers, Esq.; Willmount, of G. Briscoe,
Esq.; Cookestown, of J. Burnett, Esq.; Garrynarca,
of N. Higginbotham, Esq.; and the glebe-house, of the Rev.
W. Gregory.
The living
is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese
of Ossory, united by act of council, in 1689, to the rectories
of Owning or Bewley, and Tubrid, and the rectories
and vicarages of Castlane and Tipperaghney, and in the
patronage of the Bishop: the tithes of the parish amount to £687,
and of the benefice to £1228. The
glebe-house was built by aid of a gift of £100 and a loan of £1500
from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1817; the glebe comprises 48
acres. The church is situated in the village, on the site of an abbey,
of which St. Maidoc or Momoedoc is said to have been abbot
in 590: it is an ancient structure, handsomely fitted up by the late
Earl of Besborough, and contains several monuments to the Ponsonby
family, among which is one to Brabazon, first Earl of Besborough,
who died in 1758, consisting of half length figures of the earl and
his countess, on a sarcophagus of Egyptian marble, under a pediment
supported by four Corinthian columns and four pilasters of Sienna marble.
In the
Roman Catholic divisions the parish forms part of the union or district
of Templeorum; the chapel, a neat building, is at Pilltown.
In the
schools at Pilltown, an infants' school, and a national school at Tubbernabrona
about 300 children are instructed: there are also a private school,
in which are about 40 children, and two Sunday schools.
Throughout
the parish are ruins of several ancient churches, Danish forts, and
druidical altars or cromlechs. Several vestiges of antiquity have been
found at Belline, and many are still to be seen in its immediate
neighbourhood. The horns, with a great part of the skeleton, of a moose
deer were found in a bed of soft marl, and are preserved at Besborough
House.
