Ballygally, Glann

 

Ballygally Glann

Ballygally is in the civil parish of Kilcummin. The civil Parish corresponds with the following Church of Ireland parish of Kilcummin, Galway West. In general, the civil parish and the Church of Ireland parish are the same as is the case in the Kilcummin Oughterard area.

The Irish form of the name is Baile Ghallaigh – Gille’s Town

Land not good, free from stones and very swampy. Contains 420 acres, about 200 acres under tillage and pasture, the remainder mainly pasture with the exception of a few parts of heathy and rough pasture, and a small portion of bog towards its N. extremity. A bye road passes through it to the S. also an old fort close to its southern boundary.
Ballygally is in the Electoral Division of Letterfore, in Civil Parish of Kilcummin, in the Barony of Moycullen, in the County of Galway

Other forms of name.

Ballygally
Baile Ghallaigh
Baile Gallaigh
Ballygally Boundary Surveyor
Ballgally Barony Cess Book
Ballygally Gill or Village Local

Situation:

Situate in the Northern extremity of the parish. Bounded on the N. by Gortaroola, E. by Currareavagh, W. by Goulaun and S. by Baunagurteeny townlands.

Borders

Ballygally borders the following other townlands:

• Barnagorteeny to the south
• Currarevagh to the east
• Gorterwulla to the north
• Gowlaun to the west 

Proprietor:

Thomas B. Martin of Ballynahinch Castle.

Martin (Ross) – The Martin family were established beside Ross Lake in the barony of Moycullen, county Galway, from the late 16th century, where they purchased land from the O’Flahertys. They were Royalist supporters and were dispossessed of their property in the city of Galway by the Cromwellians. Robert Martin received a grant of 2,909 acres in the barony of Moycullen, by patent dated 21 Aug 1677. Jasper Martin of Ross, who died in 1700, had two sons Jasper and Richard, from whom descend the two branches of the family settled at Ross and Ballynahinch. Nicholas Martin, who died in 1811, married Elizabeth O’Hara, daughter of Robert O’Hara of Lenaboy, and according to Burke’s ”Landed Gentry”, a grandniece of James O’Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley. Their grandson, James Martin of Ross, had sixteen children from his two marriages. His daughter, Maud, married H. Callwell and they were the parents of the author, J. M. Callwell. The youngest daughter of James Martin was Violet Florence Martin of the well known literary team Somerville and Ross. The Martins of Ross owned 5,767 acres in county Galway in the 1870s. They advertised the sale of their estate in the Landed Estates’ Court in May 1885.

Martin (Ballynahinch) – A branch of the Anglo Norman family of Martin, one of the Tribes of Galway, was granted the O’Flaherty lands in the Connemara region in the mid 17th century. This family were a junior branch of the Martins of Ross and under the Acts of Settlement were granted vast estates in counties Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Clare and Sligo. By a patent dated 1698 they were confirmed in the possession of their Connemara estate known as the Manor of Claremount by King William. The Westport Estate Papers document the sale of over 27,000 acres in the baronies of Moycullen and Ballynahinch by the trustees for the sale of Colonel John Browne’s estate to John Edwards for Richard Martin in 1699. The early generations of Martins lived at Birch Hall and Dangan, in the townland of Oranhill, parish of Rahoon, near Galway city. Richard Martin, better known as ‘Humanity Dick’, was the first member of the family to be reared as a Protestant. He was a famous duellist and founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Ballynahinch Castle was built in the centre of his estate. His son Thomas Martin died in 1847 during the Famine and Thomas’s only daughter and heir, Mary Laetita, inherited a heavily encumbered estate. She married her cousin, Arthur Gonne Bell, and died in New York in 1850. The Martin estates were offered for sale in two sections in 1849. Their property close to Galway town included Dangan, Corcullen, Bushypark and Killeen. Their Connemara estate was acquired by the Law Life Assurance Society in 1852, to whom it was heavily mortgaged. In 1853 the estate of almost 200,000 acres was surveyed by Thomas Colville Scott for a prospective buyer. Richard Martin, second son of Richard ‘Humanity Dick’ Martin of Ballynahinch, is recorded as holding five townlands in the parish of Killannin, barony of Moycullen, county Galway, at the time of Griffith’s Valuation although he emigrated to Canada in 1833. He was also recorded as the occupier of Clareville, a Martin home in the village of Oughterard. Many of his descendants still reside in Canada.

1641 Thady Mc Donagh lorded over this townland

Information from the Down Survey Website:

Townland of BALLYGALLY

Down Survey Name: Mountain
1670 Owner(s): Martin, Richard (Catholic); Clanrickard, Earl of (Protestant)
County: Galway
Barony: Muckullin
Parish: Killcumyn

The Down Survey website will tell you who owned this townland in 1641 (pre Cromwell) and in 1671 (post Cromwell).

Down Survey website

Griffith’s Valuation 1850s

In Griffith’s Valuation the area of Ballygally is 420 acres and 15 perches with a land value of £62 3s 0d.and £2 15s for buildings –a total of £63 18s 0d.

The land was described as not good, free from stone and very swampy containing 420 acres, 200 of which is under tillage and pasture with the remainder of the pasture heathy and rough with a small portion of bog towards the northern extremity. A bye road passes through it to the south. There is also an old fort close to the southern boundary. This is above Hyne’s house. Hynes’ was known as LIOS Irish for similar forts.

Sillagh – Shelly (land or a small area between two hills) – this is an area near the boundary with the lake at Kitt’s Bay and Currarevagh. To day Dick Holloran owns this area. The hillock behind Matt Mon’s house is known as Cnoc Fitchell

Landlords:

Thomas B. Martin Esq. of Ballinahinch was the Proprietor while Henry Hodgson was the Lessor of the land 

Occupiers of the Land

11 families resided in the townland – Henry Mc Gauley, Patrick Walsh, Patrick Mc Donagh, Barth Mc Gauley, Michael Canavan, Hugh Mc Donagh, Thomas Burke, Michael Sullivan, Martin Sullivan, Margaret Rabbit and Henry Hodgson.

Ownership of Land and Property

All of the families owned a house and land. Margaret Rabbitt had a house, garden and out house with an area of 3 roods with a valuation of 8 shillings.

Annual Valuation

Property Valuation

The total annual valuation of rateable property in Ballygally came to

£2 15s. Henry Mc Gauley paid 10s and all the other families paid 5s each.

Land Rates:

The rates varied – Henry Hodgson £16, Henry McGauley £5 5s, Patrick Walsh £6 10s, Patrick Mc Donagh £6, Bart. Mc Gauley £12 5s, Michael Canavan £3, Hugh Mc Donagh £3 5s, Thomas Burke £4 10s, Michael Sullivan £1 10s and Martin Sullivan £2 10s.

Out Offices and Land

The out office was a farm building, a cow house, piggery or barn. The land was very poor and sterile and people were always poverty-stricken. At this time most tenants were trying to eke out a living on 5 acres or less and a farmers needed at least 15.3 acres to survive.

 Clachan:

The Irish is ‘Clochán’. The houses in Ballygally formed a Clachan. A clachan was a small traditional settlement common in Ireland until the middle of the 20^th century. They usually lacked a church, post office or other formal building. The origin is unknown but it is likely that they are of ancient root most likely dating to medieval times.

The Ballygally clachan was a cluster of small single storey farmers’ cottages built on poor land. They were related to the rundale system of farming. According to David Lloyd, The Great Famine 1845–1849 caused such disruption to the social system that the clachans virtually disappeared.

People living in Clachans had the support of a tight knit community.

In some cases the clachans have evolved into holiday villages or one or two houses have been taken over turning smaller houses into agricultural outhouses.

Poor Law Union Ireland

In Ireland the Poor Relief Act of 1838 divided into districts or “unions” in which the local taxable inhabitants were to be financially responsible for all paupers in the area. In 1898 the Poor Law Union was adopted as the basic administrative division in place of the civil parish and barony. Further subdivision into 828 registration districts and 3,751 district electoral divisions followed. Townlands were not arranged according to these divisions with parish and barony retained as a means to make comparisons with records gathered before 1898.

The 1838 Act

The main provisions of the 1838 Act were:

• The extension of the existing Poor Law Commissioners’ powers to Ireland, with the appointment of Assistant Commissioners who were to implement the Act in Ireland.
• The division of the country into Poor Law Unions based on Irish electoral divisions which were themselves made up from townlands.
• The creation of a Board of Guardians for each Union, two-thirds of whom were to be elected, the other third to be appointed ex officio.
• The setting up of a workhouse in each Union.
• The collection of a local poor-rate to finance the system.
• Assistance for emigration.

Initially, 130 Unions were created, based upon 2,049 electoral divisions. The divisions were composed of townlands, a peculiarly Irish unit, traditionally of 120 Irish acres in area. (Between 1848 and 1850, an additional 33 Unions were created by subdividing and reorganizing the boundaries of some existing Unions, particularly in the west of the country.

Boards of Guardians were elected annually on 25th March. Only rate-payers were eligible for election, which effectively disenfranchised most of the native Irish who were usually tenants at this time. Rate-payers were allowed between one and six votes depending on the size of a valuation of their property.

Townlands

A town land is one of the smallest land divisions in Ireland. They range in size from a few acres to thousands of acres. Many are Gaelic in origin, but some came into existence after the Norman invasion 1169. Ballygally is a townland.

Population & Census Details

You can retrieve a list of people who lived in this townland from 1827 to 1911. This list is compiled from the following resources.

• The Tithe Applotment Books
• Griffith’s Valuation
• 1901 Census
• 1911 Census

List of nineteenth century and early twentieth century inhabitants.

1901 Census Ballygally

This is a return of the members of the family, visitors, boarders or servants who slept or abode in their house on the night of Sunday March 31^st 1901 in Ballygally.

There were 10 houses listed in the townland of Ballygally – 8 houses were occupied and 2 were uninhabited and were owned by Charles Mason. The people (15 males and 15 females a total of 30) were all Roman Catholics and they were born in County Galway. There were 12 in total of farm buildings and out offices which included a stable, cow houses, shed, piggeries, and a calf house.

Class of House: The class of house depended on the materials used in the roof, walls, number of rooms and number of front windows. A 1^st class house was considered the highest standard.

Walls of the houses: The walls were of stone, brick, concrete or of mud, wood or other perishable material. The houses in Ballygally were built of stone, brick or concrete. There were no mud cabins.

Landholder of the property unless otherwise stated was the lawful owner.

Roofs were of slate, iron, tiles, thatch, wood or other perishable material. The roofs of houses were of thatch, wood or perishable material. Most likely they were thatched as there was ample reeds for thatching in the lakes.

House Occupancy: Each of the 8 houses was occupied by one family.

The people listed as Head of the Family were also listed as the lawful Landholder of the property. They families were Roman Catholics.

Enumerators Extract

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840254/

House & Building Returns

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840255/

Out-Offices and Farm Steadings

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840256/

House 1: Mary Faherty aged 80 was head of the family. She was single, couldn’t read or write and spoke Irish and English. Her occupation is listed as ‘Spinner”. She lived in a Class 4 house with no front window. One person occupied 1 room. She had no outhouses.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/1394423/

House 2: Matthew Mons a farmer aged 47 was head of the family. He lived with his wife Margaret 37, Michael 14, Margaret 13, Maria 10, Catherine 9, Bridget 6, Patrick 4 and John 1. 9 persons occupied 2 rooms. The family spoke Irish and English and they could read and write. The children were all scholars. They lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. They had a stable, cow house, piggery and a shed.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/1394424/

House 3: Mark Sullivan a farmer aged 60 lived with his wife Catherine 62. Mark didn’t read or write but his wife did. They spoke Irish and English. They lived in a Class 3 house with 1 front window. 2 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a cow house.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/1394425/

House 4; Anthony Canavan a farmer aged 36 was head of the family. He lived with his wife Mary 26 and children Bridget 6, John 5 and Katie 4. Mark Sullivan was listed as the landholder. The family didn’t read or write and they spoke Irish and English. They lived in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. 5 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a cow house and a calf house.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/1394426/

House 5: Patrick Hynes a farmer aged 68 was head of the family. He lived with his wife Mary 60 and adult children Terenes 30, Martin 24 and Stephen 20 who were labourers and single. Twin sister Mary Anne a farmer’s daughter, Patrick 18 and Michael 15 – farmer’s sons. They could read and write and they spoke Irish and English.  They lived in a Class 3 house with 2 front windows. 8 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a cow house and a piggery.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/1394427/

House 6: Honor Kelly a widow and a farmer aged 78 lived alone. She spoke Irish and English but didn’t read or write. She lived in a class 3 house with 1 front window. 1 person occupied 2 rooms. She had no farm out houses.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/1394428/

House 7: Dennis Sullivan a farmer aged 28 lived alone. He spoke Irish and English and he could read and write. He lived in a class 3 house with no front window. He had a piggery. 1 person occupied 2 rooms.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/1394429/

House 8: Michael Mc Donagh a farmer aged 46 was head of the family. He lived with his wife Bridget 32 and his sister Catherine Mc Donagh aged 52 who was single. The family spoke Irish and English but they didn’t read or write. The couple had no children at this time. They lived a  class 3 house with 2 front windows. 3 persons occupied 2 rooms. They had a cow house, calf house and a piggery.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/1394430/

Ballygally Census 1911

This is a return of the Members of families in Ballygally, their visitors, boarders and servants who slept or abode in the house on the night of Sunday the 2^nd of April 1911.

Description of the Houses

All of the 8 houses in Ballygally were listed as private dwellings and were built of concrete or stone.  The roofs of the houses were of wood, thatch or other perishable material. Most likely they were thatched with one exception House 4 Patrick Halloran’s roof was slated. The head of the family was listed as the landholders. 38 persons – 18 males and 20 females lived in the townland. One family lived in each property and they were Roman Catholics. The Class of the house depended on the material used in the roof, walls, number of rooms and number of front windows. Most of the houses came under “2’ in the census form meaning that there could be 2, 3, or 4, rooms in the house. There were 14 farm out houses in the townland.

One property is listed as a Farmstead owned by Patrick Gill, Oughterard.

Enumerators Extract

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002434638/ 

House & Building Returns

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002434640/

Out-Offices and Farm Steadings

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002434642/

House 1: Catherine Sullivan a widow aged 80 living alone was head of the household. She was a farmer but didn’t read or write and spoke Irish and English. She lived in a class 3 house with 2 rooms and 1 front window. She had no out offices.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/471221/

House 2: Anthony Canavan a farmer aged 48 head of the family lived with his wife Mary 41 and children Bridget 16, John 12, Kate 11, Mary 10, Celia 7, Patrick 6, Anthony 3 and Michael 1. Anne and Barbara were born later. In 2013 Barbara was still alive in the USA. Annie died in 2011.  The family could read and write and they spoke Irish and English. They were married 16 years and 8 children were born alive and 8 were still living. 10 persons lived in a class 3 house with 2 rooms and one front window. They had a cow house, calf house and a piggery.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/471222/

House 3: Bridget Sullivan a widow aged 73 was head of the family and lived with her sister Mary aged 70 who was single. Bridget didn’t read or write but Mary did. They spoke Irish and English. 2 Persons lived in 2 rooms in a class 3 house with 1 front window. They had no out houses.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/471223/

House 4: Patrick Halloran a farmer and carpenter aged 60 was head of the family. He lived with his wife Mary 65, sons Martin 25, Thomas 19 and Philip a scholar and daughter Kate 17 and granddaughter Mary 1. The family spoke Irish and English and they could read and write. They were married 36 years and 12 children were born alive and 8 were still living.  7 persons occupied 2 rooms in a Class 2 house with 2 front windows. They had a cow house, piggery and workshop. The house was slated. This family originally came from Glantreig.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/471223/

House 5: Matthew Mons a farmer aged 58 was head of the family living with his wife Margaret 45 and their children Catherine 20, Bridget 16, Patrick 14, John 12 and Ellen 9.  They had three other children. Michael was the eldest followed by Margaret and Maria. The family came to the area as Rate Collectors for the Martins of Ross. Matthew and Margaret were 26 years married and 9 children were born alive and 8 were still living. They could read and write and they spoke Irish and English. 7 persons occupied 2 rooms in a class 2 house with 3 front windows. They had a stable, cow house piggery and shed.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/471225/

House 6: Patrick Hynes a farmer aged 75 was head of the family living with his wife Mary 68, son Terence aged 44 married to Margaret 34 and son Michael 25 who was single. Patrick and Mary were 48 years married and they had 9 children born alive and 6 were still living including Pat, Martin and Stephen who were not listed in the 1911 Census. Terence and Margaret were married 2 years and had no children. The family spoke Irish and English. Patrick could read but Margaret did not read. Terence and Margaret could read and write but Michael did not read or write. 5 persons occupied 2 rooms in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. They had a cow house and a piggery.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/471226/

House 7: Michael Mc Donagh head of the family a farmer aged 60 lived with Bridget 44 his wife and children Hughbert 9, Mary 7, and Nora 5 listed as scholars. Michael didn’t read but the rest of the family did. They spoke Irish and English. The couple was married 14 years and they had 4 children born alive and 4 still living. 5 persons occupied 2 rooms in a class 3 house with 2 front windows. They had a cow house.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/471227/

House 8: Dennis Sullivan a farmer aged 40 and single lived alone. He could read and write and he spoke Irish and English. He lived in a class 3 house with 2 rooms and2 front windows. He had a cow house.

Denis was a relation of Denny Sullivan, the famous footballer from Oughterard.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Ballygally/471228/

People who lived here:

You can retrieve a list of people who lived in this townland from 1827 to 1911. This list is compiled from the following resources.

• The Tithe Applotment Books
• Griffith’s Valuation
• 1901 Census
• 1911 Census

List of nineteenth century and early twentieth century inhabitants.

Church records of births, deaths and marriages:

Church records of births, deaths and marriages are available online at http://www.rootsireland.ie. To search these records, you will need to know the ‘church parish’ rather than the ‘civil parish’. (The civil parish is the pre-reformation parish and was frequently used as a unit of administration in the past.)

Ballygally is in the civil parish of Kilcummin.

 Catholic parish:

This civil parish corresponds with the following Roman Catholic parish or parishes.

• Clonbern & Kilkerrin in Galway East.
• Carraroe in Galway West.
• Kilannin in Galway West.
• Kilcummin/Oughterard in Galway West.
• Rosmuc in Galway West.

Church of Ireland parish:

This civil parish corresponds with the following Church of Ireland parish.

• Kilcummin in Galway West.

In general, the civil parish and the Church of Ireland parish are the same, but, this is not always the case.

Additional Information from “A Valley Remembers”

1960’s Families were Hallorans, Hynes, Mons and Canavans.

Tommy Halloran and his wife Margaret lived on their own as the family had emigrated. Dick their son returned to mind them as they got older.

Michael Canavan and his wife Delia (Connelly) who was from Furbo lived with their daughter Mary. Tony worked in England and Bridie who was a nun worked in Africa on the missions. When Mick got married he built a new home in Gurterwulla on his part of the land that was striped and divided in Gurterwulla by the Land Commission in the 1930’s. There was a grant of £160 given to anyone who wished to build a house at the time. Trees were also given to plant for shelter.

Paddy Mons and his wife Maggie Walsh lived at home with Matt and Jackie. Jackie married Mary D’Arcy from Moycullen and built a new home and boat building workshop further west along the Glann road. Matt married Mary Rose O Sullivan and built a home at ‘Kelly’s farm’ near Dick Halloran’s.

Mickie Reilly who was an orphan came to work with the Hynes family. Mickey was a very short man with an unusual accent when he spoke. He was a great character and loved a bit of joviality and ‘craic’. On St. Stephen’s Day he and a few of the local musicians, entertainers and singers would dress up and form a travelling band and went from house to house – Michael Kelly, Seán T. Kelly, James Sullivan, Eamon King and Mickey himself. They played, sang, danced and recited to howls of laughter and applause. Mickey danced and he had a favourite recitation.

Love is such a funny thing

It catches the old and the young.

It’s just like a plate of boarding house hash,

Many a man it has sold

It makes you feel like a fresh water ell,

It causes your head to swell,

You loose your mind for love is blind,

And it empties your pocket book as well.

When a man is gone on a pretty little gal,

He speaks as gentle as a dove,

He calls her honey and spends all his money

For to show that he is solid in love.

But when his money is all gone

And his clothes in hock,

He finds the old saying it is true

‘That a mole on the arm is worth two on

 a leg,’ but what is he going to do?

When married folks have lots of cash,

Their love it is fine and strong.

But when they have to feed on hash

Their love doesn’t last so long.

With a cross-eyed baby on each knee,

And a wife with a plaster on her nose

You’ll find true love don’t run so smooth,

When you have to wear second hand clothes.

So boys keep away from the gals I say

And don’t be in a hurry to wed,

For you’ll find when your wed,

They’ll bang you ‘til your dead,

With a bald-headed end of a broom.” 

2013: There were 11 house in Ballygally – Mon’s old house, Jackie Mons, Dick Halloran, Amber and Paul Walsh Olsen (Howard Brown), 4 Canavan houses, Hynes (now a holiday home), Matt Mons and Tony Canavan.

MAPS

It is located at 53° 27′ 43″ N, 9° 22′ 41″ W

Original OS map of this area

Ireland was first mapped in the 1840s. These original maps are available online.

Ballygally

Original OS maps at the Ordnance Survey of Ireland website

Below is a link to the Ordnance Survey of Ireland website. It displays the original OS map that was created in the 1840s.

Ballygally

 Information from Google Maps:

You can use this link to find this townland on Google Maps.

Google Maps

 Information from the National Monuments Service:

You can use this link to view a map of archaeological features. This link brings you to a website wherein you will have to search for your townland.

Archaeological map from the National Monuments Service

Townlands.ie Website
http://www.townlands.ie/galway/moycullen/kilcummin/letterfore/ballygally/