Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/789

Rh DONCASTER. 779 DONEGAL. if Doncaster, the tnshps. of Balby-with-Hexthorp, Lang- hwaite-with-Tilts, and Long Sandul-with-Wheatley. By the Romans this town was called Danutn, and after- vards successively changed into Caer Satin, Donacer- eii, and Doiicastre or J)oiica,itle. It was burnt by ightning in 759, and was ono of the manors given by
 * e Conqueror to Robert do Mortaigne. The borough

vas first incorporated by Richard I. Under the new Act it s governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors, lected by tho three wards east, west, and north into vliicli the borough is divided. There is no borough rate, he expenses of watching, lighting, drainage, paving, nd county rates, being defrayed out of the corporate and, which is under the control of the town council, ' act as a local board of health. The town may e de.-ii-ril>ed generally as well laid out. The streets are, IT the most part straight, broad, well paved, and lighted dth gas. During the past ten years the character and ice of the town have been completely changed . i st improvements and great increase of building, wing chiefly to the opening of the several lines of rail- i:ch have brought it into connection with the icn coal and iron fields of South Yorkshire, and the orts of Great Grimsby and Liverpool. The Great .'orthern railway has also an extensive plant, employing ear 1,500 skilled mechanics, who inhabit a separate ubiirb of tho town, numbering, with their families, ir 4,000 persons. The town has increased from ,583 houses in 1851, inhabited bv 12,052 persons, to . V.'l houses in 1861, inhabited by 16,406 persons. The rinripal public buildings are the mansion house, situ- ted in the centre of the town, the residence of the chief lagistrate; the townhall; the covered corn and wool the market hall, erected on the site of the icient townhall, a spacious building with a roof of iron : is used by the butchers, poulterers, &c. ; the union i', in Hexthorpe-lane, embracing 54 townships ; mar, the Christ Church, National, the British, teat Northern, Plant, and ragged schools ; the Deaf and !umb Institution ; St. James's Hospital and St. Thomas's (capital, and the borough gaol. Tho living is a vie.* in le dice, of York, val. with the cur. of St. James an- txed, 315, in the patron, of tho Archbishop oi York. he new church is a magnificent building by G. G. >'t. It is built after the manner oi the ancient church urge, which was destroyed by fire in 1853, and lates about 1,400 people. The church of St. rected in 1858, chiefly through tho exertions of dinund Denison, Esq., late M.P. for the West Riding, an admirable piece of architecture, with a spire 120 feet ,gh. The general design was given by E. B. Denison, pq. (Q.C.), who, at his own expense, has recently re- lilt tho spire. There are also the following district lurches : Christ Church, a perpet. cur.,* val. 300, in the ttron. of G. J. Jarratt, Esq. ; Balby-with-Hexthorpe, a ipat. ,-.ir., val. 150, in the patron, of the Rev. R, J. inks; andLoversall,aperpet. cur., val. 51, in the patron. the Vicar of Doncaster. There is a large and elegant iapel for the Wesleyans in Priory-place ; one for the .dependents in Hall-gate, which has been recently novated ; and also places of worship for the Unitarians, oman Catholics, Primitive Methodists, Quakers, and .iptists. The 3rd West York militia have their depot Doncaster. Here are various charities and alms- , in. Jarratt's Charity, founded by John Jarratt, sq., of Doncaster ; Quintin Kay's Charity, of 300 per
 * mum ; those of Martin, Copley, Elston, Saunders, &c.

he Stocks's almshouses are on the road from Doncaster Wheatley. The gift of the charity is in the hands of e nmvir and vicar for the time being. The cemetery as opened in 1856; two- thirds are set apart for tho lerment of members of the Church, and one-third jr Dissenters. The chief attraction of Doncaster are its eptember races. The St. Leger is run for on a Wednes- ly, and brings thousands of visitors from all parts of o country. The course is circular and nearly flat, about mile, 7 furlongs, and 70 yards long. The chief manu- ctures of the town are flax and hemp, canvas and eking. There are several iron and brass foundries, and also breweries and malting establishments. Among tho seats of the nobility and gentry may be mentioned Sand- beck Park, the seat of the Earl of Scarborough ; Sprot- boro', of Sir J. Copley; Wheatley Hall, of Sir W. Cooke ; Hickleton,, of Sir C. Wood ; Cantley, of Mr. Childers ; Campsmount, of Mr. Yarborough ; O wston, of Mr. Cooke, &c. Coins, urns, and other Roman remains have been dug up in various parts of the town and neighbourhood. Market day is Saturday, and a cattle market every alter- nate Tuesday. There are four annual fairs. DONCASTER BRIDGE, a hmlt. in the par. of Sprot- brough, wap. of Straft'orth, in the West Riding of the co. of York, 2 miles S.W. of Doncaster. DONCASTER BRIDGE-END, a hmlt. in the par. of Bentley, wap. of Stranbrth, in the West Riding of the co. of York, 2 miles N. of Doncaster. DONCASTER SOKE, in the West Riding of the co. of York, includes the pars, of Loversall and Rossington, with parts of Doncaster and Finningley, all within the jurisdiction of Doncaster. DONEGAL, a maritime co. of Ireland, in the prov. of Ulster. It is bounded on the N. and W. by tho Atlantic Ocean, on the E. by Lough Foyle, Londonderry, and Tyrone, and on the S. by Tyrone, Fermanagh, and Leitrim. It lies between 54 28' and 55 20' N. lat., and 6 48' and 8" 40' W. long., comprising a surface of 1,865 square miles, or 1,193,443 acres, of which 393,191 are under cultivation, 769,587 uncultivated, bog, moun- tain, &c., 7,079 in plantations, 23,107 water, &c.,and the remaining 479 occupied by towns. The greatest length is from N.E. to S.W., 85 miles ; the greatest breadth, S.E. to N.W., 41 miles. In the time of Ptolemy, Donegal was inhabited by the two tribes of Venicnii and Rhoboydii. It subsequently formed part of the district of Eircael, or Eargal, and was the seat of the sept of the O'Donells, who were descended from Conal Golban, son of Nial of the Nine Hostages. From him the county was named Tyr-Conall, until the plantation of Ulster by James I. in Hi 12. There were several other septs in Tyrconnel sub- ject to the O'Donells, and descended from the common ancestor, Conal Golban. The chief of these were the O'Dohertys, O'Boyles, O'Donaghs, O'Gallaghers, O'Clerys, MacWards, and MacSuibhne, or Sweeneys. In the early part of the 15th century, Nial Garbb, the chief of the sept, was engaged in war with the English, which terminated in his capture and death. The district was erected into a county under its present name in 1584, and Hugh Roe O'Donell, then chieftain, was entrapped by Sir John Perrot, and detained as a hostage for the peaceable behaviour of his sept. Alter three years' confinement he escaped, and devised a plan for a rebellion in concert with Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, in whose favour he compelled Tirlogh Luineagh O'Neil to resign the title of O'Neil. An English force was sent against them in 1592, and the convent of Donegal and a few castles were seized, but soon recovered by the Irish. In company with Tyrone, O'Donell was present at the battle of Blackwater, and Maguire and O'Rourke, two of his partisans, defeated Sir Conyers Clifford in a pass of the Carlow mountains. This encouraged him to make an expedition into Thomond and other parts more immediately under English rule, but in his absence Sir Henry Docura, Governor of Loch Foyle, landed in Innishowen, and took the castles of Culmore, Derry, and Dunnalong, and soon afterwards that of Donegal also. At this time O'Donell's cousin, Nial Gaw O'Donell, and his brothers, were persuaded to join tho English and to give up the town of Lifibrd, when Docura set up Nial in his place as chief. In 1601 Tyrone and O'Donell marched to the relief of the Spanish forces sent to their assistance by Philip III., who were blockaded at Kinsale. Here they were to- tally defeated, and O'Donell in consequence sailed to Spain, to solicit further aid in men and money, but after spending a year and a half to no purpose, died at Valladolid. He was the last chief acknowledged by the whole sept as " The O'Donell." As Nial Gaw did not prove so subservient to the English as was thought desirable, Rory O'Donell was promoted to the chieftain- =