BOYLE

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

"BOYLE, a parish, market town, and nominal borough, in the barony of Boyle, and county of Roscommon province of Connaught, Ireland, 108 miles to the N.W. of Dublin. It is situated on the border of Sligo, in a narrow valley at the foot of the Curlew mountains, on the banks of the river Boyle. The river runs down from Lough Gara, on the south-west side of the town, to Lough Key on the north-east, and thence to the Shannon, which it meets above Carrick. This parish, which is very extensive, comprising an area of about 19,618 acres, includes a large tract of bog and waste; the rest of the land is mostly cultivated, and there is abundance of limestone and freestone. A Cistercian monastery was founded on this spot in the middle of the 12th century, which was subordinate to Mellifont Abbey, in the county of Louth, and flourished till the Dissolution. Around this monastery the town grew up. It is built on both sides of the river, the older part on the north, and the more modern part on the south bank. They are connected by three bridges, one an elegant structure of three arches, on the site of an older one taken down; the second of one single-arch; and a third of five arches. Most of the houses are built of stone. The town contains a sessions-house, a bridewell, a market-house, barracks for infantry, and the union poorhouse. The borough was incorporated in 1613 by a charter of James I., and returned two members to the Irish parliament till the Union. Boyle is the head of a Poor-law Union, and a chief police station. Quarter and petty sessions are held in the town. As the centre of a large agricultural district it has a good general trade. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Kilmore, Ardagh, and Elphin, of the value, with seven vicarages united to it, of £506, in the patronage of the bishop. Besides the parish church, there are two chapels belonging to the Roman Catholics, and one each to the Baptists and Wesleyans. There are a savings-bank, a charitable loan society, and two dispensaries. On Lough Key, 2 miles from Boyle, is Rockingham House, a noble mansion of the Ionic order of architecture, the seat of Lord Lorton, proprietor of the town. It is surrounded by an extensive and well-wooded park, and has four approaches. Other seats in the neighbourhood are Tangier (the residence of Captain Robertson), Abbeyview, and Mount Erris. There are some fine ruins of the abbey in the grounds of Tangier. They consist chiefly of the church and its noble tower. Remains of a round tower exist near the bridge, and between the town and Lough Gara is a large cromlech. A newspaper is published here called the Roscommon Gazette. The market is held on Saturday. Fairs are held on the 6th March, the 3rd April, the 30th May, the 25th July, the 16th August, the 1st October, and the 25th November."

"BALLYFERNON, a village in the parish and barony of Boyle, in the county of Roscommon, province of Connaught, Ireland, 10 miles N.E. of Boyle, its post town."

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