Clanricarde Estate tenants in Loughrea, Galway in 1780

Small Sources 45. This list of 43 tenants is from a document (NLI Ms. 2119) in the Clanricarde papers in the National Library of Ireland entitled ‘List of arrears due May 1777 with the different yearly rentals from that period to November 1780 as also a list of the arrears then due … during the employment of John Nowlan as agent and receiver of rents to the Right Honourable John Smith De Burgo, Earl of Clanricarde, as extracted from his lordships ledger found in the possession of his late agent William Morrissy’. Rentals are the records of the landlord on their tenants, holdings and their payments. Although these might appear to be purely business records, many contain rich family information. A full description of rental formats and practices, and on the useful family information they can provide is in our blog Rentals as a resource for Irish family history.

Fig. 1. Sample xtract from the rental document showing tenants and description of holdings

The document provides the names and properties as below, and also the rent, the arrears due and (for some) observations on their status. For instance in the entry for Hutchinson, who rents ‘Knowles plot’ the observation is ‘Knowles died a beggar’. An account 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. Note that several tenants are listed as ‘Esq.’ meaning Esquire, which was a title of respect for men of higher social rank, e.g. landed gentry above the rank of gentleman. The rents vary widely from £275 (Peter Killkenny) to 8 shillings (James Kenny, and also John Harrison) to 4 shillings (Widow of W. Hugo for a ‘cabin on the rock’). ‘Chief Rent’ mentioned below is what is now termed Ground Rent. Some of these people are listed in a Survey of Loughrea in 1791.

The Clanricarde estate was one of the largest in Galway and extended to over 52,000 acres in 1870. At the time of this record the property was held by John Smith De Burgh the 11th Earl. He had changed his name from Burke to De Burgh, presumably to differentiate himself from the many Burkes in the county. The family residence was Portumna castle which has recently been fully and faithfully restored by the Irish State and is open to visitors.

It is noteworthy that 7 of those listed as being in arrears are named Burke and are possibly related to the landlord. The places listed are mainly in the town of Loughrea, Co. Galway but there are also properties in surrounding parishes. Loughrea was a major centre for the linen industry at this time, as well as being a garrison town. The probable identity of most townlands listed (and the current spelling) is in brackets where appropriate. The property locations listed are all townlands, which are the smallest divisions of land in Ireland. They are of ancient origin and hugely variable in size and shape. Further information on townlands is in our blog ‘Know your place“. Although no specific location could be found for Bophine (see Michael Burke below) Baron Bophine was one of the titles held by the Earls of Clanricarde.

Some interesting names include: Carbery Egan, who may be part of the McEgan clan, based on the unusual name; and Ross Mahon, who rented Castlegar and whose extensive papers are also in the National Library. It is also interesting, and perhaps disheartening, to know that almost none of those listed can be found in searches of Ancestry or of FindMyPast. If you are interested in information on the families lsited, further information may be found using 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.

Further Galway sources in this series of blogs are rentals of the Quansbury Estate in 1777-8; a Mountbellew estate in 1817; and a Kilconnell estate in 1840.

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. 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 ‘GalwaySS44’ in the subject line.

We also publish ‘A Guide to Tracing your Galway Ancestors‘ (see image at end) by local historian Peadar O’Dowd.

Name Denomination (CP = Civil Parish)

John Burke Reaghan (Tynagh CP)
Carbery Egan Killegan (possibly Kylagowan in Ballynakill CP)
William Burke Esq. Ballydugan etc (probably Ballydoogan in Kilmeen CP)
Edmond McDonogh Boulenanullock (probably Boleynanollag in Ballynakill CP)
John Kenny Rostellies (probably Rostollus in Ballynakill Parish)
Widow Barrett Glanatallin (probably Glenatallan in Kilconickny CP)
Peter Killkenny Lissafuca & several denominations (Lissaphuca in Kilmeen CP)
Peter Burke Cloondagaff (now Cloondadauv, CP of Ballynakill)
Carbery Egan Shrah (probably Srah in Kilconickny Parish)
Edmond Burke Chief Rent of Clonlee (Possibly Cloonlee, CP of Duniry)
Robert Ormsby Carrumunabeg (possibly Carrowmuna in CP of Killogilleen)
Ross Mahon Esq Castlegar (see above)
Michael Burke Bophine (see introduction)
Charles Donelan Esq Mills, Fairs and Markets
John Harrison Owen Halls house
Revd. William Pigott Monemore & Old Red House (south-east of Loughrea)
Widow Eleanor Burke House & garden East suburbs Loughrea
John Coone (Coyne?) House in East suburbs do.
Michael Daly Esq Edmond Lennon’s house and garden
Henry Coulson Margaret Molowny’s house, Loughrea
Henry Barrett House in Loughrea
Doctor John Giles Tyrell’s plot do.
William Barrett Gibb’s plot, the old barrack & a tenement in west stacet?
Conor Maughan House & garden Loughrea
John Fallon Several houses in do.
Daniel Tressy House & garden, do.
Richard Hutchinson Knowles’s plot. do.
John Burke Fowler Gavin’s house & garden
Widow W. Hugo A cabin on the rock
Silvester Burke Two Houses, Barrack St. Loughrea
The widow Loughlin House and garden
Anthony Hynes Maggons plot
David Connor Several holdings
Widow Smith Her house
Joseph Power Esq for Elice Power Part of Poulnadoby etc (North of Loughrea)
James Kearny His house and Garden Loughrea
Michael Hanberry House and garden