Ballingarry
The parish comprises 16,219½ statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £16,013 per annum. About 100 acres are common lands; and of the remainder, a large proportion is good arable land under an improved state of agriculture, but the greater portion is pasture; there is scarcely any bog or waste land. The soil is very variable, in some parts remarkably fertile, and in others rocky, sterile, and cold; it is for the greater part based on a substratum of silicious grit rising from the limestone vales into hills of considerable elevation in three different parts of the parish. To the south-west of the town rises the hill of Kilnamona, on which is a lake, supposed to have been formed by the excavation of a coal mine, and called Lough-na-Gual, or "the lake of coal." Directly opposite is Knockfiernha, which commands a most extensive prospect. The principal seats are Ballyno Cox, the handsome residence of W. Cox, Esq.; Glenwilliam Castle, of W. H. Massy, Esq.; Ballino Kane, of W. Scanlan, Esq.; the Grove, of Major O'Dell; Odell Ville, of T. A. O'Dell, Esq.; Rossmore, of Capt. J. W. Shelton; Mount Brown, of J. S. Brown, Esq.; Heathfield, of E. Lloyd, Esq.; Fort-William, of T. O'Dell, Esq.; Liskennett, of R. K. Sheehy, Esq.; Woodstock, of Rich. D. Graves, Esq. ; Ash Grove, of D. D. Power, Esq.; Frankfort of R. Standish, Esq.; the Glebe, of the Rev. T. Gibbings; Ballynail, of J. Cox, Esq.; Kilbeg, of H. Scanlan, Esq.; and Spring Mount, of E. Fitzgerald, Esq. There are also many neat villas in the parish. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Limerick, and in the patronage of the Earl of Cork: the tithes amount to £900. The church, a small but very neat edifice in the early English style, with a lofty square tower, was built in 1820. The glebe-house was built by aid of a loan of £500 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1822. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church; there are three chapels, one in the town, one near Knockfiernha, and one near the south-eastern extremity of the parish. The parochial school for male and female children is aided by the rector, who provides the school-house rent-free; and there are eight pay schools, in which are about 420 children. A dispensary is supported by subscriptions. Adjoining the town are the remains of a very beautiful castle, of which the original name and the history are unknown; it is now called Parson's Castle, having been, previously to the erection of the glebe-house, the residence of the rector. About a mile to the north are the ruins of Lisamoota castle, and in the Grove demesne are those of Bonistoe (now commonly called Woodstock) castle. Within the limits of the parish are slight traces of other castles and of two small churches; on the summit of Lisduan hill are the remains of Jackson's Turret; and on Knockfiernha is a conical pile raised on the spot where stood the ancient temple of Stuadhraicin.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1840 by Samuel Lewis