TAGHMACONNELL, a parish, in the barony of ATHLONE, county of ROSCOMMON, and province of CONNAUGHT; 5 miles (N. E.) from Ballinasloe, on the road to Roscommon; containing 4418 inhabitants.
This parish comprises 12,229 ½ statute acres, of which 9912 are applotted under the tithe act. The land is badly cultivated, yet agriculture is improving; there is a considerable portion of bog, and limestone abounds. Castle-Sampson, a little village within the parish, is 5 miles (W.) from Athlone, and comprises 26 cabins and 130 inhabitants; it has a patent for fairs, which, however, are not held.
The gentlemen's seats are
- Fighill, the residence of R. Keogh, Esq.;
- Eskan, of W. Kelly, Esq.;
- Keoghvill, of Ross Keogh, Esq.; and
- Camla House, of E. Killikelly, Esq.
It is a rectory, in the diocese of Clonfert, partly appropriate to the bishoprick and deanery, and partly included in the union of Creagh; the tithes amount to £147. 13. 10., of which £36 is payable to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, £3. 13. 10 ½. to the dean, and the remainder to the incumbent; there is a glebe of 4 acres.
The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church, and contains a chapel.
There are three private schools, one of which is kept in a house built by the parishioners.
At Clonohill are the remains of an old abbey, and there are also the remains of the abbey of Taghmaconnell, and of a nunnery at Ballinnina.
Certain lands in the parish pay a rent, called "monastery money," to the crown for this nunnery.
Here are the ruins of several old castles formerly belonging to the Keogh family: also two upright stones, crossed by a third on the top, supposed to have been land-marks between the ancient proprietors of the land and the Keogh family.
