Inisherk

 

 

 

Inisherk 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.

Irish Form of Name: Inis Eirc

Translation: Erck’s Island

Civil Parish: Kilcummin View all place names in this civil parish.

Inisherk is in the Electoral Division of Gorumna, in Civil Parish of Kilcummin, in the Barony of Moycullen, in the County of Galway

Other Forms of the Name with authority source (if provided) in italics:

Inisherk

Inis Eirc

Innishirk Barony Map

Innisherk Boundary Surveyor

Innishirk County Map

Innisherk Local

Description:

Inisherk contains 64½ acres of rocky tillage and pasture. It is also inhabited. Situated N. of Treighillaunbeg and Crappagh Islands and W. of Lettermullen Island. Its shore is very rocky.

Situation:

In the sea, it belongs to Lettermullen.

Information from the Down Survey Website.

The Down Survey is a mapped survey. Using the Civil Survey as a guide, teams of surveyors, mainly former soldiers, were sent out under Petty’s direction to measure every townland to be forfeited to soldiers and adventurers. The resulting maps, made at a scale of 40 perches to one inch (the modern equivalent of 1: 50,000), were the first systematic mapping of a large area on such a scale attempted anywhere. The primary purpose of these maps was to record the boundaries of each townland and to calculate their areas with great precision. The maps are also rich in other detail showing churches, roads, rivers, castles, houses and fortifications. Most towns are represented pictorially and the cartouches, the decorative titles, of each map in many cases reflect a specific characteristic of each barony. (http://downsurvey.tcd.ie)

Townland of INISHERK

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

The Tithe Applotment Books

About the Records

Tithes were a tax on agricultural produce which was payable by the occupiers of agricultural land. They were the main source of income for the parish clergy of the Church of Ireland (the largest Protestant church and the church established by law). However, in many parishes a large part of the tithes was ‘appropriate’, which meant that they were payable to a bishop, cathedral chapter or other ecclesiastical recipient, or were ‘impropriate’, which generally meant that they were payable to a local landowner. The parishes used in the Tithe Applotment Books are civil or Church of Ireland parishes, which often differ in name and territory from Catholic parishes, Acts of Parliament of 1823 and 1832 provided for the conversion of tithes into a fixed charge on land, and specified the average price of wheat or oats in the parish in the seven years before 1821 as the basis on which the tithes would be calculated. They also extended the application of tithes to pasture, where previously they had been levied only on tillage.

This change in the law resulted in the valuation of individual holdings in almost all parishes containing agricultural land, in order to assess the portion of the tithes for which each occupier of land would be liable. The apportionment was recorded for each Church of Ireland parish in a Tithe Composition Applotment Book. The information was collected and the amounts were calculated by two Parochial Commissioners, one of whom was appointed by the cess-payers of the parish and the other by the relevant Diocese of the Church of Ireland. This procedure was carried out in over 2,500 parishes between the years 1823 and 1837.

The Tithe Applotment Books are in a variety of formats, from a few pages sewn together to elaborately bound volumes. In most cases they are written in manuscript throughout, although some consist of manuscript entries on printed questionnaires. The information in the books is broadly uniform and generally includes at least the name of occupier; the size of holding, the valuation and the tithe payable. In some cases, more detailed information is provided. Some volumes have maps and most have certificates and correspondence attached.

The sub-divisions of the parish were recorded. Some of these subdivisions, such as plough lands, ceased to be in official use after the six-inch survey of the Ordnance Survey was completed in the 1840s. Only productive land was subject to tithe, and the books usually distinguish between this tithable land and untithable land such as roads or mountains. Tithable land was in some cases classified by quality, and a money value was given to each class. In some cases, the proportion of tithe payable to the rector, vicar or lay proprietor of the tithes was set out. The column for observations was sometimes completed, with information about commonage, for example.

There are a number of other points that should be noted. The acreages given in the Tithe Applotment Books are in Irish or Plantation measure, which is 1.62 times larger than statute measure. Only occupiers of land at the time of the tithe composition are recorded, so not all heads of households living in a parish at the time are included. Only rural areas are systematically covered, although inhabitants of towns who held plots of cultivable land are included. The equivalent tax in urban areas, Minister’s Money, has left few records.

The Tithe Applotment Books are an important source of information for a wide variety of researchers of pre-Famine Ireland. They provide the first surviving national list of the occupiers of land, and are used by genealogists as a partial substitute for returns of the 1821 and 1831 censuses of population, which were destroyed in 1922. They also record information on the quality of land, and provide information on pre-Ordnance Survey territorial divisions, some of which were not recognized after the 1840s.

The National Archives hold the original Tithe Applotment Books only for the twenty-six counties of the Republic of Ireland. The books for the six counties of Northern Ireland are held in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast. (http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/aboutmore.jsp)

No information available.

Griffith Valuation 1855

In Griffith’s Valuation the area in Inisherk was a total of 90 acres, 3 rood & 28 perch of land with a value of £18-0s-0d, each paying £4-10s-0d. Total ratable value of Buildings was £1-0s-0d with each occupier paying 5s.

Occupiers

Bartholomew Folan, Mark Folan, John Flaherty & Matthias Flaherty.

Immediate Lessor: Henry Comerford

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&PlaceID=559249

View the heads of households in the townland at this time.

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 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, subdividing and reorganizing the boundaries of some existing Unions, particularly in the west of the country created an additional 33 Unions.

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

What is a townland?

A townland 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 of 1169. Inisherk is a townland.

Population & Census Information

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 of this townland.

1841-1891 Census

1841 – 9 houses with 49 people

1851 – 6 houses with 46 people

1861 – 6 houses with 30 people

1871 – 7 houses with 36 people

1881 – 7 houses (7 inhabited) with 47 people (23 males, 24 females). There were no outbuildings.

The valuation of Houses & Land in 1881 was £16 0s 0d.

1891 – 6 houses (6 inhabited) with 40 people (20 males, 20 females). There were no outbuildings.

The valuation of Houses & Land in 1891 was £16 0s 0d.

1841/1851 Old Age Pension Census Search Forms

Lee (Flaherty)

An application was made by Lee from Inisherk in the Parish of Kilcummin in the Barony of Moycullen. Reference # Cen/S/2018. The surname Flaherty also appears on the application.  Record found for 1841.

McDonagh

An application was made by McDonagh from Inisherk in the Parish of Kilcummin in the Barony of Moycullen. Reference # Cen/S/2019. Record was found for 1851.

1901 Census

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 31st 1901 in Inisherk.

There were 5 houses listed in the Townland of Inisherk. The people were all Roman Catholics and they were born in Co. Galway. 32 people lived in Inisherk (17 males and 15 females) in the townland. There were 3 farm buildings and out offices which were cow houses.

Enumerators Extract

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000838844/

House & Building Return

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000838845/

Out Office & Farm Steadings

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000838846/

House 1

Colman McDonagh aged 55 was head of the family; married to Honor aged 52. They lived with their children Bartly aged 20, John aged 18, Colman aged 16, Anne aged 12 & Bridget aged 10.

Colman & Honor were farmer’s. Bartly & John were farmer’s sons and Colman (son), Anne & Bridget were scholars. Colman (father) could not read; he spoke only Irish. Honor could not read; she spoke Irish & English. The children could read & write and spoke Irish & English.

They lived in a 3^rd class house with 2 rooms and 2 front windows. They had a cow house. This was a private dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Gorumna/Inisherk/1393491/

House 2

Mathias Flaherty aged 55 was head of the family; married to Mary aged 50. They lived with their children Colman aged 23, Honor aged 22, Joseph aged 18, Bridget aged 17 & Myles aged 14.

Mathias & Mary were farmers. Colman & Joseph were farmers’ sons; Honor & Bridget were farmers’ daughters and Myles was a scholar. Mathias & Mary could not read or write; Mathias spoke Irish & English; Mary spoke only Irish. The children could read & write and spoke Irish & English.

They lived in a 3^rd class house with 2 rooms and 2 front windows. They had a cow house. This was a private dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Gorumna/Inisherk/1393492/

House 3

Margaret Flaherty aged 40 was head of the family; a widow. She lived with her children Margaret aged 20, Martin aged 19 & John aged 18.

Margaret was a farmer; Margaret was a farmer’s daughter and Martin & John were farmer’s sons. Margaret (mother) could not read or write; Margaret (daughter), Martin & John could read and write. The entire family spoke Irish & English.

They lived in a 3^rd class house with 2 rooms and 2 front windows. This was a private dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Gorumna/Inisherk/1393493/

House 4

John Folan aged 42 was head of the family; married to Barbara aged 35. They lived with their children Honor aged 13, Mary aged 11, Mark aged 9, Pat aged 8 and John’s father Mark aged 88, a widower.

John, Barbara & Mark were farmers; Honor & Mary were farmer’s daughter; Mark (son) & Pat were scholars. John & Barbara could not read or write; Mark (grandfather) could not read. The children could read & write. The entire family spoke Irish & English.

They lived in a 3^rd class house with 2 rooms and 2 front windows. This was a private dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Gorumna/Inisherk/1393494/

House 5

Thomas Folan aged 75 was head of the family; married to Mary aged 66; they lived with their son Mark aged 30, daughter in law Anne aged 28 and grandchildren Thomas aged 3, Mary Anne aged 2 & Bridget aged 1.

Thomas & Mary were farmers; Mark was a farmer’s son and the children were infants. The family could not read or write. Thomas, Mary, Mark, Anne & Thomas (child) spoke Irish & English. Mary Anne & Bridget spoke only Irish.

They lived in a 3^rd class house with 2 rooms and 2 front windows. They had a cow house. This was a private dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Gorumna/Inisherk/1393495/

1911 Census

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

There were 5 houses listed in the Townland of Inisherk. Of the people living in Inisherk all 28 (13 males/15 females) were Roman Catholics.

People that lived in Inisherk were born included Co. Galway. There were a total of 9 farm buildings and out offices which included cow houses & Barns.

Enumerators Extract

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002432052/

House & Building Returns

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002432054/

Out Office & Farm Steadings

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002432056/

House 1

Colman McDonagh aged 67 was head of the family; married to Norah aged 69. They lived with their daughter Bridget aged 20.

Colman was a small farmer. Colman & Norah could not read or write. Colman spoke only Irish & Norah spoke Irish & English. Bridget could read and write and spoke Irish & English.

Colman & Norah were married for 45 years they had 7 children with 7 living at the time of the census.

They lived in a 3^rd class house with 2 rooms and 2 front windows. They had a cow house & a barn. This was a private dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Gorumna/Inisherk_Island/470278/

House 2

Mark Folan aged 45 was head of the family; married to Annie aged 45. They lived with their children Thomas aged 13, Marianne aged 11, Bridget aged 10, Michael aged 8, John aged 7, Maggie aged 6, Ellen aged 5, Anne aged 2 & Mark’s widowed mother Mary aged 75.

Mark was a farmer. Thomas, Michael & John were farmer’s sons. Mark & Annie could not read or write. Thomas Marianne could read & write. Bridget, Michael, John, Maggie & Ellen could not read; they spoke Irish & English. Anne could not read.

Mark & Annie were married for 14 years they had 10 children with 10 living at the time of the census.

They lived in a 3^rd class house with 2 rooms and 2 front windows. They had a cow house & a barn. This was a private dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Gorumna/Inisherk_Island/470279/

House 3

John Folan aged 60 was head of the family; married to Barbara aged 60. They lived with their children Mary aged 21, Mark aged 18 & Pat aged 15.

John was a farmer; Mark & Pat were farmer’s sons. John could not read or write; he spoke only Irish. Barbara & Mary could not read and Mark & Pat could read & write; they spoke Irish & English.

John & Barbara were married for 26 years; they had 5 children with all 5 living at the time of the census.

They lived in a 3^rd class house with 2 rooms and 1 front window. They had a cow house. This was a private dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Gorumna/Inisherk_Island/470280/

House 4

Mathias Flaherty aged 72 was head of the family; married to Mary aged 69. They lived with their children, Joseph aged 28, Bridget aged 20 & Myles aged 24.

Mathias was a farmer. Joseph & Myles were farmers’ sons. Mathias & Mary could not read; Mathias spoke only Irish. Mary spoke Irish & English; The children could read & write and spoke Irish & English.

Mathias & Mary were married for 45 years; they had 9 children with 5 living at the time of the census.

They lived in a 3^rd class house with 2 rooms and 2 front windows. They had a cow house. This was a private dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Gorumna/Inisherk_Island/470281/

House 5

Margaret Flaherty aged 71 was head of the family; a widow. She lived with her son John aged 27, son’s wife Mary Anne aged 26 & grandson Michael aged 2 months.

Margaret was a farmer; John was a farmer’s son. Margaret & John could not read; Mary Anne could read & write; they spoke Irish & English. Baby Michael could not read.

John & Mary Anne were married for 2 years; they had 1 child.

They lived in a 3^rd class house with 2 rooms and 1 front window. They had a cow house & a barn. This was a private dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Gorumna/Inisherk_Island/470282/

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.)

Inisherk is in the civil parish of Kilcummin.

Roman Catholic parishes:

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

• Carraroe
• Kilannin
• Kilcummin/Oughterard
• Rosmuc

Church of Ireland parishes:

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

• Kilcummin

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

Maps

It is located at 53° 14′ 57″ N, 9° 45′ 15″ W.

Original OS map of this area.

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

Inisherk

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.

Inisherk

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

Galway Library Website

http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/place/53194

Townlands.ie Website

https://www.townlands.ie/galway/moycullen/kilcummin/gorumna/inisherk/