LAUGHARNE—pronounced Larne—a small town and a parish in the district and county of Carmarthen. The town stands at the influx of the rivulet Corran to the estnary of the Taf, 5 miles SSE of St. Clears r. station, and 12 SW of Carmarthen; was anciently called Abercorran; was afterwards called Tal Llacharn, then simply Llacharn; has a ruined Norman castle, which gave occasion to its change of name; was incorporated by charter of Sir Guido de Brian, about the year 1300; is governed by a portreeve, aldermen, and other officers; is a seat of petty sessions, a sub-port to Llanelly, and a cheap watering-place; consists chiefly of one long street, well-built and clean; and has a post-office‡ under St. Clears, a town-hall, a church, four dissenting chapels, national and infant schools, and charities £94. The castle was built soon after the Norman conquest; was destroyed in 1215, by Llewelyn ap Gorwerth; was rebuilt by Sir Guido de Brian; was taken, in 1644, by General Laugharne; was taken again, in 1645, after three weeks' siege, by Cromwell; was then dismantled; presents now a massive appearance, quadrangular and ivy-clad, with round towers at the corners; and is now enclosed, a modern residence having been built on part of the ground. The church is early English and cruciform; and contains monuments of the Laugharnes, and one of Judge Powell. A weekly market is held on Friday; fairs are held on 6 May and 28 Sept.; and a small coasting trade is carried on. Ruins of Roche castle, respecting which history says nothing, are about a mile distant. Dean Tucker of Gloucester, who died in 1799, was a native. Pop. in 1851,1,481; in 1861,1,394. Houses, 322.—The parish comprises 8,883 acres of land, and 5,820 of water. Real property, £10,195. Pop. in 1851,2,011; in 1861,1,868. Houses, 424. The living is a vicarage, united with the rectory of Llansadwrnen, in the diocese of St. Davids. Value, £414.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Winton.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))