•  Whitechurch, County Cork

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In 1837, Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland described Whitechurch like this:

WHITECHURCH, or TEMPLEGALL, a parish, partly in the baronies of FERMOY and EAST MUSKERRY, county of CORK, but chiefly in the county of the city of CORK, province of MUNSTER, 5 miles (N. W.) from Cork, on the road to Limerick; containing 2856 inhabitants. This parish comprises 10,687 statute acres, of which 2512 are in the barony of Fermoy, 723 in that of East Muskerry, and 7143 in the north liberties of the city. ...

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The land is generally cold and the soil light, resting on a substratum of clay-slate: it is chiefly under tillage, but there are some large dairy farms; its proximity to the city affords the facility of procuring an abundant supply of manure, and from the spirited exertions of the Rev. Mr. Morgan and others the system of agriculture is rapidly advancing. A new line of road lately opened from Cork by the perseverance of A. Beale, Esq., proprietor of the Monard iron-works, has stimulated the farmers to clear their rocky grounds; and having established a trade with the city for flags and building-stone, they are deriving an immediate profit in preparing their waste land for future cultivation. This road was constructed at an expense of about £400, of which the Grand Jury gave £190, three gentlemen of the neighbourhood gave £25 each, and the remainder was defrayed by Mr. Beale. In a romantic glen on the western boundary of the parish are the Monard iron-works, an extensive manufactory for spades and shovels, to which is attached a dye - wood mill. A copous and powerful stream, which, after running for two or three miles in a line with the Mallow road, enters the glen, gives motion to the six water wheels of these works, which occupy three fine sites supplied by spacious ponds rising one above the other, the ironworks being attached to the first and second, and the dye-wood mill to the third fall; the glen is handsomely planted, and with the ponds, weirs; and buildings, presents a very picturesque and animated appearance. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Cloyne, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the tithes amount to £784. 12. 3 ¾. The church, rebuilt in 1800, is a spacious structure in the early English style, with a square tower surmounted by a low spire. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Garrycloyne, or Blarney: the chapel is a large and very neat edifice, and near it is a tower, erected in 1834 by the Rev. Mr. Horgan, in imitation of the ancient round towers peculiar to Ireland. The male and female parochial schools are wholly supported by the rector; and about a mile from the village is a large and handsome school-house, built in 1835, under the superintendence of the Rev. Mr. Horgan, P. P., and in connection with the new Board of Education. There are also some private schools and a Sunday school.

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