Small Sources No. 66. This is a list of 94 tenants of the Pakenham-Mahon estate in Roscommon in the period 1810-1815. All tenants have properties in Strokestown and neighbouring townlands, and particularly in Cloonslannor, a neighbouring townland. The original document is in the National Library of Ireland (NLI Ms. 5501). It is one small item from the large NLI collection of Pakenham Mahon papers and is entitled “Rent ledgers of Baron Hartland of Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, 1803-1818; 1824-1836”. Baron Hartland was one of the honorary titles held by the Mahon family.
The names are from an index to the rental, which is the account-book used by the estate agent to manage the affairs of his tenants. The index provides the page reference (see numbers to the right of each name in illustration above) for the detailed account for each tenant. These accounts are in the classical Debit/Contra style which shows the amounts due by each tenant on the left (debit) page (see Fig 1 below) and the payments made by the tenant on the right (contra) side (see Fig 2 below). The two illustrations show the account of Luke Quinn. Fig 1 shows that he paid £3. 17 shillings and 9 pence (£3.17.9) for a half-year rent. As is very common in rentals, he paid this by several means, i.e. cash (8 shillings and 9 pence); a pig (value £1) and a barrel of potatoes to the value 12 shillings (see Fig. 2). A full explanation of tenant management practices on Irish estates is in our blog on Rentals.
The Pakenham-Mahon estate originated when Captain Nicholas Mahon was granted 5,700 acres in Roscommon in the mid 1700s The estate included what would later become the town of Strokestown, where the family built a magnificent family home. This is now a wonderful museum and archive with a focus on the Great Famine. The Mahon family name changed to Pakenham-Mahon when Grace Catherine Mahon, the heiress, married Henry Sandford Pakenham, and this branch of the Pakenham
family then took the additional name of Mahon. The ‘Baron Hartland’ referenced in this document is a title created in 1800 for the then head of the family, Maurice Mahon, who also represented the Roscommon constituency in the Irish Parliament.
Among the unusual names listed are the very rare Catcheside, of which there are only 2 occurrences in Griffith’s Valuation, both in the Strokestown area: Caslin ( a variant of Cashlin or McCashlin) which is only found in Roscommon and Donegal; Hedian (possibly a variant of Hedigan); Dockry which (in Griffith’s Valuation) is only found in Roscommon; Meeagh, a name very specific to Mayo; and Goolrick which has a huge variety of variants ranging from McGoldrick to Colerigg. 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 our blogs.
The images were created by Ancestor Network and are 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 other tenants of the estate. We can also obtain images of the original documents. Click here and quote ‘RoscommonSS66’ in the subject line. We also publish an e-book ‘A Guide to Tracing your Roscommon Ancestors‘ by John Hamrock.
Tenant Location of rental property (author comments)
Arthur, John Strokestown
Barrett, Martin Cloonslanor
Brannon, Patt
Beirne, John, Butcher
Boland, Mark
Beirne, Thady
Blakney, John (probably a variant of Blakeney)
Barton, Robt.
Cloonslanor tenements (smaller tenants who were accounted for as a group)
Cain, Thos. Cloonslanor
Caslin, John do. (i.e. ditto – same as above)
Cain Darby do.
Catcheside, Robt. Strokestown
Carney, Micheal
Collins, John Strokestown
Connor, John do.
Connor, Pat do.
Connor, Roger do.
Cunningham, Widow do.
Connor, Dominick do.
Connelly, James do.
Cain, Pat New Line
Conlon, Micheal
Cruise, Micheal
Crofton, Henry
Devaney, Martin
Donnelly, Widdow do.
Devany, John do
Donnelly, Widdow
Dockry, Michl. Strokestown
Donnellan, Martin do.
Doran Edmd. do.
Eagan, Pat Cloonslanor (usually spelled Egan)
Eagan, Connor Strokestown
Fallon, Pat Strokestown
Fallon, John
Fury, James
Gibbons, Thomas Cloonslanor
Geenty?, Patt do
Goolrick, James
Gallagher, John
Gordon, Wm.
Heferin, Pat Cloonslanor
Hedian, John do.
Hague, Richard Strokestown
Hester, James
Kelly, James Cloonslanor
Kilmartin, Pat Jnr.
Kilmartin Thomas
Kilmartin Pat Senr.
Keveny, Bart.Quinn
Kilmartin, Thos. Cloonslanor
Leonard, Owen Strokestown
Lally, John do.
Lyons, Hugh do.
Larkin Thos.
Mahon, Hon.Richd. Maurice
McDonagh, Bryan Cloonslanor
McGann, John Strokestown
McDermott, Michl. Cloonslanor
McDermott, Andrew do.
Meeagh?, Henry do. (this name is usually only found in Mayo)
McCoy, Michl do.
Morton, George Strokestown
McCausland, Timothy do.
Moore, Danl. do.
McDermott, Peter do.
McGarry, Patt
McGann, Thos. Strokestown
Mealiff, Thos. Cloonslanor
McCoy, John do.
Mellon?, Bart
Murry, James (usually spelled Murray)
Murry, Roger
Neilan, Timothy
O’Hara, Luke Cloonslanor
O’Hara, Patt do.
O’Hara, John do.
Prenty, Patt
Quinn, Patt Cloonslanor
Quinn, Luke do
Robinson, Henry Strokestown
Strokestown Tenements
Swiney, Owen Strokestown
Shannon, Micheal Cloonslanor
Tristan, Thomas Strokestown
Thompson, John
Underwood, James Strokestown
Vaughan, Laurence do.
Vaughan, Hugh do.
Waldron, John Cloonslanor
Walsh, Bart do.
Waldron, John jr.
Waldron, Patt
Ancestor Network conducts research on all Irish family history sources and archives. 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.
Other articles in our series on Irish Family Sources:
- Petty Sessions– the records of local courts
- 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?
- Catholic Church Records
- Travellers’ accounts of Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries
- Census returns in Gaelic or Irish language
- 50+ blogs with names extracted from manuscript sources. A handy map index to these is available here.
