Labourers in Shanagolden, Co. Limerick 1808.

Small Sources 3: This is a list of 86 labourers working on the Spring-Rice Estate, Mount Trenchard, Limerick (Shanagolden area) on 5 dates from April to July 1808. The Spring-Rice family held the title Lord Monteagle, and their Limerick estate was in the barony of Shanid where they held land in the parishes of Kilmoylan, Robertstown and Shanagolden and also in the parishes of Clonagh, Connelloe Lower and Caherconlish and Carrigparson, barony of Clanwilliam. The original account book is in the National Library of Ireland, Ms. 605.

With such a large estate, they would have employed many staff, some permanently and others on a seasonal basis. Those reported here are in the form of workers employed on different dates in 1808. The only specific tasks mentioned are at the end of the list and concern cutting and ‘drawing’ (i.e. hauling) turf, which was the main household fuel used at the time. Labourers are among the most difficult people to trace as they will typically not be listed as landholders.

The names are abbreviated: Jno = John; Michl. = Michael; Wm = William, Mau = Maurice etc. No first name is listed for a few, and some are only indicated as ‘Son’ or ‘daughter’. Some names are also repeated on the different days. The payment to each person is also included in the original. Further Limerick sources are available in other blogs in this series including: Flax Growers in Shanagolden 1808; and Farmers in Castletown 1848/49.

The names are mainly those which are common in East Limerick and North Kerry, such as Flanagan, McMahon, Kennelly, Sullivan, Flanagan etc, but also include some less common names such as Purtell, Gieran, Bradish and Trehy. Further information on some of these families may be available through our e-book title ‘Sources for Irish Family History 2021’. It lists 6,500 books and articles written about specific Irish families. It provides access to a wealth of published information on about 2,500 Irish families.

The images of the document above and below were created by Ancestor Network in the National Library of Ireland and are reproduced here through their courtesy. If you need help in following up on anything related to this source, or any other Irish research, you can outline your requirements here and we will let you know what we might be able to do for you. Ancestor Network will offer 1 free hour of research by a professional researcher to conduct further research on these individuals, or on other tenants of this estate. We can also obtain images of the original documents. Click here and quote ‘Limerick SS3′ in the subject line.

The workers are listed below according to the date on which they are recorded in the documents. Author notes are included where appropriate.

April 25th 1808.

Richd. Shaughnessy
Richd. Flanigan
Mau. McMahon

April 28th 1808
Jno. Shaughnessy
Michl. Trehy
Thos. Lacy
Connor Kinnerk (?)
Patk. Kennelly
Catherine Canty
Garrett Joyce
Madigan & Browne
Timothy Shea
Willm. Dooly
Purtell

R. McMahon
Michl. Shaughnessy
Thos La??
James Clancy
Catherine Canty
Carthy’s daughter
Murphy’s daughter
Biddy Purtell
Nancy Connor

May 8th
James Clancy
Peggy Lacy
Jno. McMahon Collier?
Jno Sullivan
Michael Dooly
Rogr. Neale
Nancy Flanly (probably Flannelly)
Mary Flanagan
Willm. Gregg
Jno. McMahon, Tion?
Jno. Browne, Loughill (the latter is a townland in the area)
Pat. Greg

May 20th
John McEnnerny (usually spelled McInerney)

Mark Gieran (possibly a variant of Guerin, which is found in Kerry)

James Si…. ?
Jno. Bradish
Griffin
Jno. Barrett
James Gregg
Rchd. Shaughnessy
James Purtell
Peggy Browne
Michael Flanagan’s son
Mary Flanagan
Biddy Barrett
James Clancy
Jno. O’Brien
Jno. Welsh
Jno. Joyce
Jno. Sheehy
Michl. Trehy
James Ward
?? Barrett’s son
Jno. Scanlan
Richd. Flanagan
Patk. Enright

Mulvihill
Jno. Flanagan
Jno. Sullivan
Thos. Ward and Pat Fl..ney
Michael Moloney
Jno. Joyce
Old (?) Bradish
Simon O’Brien
Michl. Scanlan
Catherine Nolan
Richd. Shaughnessy
Jno. Gregg
Wright
Connor Shaughnessy son
Daniel Moor
Biddy Barrett
Welsh & ?? levelling ditches
Timothy Carthy
Michl. Shaughnessy
Jno. McMahon Roger ?
Wm. Tr….? Cutting and Drawing turf
Widow Madigan’s son
Griffin for Striping ground
Jno. Barrett for watching turf
Darby Dooly

July 4th.
Michl. Clancy
Patk. Connor

Fig 1. List of workers on 26 April 1808 showing names and wages due.

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. A handy map index to these is available here.