TASCOFFIN, a parish, in the barony of GOWRAN, county of KILKENNY, and province of LEINSTER, 2 ¾ miles (N. W.) from Gowran; containing 1283 inhabitants. In 1362, James, the second Earl of Ormonde, here defeated and slew 600 of the clan or sept of the Mac Murroughs. The parish comprises 7128 statute acres; culm has been found within its limits, and was formerly worked. It is a rectory, in the diocese of Ossory, constituting the corps of the prebend of Tascoffin in the cathedral of St. Canice, Kilkenny, and in the patronage of the Bishop: the tithes amount to £185. The church was built in 1796, when the late Board of First Fruits gave £500 towards its erection, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have lately granted £308 for its repair. In the R. C. divisions this parish forms part of the union or district of Gowran, and contains a chapel. About 130 children are educated in three private schools.

(Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837); Transcription © Derek Rowlinson, 2005-10. Reproduced from LibraryIreland. We are deeply grateful to LibraryIreland for allowing us to use their transcription.)