Wexford farmers receiving turnip seed: 1847.

Small Sources 37: This document is formally titled a ‘List of the tenants of H.K. Grogan Morgan Esq. who were supplied with turnip seed etc and the quantity given to each’. It lists 32 tenants in 17 townlands in south Wexford, particularly in the civil parishes of Newbawn, Horetown and Kilturk. The year 1846 was the height of the Great Famine, and it would appear that the tenants were being provided with seeds of alternate food crops to the potato, whose failure (due to blight) was the direct cause of the famine. The seeds provided were turnip (otherwise Swede or Rutabaga), mangold or mangel-wurzel, carrot and parsnip. The original document is in the National Library of Ireland (Ms. 11,108) and is among the Papers of the Grogan Morgan estate. In 1846 Hamilton Knox Grogan-Morgan was an extensive land-owner in Wexford, Waterford and Cork. He lived in Johnstown Castle in Wexford, which is now an Agricultural research Centre run by the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority. The Castle and its gardens are open to visitors and also house an agricultural museum as well as the research centre.

The list includes some unusual names including Crashie, which in Ireland is usually a variation of Crampsie; and Stamers which is rare in Ireland. The name Poore is

a variation of Power, which is very common in Waterford and South Wexford. Other common Wexford names that occur include Furlong, Codd, Murphy and Walsh. If you are interested in further information on some of these families, a useful source may be our e-book title ‘Sources for Irish Family History 2021. It lists 6,500 books and articles on over 2,500 Irish families.

The tenants listed include larger farmers as well as smallholders: For instance, Griffith Valuation (conducted in 1853) for the Townland of Ballyclemock (written Ballyclemuck in the document) shows that Redmond Dalton held 32 acres; James Murphy had 29, Pierce Power had 50; and John Elward had 48 acres. Richard Petitt had 110 acres in Ballycleary, but Thomas Harper (or Harpur) held only 4 acres in Rathmacknee. It is interesting to note that many of the tenants listed here are absent from the Griffith Valuation only 6 years later, or are in different locations. A full description of the rental practices by large estates, such as the Grogan-Morgan Estate, is in our article on Rentals. The more commonly used versions of the townland names are indicated in brackets where relevant.

The images of the document 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 ‘WexfordSS37’ in the subject line.

The tenants are listed below according to the townland in which they have holdings. Where the townland name is different to the name-form now accepted, the currently accepted name is provided in brackets. For example, the currently accepted spelling for the townland herein called Ballyclemuck is now Ballyclemock. The precise location of each townland is available at Townlands.ie but only by using the current name spelling.

Name and Residence
John Parle Saltees Island
John Elward Ballyclemuck   (or Ballyclemock)
James Furlong    Coalspit
William Hartwell Horetown
John Warren Rath   (this is a common prefix – the specific townland is not identified)
Robt. Hayes Bennettstown
Walter Codd Sallystown
Philip Furlong Redmondstown
John Larkin Horetown
James Murphy    Ballyclemuck
John Crashie Ballyclemuck
Thomas Stamers Walshstown    (Walshestown)
Redmond Dalton Ballyclemuck

Martin Dalton Ballyclemuck
Christ. Warriner Johnstown
James Kelly      Ballyclemuck
Thomas Archbold Ballyclemuck
Thomas Neville    Ballyclemuck
James Byrne Ballyclemuck
John Kelly Senr.      Ballyclemuck
Richd. Petitt      Ballycleary
Bridget Pendergast Ballyclemuck
William Reigh        Newtown
Francis Cardiffe    Ballyseskin
William Furlong    Soighane   (now spelled Soughane)
Rich. Walsh         Killinick
William Warriner Janeystown   (Probably Jonastown)
Thos. Harper         Rathmacknee (also written Harpur)
Nicholas Neville    Newtown
Martin Chambers Horetown
Patk. Hayes          Horetown
Pierce Poore         Ballyclemuck (Surname is a variation of Power)