Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Pococke's Tour in Ireland in 1752 (Author: Richard Pococke)
entry 39
On the 2nd I preached at the Cathedral, and on the third I went through Ballina, where by Captain Owen in whose company I had dined there, I received a very kind and pressing invitation from Mr. Vaughan near Lough Conn, but being engaged to go on, I excused my self and went forward: There is a road on both sides of the river to Foxford, but the new road is on the west side, and after riding about 4 miles, we crossed a hill from which we had a view of Lough Conn, and particularly of the south east end of it, from which as I was
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inform'd, there is an outlet into the river Moy, on which Foxford stands. We had a view also of all that Morassy ground to the west of Foxford, to which place we came, it is situated on the edge of the bog and under rough rocky hills to the east in a very bad air, and all the water about it exceeding bad, except a spring a mile distant; it is a very poor town, but they are building a new Church: They have a barrack for foot, and formerly had iron works here, which before the revolution were in Judge Ward's family, who was born in this Country, but on the wars that family retired to their own estate in the County of Down. They brought the iron ore from the mountain called Nevin to the west for all these mountains as far as the sea are full of iron ore; they work it up with the ore of Lancashire, which hardens it; otherwise it would be too soft. They have now iron works at Mullamore, nine miles to the west; and they collect together the wastings of the ore here and carry it to those works. I dined here and visited Mr. Evelyn the Minister, and went on: They are searching for coal at Sleave Horn, a mountain near. In a mile I passed by Baky Lough Castle and went over a river of that name on a bridge and I saw Toramore Castle to the left. In about a mile more we passed by an old Church called Temple a Strada and soon after I took a view of a Convent called Strada where the high altar is beautified with Gothick ornaments and in the middle is a dead Christ in the Virgin's lap, and a person in relief in a compartment on each side. There is also a tomb adorned with curious reliefs, of four kings in different compartments; in another one kneels before a mitred person and there is a relief of St. Peter and St. Paul: In a mile we passed by Ballicurry and saw Currane Castle to the right and Turlaw's Church on a height, where I thought I saw one of the round
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towers: A mile further brought us to Manilla, a poor small town situated on a rising ground to the West of a rivlet: It is chiefly a Colony of Protestants, settled here as Freeholders by Mr. Brown of the Neal, who founded a Charter School here for 12 boys and 12 girls, by giving 10 acres for ever and twenty at five shillings an acre,41 which I went to see and travelled on towards Castlebar three miles farther, I saw to the west Elm Hall, a seat and good plantation of Mr. Cuff's of Ballinrobe, passed by [...] the house and Estate of Mr. Domick Brown, and about a mile from Castlebar saw [...] Mr. Millars. Castlebar is very pleasantly situated on a rising ground to the east of the river which falls out of the Lough of Castlebar that has communication with several beautiful Loughs round about. It is a pretty good small town, having a good market and a Horse Barrack, and they have lately built a handsome church of Mr. Castle's design, it is the Greek Cross with three galleries: The windows and Cornish are of hewen lime stone which is the finest black marble, and is without mixture polishing as well. The Church is covered with a very good light stone slate of which there is a quarry in a mountain near called Sleanbawn; and about two miles from the town they have a quarry of good flags of the same kind of lime stone as the ornamental parts of the Church: There is also the black medicinal slate in some mountain near. This is the estate of Sir Charles Bingham now abroad on his travels, who has a small house near the town, built on the scite of an old Castle after the revolution: The two large round towers of the Castle remain in which his grandfather lived with his Father-in-law Dr. Vesey Archbishop of Tuam
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in King James's wars and defended themselves against the enemy.