Ramoan or Rathmoran
The living was formerly a vicarage, united to that of Culfeightrim, the rectories of which, since 1609, were appropriate to the chancellorship of Connor, till 1831, when, on the decease of Dr. Trail, the last chancellor, it became a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Connor, under the provisions of the act of the 5th of Geo. IV., cap. 80, and now constitutes the corps of the chancellorship, with cure of souls, in the patronage of the Bishop. The tithes amount to £400: the glebe-house was built in 1809, at an expense of £480, of which £369 was a gift, and £110 a loan, from the late Board of First Fruits; the glebe comprises 26 acres of good arable land, valued at £39 per annum. The church is a small edifice, and was rebuilt in 1812, at an expense of £369, a loan from the same Board: it contains some very ancient monuments. There is also an endowed church, or chapel, at Ballycastle. In the R. C, divisions the parish is called Ballycastle; it contains two chapels, one in the town, the other at Glenslush. There are two places of worship for Presbyterians, in connection with the Synod of Ulster, one of which is in the town, and the other near the church; both are of the third class: there is also a Methodist meeting-house. About 400 children are educated in five public schools, of which the parochial school is principally supported by the rector; and in five private schools are about 180 children. There are also six Sunday schools. At Ballycastle are almshouses founded by Hugh Boyd, Esq., who also endowed a charter school, now discontinued, near the church, with 12 acres of land. On the summit of Knocklaide is a tumulus called Cairn-an-Truagh, said traditionally to be the burial-place of three Danish princesses. There are several raths in the parish, some terminating in a pointed apex, and others flat on the top like a truncated cone; of the latter sort, one, within a quarter of a mile of the town, is called Dun-a-Mallaght, the "cursed fort." The castle of Doonaninney stands on a bold headland, 300 feet above the level of the sea, commanding the channel and the isle of Rathlin: two miles westward are the noble and romantic ruins of Kinbane, or Kenbann, castle, built on a projecting cliff of limestone rock, running out several hundred feet into the sea, under some bold headlands, which rise 280 feet above the ruins. In the town of Ballycastle are the remains of the edifice which gave name to the place; an uninteresting gable is all that exists: about two miles hence, on the Glenslush water, are the ruins of a very extraordinary castle, called Goban-Saor, which once was the residence of the powerful chieftain O'Cahan: and immediately adjoining the quay of Ballycastle are the interesting ruins of the abbey of Bonamargy, founded by Mac Donnell, in 1509, which was perhaps the latest erected in Ireland for Franciscan monks; the chapel is in tolerable preservation, being the burial-place of the Antrim family. According to Archdall, St. Patrick founded a religious house here, called Rath-Moane, in which he placed St. Ereclasius. Vast quantities of beautiful pebbles are found along the shore, among which are chalcedony, opal, dentrites, and belemnites. On the lands of Drumans, on the side of the great mountain of Knooklaide, is a spring, the waters of which are strongly chalybeate, and may be conveyed to distant places without any diminution of their effect.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1840 by Samuel Lewis