Inch

INCH, a parish, in the barony of IMOKILLY, county of CORK, and province of MUNSTER 5 miles (S. by W.) from Cloyne, on the road to Poer Head; containing 1854 inhabitants. It comprises 3761 statute acres, about two-thirds of which are under tillage, and the remainder in pasture: the soil, which rests on clayslate, is light and indifferently cultivated. The seats are Castle Mary, the residence of the Rev. R. Longfield, standing in an extensive and well-wooded demesne; Woodview, of the Rev. J. P. Lawless; and the very pretty residence of Mr. Fitzgerald, proprietor of the extensive limestone quarries at Carrigacrump. These quarries supplied stone for the works on Hawlbowling and Spike Islands and the martello towers near Cove; also for the court-house, quays, and custom-house of Cork. The coast around Poer Head, which is a coast-guard station, is very bold, and is composed of schistose rocks with thin layers of argillaceous grit intermingled.

The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Cloyne, and in the gift of the Crown: prior to 1835 it formed part of the union of Aghada, which was held in commendam by the bishops of Cloyne. The tithes amount to £524. 8. There is no glebe-house; the glebe comprises 10 acres. The church was erected by aid of a gift of £600 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1831. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Aghada. The male and female parochial schools were erected by Bishop Brinkley, in 1828; and there is a school in connection with the National Board.

In Castle Mary demesne are the remains of a cromlech; and near Poer Head, on the top of the cliff, are the extensive ruins of a fortress, erected by order of Queen Elizabeth in 1595, but destroyed by the Earl of Desmond soon after, when the garrison was either put to the sword or thrown over the cliff.

from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837.