Residents of Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary 1840

Small Source 22: This list shows 59 residents of the village of Ballyporeen (Civil parish of Templetenny, Co. Tipperary) in 1840. They were tenants of the Kingston Estate and the original rental ledger is in the National Library of Ireland (Ms. 3276). The ledger gives no information other than stating that these were tenants in the town, and providing details of rent and arrears. It is interesting to compare this list with the residents of Ballyporeen which appear in the Griffith’s valuation survey of 1852. This was a comprehensive listing of all occupiers of land and premises in the country. It can be found on-line at www.askaboutireland.ie among other sources. Of the 59 residents of Ballyporeen listed in 1840 below, only 17 are on the Griffith Valuation list in 1852. Those who are still in residence are indicated below with an asterisk. The intervening years, of course included the devastating Great Famine. Residents with the same family names are listed but it is not possible to determine relationships. Ballyporeen was the home of Michael Regan, great-grandfather to former US President Ronald Reagan. Indeed, Michael would have been resident in the village when this list was compiled. However, it would appear that he was not a tenant of this estate.

The tenant names include many that are common in Tipperary including Brien (O’Brien), Walsh, Fitzgerald and Ryan, but also some names which are not usually found in the county including Londugan (probably a variant of Londrigan), Luddy, Swayne and Lomasney. 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 . The sources listed include books, journal articles and some other records 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 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 also 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 ‘Tipp SS22’ in the subject line.

Note also that we publish ‘Tracing your Tipperary Ancestors‘ by Noreen Higgins-McHugh, a local historian and genealogist. Cover is shown above.

Tenant Name (author comments in brackets)
Patrick Roche
Darby Brien
John Walsh
John Russell
Wm. Walsh
John Brien *
John Londugan (John Lonergan listed in Ballyporeen in the Griffith Valuation)
John Fox *
James Kearney
Arthur Oakley * (for Wm. Ladugan) (Wm. Lonergan is listed in Griffith)
Thomas O’Donnell Jnr *
Thomas O’Donnell Sen.
Michael Brien
Danl. Gorman
John Luddy
John Brian (Dan)
Daniel Brien
Thoms. Clancy
Ellen Lomasney
Edwd. Fitzgibbon *
Thomas O’Donnell
Thos. Fitzgerald
Wm. Ryan
John Kearney
Edward Fox *
Danl. Sherlock
Wm. Brennock
Martin Brien
James Swayne
James Fitzgibbon
Tim Fitzgerald *
Philip Russell
James Fitzgerald
Widow Fitzgerald
John Anderson
Patt O’Donnell
James Sheehy
James Fitzgibbon *
Michl. Dunlea
Wm. Ryan
Thos. Smyth yaer?
Jos Kearney
Patt Griffith *
Thos. Griffith *
Stephen Richardson
Thomas Griffith
John Russell
Michael Gallavan (for his widow) (Margaret Gallavan is listed in Griffith)
James Russell *
James O’Brien *
Michael Russell *
John Bourke
James Fitzgibbon *
John Fitzgibbon *
John Forde *
Widow Hickey
John Kearney
Michael Bourke *
Rev. Paddy Bourke

* Indicates that this person is also listed in the Griffith Valuation of the town, conducted in 1852

Fig 1. Extract from the rental showing the arrears and rent due in 1840

Further Tipperary and general 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.