Ballaghafadda West 1855- 1970
Ballaghafadda West lies west of the village of Clarecastle and has an area of 463.39 acres or 187.53 hectares. It is bounded by seven townlands including Ballaghafadda East, Ballybeg, Barntick, Creggaunnahilla, Lissane East and West, Newhall and includes the sub-townland of Newtown.[1] Ballaghafadda West includes part of Ballybeg Lake. Roads L4172 and R473 run through the townland.
The Primary (Griffith) Valuation divided the townland into seven lots and sublots which included three large farms, smaller acreage, houses and thirty acres formed part of Ballybeg Lake. The landlord or immediate lessor was Sir David Roche (1791-1865) of Carcass, Limerick who also held in Clareabbey, Lissane East and West and Barntick.[2][3] Roche was a member of a prominent Limerick flour milling family.[4]
Ballaghafadda West shows similar trends 1855-1970 to those observed in other townlands close to Clarecastle i.e., changes to the size of farms, purchase of land by former tenants under the Land Act Purchase (LAP and the creation of new lots for new houses with land by the Clare County Board of Health of Health in the early twentieth century.
Another trend which can be observed is family continuity over the 115-period covered by the original 1855 Griffith Valuation to 1970. This can be observed in the Lynch, Murphy, Lyons/Quinn and Garvey/Bradley families.
Lot 2E was created in the 1940s for a new bovine Artificial Insemination Centre with associated house and land for the Dairy Disposal Board. This was known locally as the ‘Bull Farm” and introduced modern farming practices for the development of the local dairy and beef industries.
[1] (https://www.townlands.ie/clare/islands/clareabbey/clareabbey/ballaghafaddy-west/) (accessed 20 Oct. 2021).
[2] Joe Power, A history of Clare Castle (Ennis, 2004) p.205.
[3] (http://landedestates.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/estate-show.jsp?id=1895) (28 Sep. 2020)
[4] Irish Independent, 19 Mar. 2015.
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