Lismore

Lismore, a town on the Blackwater, in Ireland, in the two counties of Cork and Waterford, and 43 miles SW. of Waterford city. The cathedral, the parish church since the see was united to Cashel, was rebuilt in 1663, on the site of a monastery founded before 540, and a celebrated school of learning from 635 till its destruction by the Danes in 833. The castle, originally founded by John Lackland in 1185, was the residence of the bishops till the 16th century. In 1587 it was given to Sir W. Raleigh, who sold it to the 'great' Earl of Cork, and in it his son, Robert Boyle (q.v.), was born. It was twice besieged during the Great Rebellion, and on the second occasion (1645) it yielded to the parliamentary forces. In 1753 it passed to the Duke of Devonshire. Lismore returned two members from Charles I.'s reign to the Union. Pop. 1660.