Newry History, Co Down Ireland

The earliest records about Newry found, state quite clearly that It was a very important & fought over sea port.    When you look at it, no other Abbey town In Ireland has had the persistent English Crown endorsement's stamped on it, in the way Newry has, & I speak here looking way way back into a distant past long before the reformation.   In recent times this stamp can be seen as an ongoing thing to do by the English In regard to Newry when having a look at the new English pound piece which shows the Egyptian arch bridge on it & which is situated on Newry's Camlough road.     Some research on this bridge revealed some strange stories about it, one in particular says that the bridge was at one time called the ( The entrance to the Temple).   My ears pricked up at this temple buisness, because theres plenty of craick about the place of Newry regarding the same lately, and my immediate question was, what Temple.   What were they going on about or better still, where :?    Names with Temple attached to them are not hard to find In Newry, could it be that the temple they spoke of then was one of the churches In the place, ? or could it be that the place of mention was was one of the places of worship, which adorned the town. Who knows, & then we have to look at the other types of Temple mentions in and around the place. One of which springs to mind is not very far away. & i will probably get a kick on the arse for mentioning it atall atall, however it is that place on the pound road which is currently run as the Newhaven Trust, yep the one with the two nice big pillars outside it and all those lovely turn of the century coloured windows in it. I was told that it was a masonic temple, but as said another story, as far as Im concerned, but before we leave it completly It could well be the Temple that In concern here, and if the story is right, Im going up there one night to creep down the stairs which are just under the floor at the front door to see just whats at the bottom of them, rumour has it that there was even wee marks on the floor and stuff, ? second thoughts I think I will leave my visit till the day time and when my mammie is with me. Who wants to go into secret temples anyway. Did I mention secret !! now where did that word ever come from, was it a secret, well when you think of it a wee room under the front door, could well be , when we were kids we had loads of wee hideie holes that were secret but we never called them Temples, ha Ill have to tell the boys. Better late than never. Any other Temples about the place, , of course there is, and its the bestest one of all, bit of a climb mind you, but sure you all have cars, head up chapel street up to the top nearly and the first wee turning on the right, along this road not too far is a wee cottage, which has the word Temple over the door, no secrets about that place, name over the door !! could it be the Temple ? here Ive had enough of temples an my fingers are worn out, I know one thing all this Temple stuff goes way back to the Templer Knights, and the Holy Grail and all that stuff, when I get the jist of it all Ill give you a shout.   Perhaps a wee bit more of Interest here Is the stuff below Newry In NUT SHELL.

Newry currently has 2 market places of ancient English standing, both of these In Hill street, & In the same area as the Hyde market which was one of the main gate ways to the great church of Newry during the medieval period when the towns second Abbey was just built. A wee bit more on this below.    Newry is a post-town, and a parish, a borough, partly in the barony of ONeill land West, and partly in Upper Orior, one part In the county of Armagh & another part In Co Down.   These which are chiefly constituting the lordship of Newry, in the county of Down, and province of Ulster.   It is approx 38 miles (S. W.) from Belfast, and 80 miles (N.) from Dublin. The population Is swiftly on the rise these past few years and especially since the place became a small City. This City stuff seemed to be to me any way the starting point of a free for all In knockinbg the place down, However way back when, It was a place of some importance from a very remote period.   King Alfred thought so, for he was In a cell of the Newry College, and I dont mean a prison cell, his name wasnt curran you know, lol , he even wrote a poem when he was in Ireland its about ten miles long so Im not telling you it, any way I forgot it , well about twenty chapters of it. Think there was fourty. So not a hope. !! ANY way the Annals of the Four Masters notice a monastery in it, again this is way way back In time, unfortunately they neglected to elaborate on this size of this place in which yew tree enclosed the place & which were planted by St. Patrick. I want you all to have a wee look at this post card and tell me where you think this big group of trees were, and Indeed if you work this out, you may have just discovered what I did that the head of Newry's strand was in quite a different place when Newry was first born, because like all things Holy & cherished they stood for decades unchanged, this picture shows you the enclosed Newry, St Patricks on the hill. Not a lot different from today, all the trees below though have dwindled, leaving the place as protected and as encircled as it all ways was.   Digging up the rocks close to St Patricks has revealed sea shells, so unless I was up there on the way back from the point and had a hole in my pocket and dropped some shells, the water level was way up there at one time and the Abbey as we call it today was deep in the water, & didnt exist at the time of the mention In the book of Kells, if you have a closer look at the picture again you will note all the buildings that are in front of the groups of trees are those built by the English since the reformation, the start of these according to me was over at Ballybot, where the English camped to fight ONeil across the water at the Abbey, Ballybot means English town when looked up .   Anyways on we go.

The next intimation of Newrys existence is the foundation of a Cistercian abbey, in 1157, by Maurice Mac Loughlin, King of Ireland, the charter of which is extant, and has been published by Dr. O'Conor in his work on the Irish writers. In this charter the place is named Jubhar-cin-tracta, "the pass at the head of the strand," or Jubhar-cinn-tracta, this name by the way has recently been sourced as to be a name pertaing to somewhere around Dundalk ? & as we all know it also called "the nourishing head of a yew tree,", the former being traced from the position of the town, the latter from the circumstance respecting St. Patrick; by the Latin writers of that day it is called Monasterium Nevoracense, and in after times Monasterium de Viridi Ligno; it was also named Na-Yur, and at a still later period, the Newrys (Neweries ) by the English.    The charter of Mac Loughlin which is now thought to be an Identical copy of the Melifont charter and a fake,(by some people including me) was renewed and enlarged by Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Ulster, in 1237, by which the head of the house was made a mitred abbot with episcopal jurisdiction within the precincts of the lordship. When Sir John de Courcy. took possession of this district, he secured the pass, justly considered as very important, being the only road through the mountains between Ulster and Leinster, by a castle, this was located at the corners of Mill Street and North Street, so called because of Its Nothern position In the Abbey. The Castle which was built to defend the main entrance of the Abbey stood directly In front of Its gate way which stretched from marcus square to the corner of what Is now known as Castle street. The Castle like all other came under attack many times In its existence. It was destroyed by Bruce, on the retreat of the Scotch after their defeat at Dundalk in 1318. After several changes of masters, during which the place was frequently in the possession of the O'Nials, chieftains of Ulster, a second castle was built in 1480, which was demolished by Shane O'Nial, who then held a strong castle at Feedom, now Fathom. Marshal Bagnal restored the castle, rebuilt the town and peopled it with Protestant settlers; for which Jas. I., in 1613, granted the entire lordship, together with the manors of Mourne, Greencastle, and Carlingford, in fee to him and his heirs for ever At the breaking out of the civil war in 1641, Sir Con Magennis took the town and castle, destroyed the church and slew many of the inhabitants. It was shortly after recovered by Lord Conway, who did not hold it long, as O'Nial surprised it by night, and regained possession of it. In 1642, Munroe invested the town and took it by storm. After the Restoration, the town recovered from the sufferings inflicted on it, and continued to flourish till 1689, when it was burned by the Duke of Berwick in his retreat from Duke Schomberg: the castle and six houses only remained.

The town is advantageously situated on the Newry water. The western part, called Ballybot and sometimes Southwark, in Armagh county, is connected with the eastern, in the county of Down, by four stone bridges and a swivel bridge. The general appearance of the place, as seen from without, is cheerful and prepossessing: the old town, on the eastern side, situated on the side of a hill, with its church and spire rising above the houses, leads to an expectation of a correspondence of character in the interior; but the reverse is the case. Like other old towns, the streets are narrow, precipitous and inconvenient; but the modern part of the town, generally called "the Low Ground," is very elegant; the houses lofty and built of granite; the streets wide, well formed, and paved, with flagged footways. Marcus-square, with several lines of new buildings, presents very elegant specimens of domestic architecture. A great number of excellent springs issuing from the rocks eastward of the town, and more than 200 wells, have been formed in various parts, but no artificial means have yet been adopted to provide a supply of water on a scale commensurate with the domestic and manufacturing demands of the population. The streets and public buildings are lighted with gas supplied by works established by a company in 1822. Much has been done within the last few years to improve the general appearance of the town and neighbourhood; a new line of road has been opened, and an excellent approach formed from Warren point, where the river expands into the bay: the north road has been widened and improved, and several very handsome terraces and detached villas have been built: among the bridges, already noticed, is one of a single arch of elegant proportions, called Needham bridge; and an iron swivel bridge is about to be thrown across the canal, which, when completed, will open a communication from the Monaghan road to the very centre of the town. The assembly, news, and coffee rooms were built by subscription in 1794; the assembly-rooms are spacious and elegant; the news-room is well furnished with newspapers and periodical publications, and is open on the most liberal terms to strangers: the offices of the Commissioners of Police and of the Savings' Bank are in this building. Two newspapers are published here, each twice in the week. A barrack affords accommodation for 44 officers and 670 non-commissioned officers and privates of infantry, and 10 horses, with an hospital for 30 or 40 patients.

Newry is much more a commercial than a manufacturing town. There are two iron-foundries, each on an extensive scale, for light castings. The manufacture of flint glass is also carried on largely; a distillery in Monaghan-street consumes annually 25,000 barrels of grain, the produce of which is consumed in the counties of Down, Armagh, Louth, and Monaghan: there are also large manufactories of cordage and of spades, shovels, and other kinds of ironmongery. One of the most complete and extensive bleach-greens in the country is at Carnmeen; and at Bessbrook is a mill for spinning linen yarn. The Newry flour-mills, worked by water, consume 900 tons of wheat annually, and there are several others in the immediate neighbourhood, the produce of which is mostly shipped to Liverpool. An oatmeal-mill grinds 17,000 barrels of grain annually, which is wholly purchased for the Liverpool and Manchester markets; and in the neighbourhood there are several others equally extensive.

The trade of Newry, now of much importance, has gradually risen to its present height from the protection afforded to the merchants by Wm. III. Prior to that time the river was not navigated above Warren point; Newry being then considered as a creek to Carlingford, which was the port for all this part of the coast. But during the reigns of that monarch and his successors, several grants were made for clearing and embanking the river and improving the harbour. At length, in consequence of the many obstructions arising from the nature of the river, and the advantageous situation of the town as a central mart for the introduction of foreign commodities into the interior of Ulster, it was determined to form a line of inland navigation from Newry to Lough Neagh. The communication is carried on from the Newry water by an artificial cut by Acton, Scarva, Tanderagee, and Gilford to Portadown, where it is connected with the Bann, whence it proceeds in the bed of that river to the lake. It was commenced in 1730, and connected with Lough Neagh in 1741, but in consequence of the inconveniences arising from the accumulation of mud and sand in the mouth of the river, near Newry, it was deemed adviseable to prolong the navigation towards the bay to Fathom: this portion of the work, which is two miles in extent, was completed in 1761; the entire length of the navigation, including that of Lough Neagh, is 36 miles, and the total expense was �896,000. In 1726, the customhouse was removed from Carlingford to Newry: the amount of the first year's customs paid here was only �1069. 12., and there were then but four trading barks belonging to the port; the gross amount of customs' duties for 1836 was �58,806. 2. 6. About 1758, a very considerable trade was carried on with the West India islands, and although at that time the vessels trading with foreign countries were prohibited from sailing direct to the Irish ports, being compelled to land their cargoes in some place in Great Britain, the Newry merchants succeeded in establishing a very lucrative traffic with the most celebrated commercial marts in other countries. This branch, however, was afterwards nearly lost by the competition of the superior capital of Great Britain, until it again revived after the restrictions were taken off the commerce of Ireland, in 1783. The port is very favourably situated for trade at the inner extremity of Carlingford bay, an arm of the sea extending nine miles south-east, and two miles in breadth at its mouth between Cooley point, in the county of Louth, and Cranfield point, in that of Down. Vessels of the greatest draught can come up to Warren point, within five miles of the town, where they can ride in from 6 to 8 fathoms of water in all states of the tide in perfect security. Proceedings are also in progress by D. Logan, Esq., in pursuance of a plan recommended by Sir John Rennie, for deepening and securing the channel from Narrow water, and scouring it by a steam dredge and other means calculated to facilitate the admission of vessels of a larger class than those which at present come up to the quays: the total expense of these improvements has been estimated at �90,000. The despatch of business is also facilitated by the construction of a line of quays on the eastern bank of the canal, bordered by stores and warehouses, at which vessels can unload: farther north are basins or floating docks, where boats navigating the canal can take in and discharge their cargoes. The custom-house, a neat and commodious building, is situated on the quay, in a position well adapted for business, and has extensive yards and stores for bonding goods adjoining it.

The most important branch of the commerce is the cross-channel trade, which has increased to a great magnitude since the introduction of steam navigation. The principal exports in this department are linen cloth, grain, live stock, butter, and eggs. In 1834 there were exported to Liverpool, of linen cloth, 4965 boxes; butter, 92,000 firkins; wheat, 4166 tons; barley, 6698 tons; oats, 38,000 tons; flour, 9163 tons; oatmeal, 18,654 tons; flax, 868 tons; eggs, 4688 crates; oysters, 482 hogsheads; horned cattle, 7115; pigs, 65,493; and horses, 498; besides which, large consignments of most of these articles were made to the Clyde. The principal imports in the same trade are tea, sugar, iron, salt, British hardware and soft goods, and general merchandise. Three steamers are employed in the Liverpool trade, and two in that with Glasgow; a steamer also trades regularly to Dublin. The average time of the passage to Liverpool is 16 hours; to Glasgow, 14; and to Dublin 12. The chief branch of foreign trade is with the United States and British North America. The chief exports are linen cloth, blue, starch and whiskey; the imports, timber, staves, tobacco, ashes, flax, and clover seed. The Baltic trade consists of the importation of timber, tallow, ashes, flax, and hemp: hides and tallow are imported from Odessa; mats, tar, pitch, flax and flax seed from Archangel; and wine, fruit, oil, lime juice, brimstone and barilla from the Mediterranean. The number of vessels belonging to the port is inadequate to the extent of its commerce, a great portion of which is carried on in vessels of other countries: the Baltic trade is carried on exclusively in foreign bottoms; the United States' trade in American vessels, the trade to British America and Russia in British ships, and the coal trade chiefly in Whitehaven vessels. The market day, under the patent, is Thursday, but a market is held on Tuesday for grain, and on Saturday for meat. The principal market-house is near the site of Bagnal's castle; there are also separate markets for butchers' meat, meal, potatoes, grain and hides, and two for linen yarn. Fairs are held on April 3rd and Oct. 29th.

The present flourishing state of Newry was supposedly attributed originally to the favour shewn by Edw. VI. to Marshal Bagnal, to whom the abbey and surrounding territory were granted, LOL, with in weeks of getting them as a gift, he was trying to flog them, so much for the flourshing of Newry, say no more, its said he was a bit of a skin flint and the truth be known he was.   However he got the whole town of Newry handed to him on a plate, would I love a look at the deeds, any lineage, OF COURSE THESE CANT BE SOURCED, NO SUCH THINGS, BUT PLENTY OF MADE UP ONES SINCE. ? ha, he also got very extensive privileges, in consequence of his services in Ulster, (a killing machine, great swords man apparently. These privilages were continued to him by Jas. I., vesting the ecclesiastical and municipal authority in the proprietor, who, by virtue of these grants, appointed the vicar general, seneschal, and other inferior officers. A charter of the 10th of Jas. I. (1612) made the town a free borough, by the name of "the provost, free burgesses, and commonalty of the borough of Newry," granting the provost and 12 free burgesses the power of sending two members to parliament, and making the provost judge of a court of record, to be held weekly on Mondays, with jurisdiction to the amount of five marks. A charter granted by Jas. II., in 1688, is not considered to be of any validity. A grant of Jas. I., in 1613, & then to Arthur Bagnal, empowered a court to be held before the seneschal of the manor, for pleas to the amount of 100 marks: the jurisdiction of this court extends over the borough, and a number of other townlands in Down and Armagh, comprehending 9664 acres in the former, and 11,434 acres in the latter, of these counties. You could graze a sheep or two in that lot, and Nicholas was trying to sell it all for about a grand, didnt the Currans slip up, big time, lol. The court was held every third Wednesday: ( no not out the Belfast road), it wasnt there at the time, all under water !! the seneschal limits his jurisdiction by civil bill to �10; he also holds a court leet, once or twice in the year, at which constables are appointed.    All the provisions of the act of the 9th of Geo. IV., c. 82, for watching, lighting, cleansing, paving and improving towns were introduced here shortly after the enactment of that statute: the number of commissioners was fixed at 21.

The police of the borough is principally attended to by the constabulary forces of the counties of Down and Armagh: the leading streets are kept in repair by county presentments. These arrangements have tended much to the improvement of the neatness, cleanliness, and good order of the town: the expenditure is defrayed by a local tax, amounting to about �1150 annually.   The elective franchise, conferred by Jas. I., was altered at the Union, when the representation of the borough was limited to a single member, which continues to be the present arrangement.   It was a scot and lot borough, but the right of election is now vested in the �10 and certain of the �5 householders; the privilege of the latter cannot be perpetuated, but expires with the lives of the few remaining electors of this class, or with their removal from the premises occupied at the period of the general registration: the seneschal of the manor is the returning officer. DO YER HEAD IN ALL THAT STUFF ,IF YOU COULD UNDERSTAND THE HALF OF IT.    The borough includes within its limits a large rural district, comprehending 2500 statute acres, the precise limits of which are detailed in the Appendix. The general quarter sessions for the county of Down are held here alternately with Downpatrick; and and those for the Markethill division of the county of Armagh, in Ballybot. Petty sessions are held every Friday. The court-house, built by subscription for a market-house, and converted to its present purpose in 1805, is an unsightly old building in an inconvenient situation. There is a bridewell for the temporary confinement of prisoners until they can be sent to the county prison at Downpatrick.

The parish comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 22,491 statute acres, of which 9685 are in Oneilland West, and 450l 3/4 in Lower Orior; the remainder constitutes the lordship, in which is included a small isolated portion, locally in the barony of Upper Iveagh: about 489 acres are covered with water, and about 260 are bog; the remainder is mostly arable, under an excellent system of agriculture, with some rocky mountain. Though the site of the town is low, as compared with the surrounding country, the climate is pure and salubrious, and the prospects in most parts beautiful and picturesque. The river on which it is built, anciently called the Clanrye, but afterwards the Newry water, flows, after quitting the town, in a south-eastern direction through a highly cultivated tract of rising grounds, well planted and studded with numerous villas and seats, into Carlingford bay, which is bounded on each side by the mountains of Rosstrevor and Fathom: the mountain of Altnaveagh, in the lordship, affords excellent pasturage, and much of it is cultivated; but the greater part of the Fathom range is sterile. The geological features of the district are very striking; it forms the western boundary of the granitic range in this part of Ireland; and granite, sienite, and porphyry are found in it in all their varieties. The old town is almost exclusively built of porphyry; the new of granite. Whyn dykes, in which beautiful specimens of zeolite are frequently found imbedded, penetrate the granite in several directions; in some places layers of quartz are interposed between the strata. Oxyde of manganese is of frequent occurrence; clay-slate, with mica extensively disseminated through it, appears on the Armagh side; and schist to the north of the town. In the townland of Creeve many springs burst out of the granite and quartz rocks, in the streams of which is found a metallic residuum in large quantities, resembling copper, which mixes with the sand and is very heavy; near the toll-gate on the Belfast road is a vein of the newly discovered mineral, trephine; and a still greater body of it was discovered, in 1835, near Mount Kearney. To the north of the town, on the Belfast road, is a very copious chalybeate spring, highly beneficial in scorbutic cases. The principal seats in the vicinity of the town all of which are embellished with rich and flourishing plantations, are Fathom, the residence of -- Benson, Esq.; Greenpark, of -- Thompson, Esq.; Derramore, of -- Smith, Esq.; Drumbanagher Castle, of Lieut.-Col. Maxwell Close; Drummantine, of -- Ennis, Esq.; and Narrow-water, of Roger Hall, Esq.

The peculiarities of the ecclesiastical arrangements of the lordship proceed from its connection with the monastery already noticed, which, after having risen to a great height of prosperity by the fostering care of many successive kings, underwent the fate of all the other monastic institutions during the reign of Hen. VIII. After the dissolution it was converted into a collegiate church for secular priests, which having soon fallen to decay, the abbey, with all its possessions, was granted by Edw. VI. to Sir Nicholas Bagnal, in as free, full and ample manner as it had been enjoyed by any abbot. Hence, the episcopal jurisdiction previously exercised by its clerical head devolved at once upon its new proprietor, whose representative, the Earl of Kilmorey, exercises it to its fullest extent, as lay abbot; appointing spiritual officers, holding ecclesiastical courts, granting probates of wills and licences of marriage, and performing every other episcopal act with as plenary power as any bishop, being subject only to the Lord-Primate, as metropolitan. The living is a donative, in the patronage of the Earl of Kilmorey, as lay abbot, who, as such, possesses the whole tithes; yet in the royal visitation book of 1615 it is stated, that Nova Ripa, alias Nieu Rie, is among the parishes under the jurisdiction of the see of Dromore.

It is said that St. Patrick's church,was built by Sir Nicholas Bagnal in 1578, asked your self why up there, on that spot, simple because he found the old ruins of Newrys first Abbey,& restored them, these the foundation of St Pats, which were also restored by St Malachy,before Bagenal came along, or so it is said, and it is also so said that It is the first Protestant church ever to be built In Ireland,not quite true when all is said and done, today it is now deemed to be the second protestant church In Ireland, because it was burnt in the civil wars, and restored after the Revolution,& so takes on a new date of being built, however try thinking as to why Bagenal picked this spot and ask your self would such a man build such a place out of his own pocket, he wouldnt spend christmas from what I read about him and he was allways out to make a buck the easy way by forgeing etc, & also he was allways trying to beg and borrow from the crown, not a likely boyo to be building churches if you ask me, and again look at where he built it, surley not the best choice for a man living as far away as Newcastle,(his favourite place of residence), strange choice if you ask me.   Any way It was originally the parochial church; but, in 1811, being much dilapidated and too small for the increasing congregation, an act was obtained under the provisions of which a new church was built on an enlarged scale and on a new site, to be henceforth the parish church of St. Mary's, Newry.

This church, built in the Gothic style, with a tower and spire 190 feet high, was finished in 1819, at a cost of �12,566. 15. 4 1/2., British currency, exclusively of �2469. 4. 7 1/2 expended in the purchase of the site, and in obtaining two acts of parliament. The funds for liquidating this charge arose from a bequest of �3138. 9. 2 3/4. from the late W. Needham, Esq., lord of the manor; a bequest of �1346. 15. 4 1/2. from Sir Trevor Corry; a donation of �923. 1. 6 1/2. from the Earl of Kilmorey, a donation of �461. 10. 9 1/2. from Gen. Needham; �2520 raised by the sale of the pews, and �6646. 3. 1. by parochial assessment; it is endowed with �300 per ann., payable by the lay abbot in lieu of tithe.   In 1829, the old church of St. Patrick was repaired and fitted up as a chapel of ease: the living is a chaplaincy or donative, in the gift of the Earl of Kilmorey, who endowed it with �100 per ann., subject to the peculiar jurisdiction of the vicar-general of Newry.   In the R. C. arrangements the parish is the head of the diocese of Dromore, being the bishop's parish or mensal, and is co-extensive with that of the Established Church; containing three chapels, two in the town and one at Shinn, 4 miles distant, which are attended by the same number of curates.   It is of note that the Chapel of the Abbey In Castle street is left out, not a mention, and it the most massive building In the old town, that is the great church of Newry, and this had with in its confines the peoples Chapel which was at the top of William street where Annie Dowdals pub was, this ordinary person chapel can be seen stretching out into the Abbey yard In all the early Newry maps, but no mention of the same, in any local history books, a bit sad but typical of the times when little about Abbey mentions were allowed. .   The other old R. C. chapel, a well-built but plain structure, with three galleries and a spacious cemetery attached to it, was erected in 1789, this up chapel street, where a small building from the Abbey was utilised, and it was here that all the remains of the graveyard of the chapel in castle street were removed to, when The area at William street was dug up, at which time the Abbey chapel got knocked down leaving alone the two building's which were formely known as the dutch houses, these were infact Cistercian designed and part of the abeyy & built in 1450 to house the over flow of monks that were comming in droves from everywhere. However the Chapel was found too small for the accommodation of the numbers that attended it.

A new chapel was erected in the low ground, in the pointed Gothic style, 120 feet long, 74 broad, and 46 feet high to the ceiling. The facade consists of a centre and two wings, with a deeply receding doorway, and is highly ornamented. The interior consists of a nave and two side aisles detached by rows of moulded granite pillars, supporting lofty pointed arches, over which are the clerestory windows by which the centre is lighted: the great altar is surmounted by a large window of three lights.   This chapel is considered to be the diocesan chapel of the Bishop of Dromore, who resides at Violet Hill, to the north of Newry, where there was formerly a house of lay friars, which has been transferred to the town; in which also is a seminary for preparing the youth of the Catholic church for Maynooth college.

A convent of the order of St. Clare was removed hither from Dublin, in 1830: the house, with its appendages, was presented to the community by the Rev. J. Gilmer, of Rosstrevor, since which time the nuns have built a large and handsome chapel in the Gothic style, and also a school-house for the education of female children, which receives aid from the Board of National Education. There are in the town a congregation of Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, of the second class, who have a large and elegant meeting-house; one in connection with the Remonstrant Synod, and one with the Seceding Synod, both of the first class; also places of worship for Independents, Primitive and Independent Wesleyan Methodists, and Kellyites. Three schools in the lordship, connected with the Board of National Education, are situated in Newry and at Grinane; there are four in connection with the London Hibernian Society, one of which, founded in 1825, is built on an acre of land given by the Marquess of Downshire; and another, in Ballybot, on land given by Lord Kilmorey. Other schools have been aided by donations from the Marquess of Anglesey, the late Rob. Martin, Esq., who left a bequest of �7 per ann., and J. Dickinson, Esq., who left one of �8 per ann., for their endowment.    About 880 boys and 960 girls are educated in these schools: there is also a private school, which affords instruction to about 50 boys and 20 girls. No mention here of the Convent which Bagenal got handed to him and which is mentioned In the state papers as being part of all Bagenal got handed to him. Again this is typical of local history stuff, where in most people that wrote them were not intrested in Abbeys or Convents because of the obvious.

The Mendicity Association was established in 1820, and is now merged in the workhouse: it is supported by subscriptions and bequests, among which is one of the late Wm. Needham, Esq., who, in 1806, bequeathed �50 per ann. for 50 years to the poor of the parish. A bequest of �30 per ann. by the late W. Ogle, Esq., to the poor is given in equal shares to the vicar, the parish priest, and the Unitarian minister, for the paupers of their respective congregations. The interest of �2000, bequeathed by Sir Trevor Corry, is distributed by his nephews, Trevor and Smithson Corry, Esqrs., among poor housekeepers. There are six almshouses, erected at the expense of the Rev. J. Pullayn, vicar-general, without any endowment attached to them; the inmates are appointed by the vicar of Newry. Among the more remarkable relics of antiquity may be noticed a large and perfect rath, about l 1/2 mile from the town, on the Rathfriland road, called Crown Rath. It is an earthwork, 112 feet high, nearly circular at the base, which measures 585 feet in circumference, with a flat top of oblong form, and is surrounded by a fosse 20 feet broad and 10 deep. On the south side of the fosse is a square platform, surrounded with an intrenchment, the glacis of which declines towards the old ford of the river. Many other remains of forts and many cromlechs are to be found in various parts. Newry is said to have been the birthplace of Jarlath MacTrien, who was prior of Armagh in 465; also of Dr. Parry, who was raised to the bishoprick of Killaloe in 1647. It gives the inferior title of Viscount to the Earl of Kilmorey