Clogher civil parish Tyrone county, Lewis, 1837 description ©Jane Lyons

CLOGHER, an incorporated market and post-town, a parish and the head of a diocese (formerly a parliamentary borough); in the barony of CLOGHER, county of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER 7 miles (W.) from Aughnacloy, and 82½ (N. W. by N.) from Dublin ; containing, with the towns of Augher and Five-mile-town, and the village of Newtown-Saville, 17,996 inhabitants, of which number, 5423 are in the town.

This place is said to have derived its name from a stone covered with gold, which in pagan times is reported to have made oracular responses. The ‘Clogh-or,’ or “golden stone,” was preserved long after the abolition of paganism ; for McGuire, canon of Armagh, who wrote a commentary on the registry of Clogher, In 1490, says “that this sacred stone is preserved at Clogher, on the right of the entrance into the church, and that traces of the gold with which it had been formerly covered by the worshippers of the idol called Cermaed Celsetacht are still visible." There is still a very ancient stone lying on the south side of the cathedral tower, which many believe to be the real Clogh-or. It appears to have some very ancient characters engraved on it, but is evidently nothing more than the shaft of an antique cross of rude workmanship, of which there are several in the ancient cemetery.

Clogher is called by Ptolemy ‘Rhigia’ or ‘Regia’ ; and according to some authors, St. Patrick founded and presided over a monastery here, which he resigned to St. Kertenn when. he went to Armagh, to establish his famous abbey there; but according to others, it was built at the command of St. Patrick in the street before the royal palace of Ergal, by St. Macartin, who died in 506, and from its vicinity to this palace both the abbey and the town appear anciently to have been called ‘Uriel’ or ‘Argal.’ In 841, the abbot Moran Mac Inrachty was slain by the Danes. In 1041 the church was rebuilt and dedicated to St. Macartin.

In 1126 the Archdeacon, Muireadhach O’Cuillen was killed by the people of Fermanagh. Moelisa O'Carrol, Bishop of Clogher, in 1183, on his translation of the archbishoprick of Armagh, presented to this abbey a priests vestments and a mitre, and promised a pastoral staff; he also consecrated the abbey church. Bishop Michael Mac Antsair, in 1279, exchanged with the abbot the episcopal residence that had been built near the abbey by Bishop Donat O'Fidabra, between 1218 and 1227, for a piece of land outside the town, called Disert-na-cusiac, on which he erected another episcopal palace. His immediate successor, Matthew Mac Catasaid, erected a chapel over the sepulchre of St. Macartin.

In 1361 the plague miserably afflicted Ireland, particularly the then city of Clogher, and caused the death of the bishop. In April 1395, while Bishop Arthur Mae Camaeil was employed in rebuilding the chapel of St. Macartin, the abbey, the cathedrals two chapels, the episcopal residences and 32 other houses, were destroyed by fire ; but the bishop applied himself with unwearied diligence to the rebuilding of his cathedral and palace. In 1504, another plague ravaged Clogher and caused the death of the bishop.

Jas. 1., in 1610, annexed the abbey and its revenues to the see of Clogher, by which it was made one of the richest in the kingdom, Between 1690 and 1697, Bishop Tennison repaired and beautified the episcopal palace ; and his successor, Bishop St. George Ash, expended £900 in repairing and improving the palace and lands, two-thirds of which was repaid by his successor. Bishop Sterne, in 1750, laid out £3000 in building and other improvements of the episcopal residence, £2000 of which was charged on the revenues of the see.

The town is situated on the river Blackwater, the source of which is in the parish, and consists of one row of 90 houses, the northern side only being built upon. Some of the houses are large, handsome, and well built with hewn stone, and slated., The episcopal palace is a large and handsome evince close to the cathedral, on the south side of the town, and consists of a centre with two wings : the entrance is in the north front by an enclosed portico, supported by lofty fluted columns.. It is built throughout of hewn freestone, and standing on elevated ground commands extensive views over a richly planted undulating country. Its erection was commenced by Lord John George Beresford, Primate of Armagh, while bishop of Clogher, and completed by Lord Robert Tottenham, the present bishop, in 1855. Attached to the palace is a large and well-planted demesne of 566 acres, encircled by a stone wall ; and within it are the remains of the royal dwelling-place of the princes of Ergallia, a lofty earthwork or fortress, protected on the west and south by a deep fosse ; beyond this, to the south, is a camp surrounded by a single fosse, and still thither southward is a cumulus or cairn, encircled by a raised earthwork.

The market is on Saturday; the market-house was built by Bishop Garnett. Fairs for live stock are held on the third Saturday in every month. The market was granted to the bishop by letters patent dated April 20th 1629 : he was, also authorised to appoint two fairs and receive the profits of the market and fairs. The old fairs, which Are supposed to have been granted by the charter, are held on May 6th and July 28th,

At the solicitation of Bishop Spottiswood, Chas. I,, in 1699, directed that, "for the better civilizing and strengthening of these remote parts with English and British tenants, and for the better propagation of the true religion, the lord-lieutenant should by letters patent make the town of Clogher a corporation.” This was to consist of a, portreeve and 19 burgesses to be at first nominated by the bishop; the portreeve was afterwards to be elected on Michaelmas-day, by and from among the burgesses. No freemen were created, and the bishops appear to have connected a burgess-ship with each of the stalls in. the cathedral. Prior to March 29th, 1800, the bishops had nominated the members of parliament for the borough without opposition, and the seneschal of their manor had been the returning officer ; but at that time the Irish House of commons resolved that the limits of the borough were co-extensive with the manor, and as the freeholders of the manor had tendered their votes in favour of two candidates, they were declared by the Irish parliament to be duly elected, and the bishop's nominees were unseated. At the Union, the £15,000 granted as compensation for abolishing the elective franchise was claimed by the bishop, the dean and chapter, and prebendaries of the cathedral, and the Rev. Hugh Neven, seneschal of the manor ; but their claim was disallowed and the money paid to the Board of first Fruits. By the charter a grant was to be made to the corporation by the bishop of 700 Irish acres near the town, for which a rent of 8d per acre was to be paid. Out of the profits of 200 acres of this land the corporation was, within two years, to erect a school-house and maintain a school-master, with servants for a grammar school. English was to be taught by the master, who was always to be appointed by the bishop. The portreeve was to have 200 acres of the grant assigned for his support while holding the office, and for the payment of a steward and sergeant or bailiff ; and the profits of the remaining 300 acres were to be divided among the burgesses. This grant appears not to have been made. The charter granted a civil court of record to the corporation, with a Jurisdiction extending to a circle of three miles in every direction round the cathedral, and to the amount of £5 English, with a prison for debtors. Since the death of the last seneschal, about 1893, this court has not been held. Quarter sessions are held here twice a year in the sessions-house, alternately with Dungannon, for the baronies of Dungannon and Clogher ; and there is a bridewell.

The parish is of great extent, an comprehends the manors of Augher, in which is the town of that name ; Clogher (granted by Chas. I. to. the bishop), in which is the town of Clogher ; Blessingburne, in which is the town of Five-mile-Town; Mount-Stewart ; and part of the manor of Killyfaddy, granted to Sir Wm Cope, and the rest of which is in the adjoining parish of Donagheavy: there are eight townlands of the manor of Clogher called abbey lands, which are tithe-free. It contains 49,761 statute acres, according to the Ordnance survey, of which 30,000 are good arable-and pasture land, 213½ are water, and 19,761 are waste heath and bog, the greater part of which is however, highly improvable ; of its entire surface, 43,754 acres are applotted under the tithe act. The land in the vicinity of the town is remarkably fertile and well cultivated ; freestone and limestone are abundant, and there are indications of coal and lead ore.

Clogher is situated on a lofty eminence, in the midst of a rich and diversified country encircled by mountains, which on the south approach within one mile, and on the north within two miles of the town, and the highest of which is Knockmany. Slieve Beagh, on the southern border of the parish, rises to an elevation of 1254 feet above the level of the sea.

Besides the episcopal palace, the parish contains several fine residences. The deanery or glebe-house, which is about a quarter of a mile west of the cathedral, is a handsome house in a fertile and well-planted glebe. Not far distant from it is Augher Castle, the splendid residence of Sir J. M. Richardson Bunbury, Bart. ; Cecil, the seat of the Rev. Francis Gervais ; Corick, of the Rev. Dr. Story; Killyfaddy, of R. W. Maxwell, Esq. ; Blessingburne Cottage of Col. Montgomery ; Daisy-hill, of A. Millar, Esq ; Fardross, the ancient seat of A. Upton Gledstanes, Esq ; Ballimagowan, of A. Newton, Esq. ; Waring Bank, of J. McLanahan, Esq. ; and Corcreevy House, of Lieut.-Col. Dickson.

The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Clogher, constituting the corps of the deanery of Clogher, in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes amount to £850, and the income of the dean, including tithes and glebe, is £1374. 17s. 3d.

The cathedral, which is dedicated to St. Macartin, and from time immemorial as been used as the parish church, was built in the ancient style of English architecture by Bishop Sterne, in 1744, at his own expense, but was remodelled in the Grecian style by Dean Bagwell, in 1818, who. erected stalls or the dignitaries and a gallery for the organist and choir, also galleries in the two transepts; and about the same time the whole was newly roofed and ceilled. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently made a grant of £197 for repairs. It is a large and handsome cruciform structure, with a lofty square tower rising from the west front, in which is the principal entrance : the throne, which is very beautiful, occupies the western angle of the south transept, and the whole of the interior is handsomely fitted up. There are several elegant monuments, among which are Bishop Garnett's, who died in the year 1783, and Bishop Porter's, who died in 1819. The chapter-house is near the entrance, on the right. There are two chapels of ease in the parish, one at Five-mile-Town, or Blessingburne, and one at Newtown-Saville ; and divine service is regularly performed every Sunday in the market-house at Augher, in several of the schools houses in distant parts of the parish, and also at Lislie during the summer. The glebe-house, or deanery, is about a quarter of a mile from the cathedral. The glebe comprises 556a. 1r. 24p., statute measure, of which 100a. 1r. 28p., are annexed to the deanery, and 455a. 3r. 36p. are leased, at a rent of £337. 15s. 6½ d. and renewal fines amounting to £20. 7s., per annum.

The Roman Catholic parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church, and there are chapels at Aghadrummond, Escragh, and Aghentine ; there are also places of worship for Presbyterians at Longridge and Aghentine.

View My Guestbook

Sign My Guestbook

URL http://www.from-ireland.net