No. V. PARISH OF CARNE, (Diocese of Ferns, and County of Wexford.) BY THE REV. RICHARD BEVAN, INCUMBENT. Name. I. The Name of the Parish, Situation, Extent, &c. CARNE appears to be the name this parish has always had, having been given most probably from its stony and rocky nature, as that term, in the Irish Situation. language, signifies a stone. It is situated in the county of Wexford, barony of Forth, and diocese of Ferns: it is of a peninsular form, and terminates in one of the most eastern points of Ireland, called Boundaries Carnesore Point, about the 52° N. lat. being bounded on the south and east by St. George's Channel, or Irish Sea, on the west by the Lady's Island Lough, anciently called Lough Togher, which at times has a communication with the sea, but it is generally obstructed by sand, thrown up by the tide in stormy weather, and on the north by the Lady's Island Parish. Its length, from north to south, is about Contents. three miles, and its breadth two. It contains about 1000 acres, of which 700 only are arable, the remainder being sand-banks and rocky grounds, yet Extent. affording grass for sheep and other cattle. Each farmer generally supplies himself with hay produced from forced grass, as there is very little old meadow ground. He also feeds his milch cows and horses with the same kind of food during the summer months. There are no rivers whatever in Carne, or loughs, Lake. except that already mentioned, on the western boundary. There are two small creeks at Nethertown Creeks. and Carna, very convenient and useful to the fishers of lobster and herring. The surface is nearly a flat, Hill. save a small rising ground, called the hill of Chour, situated on the south-west point of the parish. Carne has no bogs; but there is one small moor which is now draining by the proprietor, A. Howlin, Esq. It is called the Moor of Ballask. In fine the whole parish has a very naked appearance, as there is not one forest tree to be seen in it. II. Mines, Minerals, &c. This parish contains neither mines nor minerals of any kind, nor any natural productions of an extraordinary nature. III. Modern Buildings, &c. This parish contains five villages, named Ballygar- Villages. row, Ballask, Churchtown, Nethertown, and Ring, but no town of any size. The old mansion-house of the Palliser family, de- Gentlenominated Castletown, is situated in the middle of men's Seats Roads. Monastic the parish, about a quarter of a mile to the west, off the main road. It is now in possession of government, for the purpose of accommodating some officers of revenue on this coast. The bouse of Castle Palliser, also, the seat of the Misses Howlin, is situated near one of the roads that branch towards the east; and Carna House, the residence of Abraham Howlin, Esq., situated at the extremity of this road, on the beach. The number of houses within this parish, of every description, is ninety-six, among which there is not one publican's, nor one uninhabited. The sea view from Carne is most beautiful, as it takes in St. George's Channel, from the Saltee Islands to several miles north of Tuscar, and this being the general track of ships coming from all parts of the world to Liverpool and Dublin, every day affords a pleasing variety to the eye, of vessels of all sizes passing to and fro. In winter the appearance of this parish is very naked, from the want of trees; but in summer and autumn the rich crops of barley and beans, that seem nearly to cover the whole surface, render it an object most pleasing and agreeable. The road leading from Carnesore Point to Wexford nearly divides the parish into two equal parts, from which there are three that branch off and run eastward to the sea shore, and one westward to Lough Togher. IV. Ancient Buildings, &c. There is a ruin of a very ancient Chapel, called St. Vaughs, in a burying-ground very near Carne Castle. ore Point, where none but the bodies of persons drowned, in consequence of shipwrecks, have been interred for these many years. From its very rude architecture, it appears to be of great antiquity. There is also a very fine old castle, between seventy Ruined and eighty feet in height, in high preservation, standing upon the property of the Waddy family, called the Castle of Cloeast. It, with many of like appearance, in this and the adjoining baronies, was built by the first English settlers in those parts in the reign of Henry II. No monuments or inscriptions of any sort are to be found here. V. Present & Former Stute of Population,Food,Fuel,&c. The number of inhabitants in Carne is exactly Population 640, of which 326 are males, and 314 females. Among those, there are only twenty-seven Protestants; the rest are Roman Catholics. There has been a considerable increase, within these last twenty years, in the population of the parish, owing to the small farms into which it is divided, and that the young men never enlist either in the army or in the militia. The peasantry of Carne live uncommonly well in Food. ́ general; their breakfast consists of either barley bread and milk, or oatmeal stirabout and milk; very rarely are potatoes used at this meal: at dinner they have bacon or pork twice a week, and butter or herrings for the remainder of it. Their fuel is produced Fael. mostly from bean stalks and furze, to which they add a little English coal, brought from Wexford, where it is imported. Indeed the only inconvenience felt here is in this article of life, for the parish is ten miles from that town. |