INISHMACSAINT

In 1868, the parish of Inishmacsaint contained the following places:

"INISHMACSAINT, (and islands, otherwise Churchhill), a parish partly in the barony of Tirhugh, county Donegal, and partly in the barony of Magheraboy, county Fermanagh, province of Ulster, Ireland. The parish is 20 miles long by 4 broad, containing its post town, Churchhill, the market town Derrygonnelly, and part of Ballyshannon. The principal part of the parish consists of a tract stretching along the margin of Lower Lough Erne. There is a considerable extent of mountain and bog, but the greater portion of the soil is arable land. Loughs Carrick and Bunnahone, and the source of the Sillies river, are within the limits. The living is a rectory and vicarage in the diocese of Clogher, value £576. The church was built in 1831, by means of a loan from the late Board of First Fruits. There are two chapels-of-ease, four Roman Catholic chapels united in pairs, and a Methodist meeting-house, also two public schools, parochial, private, and five Sunday schools. The island which gives name to this parish is situated in Lough Erne, 3 miles E.S.E. of Churchhill. It was the site of an abbey said to have been founded in the 6th century by St. Nennid. This parish contains the Shean summit and the dell of Phoula-Phouca.

"BALLYSHANNON, a market town and seaport in the parishes of Kilbarron and Inishmacsaint and barony of Tirhugh, in the county of Donegal, province of Ulster, Ireland, 11 miles to the S. of Donegal, and 129 miles from Dublin. It is seated at the mouth of the river Erne, which enters Donegal Bay, and is crossed by a bridge of fourteen arches uniting the two parts of the town. The O'Donnells had a fortress here at an early period, which was besieged but not taken by the English in 1597. The Earl of Clanricarde took the castle in 1652. James I. granted the town a charter of incorporation and the elective franchise, and it returned two members to the IRish parliament till the Union. Owing to its position, the town has a thriving trade, exporting grain and salmon, and importing timber, coal, iron, salt, &c. The river is rich in salmon, and the neighbouring country in minerals. A fall of 16 feet suddenly stops the navigation of the river below the bridge. The port is subordinate to Sligo. There is a large distillery and a brewery. The town contains, according to the census of 1861, 668 inhabited houses, with a population of 3,183, of whom only 486 belong to the Established Church, 2,565 are Roman Catholics, 80 Presbyterians, and 52 of other denominations; thus showing that more than four-fifths of the inhabitants are attached to the Roman Catholic Church. The town has a market and court-house, custom-house, and dispensary. It is a chief police station, and petty sessions are held fortnightly. The places of worship are the parish church of Kilbarron which stands on a hill near the town, and chapels for the Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, and Wesleyans. Ballyshannon is the seat of a Poor-law Union, and the Union house is in the town. Here are also small barracks. A weekly newspaper, called the Ballyshannon Herald, is published here. Tuesday and Saturday are the market days. Fairs are held monthly throughout the year."

"BUNDORAN, a village in the parish of Inishmacsaint, barony of Tirhugh, in the county of Donegal, province of Ulster, Ireland, 4 miles to the S.W. of Ballyshannon. It is pleasantly seated on the S. coast of Donegal Bay, near Lough Melvin, and is visited as a watering-place."

"PORTNASON, a village in the parish of Inishmacsaint, in the barony of Tirhugh, county Donegal, province of Ulster, Ireland. It is a poor place."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2018