Small Sources No. 40. This is a list of 137 tenants on the Earl of Leitrim’s Bohey estate in 1829. An extract from the listing is in Fig 1. The circumstance would appear to be the appointment of a new land agent, Berry Norris, who compiled a statement of what was owed by tenants when he started in his new role. In addition to the 137 named tenants, there are also comments from the agent on the circumstances of many tenants. Although rentals are formally the records of the landlord on tenants, their holdings, and their payments, many contain rich family information. In this case, for instance, there are comments that mainly refer to the competence of the tenants (poor, middling, good etc) but some are of genealogical value and refer to other family members. For instance the entry for Owen O’Neil is ‘Owen O’Neil died, his son is in possession but refuses to pay arrears‘. An illustration of some further examples is in Fig 2 below. 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.
The original document (NLI Ms. 16,977) is in the National Library of Ireland among the extensive Leitrim Papers, which contain the records of the Clements family from 1749 to 1946. A 1751 rental is featured in an earlier blog, which also contains further information on the estate. The rental lists the ‘denomination’, i.e. the property name first (by townland) and then the tenant. The properties are mainly in the Civil Parish of Carrigallen in Co. 
Leitrim. Several border Lough Garadice, and some of the islands in the lakes are included as rental properties. The illustration above shows the local landscape. ‘Do.’ (an abbreviation of ditto) means ‘the same’ indicating that the tenant or property is the same as that above. The more commonly used versions of the townland names are indicated in brackets where relevant.
The list includes mainly tenants who are clearly ‘planter’ families, i.e. those who came to Leitrim from England or Scotland. These include Irwin, Haughton, Roycroft, Armstrong etc. It also includes some of the original Gaelic/Norman families such as Dolan, McKiernan, McCabe, Coolreavy etc., all of which are very common in this region. If you are interested in information on specific families, some may be included in 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 on the history and genealogy of the listed families. The full details of the book are described in one of our blogs. We also publish ‘Tracing your Leitrim Ancestors‘ which is a comprehensive guide to researching in the county, writtent by a local expert. Ancestor Network will also offer 1 free hour of research by a professional genealogist to conduct further research on these individuals or others in these estate papers. Click here and quote ‘Leitrim SS40’ in the subject line.
The tenants in the property are listed below, and the townland in which their holding was located. Further information on the location of each townland can be obtained at Townlands.ie (but only by using the currently accepted spelling of the townland name).
Denomination Tenant(s)
Aughaleague Thomas Dolan
do. Brian Dolan
do. Pat Kelly & John White
do. John Rosman
Do. & Goosefoot Hill Edward Irwin
Do. & Island Owen McCabe
Do. East div. & do. John Pollock & W. Gore
Aughmasucker John Reily
do. William Lattimer
Carrickatain (Carrickateane) Alexander Faris
Clergarin John May & co.
Church, Sally & Cherry Islands Robt. Roycrofts Reps. (islands on Lough Garadice – see above)
Clonboygher (Cloonboygher) William Haughton
do. Edwd. Haughton & G.H.
do. Bartly Dowlan
do. Thomas Dowlan
do. Michael Irwin
do. James Irwin
do. John Armstrong
do. William Haughton
do. Thomas Dowlan
do. Irwin Armstrong
do. John Armstrong
do. Irwin Armstrong & J Irwin
do. William Irwin
do. John Irwin & W. Haughton
do. James Irwin
do. William Haughton
Cullen & Brownhill William Goodwin
do. James Goodwin
do. James Richardson
do. John Pollock
do. Thomas Duffy
do. Hugh Cassidy
do. Robert Timmons
do. John Elliott
do. Peter Rorke
do. Charles Gallagher
do. Hugh Mallon
do. James Mallon
Derrylahan William Warren’s Reps
Drumerniff (Druminuff) Robert Patterson
Keelrin Thomas Masterson
do. Gilbert Roycroft’s Reps.
do. Alex. Brown & Thos. Hyland
do. John Armstrong
Killadrum Gilbert Roycroft’s Reps.
do. James O’Donnel & Thos. Knott
do. Thomas Knott
do. Charles McKiernan
do. Robt. Roycroft’s Reps.
do. Francis Lipsey
do. Luke Thompson
do. T & W Winter & Thos. Knott
do. William Lattimer
Do. & Church Park John Hughes
Kilnacrevey Do. & John Allerton
Do. James Allerton
Legnagun or Rye Park Robt. Roycroft’s Reps.
Do. & Derrincoolinen William Faris’s do.
do. do. Alexn. Faris’s do.
do. do. James Thompson
do. Fattening Park Gilbert Roycroft’s Reps.
….house & offices
Newtown John Allerton
Do. F. Reid & J Sutton
Newtown House & Garden Anne Winter
do. James Crawford
do. J. Irwin & P. McArtin
do. Mrs. Ellis
do. Peter McKiernan
do. Anne Smith
do. Pat Donnelly
do. Mill & Cabbins John Godley Esq.
do. Fair Green
do. Park Thomas Winter
do. do. William Winter
do. do. Jarrat Irwin’s Reps.
do. R. Stephenson & Co.
do. Owen O’Neil
Newtown Anne Winter
Tully Dirty Park Pat McCartin
Do. & Legnagun (Lugnagon) John Roycroft
do. James Richardson
Do. Goberagough John Roycroft
Do. Roches Park Robert Briggs Reps.
Do. Ashtree Park William Goodwin
Do. & Killadrum (Killydrum) J. Winter & P. McCartin
Do. Clover Park John Armstrong
Do. Rorke’s Fields William Lattimer
do. do. Pat Maloney
do. do. Francis Lipsey
do. do. Irwin Armstrong
do. do. William Goodwin
do. do. Thomas Masterson
Bohey Brian Kean’s Reps.
do. John McKenna Senr. & Junr.
do. Cath & Francis Kean
do. Patrick Gibson
do. Thomas Kean
do. Cath & Michael Milton
do. Jas. & Edwd. Carney
do. Mary & Andw. Gilroy
do. Patrick Bohan
do. Michael Milton’s Reps.
do. John Quin
do. Patrick Castles
do. Terence Creamer
do. Brian Quin
do. Patrick Cronogue’s Reps.
do. John Kean & Michael Cannon
do. James Cannon & Pat Murray
do. John Kelaghan & Co.
do. James Connell
do. Michael Cooney
do. Patrick Coolreavy
do. Francis Milton
do. Michael Hughes & Co.
do. John Cannon
do. William Blake
End of list
Some of the articles in our series on Irish Family History sources:
Leitrim sources
- Tenants of the Wynne estate in Sligo and Leitrim in 1798
- Rentals as a resource for Leitrim family history
- Tenants of Cloonclare and Killasnet Parishes in Leitrim 1829-36.
- Tenants of the Clements Estate in Mohill, Co. Leitrim in 1800.
General Articles
- 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
- 50+ blogs containing original family history material extracted from Irish manuscripts
- Census returns in Gaelic or Irish language
