Adamstown or Marnerin, a parish, in the union of New Ross, barony of Bantry, county of Wexford, and province of Leinster, 6 miles (E.) from New Ross, on the road from that place, by way of Old Ross, to Enniscorthy ; containing 2037 inhabitants. It comprises 8 133 3/4 statute acres ! the surface is diversified with gentle elevations ; the rounded top of Carrigmoistha, on the north, contrasting strikingly with
the rocky summits of Carrigburne, in the adjoining parish of Newbawn, on the south. The soil, which is
in general light, and not well adapted for meadow or pasture, is chiefly under tillage; the principal manure
is limestone, brought from New Ross ; and the system of agriculture has of late years been improving gradually.
The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Ferns, to which the parish of Newbawn has been united from
time immemorial, together constituting the corps of the archdeaconry of Ferns, in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithe rent-charge of the parish is £307. 19. 9-, and of the entire benefice £578. 3. 3. There are two glebes, containing together 14 3/4 acres. Of these, the original glebe, at the Cross of Adamstown, contains, with the adjoining burial-ground, 5 acres ; and the modern glebe, at Templeshelien, 9} acres, held by lease under the Earl of Rathdowne, the principal landholder in the parish. On the latter are situated the church, glebe-house, and school. The church, towards whose erection the late Board of First Fruits gave £500, in 1805, and the Earl of Rathdowne £100, is a neat edifice with a square embattled tower, and was repaired, in 1836, by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, at an expense of £252. The glebe-house is a plain square building, erected by Archdeacon Barton in 1803, at a cost of £2200, towards which the Board gave £100. The school-house was built at the joint expense of the Earl of Rathdowne and Archdeacon Barton, the former of whom endowed it with £6 per annum, being the rent paid for the modern glebe. The parish is part of the Roman Catholic union or district of Newbawn ; the chapel is a spacious and sightly edifice.
The Cross of Adamstown, where is a police station, is a small village which probably derives its name from
the proximity of a large and rude atone cross, which stands in the original burial-ground there, and is sup-
posed to be of great antiquity. Near this are the ruins of an ancient castle, built by Sir Nicholas Devereux
and his wife Katrine Power, as appears from a curious Latin inscription, in black letter, on a stone tablet
found in the castle, but now inserted, with a view to its preservation, in an inner wall of a neighbouring
farmhouse. The date is obliterated, but Sir Nicholas was joined in commission, for the administration of
martial law, with Lord Mountgarret, in 1558. The castle formerly consisted of a square tower, surrounded
by a high quadrangular wall flanked with turrets at the angles , the centre tower alone remains. In the townland of Oldcourt are the remains of a rude fortification of considerable extent, called the Rathmore. There are also several small raths in the parish, of which the number is diminishing; of those that exist, two are remarkable from their not being of the usual circular form, but having four aides.
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