Curraghduff East

Mary Kyne & Antoinette Lydon

Curraghduff East 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: An Currach Dubh Thoir

Translation: black moor

Other Forms of the Name

Curraghduff East
Currach Dubh
Curraghdhu East Boundary Surveyor
Currraghduff East Barony Cess Book
Curraghdhu East Local
Curraghduff Rector of Kilcummin
Curraghduff East and West R. Martin, Esq., Proprietor
E. & W. Carrick Mr. Griffith’s Survey 1815
Carrownacorriga 1st and 2nd Mr. Evnis? Survey 1760
Curreghduffe Inquis. Temp. Jac. I

Area:

Curraghduff East contains 147 ¼ acres, about 111 acres under tillage and pasture, the remainder bog.

Boundries:

Curraghduff East is situated in the Northern extremity of the parish.

Curraghduff East borders the following other townlands:

Barratleva to the south
Curraghduff Middle to the west
Farravaun to the east
Gowlaun to the east

COUNTY

Gaillimh/Galway

BARONY

Maigh Cuilinn/Moycullen

CIVIL PARISH

Cill Chuimín/Kilcummin

Landlord:

Richard Martin Esq.

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. http://www.martinhistory.net/

Downs Survey’s

Townland of CURRAGHDUFF EAST

Down Survey Name: Curragduffe
1641 Owner(s): Clanrickard, Earl of (Protestant)
1670 Owner(s): 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 were ‘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 ploughlands, 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 recognised 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)

Tithe Applotment Books – Curraghduff East

Peter Sullivan had 81 acres; 19 acres 2nd quality with a payment of 1s, 13 acres 3rd quality with a payment of 3d, 6 acres of 4th quality land with a payment of ½d and 43 acres of 5th quality land with a payment of ⅛d.

The Tithes payments went to Richard Martin Esq. James Daly & John Wilson.

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/reels/tab//004587459/004587459_00445.pdf

Griffiths Valuation 1855

In Griffith’s valuation the area was 147 acres, 1 rood & 22 perch with a land value £18 0s 0d. Value of Buildings was £0 7s & 0d.Total valuation of £18 7s 0d.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&PlaceID=558967

Occupiers of land

Henry Hodgson had 142 acres 1 rood & 32 perch of land paying £16 10s 0d.

Matthias Sullivan & Patrick McDonagh had houses & land, they had 4 acres, 3 rood and 30 perch. Matthias Sullivan paid £0 10s & 0d for the land & £0 2s 0d for the buildings. Patrick McDonagh paid £1 0s & 0d for the land & £0 5s 0d for the buildings.

Immediate Lessor

William G Griffith & Henry Hodgson.

Census 1841-1891

1841 – 5 houses with 32 people

1851 – 1 house with 6 people

1861 – 4 houses with 15 people

1871 – 4 houses with 12 people

1881 – 4 houses 8 people (3 males & 5 females) Valuation of Houses & Lands £18 10s 0d. There was 1 outbuilding in the townland in 1881.

1891 – 2 houses 17 people (10 males & 7 females) Valuation of Houses & Lands £18 10s 0d. There were 4 outbuildings in the townland in 1891.

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 5acres or less and a farmer needed at least 15.3 acres to survive.

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. Curraghduff East is a townland.

1901 Curraghduff East

This is a return of the member of the family, their Visitors, Boarders, and Servants who slept or abode in their house on the night of 31st of March 1901 in Curraghduff East. There were 14 houses listed in the townland of Curraghduff East. Of the people living in Curraghduff East 13 were Roman Catholics.

All 13 People that lived in Curraghduff East were born in Co. Galway.

There were a total of 5 farm buildings and out offices which included stables, cow houses & piggeries.

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 1st class house was considered the highest standard.

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

House Occupancy: 2 Houses were occupied on the night of the Census, 1 house was unoccupied.

Enumerators Extract

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840307/

House & Building Return

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840308/

Out Offices & Farm Steadings

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840309/

House 1

John Sullivan aged 60 head of family; married to Mary aged 55, they lived with their children Maggie aged 21 & Edmond aged 17. John was a farmer, Maggie was a domestic servant & Edmond was a farmer’s son. John could not read or write, he spoke Irish & English. Mary could read & write and spoke Irish & English. Maggie & Edmond could read & write and spoke Irish & English.

They lived in a 3rd class house with 2 rooms & 2 front windows. They had a stable & a cow house. This premise was a Private Dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Curraghduff_East/1394455/

House 2

Martin Kelly aged 57 head of the family; married to Catherine aged 45, they lived with their children Honor aged 17, Michael aged 15, Joseph aged 13, Matthias aged 11, Catherine aged 9, Annie aged 7 & John aged 4.

Martin was a farmer. Martin & Catherine spoke Irish & English. Honor was a domestic servant. Michael, Joseph, Matthias, Catherine & Annie were scholars. Honor, Michael, Joseph, Matthias, Catherine & Annie could read & write. John could not read or write. All the children spoke English.

They lived in a 3rd class house with 2 rooms & 2 front windows. They had a piggery & 2 cow houses. This premise was a Private Dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Letterfore/Curraghduff_East/1394456/

Census 1911 – Curraghduff East

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

There were 2 houses listed in the Townland of Curraghduff East. Of the people living in Curraghduff East all 12(7 males/5 females) were Roman Catholics.

People that lived in Curraghduff East were born included Co. Galway. There were a total of 4 farm buildings and out offices which included a stable & cow houses.

Enumerators Extract

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002434787/

House & Building Return

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002434789/

Out Offices & Farm Steadings

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002434791/

House 1

John Sullivan aged 72 head of the family; married Mary aged 69, they lived their son Edmond aged 25 & a visitor Matthias Ferinerty aged 13.

John was a farmer, Mary was a farmer’s wife, Edmond was a farmer’s son & Matthias was a scholar. John could not read, he spoke Irish & English. John was blind. Mary could read she spoke Irish & English. John & Mary were married for 31 years; they had 7 children with 3 still living at the time of the census. Edmond and Matthias could read & write and spoke Irish & English.

They lived in a 3rd class house with 2 rooms & 2 front windows. They had a stable & a cow house. This premise was a Private Dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Curraghduff__East/912150/

House 2

Martin Kelly aged 70, head of the family; married to Catherine aged 58, they lived with their children Joseph aged 23, Matthias aged 21, John aged 14, Bridgid aged 28, Catherine aged 19 & Annie aged 17.

Martin was a farmer, Catherine was a farmer’s wife, Joseph & Matthias were farmer’s sons; John was a scholar; Bridgid, Catherine & Annie were farmer’s daughters. The entire household could read, write & spoke Irish & English. Martin & Catherine were married for 34 years; they had 10 children with 7 still living at the time of the census.

They lived in a 3rd class house with 2 rooms & 2 front windows. They had 2 cow houses. This premise was a Private Dwelling.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Letterfore/Curraghduff__East/912151/

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.)

Curraghduff East is in the civil parish of Kilcummin.