1900-1901.] 625 



REV. M. FAHY.— « ANTIQUARIAN AND NATURAL 

 HISTORY NOTES OF THE PARISH OF DUNEANE 

 AND BARONY OF TOOME." 



He stated that the Parish of Duneane is bounded on the 

 west by the River Bann, on the south by Lough Neagh, 

 it even extends into the Lough, including what is known as the 

 Three Islands. The Parish and Church are of very ancient 

 date, extending back to the bth century, if not earlier. The 

 places of interest are Duneane Church, Church Island and 

 Cranfield. The name Duneane is said to be a corruption of 

 Dun da Een — the fort of the two birds. Tradition has a legend 

 about the founding of the Church by St. Patrick, but this 

 honour is also divided between two others — St. Erenach and 

 St. Brigid. The Church of Duneane is small, measuring 54 

 feet by 26. The oldest portion is the east gable which is not 

 less than 500 years old. The Parish of Duneane consisted 

 originally of four townlands, or. as thev are called, the four 

 towns. Previous to the Dissolution these belonged to the 

 Abbey of Kells. 



Toome Castle was built by De Courcy to command the 

 celebrated pass of the Bann, over which the different septs in 

 Antrim and Derry passed on marauding expeditions, or for 

 purposes of retaliation. Not long ago the haunt of a great 

 maurauder, supposed to be Arte Oge O'Neill, was found in 

 Aghaloughan Bog, about three miles east of Duneane Church. 

 The place was constructed of strong piles of oak driven into 

 the ground. During drainage operations objects were dug up. 

 The lecturer dealt in considerable detail with the history of 

 Toome Castle, of which the last record was that in 1783 the 

 ruins of the Castle were taken to build the bridge by Lord 

 O'Neill. 



Raths and souterrains were then dealt with, after which the 

 lecturer proceeded to describe the natural history of the locality 

 in an interesting manner. 



