TUAM

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

"TUAM, a parish, post, and market town, episcopal city, and municipal borough, in the baronies of Ballymoe, Clare, and Dunmore, county Galway, and province of Connaught, Ireland, 19 miles N.E. of Galway, and 120 W. of Dublin. It is the terminus of a short branch line of railway from the Midland Great Western, and is situated on the Harrow an affluent of the river Clare. The population in 1851 was 4,938, and in 1861, 4,565, occupying 875 houses. An abbey was founded on the present site of the town in 487, which early in the 6th century was made a cathedral; houses were quickly built around it; and the town which sprang up was dedicated to St. Jarlath, the first bishop, whose remains were preserved in the cathedral. It was destroyed by fire, with its castle and all its churches, in 1244. The present town occupies a low and flat, but salubrious, part of the country. It consists of a small square, with several straggling streets leading from it. St. Mary's Cathedral small, and stands on the W. of the town; it is also the parish church, and is a mixture of the Saxon and Gothic styles of architecture, the former predominating. It is intended as far as possible to restore its former magnificence. The Roman Catholic Cathedral, which is of recent erection, occupies a raised site on the E. of the town, is of cruciform shape, with a tower and six turrets at the angles of the building, and is one of the finest Roman Catholic churches in Ireland. The interior is in keeping with the exterior. There are also in the town St. Jarlath's Roman Catholic College, three National schools, and a free school of the Tuam Diocesan Education Society, a market-house, court-house, bridewell, and union workhouse. The bishop's palace is at the N.E. of the town, and the residence of the Roman Catholic archbishop adjoins his cathedral. The trade is principally for the supply of the surrounding country. There is a grain market, with flour mills, tanneries, and a brewery. The town has been placed under the Towns' Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854, and its condition is attended to by fifteen commissioners, including the chairman. Quarter and petty sessions are held here. Of the population, in 1861, 263 were members of the Established Church, 4,295 were Roman Catholics, and 7 were Presbyterians. The diocese of Tuam, with which are joined Achonry and Killala, belongs to the province of Armagh, and is the largest in Ireland, comprising most of the county of Galway, a large portion of Mayo, and parts of Roscommon, Sligo, and King's County. It includes 60 benefices. The income of the see, exclusive of charges and deductions, is £4,039. Tuam was an archbishopric from 1152 till 1839, when, under the provisions of the Church Temporalities Act, the archiepiscopal jurisdiction ceased, and the see became suffragan to the Archbishop of Armagh. In the Roman Catholic distribution it still remains an archiepiscopal province, comprising the dioceses of Achonry, Clonfert, Elphin, Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora, and Killala. Market days are Wednesday and Saturday. Fairs are held on 10th March, 10th May, 4th July, 11th September, 20th, 21st, and 22nd October, 10th November, and 15th December."

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