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.    The tenants listed include larger farmers as well as smallholders:  Griffith Valuation (conducted in 1853) for the Townland of Ballyclemock (written Ballyclemuck in the document), for instance shows that Redmond Dalton held 32 acres; James Murphy had 29,  Pierce Power had 50; John Elward had 48 acres.   Richard Petitt had 110 acres in Ballycleary,  but Thomas Harper (or Harpur) held only 4 acres in Rathmacknee.  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. 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.  Ancestor Network will offer 1 free hour of research by a professional researcher to conduct further research on these individuals or others in these estate papers. Click here and quote ‘Wexford SS36’ in the subject line.

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)

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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
  

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