Small Sources 25: This list shows 26 residents of the townland of Tourin, (in the Civil parish of Lismore and Mocollop, Co. Waterford ) in 1841. The list is on a single loose page among papers of the Devonshire Estate, which are in the National Library of Ireland (Ms. 43,781/ 3). The legend to the list states “The above-named persons live on the lands of Tourin. B Musgrave 1841 June 3rd”. The specific purpose of the list is not clear but the Musgrave family had a residence close by, and were building a further family house and developing a large garden at this location at this time, so it may be related to this work. This new house still exists and is now open to visitors (see http://tourin.ie/about-tourin-house).
It is interesting to compare this list with the residents of the townland in 1848/9 listed in Griffith’s valuation. The intervening years included the devastating Great Famine (1845-47) which resulted in very extensive death and emigration. The 1841 list includes 17 different family names, which suggests a similar number of households, while the Griffith valuation lists only 10 households in Tourin townland and in the neighbouring townland of Tourin Demesne. Only three names, Walsh, Keily/Kiley, and Fives are common to both lists. In relation to name-variations, note that James Fives in 1841 has become James Fife in 1848. Although the same family names occur, it is not possible to determine relationships from these sources. 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 image of the document below was created by Ancestor Network in the National Library of Ireland and 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 ‘Waterford SS25’ in the subject line.
Richard Walsh
Widow Walsh
Edmond Walsh
Michael Walsh
John O’Donnell
William Griffin
Timothy Griffin
John Griffin
Richard Ahearn
Edmond Sweeny
Pat Mullins
James Fives
James Kiley
John Murray
Daniel Murray
Daniel Murray
Patrick Brown
Patrick Bryan
John Bryan
Patrick Ryan
Michl. Hurly
Patrick Ronayne
Thos. Purcel
Michl. Quin
James Colbert
Edmond Colbert
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.
