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  Lewis Topographical Dictionary - Inniscarra

INNISCARRA, COUNTY CORK IN LEWIS TOPOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY 1837
by Samuel Lewis

INNISCARRA, a parish, in the barony of BARRETTS, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 5 miles (W. by S.) from Cork, to which place it has a penny post; containing 3442 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the river Lee, comprises 9982 statute acres, valued at £8387. 10. per annum. The surface is varied; to the west of the bridge over the Lee is a fine expanse of meadow, which, with the old church, backed by a range of hills, and some rich woodland scenery, forms a pleasing landscape; and from the heights is obtained an extensive view of the course of the river from west to east through a richly diversified tract of country, abounding with objects of local interest. The farms are in general very small, and the lands are continued under tillage till they are quite exhausted; the system of agriculture, though improving, is still in a backward state; there is no bog. A slate quarry is worked on a very limited scale. Ardrum, the seat of Sir N. Colthurst, Bart., is pleasantly situated in an extensive and well-wooded demesne; Cloghroe, the residence of J. C. Fitzgerald, Esq., is also in the parish; and the glebe-house, the residence of the Hon. and Rev. W. Beresford, is delightfully situated on the river Lee, to the margin of which the lawn and shrubberies extend in beautiful contrast with the steep and rocky mountains on the opposite bank, which rise to a considerable elevation and are partially ornamented with plantations; the house commands a beautiful view of the vale formed by the ranges of hills on each side of the river. At the western extremity of the parish are the Dripsey paper-mills, belonging to Messrs. Magnay and Co., and situated in a deep and well-wooded glen; the buildings are of handsome appearance, and the works afford employment to a number of persons, varying from 70 to 100, in the manufacture of large quantities of paper for the English market. In another part of the parish is a small stream which turns the Cloghroe boulting-mills, which are capable, when there is a sufficient supply of water, of producing 140 sacks of flour weekly. A new line of road has been formed to facilitate the communication of this parish and the neighbouring district with the parish of Macroom. A manorial court is held by the seneschal of the manor. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Cloyne, united by act of council to the rectory and vicarage of Mattehy and the chapelry of Kilmurry, which together constitute the union, and the corps of the prebend of Inniscarra in the cathedral of Cloyne, and in the patronage of the Bishop. The tithes amount to £635. 5. 9., and the value of the prebend, including tithe and glebe, is £1076 per annum. The glebe-house was built by a gift of £100 and a loan of £1500 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1816: the glebe comprises 15 acres. The church, a neat structure on an elevated spot near the road, was built in 1818, by a grant of £1000 from the same Board. In the R. C. divisions it is the head of a union or district, including the parishes of Inniscarra, Mattehy, and Carrigrohane-beg, and has three chapels, two of which, at Cloghroe and Berrings, are in this parish. About 30 children are educated in the parochial school, which is aided by the rector, who, with the late Sir N. C. Colthurst, Bart., built a handsome school-house. There are two private schools, in which are about 200 children, a Sunday school, and a dispensary.