SKREEN, or SKRYNE, a barony in the county of Meath, Leinster.  It is bounded, on the northwest, by the barony of Lower Navan; on the north, by the barony of Upper Slane; on the east, by the baronies of Lower Duleek and Upper Duleek, and by the county of Dublin; on the south, by the baronies of Ratoath and Lower Deece; and on the west, by the baronies of Lower Deece and Lower Navan.  Its length, northward, is 9 1/2 miles; its extreme breadth is 7 3/4; and its area is 40,891 acres, 2 roods, 29 perches, of which 78 acres, 2 roods, 30 perches are in the river Boyne, which runs for 6 1/4 miles along the western and north western boundaries. The most conspicuous natural feature, as well as most interesting locality for antiquities and curious associations, is the hill of Tara.

“The soil of Skreen,” says Mr. Thompson, in his Statistical Survey of the County of Meath, published in 1802,

‘‘is, generally speaking, a deep rich earth upon a fine limestone gravel, and in some parts over marl, that inexhaustible mine of wealth to the farmer, which until of late years remained almost totally neglected.  The surface is uneven, and may be termed rather hilly.  The soil is not the best for barley, yet it throws up an uncommon quantity of fine rich feeding grass.  Those parts that are tilled give excellent crops of oats, bere, and in some places fine red wheat; but in general, it is more fit for the purposes of grazing than of tillage, and is considered for so much as the best feeding ground in the county.  Though the lands of Diamore, and its vicinity, are considered as capable of fattening quicker, yet taking the whole of the two baronies into our consideration, that of Skreen seems to take precedence of any other in the county.  Not quite two thirds of this barony are occupied in grazing and meadow.

In this barony, on part of the lands of Walterstown, the estate of Nathaniel Preston, Esq., of Swainstown, there are miners working a copper ore, which, from some specimens, is very rich in metallic particles.  The ore has an admixture of quartz, consisting of hexagonal prisms, many of which are nearly transparent, others opaque, and some of a brownish yellow.  This vein of copper ore runs from Walterstown in a northeast direction towards the Boyne, and has been worked with various success upon the estate of Sir Marcus Sommerville, Bart.; and on that of Gustavus Lambert, Esq., in Duleek barony, by miners, who, it is supposed, did not do justice to their employers; and hence, though the quality of the ore was found equal to any in Great Britain, and superior to many, yet from some fatality, ever attendant on the generality of works of this nature in Ireland, it has lain neglected, when perhaps immense treasures might be derived therefrom.”

The act 6 and 7 William IV., cap. 84, transferred the parishes of Brownstown and Kilmoon, containing, in 1841, a pop. of 1,060, from the barony of Upper Duleek to Skreen.  The barony of Skreen, as at present constituted, contains part of the parishes of Danestown and Trevet, and the whole of the parishes of Ardmulchan, Athlumney, Brownstown, Cushenstown, Dowdstown, Dunsany, Follistown, Kilcarn, Killeen, Kilmoon, Lismullen, Macetown, Monktown, Rathfeigh, Skreen, Staffordstown, Tara, Templekeeran, and Timcole.

The towns and chief villages are Factory, Little Furze, Skreen, Tara, and a small part of Navan. Pop., in 1831, 8,683; in 1841, 9,456. Houses 1,576. Families employed chiefly in agriculture, 1, 193; in manufactures and trade, 284; in other pursuits, 162. Families dependent chiefly on property and professions, 34; on the directing of labour, 475; on their own manual labour, 1,093; on means not specified, 37. Males at and above 5 years of age who could read and write, 1,579; who could read but not write, 75l ; who could neither read nor write, 1,837. Females at and above 5 years of age who could read and write, 812; who could read but not write, 1,038; who could neither read nor write, 2,411.

Skreen barony lies within the Poor-law union of Navan and Dunshaughlin. The total number of tenements valued is 1,345; and of these, 697 were valued under £5, 138, under £10, 92, under £15, 56, under £20, 43, under £25, 31, under £30, 45, under £40, 26, under £50, and 217, at and above £50. The annual value of the property rated is £41,124 9s. 7d.; and the sum levied under the grand warrant of summer 1841, was £1,132 16s. 9d.

SKREEN, or SKRYNE, a parish, containing a village of the same name, in the barony of Skreen, co. Meath, Leinster.  Length, south westward, 3 1/2 miles; breadth, from 1/4 to 2 3/4 ; area, 4,521 acres, 2 roods, 36 perches. Pop., in 1831, according to the Census, 1,326, but according to the Ecclesiastical Authorities, 1,279; in 1841, 1,156.  Houses 208. Pop. of the rural districts, in 1841, 931. Houses 165.  The surface consists of good land, and is traversed by the roads from Ratoath and Dunshaughlin to Navan.

Skreen Hill, whose summit has an altitude of 507 feet above sea level, is not only the most conspicuous natural feature within the parish, but also shares with Tara Hill, in the adjoining parish, the honour of imparting variety to a great extent of circumjacent rich low country; and it is rendered peculiarly striking by the church ruins and the straggling village, which surmount its summit.

The seats are Belvin hall and Corbalton-hall, the latter the handsome residence of M. E. Corbally, Esq.  This parish is a rectory, in the dio. of Meath.  Tithe composition, £280; glebe, £44 8s. The rectory of Skreen, the vicarage of Dowthstown, the impropriate curacy of Kilcarn, and the chapelries of Rathfeigh, Templecarne, and Lismullin, constitute the benefice of Skreen. Length, 7 miles; breadth, 6. Pop., in 1831, 2,993. Gross income, £660 ls. 4d. ; nett, £527 14s. 1d. Patron, the Crown. The church is in Lismullen. The Roman Catholic chapels of Skreen and Rathfeigh have an attendance of respectively 500 and 450; and, in the Roman Catholic parochial arrangement, are mutually united.  In 1834, the inhabitants of the parish consisted of 76 Churchmen, 3 Presbyterians, and 1,245 Roman Catholics; the inhabitants of the union consisted of 136 Churchmen, 6 Presbyterians, and 3,090 Roman Catholics; and 4 daily schools in the union, 3 of which were in the parish, were usually attended by about 175 scholars. One of the schools in the parish was salaried with as much money from the rector as secured a total income to the teacher of £21 10s. ; one, with £10 Irish from a legacy; and one, with £2 10s. from Lord Ludlow.

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SKREEN, or Skryne, a village in the parish and barony of Skreen, co. Meath, Leinster.  It stands on the summit and skirts of the fertile hill noticed in the preceding article, away from any thoroughfare, yet near the roads from Dunshaughlin and Ratoath to Navan, 4 3/4 miles north by west of Dunshaughlin, and 6 south east of Navan.

A Culdean establishment existed at this place, and occasioned it to be called Scrinium St. Columbae: hence the modern name Skreen.  But Archdall alleges that the old name arose from the circumstance of the shrine of St. Columbo being brought hither in 875 from Great Britain to prevent its falling into the hands of the Danes.  The ecclesiastical establishment was called by monastic historians of a subsequent period an abbey of regular canons; in 1027, it was plundered by the Ostmen; in the 12th century, it fell into decay; and in 1341, it was superseded by a monastery of eremite friars of the order of St. Augustine, founded by the family of De Feipo.  Some ruins of the latter structure still exist in the vicinity of the ruins of the church.

A perpetual chantry was also founded at Skreen by the same party, and about the same period, as the Augustinian friary.  The family of De Feipo, who received from Hugh De Lacy grants of large possessions in Meath, built a castle at Skreen, and adopted it as their residence.  The ruins of the castle still exist.  In the 15th century and till the reign of Elizabeth, the family of Marward were palatine barons of Skreen; but during the reign of Elizabeth, Janet, the daughter and heiress of the last baron, carried the estate by marriage to William Nugent, Esq.

A dispensary in Skreen is within the Dunshaughlin Poor law union, and serves for a district of 25,954 acres, with a pop. of 6,253; and, in 1839-40, it expended £160 13s., and administered to 1,897 patients.  In 1843, the Skreen Loan Fund had a capital of £336, circulated £1,906 in 608 loans, realized a nett profit of £4 18s. 9d., expended for charitable purposes £3, and had 10 depositors or proprietors of its capital.  Fairs are held at Skreen on March 17, June 20, and Oct. 12. Area of the village, 12 acres. Pop., 1841, 225. Houses 43.

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The Lewis Topographical Directory was first published in 1837 in two volumes, with an accompanying atlas.  The first edition is available online.  A second edition was published in 1842.

Lewis relied on the information provided by local contributors and on the earlier works published such as Coote's Statistical Survey (1801), Taylor and Skinner's Maps of the Road of Ireland (1777), Pigot's Trade Directory (1824) and other sources. He also used the various parliamentary reports and in particular the census of 1831 and the education returns of the 1820s and early 1830s.  Local contributors were given the proof sheets for final comment and revision.  The names of places are those in use prior to the publication of the Ordnance Survey Atlas in 1838. Distances are in Irish miles (the statute mile is 0.62 of an Irish mile).

Skreen, or Skryne, a parish, in the barony of Skreen, county of Meath, and province of Leinster, 3 miles (N.) from Dunshaughlin, on the roads from Dublin to Navan and from Drogheda to Summerhill; containing 1279 inhabitants.  This parish was anciently called Scrinium Sancti Columbae, and appears to have derived that name from the shrine of St. Columb having been brought from England into Ireland, in 875, and deposited in the monastery here.

The Danes twice plundered this religious establishment during the eleventh century, and it was likewise ravaged by the inhabitants of Teaffia in 1058 and in 1152.  On the settlement of Meath by Hugh de Lacy, this place became the property of Adam de Feypo, who erected a castle here; his family founded and endowed a friary for eremites of the order of St. Augustine.  In the reign of Rich. II., mention is made of the “Irish town of Skryne;” in that of Hen. IV. notice is taken of its hundred court as a borough, and of its burgage rents; and in the records of the 1st of Hen. VI., 1423, “the Provost and Commonalty of the town of Scryme are ordered to be at Trim with all their power for its defence;” though at present it is a place of but little consideration.

The parish comprises 4235 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act: the lands are nearly equally pasture and arable, and the soil is of the best quality.  Fairs are held on March 17th, June 20th, and Oct. 12th, for live stock, the last being a very large fair for sheep; all are well attended. Corbalton Hall, the elegant and spacious mansion of Elias Corbally, Esq., stands in a remarkably well wooded demesne of about 1000 acres.  The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Meath, united by act of council, in 1677, to the rectory of Rathfeigh, the vicarage of Dowthstown, the impropriation of Kilcarn, and the chapelries of Templecarne and Lismullen, and in the patronage of the Crown; the tithes amount to £280, and the gross value of the benefice is £660. 1. 4.  The glebe house, situated in this parish, was built in 1813, at a cost of £1754, of which £100 was a gift and £900 a loan from the late Board of First Fruits, the residue having been supplied by the then incumbent.  The glebes of the union comprise 26 acres, valued at £53.8.0. per annum.  The church of the union is in Templecarne; it was built about 1809, by a gift of £500 and a loan of £500 from the same Board, and has lately been repaired by aid of £116, from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district comprising this parish and those of Taragh, Rathfeigh, Lismullen, Templekieran, and Macetown, and containing two chapels, at Skreen and Rathfeigh: the former is a handsome edifice, with a lofty steeple, opened in 1827; the interior is very neat, and has a painting over the altar: the building was erected by subscription, to which the principal contributors were E. Corbally and T. Maher (of Clonstown), Esqrs.  The parochial school is aided by an annual donation from the rector, who gives a house and garden rent free: a school at Ross is aided by an annual gift from Earl Ludlow; and a third school by a legacy of £10 per ann.: in these schools about 180 children are taught.  A national school is in course of erection on part of the chapel yard, the ground having been given on a 999 year’s lease, at a nominal rent, by A. J. Dopping, Esq.; the building is spacious and well constructed, and will include a residence for the master.  The old castle has been enlarged and modernised, and is now occupied by a farmer.  On an eminence, and conspicuous at a great distance, are considerable remains of the ancient church or monastery, consisting of the tower and shell of the building, with a burial ground attached.  Skryne gave the title of Baron (now extinct) to the family of Feypo.

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Slater's Directory, 1894

Skreen, a parish and village in Co. Meath, barony of Skreen, union of Dunshaughlin, diocese of Meath, 5 miles north east from Kilmessan station on the Midland Great Western railway and 3 north from Dunshaughlin, containing 11 townlands.  Skreen Hill, in this parish, 500 feet in height, rises from low surrounding country with the village on its summit.  The area comprises 4,520 acres; the population in 1891 was 528. Letters through Dunshaughlin S.O. Co. Meath.

Church of Ireland;  Rev. Oliver Brighton M.A. Catholic; Rev. Michael Callary P.P.; Rev. P. Conlan c.c. National School, Patrick Molynn, mastr.

Private Residents:

Brighton, Rev. Oliver M. A.

Callary, Rev. Michael P.P.

Conlan, Rev. Patrick c.c.

Wilson, George, Obertstown House.

Commercial:

Connor, Hugh, Obertstown.

Halligan, Thomas, grocer &c.

Farmers:

Carty, Patrick.

Hilliard, James, Ross.

Tobin, Nicholas.

Wilkinson, Adderly B. Baronstown.

Wilson, Francis, Proudstown.

Wilson, Samuel, Obertstown.

Wilson Thomas, Obertstown.