Moyallon, Down
Historical Description
MOYALLON, a village, in the parish of TULLYLISH, barony of LOWER IVEAGH, county of DOWN, and province of ULSTER, 1 mile from Gilford, on the road from Banbridge to Portadown: the population is returned with the parish. It is situated in one of the best-cultivated and most beautiful districts in the county, and appears to have originated in the settlement of a colony of the Society of Friends, about 1698. Among these was Mr. Thos. Christy, who, about 1710, commenced the bleaching of linen on the river Bann, which flows through the vale of Moyallon; he appears to have established a bleach-green here prior to the institution of the Linen Board in Dublin; the Moyallon linens obtained a celebrity above those of other districts. The bleach-green is capable of finishing 15,000 pieces of linen annually; and in the vicinity is a chymical laboratory for preparing bleaching acids. The meeting-house of the Society of Friends, erected about 1723, is a small but neat edifice: there is also a meeting-house for the Wesleyan Methodists. The school was established in 1788, and was supported by the Society of Friends, until 1832, since which period it has been aided by an annual donation from the National Board: about 140 children are here educated and partially clothed. Of the numerous seats in the vicinity, the principal are Moyallon, the residence of Thos. Christy Wakefield, Esq.; and Moyallon House, of T. C. Wakefield, Jun., Esq., embosomed in plantations, and commanding picturesque views of the adjoining county of Armagh. On the elevated grounds of Ballynacarrick are traces of the extraordinary remnant of antiquity called the "Danes Cast".
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Moyallon from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Down is available to browse.