DROMARD

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

"DROMARD, a parish in the barony of Tireragh, in the county of Sligo, province of Connaught, Ireland, 2 miles N.W. of Collooney, its post town. It is situated on the road from Sligo to Ballina, near Ardnaglass Harbour. The living is a rectory and vicarage in the diocese of Killala, value £232, in the patronage of the bishop. The church was built by an ancestor of Colonel Irwin, and was enlarged in 1818. There are two Roman Catholic chapels (one out of nee), a day-school connected with the Erasmus Smith charity, and a National school. Longford Castle was the point of two unsuccessful attacks by Major Vaughan, temp. William III., and in the vicinity human bones and other relics are frequently brought to the surface. Dromard was taken by Cromwell, who burnt the old town of Tanragoe. The residences of note are Tanragoe, the seat of Col. Irwin, and Longford House, of Sir J. Crofton. Near St. Patrick's Well stand the ruins of the old church; there are also church ruins in the vicinity of the Ballinlay river. An excellent kind of granite is quarried here, as is also limestone."

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