Templeroan

TEMPLEROAN, or SHANBALLYMORE, a parish, in the barony of FERMOY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER, 2½ miles (E.) from Doneraile, on the road from Mallow to Mitchelstown; containing 1788 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Awbeg, by which it is bounded on the south-west, and comprises 3745 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £2965 per annum. The land is of medium quality and chiefly under tillage, and the system of agriculture has of late years been much improved, the gentry having adopted the drill system, which example the smaller farmers are gradually imitating. On Graig mountain are about 450 acres of reclaimable land, at present affording coarse pasturage; limestone abounds and is quarried both for building and agricultural purposes; and at Graig are some indications of coal. The river Awbeg, the scenery of which is very interesting, is at Ballynamona crossed by a neat bridge: a large flour-mill, the property of R. Welstead, Esq., is propelled by this river, and is capable of producing annually about 12,000 barrels of flour. The seats are Graig, the residence of James Hill, Esq., beautifully situated on a gentle declivity in the midst of an extensive and highly improved demesne; Shanbally, of Watkins Roberts, Esq.; Old Town, of Rear-Admiral Henry Evans, in a retired situation on the north-eastern bank of the river; Clogher, of G. Bond Low, Esq.; and Ballynamona, the ancient family residence of Garret Nagle, Esq., about to be rebuilt. The manor of Doneraile extends over the townland of Ballynamona, where a court is occasionally held for the recovery of small debts.

The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Cloyne, united by act of council to the perpetual curacy of Doneraile, and in the gift of the Bishop. The tithes amount to £350, and the incumbent, as curate of Doneraile, receives from the impropriator of that parish a stipend of £13. 6. 8., late currency. The church of the union is in the town of Doneraile. In the R. C. divisions also the parish forms part of the union or district of Doneraile; the chapel at Shanballymore is a plain cruciform building About 140 children are educated in two private schools.

On the Clogher estate, which once belonged to the celebrated Edmund Burke, was an ancient and strongly fortified castle, called Shanogh, of which some vestiges of the foundations may still be traced; and attached to the mansion of Ballynamona is the venerable ruined castle of that name, said to have been originally built by the Nagle family in the reign of King John; it now consists chiefly of a square tower, richly mantled with ivy, and forming an extremely interesting object: of the castle of Shanballymore not a vestige now exists.

In the burial-ground are the ivied ruins of the ancient church: it has been for centuries the burial-place of the Nagle family.

from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837.