Small Sources No. 59: This is a list of 116 tenants from a rental of the Considine Estate, which had properties in the Baronies of Coonagh, Co. Limerick and in the neighbouring barony of Clanwilliam, Co. Tipperary. The rental ledger, entitled ‘H. Considine’s Tenant Book’ is among the Considine Papers in the National Library of Ireland (Ms. 43,073 /1). The Considine family lived in Derk House, Pallasgreen, Co. Limerick and the head of the family at the time of this record was Heffernan Considine, a prominent member of the local gentry, whose 
official posts included resident magistrate (see our blog on The Petty Session Court) and member of the Limerick Grand Jury. During the 1850s Heffernan Considine owned an estate in the parishes of Grean and Oola, barony of Coonagh, county Limerick and in the parish of Emly, barony of Clanwilliam, county Tipperary. This region is known as the ‘Golden Vale’ because of its prime agricultural land, and is still a major area for dairying.
The list below is taken from the index to the rental. Figure 1 is an illustration of a part of the original. It shows only the tenant name and the page on which the account of each may be found. The index provides a location for the holdings of only a few of the tenants, but the detailed accounts will each show a specific location for most. An example of an account is in Fig 2 at the end of the blog. The accounts are in the Debit/Contra format (see our blog on Rentals for an explanation). Figure 2 shows the Debit side of the account of Daniel Lahey, who held land in the townland of Cullen for an annual rent of £4.11.8 for the years 1833 to 1836. The Contra side of the account shows the payments made, but is not included here.
Note that Griffith Valuation was conducted some 20 years later, so it is possible to track some of those listed to a specific townland through these records. However, some names are very prevalent in the area (e.g. Ryan, O’Brien etc) and this can make it difficult to precisely identify some people with these common names. The references to ‘Changed to ..’ below are from the original document and indicate that the lessees of the holding had changed. The index shows only the name and the page for the detailed account of each tenant. 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 ‘LimerickSS59’ in the subject line. We also publish guides to finding ancestors in both Limerick and Tipperary: ‘Tracing your Limerick Ancestors‘ (above left) by local historian Margaret Franklin; and ‘Tracing your Tipperary Ancestors‘ by Noreen Higgins-McHugh. Both are available here.
Armstrong, Rev. Cullen
Armstrong, Robert Rev. ?
Baker, Patrick Emly
Beary, John Barna
Beary, Mrs. Widow Derk
Bourke, David Garrydoolis
Bourke, James Cullen
Bradshaw, Hugh Brady Esq.
Bray Ballynahinch
Brien, John
Brien, Richard Cullen (Co. Tipp)
Brien, Dennis Monemore (now Moanmore)
Brien, Michael Monemore
Brien, Morgan Rhodas (now spelled Rodus)
Brien, William Monemore (now Widow Daniel)
Carmody, James
Carroll, John Killeenwara (possibly Killeenavera)
Cleary, Patrick Cullen
Coffy, William (usually spelled Coffey)
Connelly, Daniel
Conway, John Garrydoolis
Conway, Thomas
Conway, John
Conway, Owen and son
Coughlan, Patrick
Crowe, Mr.
Dempsey, Darby Monemore
Devereux, Thomas Garrydoolis
Donavan, John (usually spelled Donovan)
Donavan, Malachy Emly
Donavan, Matt Cullen
Donavan, Sandy Cullen
Donavan, Thomas Emly
Donavan, Widow Emly
Dooly, James Emly
English, Patrick
Fleming, Thomas two holdings
Fleming, Widow
Figure 1: An extract from the index to the rental showing, at right, the page on which the detailed account for the tenant is located.
Gerin, Timothy
Glasheen, Widow
Glasheen, John
Glasheen, Maurice
Glasheen, Michael or Hayes
Grace, Widow
Green, James
Gubbins, Joseph
Hackett, James
Hawly ?, Michael
Hanley, John
Hayes, Matt or M.? Glasheen
Hays, John Killeenewara (possibly Killeenavera)
Hays, Nicholas (usually spelled Hayes)
Heawy ? Revd. Mr.
Heffernan, Otho
Hewit, George
Hogan, John
Holaran, Revd. Mr. (usually spelled Holleran)
Horan, Widow
Humphreys, Patrick
Jordan, Michael
Keary, William
King, William Leonard
Laffan, Richard
Lahy, Connor (usually spelled Leahy)
Lahey, Daniel (see account below)
Lee, Thomas Feleming ?
Leonard, Patrick or King
Long, Maurice
Loohy, Patrick
Lynch, Widow
Madden, John
Magrath, Michael and Co.
Mahony, Denis
Mara, Connor
Meehan, Widow
Mulcahy, Timothy
Mulone, John
Murphy, Edmund
Murphy, John
Murphy, Widow
Murphy, William changed to John
Neil, James
O’Brien, Thomas
O’Brien, John
O’Donnell, Patrick changed to Dennis
O’Donnell, Michael
O’Dwyer, Morgan Esq.
O’Neil, John
Parsons, William Revd. Mr. (Changed to Armstrong)
Patten, David
Purcill, Philip
Purcill, Thomas (usually spelled Purcell)
Quin, Oliver
Quinlivan, John
Ranspott, David (a very unusual name – only a very few occurrences anywhere in Ireland)
Ray, Darby
Reordon, Mrs ? (usually spelled Riordan)
Rourke, James
Ryan, Charles
Ryan, Clother or Martin
Ryan, Connor
Ryan, John
Ryan, Patrick
Ryan, Timothy and Michael Ballynahinch
Ryan, Timothy Esq. (Timothy changed to Thad)
Ryan, William Smith
Sadlier, Clement Esq.
Savage, Michael
Scully, James Esq.
Scully, John Esq.
Scully, Roger Esq.
Short, William Esq.
Torphy, Michael
Tracy, Michael
Tracy, Michael, Hogan
Whelan, Darby
Whelan, Patrick
Figure 2: Example of the ‘Debit’ side of a tenant account. This is the account of Daniel Lahey, who held land in Cullen for an annual rent of £4.11.8
Some of the articles in our series on Irish Family History sources:
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