Small Sources 68: This is a list of 102 tenants and tradesmen employed by the DeVesci Estate in the Civil Parish of Abbeyleix, Queen’s County (Co. Laois) between 1786 and 1800. The names listed are all from the index to an account book which is among the DeVesci Papers in the National Library of Ireland (Ms. 34,409). The file also includes several other loose lists of tenants and workers which may form the basis of a future blog. As this is the index, each name is followed by a reference to the page(s) for the account of each person (see an example at the end of this blog). As is typical on many Irish estates, the tenants worked for the landlord and received their wages and housing in return. The accounts are arranged in the classic Debit/Contra style as described in our blog on Rentals. We have also published a blog on the tradesmen working on the Heywood estate in this county in 1794.
The extensive DeVesci estate papers are in the National Library of Ireland and detail their properties and related transactions in several parts of Ireland. In Abbeyleix, the family residence was Abbeyleix House, see illustration above, which is now privately owned and has been lavishly restored (see details here). This list of tenants would have been compiled in the estate office associated with this house. The people listed below worked and/or were tenants in this area.
There are some interesting and unusual family names within the list: Dior is more also spelled Dier or Dyer and may be a variant of either Dwyer or Dever; Henshew appears to be a variant 
of Henshaw and is also very rare according to John Grenham’s website; Heacock, Keravan, Orp and McAboy are also very rare and the latter had only 5 occurrences in Griffith Valuation. The name Justin is also rare in Ireland but most individuals of this name are found in this county. Among the common names are Fitzpatrick, which is the only ‘Fitz’ name of Gaelic origin. It is very numerous in the county and the clan was originally chiefs of this territory. Delany, Dooly, Phelan, Tierney and Tynan are also common local names. Killfoyle is a variant of Guilfoyle, which is also relatively common in the county. 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 a blog.
Some common abbreviations are used, such as Robt. = Robert; Jo. or Jno. = John; Jams. = James; Edwd. = Edward; Thos. = Thomas; Patt = Patrick; Abr = Abraham; Richd. = Richard; and Saml = Samuel. There is also the less common Gart. which is probably Garret. Some distinctive Irish names also occur such as Keran (usually Kieran). Kavan (Kevin); and Darby (Dermot).
The images of the document above and below were created by Ancestor Network in the National Library of Ireland and a 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 ‘LaoisSS68’ in the subject line
Tenant/Tradesman Name (notes in italic are added)
Bergin, Keran (This is a variant of Kieran or Ciaran, a common Irish first name)
Duan, Will
Doyl, Peter (usually written Doyle)
Dooly, Lar. (‘Lar.’ is probably a variant of Laurence / Larry)
Dobbs, Jo.
Delany, ?est
Daly, Charles
Dooly, Henry
Dior, Henry (a variant of Dier – see above)
Darcy, Kavan? (perhaps a variant of Kevin)
Delany, Nick
Dior, Robt. (a variant of Dier – see above)
Dobbs, Joseph, Steward (i.e. land-steward – the person who managed the estate for the landlord)
Donaly, Edwd. (more usually spelled Donnelly)
Duan, Tom (more usually spelled Duane)
Delany, Thos.
FitzPatrick Mick (A common local name)
FitzPatrick Darby
FitzPatrick Mal?
FitzPatrick Bryan
Fegan, James
FitzPatrick, Denis
FitzPatrick, Gart. (possibly an abbreviation of Garret)
Foster, Richd.
FitzPatrick, Edward
Foster, Robt.
Ging, Will
Gough, Will
Hand, Will
Holahan, Keran Branra (Now Brandra, a townland south of Abbeyleix town)
Hogan, Will (See extract from his account at end of blog)
Henisy, James (more usually spelled Hennessy)
Henshew, Abr. (probably Abraham)
Hunt, Saml.
Heacock, James
Keravan, Mick
Killfoyle, Patt?
Kelly, Will
Widow Killfoyle, Patt. (presumably meaning widow of Patt Killfoyle)
King, John
Kanah, Will (Probably a variant of Keena or Kinna, which is found in the county)
Kent, George
Justin James
Justin, Martin
Jenkins, Robt.
Justin, Will.
King, Miles
King, David
Lawlor, Will
Lowry, Jno.
Loughman, Edwd.
Leech, Geo.
Lawlor, Patt
Muldowny, James
McAboy, Jno.
Moran, Patt
Heny? Will
Murphy, Laur. (probably an abbreviation of Laurence)
Mullowney, Jno.
McAboy, Dan and B..?
Moor, James
McDermot, Phill.
Morrissey, Edward
Neal, James
Neal, Patt.
Orp, Will
Preston, Jams.
Phelan, Danl. (A common local name)
Phelan, James
Preston, Wm.
Phelan, John
Phelan, Mick, Junr. Branra (Now Brandra, a townland south of Abbeyleix town)
Remington, Henry
Reily, Patt
Revers, John
Sheeran, Jno. Branra (Now Brandra, a townland south of Abbeyleix town)
Sheeran, Andw.
Sheeran, James, Bishop (‘Bishop’ may be the residence, but no such place could be found)
Story, James
Sheeran, Mick
Story, Thomas
Sullivan, John
Sheeran, James – Gorry (‘Gorry’ may be the residence, but no such place could be found)
Swain, John do.
Sheeran, Patt
Sheeran, John, Bish. (‘Bish.’ may be the residence and used to distinguish him from the other
John Sheeran above, but no such place could be found)
Tynan, John
Tynan, Will (A common local name)
Tynan, Tim
Tynan, Mick
Tierney, Thos.
Tobin, Patt
Tynan, Tim
Tierney, Thos.
Tierney, Will
Tynan, Tim – Ballymullen (Townland south of Abbeyleix town)
Wall, James
Wilkinson, Mick
Wood, Grallo (There is a Grallow Wood close to Abbeyleix, so this may refer to tenants of this wood)
Watt: garden men
Walsh, John
Walsh, Patt
Further General articles in our series on Irish Family History sources include:
- 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 with names extracted from manuscript sources from many counties. A handy map index to these is available here.
