RAHARROW, or RAHARA, a parish, in the barony of ATHLONE, county of ROSCOMMON, and province of CONNAUGHT, 9 miles (N. W.) from Athlone, on the roads from that place to Athleague and Roscommon; containing 1630 inhabitants.
It comprises 4741 statute acres of tolerably good land, chiefly in tillage, and there is a small portion of bog; the state of agriculture is improving.
Limestone is found in the parish, and within its limits is Lough Funcheon, more commonly called Ballagh Lough from a hamlet of that name at its northern extremity: it is the largest sheet of water in the barony, extending two miles in length and containing some islands, besides a large promontory, which is occasionally insulated; the lough is bounded on the northeast by hills, but its borders are elsewhere fiat and marshy, and it has, on the whole, a bleak appearance.
The seats are
- Loughfield, the residence of P. Sproules, Esq., and
- Rahara, of Alex. Sproules, Esq.
Petty sessions are held once a fortnight at the Four Roads.
It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Elphin, forming part of the union of Killenvoy: the rectory is impropriate in the Incorporated Society.
The tithes amount to £124. 5. 9., of which £66. 5. 9. is payable to the vicar, and the remainder to the impropriators; and there is a glebe of 10 acres, let for £10. 1. 3. per annum.
In the R. C. divisions, it is part of the union or district of St. John's and contains a chapel.
About 70 children are educated in a private school.
SOURCE: A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel Lewis (pub 1837)
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