Town of Clare Revision /Cancelled Book 1865-1875
The third revision or cancelled book shows changes notified to the Valuation Office 1865-1875. The 1870 Census of Ireland was the first census which recorded Clare Town and Clare Commons together. There were 876 people living in 176 households recorded in Clare Town on 2 April 1871. There was a small decline of ten people and one fewer household in the village in 1871 compared to the 1861 census.
Historical events which impacted this ten year period include the Fenian Rising of 1867 by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland as the state church in 1869 and the founding of the Home Government Association (later the Home Rule League) in 1870. On the world stage history saw the cessation of hostilities in the American Civil in 1865, the Suez Canal opened in 1869, the Franco-Prussian War 1871-71 and the commencement of Long Depression 1870-1890 Europe and North America which experienced lower prices for produce and poorer economic growth.
A study of the original 1855 Griffith Valuation and the revision/cancelled books recall that the lease of Devine’s field (Clare Common lot 4) passed from Patrick to Thomas Devine (sometimes spelled Deveen) and this change is recorded this revision/cancelled book. Thomas held the lease until 1920 when it was taken by his sister Catherine O’Reilly who held the field until her death in 1956.
Following the revision /cancelled book and other publically available records for William Harding and his family illustrates the establishment of a family business which operated until 2017. William Harding (1843-1910) appears in the 1865-1875 revision /cancelled books holding the lease for a house at 5.18 Main Street Clare Commons. His name is struck out and he is shown as the occupier of house 5.24 Main St Clare Commons in 1875. Civil birth and marriage and church baptism and marriage records for the period record that William Harding, a soldier, married Hannah Costello (1843-1875), daughter of Michael Costello a well-known river pilot in Clarecastle in September 1868. The couple had one son John Joseph but sadly both Hannah and baby John died. William married Mary McGrath (1842-1915), daughter of Marcus McGrath from Newmarket on Fergus in Nov 1875. William and Mary had six children and went on to establish a public house and grocers at 60 Main Street Clare Commons. The business passed after William and Mary’s deaths to their youngest daughter Elizabeth Navin, her son Pat, his wife Kitty (nee O’Reilly) and finally to her nieces Mary and Bernadette Blessing. The business is now known Kate O’Reillys.
IF you want to search for someone in particular in the spreadsheets, you can Search by pressing Crtl+f on your keyboard and type the name into the search field that appears , if you are using a Mac press Cmd+f .
Cancelled Book 3 Town of Clare (Clarecastle) 1865-1875
No Comments
Add a comment about this page