Ballyea/Killone Parish townlands Griffith Valuation revision/cancelled books

Ballyea/Killone Parish townlands Griffith Valuation revision/cancelled books

The parish of Killone, now known as Ballyea is located south west of Ennis and is 5,762 acres in size.[1] The N85 Kilrush to Ennis and R473 Kildysert Road run through the parish. Killone/Ballyea is a rural parish which is demonstrated in the transcribed cancelled books.

While all townlands in the parish were listed together in the County Clare 1855 Primary (Griffith) Valuation of Ireland, updated information in the revision/cancelled books are recorded by district electoral division (DED).[2] There are twenty-five townlands in the parish.[3] DED often cross parish lines. The revision/cancelled books for Killone/Ballyea parish townlands are found in three DED; Killone, Clareabbey and Kilcloher.  This table summarises the twenty-five townlands, the size of each in hectares, acres and DED.

There are nine revision/cancelled books in the Killone DED:1856-58, 1858-62, 1862-64, 1864-79, 1879-83, 1883-1902, 1902-13, 1913-34 and 1934-70. The Clareabbey DED includes six Killone parish townlands and the ten revision/cancelled books are dated: 1855/56, 1856-58, 1858-64, 1864-74, 1874-84, 1884-96, 1896-1910, 1910-24, 1924-34, 1934-70. Lismulbreeda and Barnanageeha which are located in Kilcloher DED will be transcribed later.

The cancelled books for Teermaclane and Ballyveskill (Clareabbey parish) generally and book four 1864-79, in particular, have a number of challenging features for the family or local history researcher who usually rely on lot numbers as a base to follow changes. Book 4 documents a number of changes 1864-67, then a note at the top of the page in the ledger states out “cancelled April 1867, see new copy at end of book”.  The whole townland of Teermaclane was cancelled and new entries are found at the end of the ledger. This revision may be associated with Stephen Wolfe’s inheritance from his uncle Peter Woulfe who died in 1865.

Place names used in the transcription reflect the spelling used in the Primary Valuation and the cancelled books in line with best practice in transcribing historic documents. Two examples are Teermaclane which is the spelling used by Griffith and in the cancelled books but Tiermaclane is generally used locally and in other publications. Ballyvullagan which is the spelling used in the Griffith Valuation and the cancelled books but the townland is spelled as Ballyvillagan by townlands.ie.

There are some incidents in the transcription where occupier’s names cannot be read or partially read and again this is noted. The transcriber has included comments where additional information was available in the public domain eg historic birth, baptism, marriage, death or burial records.

When the Primary (Griffith) Valuation of Ireland for Killone Parish was published in 1855, it recorded that what it termed “R.C. Chapel “was located in lot 1a Teermaclane which it measured as twenty perches, valuing the land at five shillings, the building at three pounds giving a total valuation of three pounds, five shillings.

The 1858-62 and 1862-64 cancelled books records that the R.C. Chapel moved to lot 5a, later lot 6a, Ballyvullagan on a site which is listed as exempt from paying rates. The Marquis of Conynham is listed as the immediate lessor and the new site of one acre, one rood and ten perches was divided from land held by Patrick Mungovan. Later lot 6b Ballyvullagan is recorded as the site of the National School which was also exempt.

There are two graveyards in the parish; Ballyea graveyard surrounding the St John the Baptist Church (RC Chapel) which the Clare Library indicates was headstones dating from 1942.[4] The much older historic graveyard of Killone is located in lot 4g (later lot 4AG) Newhall. Gravestone transcription from Killone Abbey undertaken in 2009 by the Clare Roots Society and published on the Clare Library website recorded gravestones dated 1707 to 2008.[5] Killone Abbey and its graveyard occupies one acre and is a scheduled historic monument but there are still occasional burials on family members.

Changes noted in the Teermaclane revision/cancelled books record that in 1862, a National School was established on lot 1a. The lot was renumbered as lot 32 in 1867. A history of education in Teermaclane/Tiermaclane, including enrolment books can be found on the Clare Library website.[6]

Lot 24 Darragh North notes the presence of the creamery held by the Dairy Disposals Board and is dated 1953. The Dairy Disposal’s Board was established in 1927 “to acquire private creameries and other agri-businesses and transfer them to co-operative societies. It evolved into an agency that developed creameries and other agri-businesses”.[7][8]

The transition from tenancy to land ownership is documented in the cancelled books. Townlands such as Drumadrehid and Cappagaraun show that local farms were acquired under the Land Act Purchase (LAP) as early as 1906.

Large estates occupied by local gentry such as the McDonnells in Newhall, the Woulfe family of Teermaclane and Stacpoole family of Edenvale are detailed in changes in the cancelled books. Similar to changes observed in the Clareabbey parish cancelled books, dates of local farmers purchasing their previously tenanted land varies depending on the immediate lessor. Land in Teermaclane appears to have been purchased under the LAP in 1914 while land in the former estates owned by the Marquis of Conynham were purchased in 1946.

The cancelled books for Edenvale which was held by members of the Stacpoole family prior to 1855 until the late 1920s when land, house and offices were purchased by the Clare County Council. The county Sanitorium was established in the former Edenvale house and continued in use as a health facility beyond 1970. The 1924-34 and 1934-70 cancelled books record the extensive changes in the townland including dividing up land which was purchased under the LAP. The 1924-34 Cancelled book lists land allocation in Barloughra which previously had been held by the Stacpoole and McDonnell families.

Another feature of the cancelled books is the acquisition of land for the construction of houses with small plots of land by the Ennis Rural District Council and its administrative successors. These houses are found in many townlands.

The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) also had a presence in the parish with a barracks listed in Teermaclane at lot 12a until 1923, the Newhall Police Barracks at lot 3a which occupied the land previously held by the Catholic Parish Priest until his death in 1853 and a RIC Hut in Darragh North at lot 2a from 1

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[1] (https://www.townlands.ie/clare/killone2/) (accessed 20 Mar. 2023)

[2] (https://askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml) (accessed 20 Mar. 2023).

[3]

[4]( https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/don_tran/graves/ballyea_project.htm) (accessed 27 Mar. 2023).

[5] (https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/don_tran/graves/killone_abbey_graveyard_ennis.htm) (accessed 27 Mar. 2023).

[6] (https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/history/tiemaclane_national_school.htm) (accessed 27 Mar. 2023).

[7] (https://esource.dbs.ie/handle/10788/2360) (accessed 27 Mar. 2023)

[8] Note there is another Darragh Creamery in the parish of Kilfinnane, County Limerick which dates from the 1890s.