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FIDDOWN

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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

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

"FIDDOWN, a parish in the baronies of Knocktopher and Iverk, county Kilkenny, province of Leinster, Ireland. It is a station on the Waterford and Limerick railway. Piltown, in the Iverk section of the parish, is its post town. The river Suir describes its southern boundary and the Leccaun its western. The surface is hilly, but very fertile. The living is a rectory in the dioc, of Ossory, value with three others, £830, in the patronage of the bishop. The church, an ancient building, stands in the village, and occupies the site of an abbey, over which St. Maidoc is alleged to have presided in 590; it contains handsome monuments to the Ponsonby family. Here are two Roman Catholic and one Protestant Sunday-school, besides nine day schools in the union. Bessborough and Belline are the principal residences. A neat stone bridge crosses the Leccaun. The Suir is navigable throughout the parish, and filled with salmon and trout. Dowling Bog covers 200 acres, and yields peat of the best quality. There are numerous ruins of churches, Danish works, and cromlechs in the parish. Lime and sandstone are extensively quarried, and a fine grey marble is obtained here. Fairs are held on the 25th April, 10th June, 29th September, and 30th November."

"LECCAUN, a village in the parish of Fiddown, barony of Iverk, county Kilkenny, province of Leinster, Ireland, not far from Pilltown."

"PILLTOWN, a post and market village and small seaport in the parish of Fiddown, in the barony of Iverk, county Kilkenny, province of Leinster, Ireland, 20 miles S.S.W. of Kilkenny, and 108 from Dublin. It is situated on the road from Waterford to Clonmel, at the junction of the small stream Pill with the river Suir. The town consists principally of modern buildings. In the vicinity is the demesne of Besborough, the seat of the Ponsonby family, to whom the place is indebted for many of its improvements. The village contains the parish of Fiddown, a Roman Catholic chapel, market house, and chief police station. There is also a quay and a dockyard. A considerable coasting trade is carried on. The dispensary here is within the Carrick-on-Suir poor-law union. A collection of Irish antiquities is in the possession of Mr. Antony."

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