Small Sources 63: This is a list of 95 tenants in several townlands in western Mayo in 1833. Most of the properties are in adjoining townlands of the Civil parishes of Templemore, Manulla, Balla and Killedan, which are just east of Castlebar . A few are elsewhere in the county as indicated in the listing below. The original documents are in the National Library of Ireland (NLI Ms 11,816) and show the denomination (i.e. property), the tenant’s name, rent and arrear details. The first 2 columns are shown in the image at the end of this blog. It is a classic annual rental as described in our article on Rentals available here. This estate was purchased by the Domville family in 1833 from William Frederick Trench of Heywood, who is featured in another blog in this series. This would appear to 
be the first rental compiled after the purchase as it notes arrears inherited from the Trench estate. The Domvilles also had extensive estates in the neighbouring county of Roscommon and in Dublin, and further information is in the Landed Estates Database. In addition, a website dealing with the conservation of Prison House, which is on the property, provides further historical information on local landlords and land-holders. In relation to the very powerful Domville family, a previous blog in this series provides an insight to the staff in their Dublin houses in the mid 18th century. A flavour of the great divide in lifestyles between landlords and their tenants is in our blog entitled ‘Eye-witnesses to our ancestors‘ which summarises the accounts of travellers to Ireland in the period covered by this document.
Some interesting names occur in the list of tenants including: Hansboro (or Ansboro) which family is only found in Galway and Mayo and may have derived from the Gaelic name O’hAinmhire; McEllen (usually spelled McEllin) which is also rare and very specific to Mayo; Kieracon, which is a rare variant of Kerrigan; Scarry another relatively rare name which is mainly found in East Galway; and McDaniel which is rare in this region and mainly found in county Louth. Other names listed are found in this region to varying degrees. If you are interested in information on specific families, our e-book title ‘Sources for Irish Family History 2021 lists 6,500 books and articles on over 2,500 Irish families. The sources listed contain a wealth of information in the form of articles and books. The full details are described in one of a blog.
The images are made by Ancestor Network and reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland. Ancestor Network will offer 1 free hour of research by a professional researcher to conduct further research on these individuals, or on the lists of tenants of this estate. We can also obtain images of the original documents. Click here and quote ‘MayoSS63’ in the subject line. We have also recently published a new edition of the acclaimed ‘Guide to Tracing your Mayo Ancestors‘ by Brian Smith. Below is listed the property name followed by the current spelling of the townland (where found) and the Civil Parish (CP) in which it is located. The tenants in the property are listed under each townland name.
Loghiel, Taunagh & Creggs (Loughiel is now Lakill, CP of Templemore; Taunagh is also in CP of Templemore; and Creggs is in CP of Manulla)
Mrs? Fitzmaurice (This may be an abbreviation of ‘Maurice’)
Loobnamuck (probably Loobnamuck in CP of Killasser; but possibly Lagnamuck, which adjoins other townlands listed and is in the CP of Balla)
Colonel Jackson
Lisnolan (townland of Lisnolan, CP of Manulla)
Thomas Ormsby
John Brenan
John Sheridan
Pat Sheil
Thomas Brenan
John Hansboro’
Pat Brenan
Pat Hyland
Thomas Moran
James Hyland
Darby Sheridan
Thomas Staunton
Pat Madden
Nolan & McHugh
Pat Sheil Junr.
John Gavin
James Sheil
Faulieighter (probably Falleighter in Aghamore Civil Parish, close to Casheltourley below)
Christr. Taaffe Esq.
Mountain in Common (i.e. grazed as common land: most likely in the area of Falleighter above)
Christr. Taaffe Esq.
Prizon (3 adjoining townlands, now called Prison East, North & South, all in CP of Manulla)
Thomas Ormsby
James B. Reilly
James Reilly Senr.
Alexr. MacDonnell
Owen Cosgrave
Bryan Reilly
James Monaghan
Pat Reilly
Anthony Burke
James Ansboro’
Michl. Ansboro’
John Reilly
Thomas Cosgrave
John O’Dowd
James Matw.? Reilly
James M. Reilly
Castletourley (probably Casheltourly in Aghamore Civil Parish, close to Falleighter above)
Frank Grady Esq.
Peter Bourke
Redmond MacGuire
Bernard Higgins
Cragagh Mountain (Townland of Craggagh in Civil parish of Killedan)
Thomas Connolly
Pat Connolly
Richard Walsh
Luke Walsh
Pat Commons
Pat Berry
Pat Reilly Senr.
Pat Reilly Junr.
Michael Mullowney
Bartly Walsh
Cragagh & Larga (Latter is now called Largan in Civil parish of Killedan)
Pat Gallagher
Bryan Gill
Henry Waldron
James Mullowney
Pat Mullowney
Tom Mullowney
Pat MacDaniel
Pat Begley
Michael Lynch
Mountain in Common
Scarry & Co. (i.e. the mountain was held as common land by a consortium led by a Scarry)
Lisnolan new take
Pat Madden & Co. (i.e. held as common land by a consortium led by Pat Madden)
Prizon, Prizon corn acres and Prizon pasture
Thomas Ormsby (see here for information on the Ormsby connection with this townland)
Drumloghra (Now Drumloughra – CP of Manulla)
William Walsh
John Heyland
John Nolan
Peter McEllen
Michl. Kennedy
James Kennedy
Michael Roach
Thomas Stanton
Thomas Walsh
John McNulty
James Conway
James Bourke
Thomas Moran
Collerboy (Part of Drumloghra) (no subtownland of this name was found)
Pat Nolan
Dominick Moran
James Staunton
Widow Durkin and Reilly
Widow Brady
Michl. MacGuire
James Morris
Michl. Nolan
Martin Kieracon
Ballymahon (Part of Drumloghra) (no subtownland of this name was found)
William Glynn
Anthony Glynn
Pat Durkin
Lewis Monaghan
William Geraghty
Widow Glynn
Martin Mahon
Pat Mullan
Further articles in our series on Irish Family History sources include:
- Petty Sessions– the records of local courts
- Catholic Church records
- Grand Jury Presentments – records of local councils on payments for public works and staff
- Rentals – management of tenants by estates and the records created
- Middle names – the use (or non-use) of second or middle names in Irish records
- How comprehensive are Irish Civil Records?
- Census returns in Gaelic or Irish language
- 70+ blogs with names extracted from manuscript sources from many counties (including Cork). A handy map index to these is available here.
