Small Sources 38. This is a list of 95 tenants on the Glaslough and Emy properties of the Leslie estate in Co. Monaghan in the years 1751 and ‘52. The original document is among the extensive papers of the Leslie collection in the National Library of Ireland. The particular document is entitled ‘A Rent Roll of Glaslough and Emy Estates in the County of Monaghan from Allsts. 1751 to AllSts 1752 with fees included’. The reference is NLI Ms. 13,719(2). The specific date is probably All-Saints day (1st November).
The Leslies bought Glaslough Castle and estate in 1665. At the time of these records the head of the family was Charles Powell Leslie who took over the Estate in 1743 and devoted himself to the improvement of farming methods in the district. He was MP for Monaghan in 1776 and in 1779 he was active in the Irish Volunteer Movement which sought greater independence from Britain. He was also an advocate of Catholic rights. Charles represented the County of Monaghan in Grattan’s Parliament and in his election speech of 1783 stated ‘I desire a more equal representation of the people and a tax upon our Absentee Landlords’. The castle is now a well-known hotel and wedding venue.
The rental lists the ‘denomination ’, i.e. the property name or description in the first column and then the tenants name. In some cases the tenant is deceased and the tenant is stated as being their successors. The rent amounts range from £26.14s.0d to £1.5s.0d and the properties are also diverse in size, although the total sizes are not specified. Tenament (more usually now spelt tenement) in this context simply means ‘holding’ and is a term commonly used in old land documents. ‘Do.’ is an abbreviation of ‘ditto’, meaning ‘the same’ indicating that the tenant (or property) is the same as that stated above. Note also that some names, and particularly the Gaelic/Norman names (see below) are followed by ‘&’ which generally indicates that the named tenants is acting on behalf of other partner tenants. This was very 
common in rentals. Particularly where tenants had very small holdings, one person would be appointed as the chief tenant to nominally conduct business with the landlord. 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 property locations (denominations) listed are all townlands, which are the smallest divisions of land. They are of ancient origin and hugely variable in size and shape. The more commonly used versions of the townland names are indicated in brackets where relevant, and there is a map of some of the estate area below indicating some of the townlands mentioned. Further information on townlands is in our blog ‘Know your place“. 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).
The list includes mainly tenants who are clearly ‘planter’ families, i.e. those who came to Monaghan in the ‘Ulster Plantation’, mainly from Scotland. These include Maxwell, Hutcheson, Johnston, Watt etc. It also includes some of the original Gaelic/Norman families such as McAtee, McKenna, McQuaid, McArdle etc., all of which are very common in this region. Interesting names listed include O’Dooladdy (also spelled O’Delady) which is a very rare Irish name. In the Primary Valuation, approximately 100 years after this record, there are only 4 households in the country with this name, all in the neighbouring county of Leitrim. 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 our blog.
The rental also includes many old Christian (i.e. personal) names among the old Irish tenants including Loughlin, Manus, Torlough, Owen and Art.
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 ‘Monaghan SS38’ in the subject line.
The tenants in the property are listed within 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, which is listed below if different from that in the rental).
Glaslough Estate.
Denominations Tenants Names
Annacatty Execs of the late Baron? of Clogher
Letate Bruaghmore Heirs of Robert Maxwell Esq.
Letgonnelly Heirs of George Johnson Esq.
Golan, Tonnisillugagh (Tonysillogagh) Do.
Mullyjordan Heirs of Thos. Singleton Esq
Carragins Oliver Anketell Esq.
Mullanlary Heirs of David Wilson
Drumnolan Alexander Hutcheson
Leig? (Leek) Heirs of Capt. James Mansor?
Drumea, part of it Heirs of John Watt
Part of do. & part of Assart St. John McMurren
Part of do. & part of do. David Glen
Greegey William Holland
Enagh, part of it David Byers
Part of do. Thomas Brown
Part of do. Manus Smith
Straghan, part of it Execs of the late Matthw. Campbell
Part of do. William Campbell
Tuck Mills etc James Barter
Clery Robert Smith
Lisgoagh John Barrett & partners
Tranany Bryan McAtee etc
Doagheys Torlough McKenna &
Clanea, part of it William Mone &
Part of do. Heirs of Patrick Trayner
Killyconnegan, part of it Terronce Bradley &
Derriwe, , part of it (possibly Derryhee) John Branon &
Coolcallida, the half of it William Bell
Do., the other half of it Hu: Luckey
A Tenament and park Patrick Branon
The customs of the town of Glaslough Do. Branon
A Tenament and garden Phillip McCardle
A Tenament Thomas Mullan
A Tenament, part of it Widdow Alexander
The other part of do. Archibald Moore
A Tenament John Gibson
A Tenament and turf of leave Heirs of William Hamilton
A Tenament and park in Tullyree Thomas Johnston
A park in Tullyree formerly Edwd Woods, now Robt. McGee
A Tenament Elizabeth Cooper
A park in Tullyree Thomas Johnston
A Tenament Heirs of Hu:Coughran
Three Tenaments James Pomeratt
A Tenament John Christian
Three Tenaments and two parks Gilbart Dunlap
Two Tenaments and two parks William Johnston
A Tenament and plot of ground Heirs of Edwd. B…land
A Tenament and a park Ann Bailly
A Park in Tullyree William Cook
A Tenament William Carleton
A park at the side of Donagh Bogg George Smith
Trayners Tenament waste, the garden John Christian
A Tenament Heirs of John Campbell
A Tenament Nicholas Jefford
A Tenament he holds for his sallery as bailiff Do. Jefford
Corn mills & Six? Acres of Coolcallida John English
Part of Mr Gowran’s Tenament and a park William Hamilton
A Tenament Thomas Johnston
The other part of Mr Gowran’s Tenament Samuel G….
Ten Acres in Tullyree James Dunlap
A Tenament Owen Caar
A Tenament Henry McKnabb
Emy Estate
Annagh John Erwin
Aughneha Loughlin Kelly & partners
Corletattan William Patterson
Part of Do. Hugh Woods
Part of Do. Art O’Dooladdy
Six acres of do. -his sallery as bailiff Bryan McKenna
Drumturk Edmond Mullan & partners
Derrnahatan (Dernahatten) John McQuaid
Derrigassian upper (Derrygassan) Richard Crowan
Part of Do. Patrick McMurren
Part of Do. Patrick Mullan
Part of Do. Bryan Mullan
Difart, part of it Robert Montgomery
Part of Do. John Wilson
Emy Phillip McKenna
Fagany (Figanny) James Johnston
Horse Park Edmond Trayner
Killycooly Patrick McGonnell
Brackaghmoore, Killycooly Peter Monaghan
Part of Do. Hu: Owens
Killycadey part of it John Donaldson
Part of Do. Patrick McAtee
Killyrean ..ubran Ralston
Killnageer Hu: Creeghan
Portenaghey (Portinaghy) Thomas Watson
Part of Do., part of Difart Hu: Meighan
Skernageragh Mills James Wilson
Emy mill & 6 acres of land William Fleming
Part of Brackaghmore bought from No. 82. Do. Fleming
Mullydermott (Mulladermot) James Widney
Mullan, part of it (Mullan) Henry Shelly (Skelly?)
Part of Do. William Bailly
Skernageragh (Scarnageragh) Assignee of Henry Crowan
Derrigassion lower Oliver Anketell Esq.
Some of the articles in our series on Irish Family History sources:
- 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 containing original family history material extracted from Irish manuscripts
