| GLENAVY, or LYNAVY, a post-town and parish, in the barony of UPPER MASSAREENE, county of ANTRIM, and province of ULSTER, 7- miles (S.) from Lurgan, on the road to Antrim ; containing 3390 inhabitants, of which number, 399 are in the town. According to the Ordnance survey it comprises 16,786 statute acres, 9219- of which are in Lough Neagh and 342- in Lough Portmore. The soil is well cultivated, and there is very little waste land or bog ; there is some basalt. The town contains 68 houses, and is divided into two equal parts by the river Glenavy. It has four quarterly fairs, principally for horned cattle and pigs. Here is a large cotton-mill, and much flax is spun and woven in the cottages. At Glenconway is an extensive bleach-green. From its situation on Lough Neagh, this parish has a communication by water with Belfast and Newry, The principal seats are Goremount, the residence of Mrs. Gore ; Ballyminimore, of W. Oakman, Esq. ; and Glenconway, of Mrs. Dickson. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Connor, united to the vicarages of Camlin and Tullyrusk, and in the patronage of the Marquess of Hertford, who is impropriator of the rectory and proprietor of the parish : the tithes amount to £221. 19. 4., of which £172. 17. 4. is payable to the vicar, and £49. 2. 2. to the impropriator ; and the gross value of the benefice is £380 per annum. The glebe-house, in the parish of Camlin, was built in 1819, on a site given by the Marquess of Hertford, at an expense of £1072, of which £500 was a loan and £300 a gift from the late Board of First Fruits. The church was rebuilt in 1814 ; it is a handsome edifice with a square tower, for the erection of which the Marquess of Hertford subscribed £100 and the late Board gave £200 and lent £250. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also Camlin, and Killead, and containing two chapels, one of which is a large building near Glenavy. There is also a place of worship for Primitive Methodists. There are schools at Ballynacoy, Crew, Fourscore Ballyvanen, and Old Park. On Ram's island, in Lough Neagh, are the remains of a round tower ; and in the parish are several raths and tumuli. From Crew hill a fine view is obtained of Lough Neagh and of parts of six counties, with several towns and seats. |
| RAM'S ISLAND, in the parish of GLENAVY, barony of UPPER MASSEREENE, county of ANTRIM, and province of ULSTER ; the population is returned with the parish. This small island, which is situated about two miles from the eastern shore of Lough Neagh, comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 6a. 3r. 23p. : it is partially planted with fruit trees and otherwise improved and ornamented, and with the remains of its ancient round tower forms an interesting object from the shores of the lake. The tower, of which 43 feet still remain, is divided into three stories, and has an entrance on the south-west nearly level with the ground ; in the second story is a window facing the south-east, and in the third is another facing the north. About 5? feet from the ground are the remains of some letters or characters cut on the stones in the interior, but so obliterated by time as to be now illegible. |
