Lettercraffroe

Text - Mary Kyne, Hyperlink & Maps - Antoinette Lydon

Lettercraffroe 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 Leitir Creamh Ruadh – red hillside of the wild garlic.

Leitir Creamha Rua is in the Electoral Division of Oughterard, in Civil Parish of Kilcummin, in the Barony of Moycullen, in the County of Galway

The land in Lettercraffroe is very bad, heathy, rocky and swampy. Contains 1,017 acres, all mountain pasture, including 136¾ acres of water,

Lough Lettercrafoo with its islands several of which belong to this townland, forms part of its western boundary. There is nothing remarkable in this townland.

Other forms of name:

Lettercraffroe
Leitir Creamh Ruadh
Lettercrafroo Boundary Surveyor
Lettercraffroo Local
Letterknaff at large Rector of Kilcummin
Boundaries

In the eastern extremity of the parish. Bounded on the N. E. by Derradda, on the S.E. by the parish of Killannin, on the W. by Shannadolleaghau and Cloghermore, and on the S.W. by Shannafeasteen.

This is a list of townlands that share a border with this townland.

Other placenames in this townland:

Some other placenames in or near this townland are …

Drimneen River (river)
Lough Lettercraffroo (lake)
Loughnamoreleen (lake)

Landlord:

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.

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.

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 LETTERCRAFFROE

Down Survey Name: Littercalla

1641 Owner(s): French, Patrick (Catholic)

1670 Owner(s): Meredith, Sir Thomas (Protestant)

County: Galway

Barony: Muckullin

Parish: Killcumyn

Unprofitable land: 531 plantation acres

Profitable land: 38 plantation acres

Forfeited: 38 plantation acres

Down Survey Website

Griffiths Valuation 1850’s

In Griffith’s Valuation the area is 1017 acres 20 perches – (1017 acres 20 perches land, Water 136 acres 3 roods 21 perches) with a land value of £5. Value of Buildings is £0 0s 0d.

Occupiers of the Land: Edmond O Flaherty

Immediate Lessor: Rev Charles Whitaker

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

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&PlaceID=560093

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.

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 farmers needed at least 15.3 acres to survive.

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. Lettercraffroe 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 – No one living in the townland

1851 – No one living in the townland

1861 – No one living in the townland

1871 – No one living in the townland

1881 – 1 house (1 inhabited) with 6 people (1 males, 5 females). There was 1 outbuilding.

The valuation of Houses & Land in 1881 was £5 0s 0d.

1891 – 1 house (1 inhabited) with 8 people (3 males, 5 females). There was 1 outbuilding.

The valuation of Houses & Land in 1891 was £5 0s 0d.

1901 Census Lettercraffroe

This is a return of the members of the family, their Visitors, Boarders, and Servants who slept or abode in their house on the night of Sunday March 31^st 1901 in Lettercraffroe

There was 1 house listed in the Townland of Lettercraffore. The people were all Roman Catholics and they were born in County Galway. There was one cow house in the village.

Enumerators Extract

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840813/

House & Building Return

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840814/

Out Office & Farm Steadings

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000840815/

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 house in Lettercraffroe was built of stone, brick or concrete. It was not a mud cabin.

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

House Occupancy: The house was a private dwelling and the Head of the Family was also listed as the lawful Landholder of the property.

House 1: Mark Conneely a farmer and head of the family, aged 40 lived with his wife Margaret 22 and children Thomas 3 and Barbara aged 1. Kate Walsh aged 14 a domestic servant lived with the family. The family could not read or write but they spoke Irish and English. They lived in a Class 3 house with one front window. They had a cow house. 5 persons occupied 2 available rooms.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Oughterard/Lettercraffroe/1394698

Lettercraffroe Census 1911

This is a return of the Members of the family of Conneely’s in Lettercraffroe, 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 House

The house in Lettercraffroe was listed as a private dwelling and was built of concrete or stone. The roof of the house was of wood, thatch or other perishable material. Most likely it was thatched. The head of the family was listed as the landholder. One family lived in the property. 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 in the local villages came under “2’ in the census form meaning that there could be 2, 3, or 4, rooms in the house.

Enumerators Extract

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002435690/

House & Building Return

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002435692/

Out Office & Farm Steadings

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002435694/

House 1: Mark Conneely a herd and head of the family aged 55 lived with his wife Margaret 34 and his children Thomas 13, Mary 7, Michael 6, twins Margaret and Bridget 5, Patrick 3 and Peter 2. The family spoke Irish and English. The family didn’t read or write. Mark and Margaret were married 14 years with 11children born alive and 9 still living. They lived in a Class 3 house with 1 front window. They had one cow house. 9 persons occupied 1 available room. It was a private dwelling and the family were Roman Catholics.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Oughterard/Lettercraffroe/471280/

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.)

Lettercraffroe is in the civil parish of Kilcummin.

Catholic parish:

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