Precensus Dunlavin. Townland ghosts and some reflections
The year 1815 was undoubtedly a watershed in Dunlavin parish, as parish records begin on October 1st of that year.
This beginning of a new parish register probably indicates that a new church was erected on the present site at or about this time. The penal laws were still in force – Catholic emancipation didn’t happen until 1829 – but they were becoming more lax during the late 18th and early 19th century, with the exception of a short ‘backlash’ period after the rebellions of 1798 and 1803.
However, the years after 1810 saw the building of many new Catholic Churches – including the one in Dunlavin, which was built on land donated by the Tynte family. Whether the Church was a permanent structure or a temporary one in 1815 is uncertain, but the fact remains that the first parish register – to have survived, at least – came into being during this year.
Three infants – Michael Brien, Hannah Healy and Michael Magarr were baptised on October 1st 1815. Perhaps this event was not as far – reaching as Wellington’s victory at Waterloo in the same year, but for our parish these three baptisms are the beginning of our own unique social record. There were twenty one baptisms recorded for October 1815 and a total of 100 is mentioned for the year of 1815. This latter figure is a strange one, as there are only 59 entries from October to December in the book for 1815.
Subsequent years show totals in excess of 200, so perhaps the priest simply guessed that there were about 100 baptisms for the year, since records only began in the month of October.
The parish register provides us with lists of names and areas, but reading between the lines it also provides us with some clues about the social history of the time.
Before we move on to the lists of family names, some observations about the register should be made.
The first point to note is that these records do not give the complete picture. They refer only to the Catholic families. Anglicans and/or dissenters who were living in these townlands are not mentioned in the records. Also, by implication, because these are baptismal records, the register will only show young to middle-aged Catholic family names. Older couples, childless or with more mature children by 1815, will not appear on these pages.
The accuracy of townland boundaries is questionable too: For example, certain areas like Tubber seem to be very populous, while other areas like Sandy Hills do not appear at all. I suspect that the term “Tubber” refers to all the townlands in the old parish of Tubber. Hence “Kelly’s of Tubber” for example could refer to “Kelly’s of Man of War”, but there is no way to ascertain this.
FAMILY NAMES
Many family names were very common too, occurring in various different townlands. The old Wicklow names of “Toole” and “Byrne” are widespread, while “Kavanah”, once very prevalent in South Wicklow is also a popular name.
The spelling of Kavanah – without the ‘g’ – brings us another point. All the spellings in the register are as per the priest of the day. No doubt many of the ordinary people were uneducated – National Schools were not established until Lord Stanley’s Education Act of 1831, so, if there were variants of the surname unknown to the priest, they did not appear in the book. (My own name, for example has variants of Lawlor, Lawler and Lalor). Hence, for example, there are no Keogh’s listed, only Kehoe’s. This however, does not mean that some present Keogh’s may not be descended from the Kehoe’s listed. Many names changed spelling at the latter end of the 19th century, during the Cultural Revival. The work of organisations like the Gaelic League “gaelicised” the spelling of many family names. An example of this in the register is that no surname is preceded by ‘O’. Names like “Neile”, “Reily” and “Toole” would surely now have ancestors called O’Neill, O’Reilly and O’Toole. Pronunciation may have changed over the years too, for example, would “Cassin” then become “Cashin” in modem times?
Place names also show pregaelic League spellings in the register. The revived interest in the Irish language taught people the meaning of many old names. Thus the Irish word “Cnoc” (Hill) became “Knock” when it was Anglicised. The English “K” represented the Irish “C”. No such niceties applied in 1815 though, hence we got the spellings “Nockaderry”, “Nockbawn” etc.
Another weakness of the records, is that, due to erratic spelling, the same family may have been recorded twice in certain townlands. Thus, in Ballinabarny, for example, we get both “Connel” and Connell”.
In an effort to avoid repetition, I have not included the same surname twice in the townland lists if it is spelt the same way for more than one family within that townland. This is not to imply that families with the same surname did not inhabit the same townland. They very often did – and I mean very often! There were quite a few families of Rogers in Merginstown, Nowlans in Tubber and Byrnes in Frianstown, to name but three. This would definitely indicate the sub-division of family holdings – a practice common locally and all over prefamine rural Ireland. This practice was mostly brought to an end after the famine when primogeniture (eldest son inherits) became common.
THE FAMINE
Mention of the famine brings me to another point evident if one browses through the parish registers for 1815-1820 – the high birth rate. The total number of baptisms per annum for these precensus years consistently exceeds 200 – put another way there was a rough average of two baptisms every three days. The actual figures are: – 1815 (part of) 100 (possibly a guess – see above) 1816 - 273; 1817 - 201; 1818 - 215; 1819 - 224; and 1820 - 226. There is no doubt that these figures are high for a parish of this size – but high birth rates were a usual feature of rural Ireland at this time. Three and even four baptisms per day in Dunlavin Church was quite a common occurrence. Many parents return during this five-year period – again and again – with three, four and even five children to be baptised. The period 1815 – 1820 saw a “Baby Boom” in Dunlavin, as in the country as a whole.
The infants listed in this register would be in the 25-30 year old age group when the great famine struck – therefore, they would be having their own families and there is no doubt that overpopulation exacerbated an already serious situation in the 1840’s. Large families were the norm. Without going into the moral arguments about family planning, the attitude of the Catholic Church to large families was that they were generally desirable. Families like the Finns of Eadestown, the Balfes of Dunlavin and the Ryders of Loughmogue – to name but three – returned again and again to the baptismal font.
In an interview to mark his 70th birthday, the recently deceased Dr. Noel Brown referred to woman bearing many more children than their body could manage. He blamed his own mothers ill-health and death on this fact. A similar trend is to be found in our own precensus parish records. The low life expectancy, the poverty, the overpopulation are all there if you read between the lines. Dunlavin – and Ireland in general – during this period obviously had some traits in common with many Third World Countries today.
Other trends may also come to light by studying the old registers. Some anthropologists and social historians, for example, have suggested that there was a seasonal nature to childbirths in pre-famine Ireland. Of course, babies were born all year round, but they would expect the figures to peak in the late summer and autumn. The reasoning behind their theory is that both men and women were tired from working on the land during the summer months when dusk could be as late as 11 p.m., with an early dawn to follow. The long winter nights, on the other hand were the time to make babies, hence the expected high in the figure for births should occur in the autumn. The figures for August 1818, for example, saw eighteen baptisms (with sixteen for the previous month of July). However the figures for January of 1819 show only twelve baptisms. Could the ‘Seasonal’ model be true? Further scrutiny of the overall figures tend to cast doubts over it though. January of 1818, for example, recorded a very high number of baptisms indeed – and so did other winter months while many summer and autumn months show low totals. No real evidence here, then, of ‘seasonal childbirths’.
YOUNG FAMILIES
Another trend which can be perceived is that certain areas had large numbers of young families – young parents, while other areas record low totals. Once one allows for difference in actual population, there is still some evidence of differing birth rates in different townlands. One example, here in Milltown – quite a populous townland according to pre-famine census information, and yet an area with quite a low birth rate – and a low number of young parents of childbearing age. One possible reason for this is that Milltown was quite heavily settled with older families and so would show a more mature population pyramid than certain other areas.
A modern comparison might involve a new housing estate with many young families moving in as opposed to an older estate, where the families are older and have settled there for some time, so they would not figure as often in a baptismal register.
There is no doubt that prefamine society was more geographic static than our own well-travelled society. Certain families appear in areas where the surname is still to be found (in or close to the same place) today. Some examples here include Metcalf’s of Crehelp, Moore’s of Tubber and Dwyers of Seskin, to name but three. The question “are they the same families as their modem namesakes”? Could be probably answered by a careful scrutiny of parish records through about 175 years. Generally after the collapse of the Landlord system (c 1880 - 1910) some tenant farmers did survive and buy out neighbouring land to become strong farmers. It is quite probable that there are modern “survivors” still living in the same townlands as their ancestors of 1815 - 20.
The lists published here do have one advantage over the later Census figures. They cover a five year period and so build a fuller picture of any in – migrants during such a five year period – provided they had children to baptise, into the Catholic faith! People living in a townland during any five years between census taking, often left no official trace of their movements.
Judging by the number of baptisms recorded at Dunlavin for families from the “other side” of the parish, it is probable that Donard did not have a Church at this time. One disadvantage of this involves the comparison of contemporary and modem statistics. Any such comparison would have to include modern statistics for all three Churches in the parish to be truly comparable. Even allowing for this, the baptismal rate of two hundred plus, per year seems high. The average rate also rose as one went through the 1820’s and 1830’s – in 1828, for example, Fr. Hyland, the new Parish Priest recorded two hundred and seventy two (272) baptisms while the 1835 figure was three hundred and two (302).
Just to stay in the 1830’s for a moment in order to further illustrate the booming population in those prefamine years, Fr. Hyland records that Archbishop Murray Confirmed four hundred and sixty (460) children in Dunlavin chapel on 5th August 1833, while on the 12th June 1837 the number Confirmed in Dunlavin by Dr. Murray was seven hundred and twenty two (722). This must represent phenomena growth during the 1830’s (c.f. my article in the 1994 Arts Festival Brochure). Modern Confirmation numbers even for the whole Parish, hardly come anywhere near these figures.
But to return to the precensus era. One interesting aspect of the baptismal register for these years is that all parents of children baptised seem to have been married. Indeed, I could not find an exception to this anywhere in the first Parish register book, which covers the years 1815 to 1839. But an interesting footnote for the year 1833 might shed some light on this situation. It states that there were two hundred and ninety four (294) baptisms in 1833. But, “About ten (10) baptisms have not been registered from March to August in consequence of the right of one of the clergymen”. Might these children be ones whose parents were not married (at least not at the time of birth/baptism)? We must remember that we are dealing with a time when Church attitudes were much more hardline, and social stigma was an ever-present reality for anyone that the people chose to reject.
POVERTY
Poverty was quite widespread during these years too. A Mallen family who had a baby Christened in Dunlavin Church in 1816 are recorded as being ‘vagabonds’. The travelling rural labourer, or spalpin, was a common figure in prefamine Ireland. The famine did much to wipe them out, but some survived right up to the time of the First World War. Once again though, the pages of our parish register highlights a local and a national problem.
Footnote 1: Only one mixed marriage seems to be recorded in the first book – Thomas (Protestant) and Briget Moody, Whitestown.
Footnote 2: The marriage register starts in 1831, with Maurice Whelan and Margaret Kavanagh being the first wedding on St. Valentine’s Day of that year. Marriage total from 1831 - 1838 averaged about fifty, the most per annum being sixty six; the least being thirty nine.
Footnote 3: One interesting baptism in 1818 was that of James Whittle, son of Joseph and Margaret, sponsored by Joseph Byrne and Briget Conlon. James Whittle was Parish Priest of Dunlavin from 1862 to 1884 and is buried outside the side aisle and commemorated by a wall plaque inside.
Footnote 4: Two early Curates of Dunlavin were Fr. A. Reynolds and Fr. P. Mulaney both of whom served here in 1833, when Fr. J. Hyland was Parish Priest.
Footnote: 5: The townland of Eadstown contains a family of Dwyers. Michael Dwyer, the famous Wicklow rebel was born in this place and as these records pertain to a time only about 15 years after his campaign and eventual capture, it is probably his family that is registered here.
Catholic Surnames in Townlands
There follows a list of the Catholic Surname for each Townland named in the Parish register during the period from 1st October 1815 to 31st December 1820. (The first Census dates from 1821 and so can be used to get family names after 1820).
I have given the spelling of place names as they appear in Liam Price’s book. These are in bold type. I have also given any deviant form of the spellings which appear in the parish register in brackets after the name.
If only one form of the name appears, the parish register concurs with Price’s spelling. Where possible, I have also briefly given Prices explanation of the origin of the place names (italics). In some cases, names not in Price’s book appear. Where this occurs, I have stated that the name is not mentioned by Price and any explanation is, of course, not applicable.
BALLENARAY (Ballenara) (not in Price): Brien, Kinsella.
BALLINARD (Ballenard) (High Town): Kavanagh, Brien, Lambe, Kinsella, Headen, Butler, Toole, Bulger.
BALLINABARNY (Ballinabarnie, Ballinabarna, Ballabarna) (Cattle Enclosure at the gap road): Connell Kearney, Connel, Shiel, Finn.
Parish Records also show this name with “Bally” instead of Ballinabarny.
The following family names are listed under the corrupted spellings given beside them: Conoly – Ballybarnie. Hoxy, Duffy – Ballibarna. Shiel – Ballybarny. Connell Kearney – Ballybarna.
BALLINCLEA (Ballinaclay) (Mountain Settlement): Kenny, Conran, Kelly, Canavan, Doyle, Crowley, Farrel, Brien, Timmins.
BALLINEBO (not in Price) (Town of the Cows?): Wade.
BALLINEDDAN (Ballineddin) (Town of the Drained Land): Byrne, Shell, Kerwin, Carty, Rourke, Kirwan, Brien.
BALLINFOYLE (Ballinfile) (Booley House of the two Pools): Burke.
BALLINTRUER (Ballintruin, Ballintrure) (Homestead of three people): Webb, Pendergast, Duff, Cullen.
BALLYHOOK (Family Name – Hookes Town): Gavan.
BALLYHUBBOCK (Ballyhubue, Ballyhubbur, Ballyhubut) (Robert’s Town): Pendergast, Mooney, Kavanah, Sheridan, Brien, Valentine, Donahue, Kearns, Murphy, Byrne, Germain.
BALLYHURLEY (not in Price): Mooney.
BALLYLEA (Family Name – Ely’s Town): Dowling.
BALLYLION (Ballyline) (Family Name – Leynagh’s Town): Nowlan, Metcalf, Lewis, Pendergast, Daly.
BALLYMOONEY (Ballymoony) (Mooney’s Town): Toole, Gardly, Flood, Neale, Lennan, Dwyer, Tyrrel, McLoughlin, Lennon.
BALLYMOOR (not in Price) (Could this refer to Ballymore-Eustace?): Kane.
BALLYREASK (Ballyreesh) (Marshy Town): Kenny, Donahoe, Donoghoe.
BALLYTOOLE (O’Toole’s Town) – part of Coolmoney and not to be confused with Toolestown: Butler, Daly, Lennon, Sheridan, Byrne, Lindsay.
BALLYVOHAN (Ballyurahan, Ballyrocan, Ballyoran, Ballyvoran, Ballyorahan) (see below) (O’Mohan’s Town and O’Braghan’s Town): Kelly, Reynolds, Cullen, Byrne, Brien, Brady, Miller, Nowlan.
Price names two separate townlands, Ballyvoghan and Ballyvraghan. The multiplicity of spellings in the parish register make it almost impossible to separate them.
BARRACK (not in Price) (Could the name refer to the police barracks in the village?): Kennedy.
BLACKMOOR (Blackamore): Nugent, Byrne, Kehoe, Ellis, Kinsella, Mullen, Heyden, Reed, Carrol, Daly, Lamb.
BLACKHILL: Traynor, Tracy, Keating, Byrne, Ward, Heade, Reddy, Dunn, Judge, Copeland, Hegarty.
BOWRY (Brothel): Mitchel, Kealy.
BRITTAS (Fortified Dwelling): Case, Butler, Byrne, Flood, Kelly, Kavanagh, Whelan, Darcy.
RUSSELSTOWN (Family Name?): Hayden, Lynch, Smyth, Lennon, Maher, Healy, Smith, Heyden, Donohoe, Fitzpatrick.
BUSHFIELD: Larkin.
CAMARA (Camera) (Drained Area): Doyle, Kelly, Connel.
CASTLERUDDERY (Castlerudry) (Knights Castle or Roderick’s Castle): Hickey, Finn, Donohoe, Duff, Doyle, McEvoy, Brien, Plant, Mackay, Toole, Byrne, Conron, Mulhall, Metcalf, Marlay, Maher, Flood, Boyne, Butler, Brown, Maley, Murray, Daly, Synott, Connor.
CASTLESALLAGH (Castlesalla) (Dirty Castle): Donohoe.
COAN (Cowen) (River Bend): Murphy, Toole, Connel.
COLLIGA (Colloga, Colaga) (Thorny Place): Broughal, Karney, Murphy, Kearney, Moore, Mahon, Kavanah.
COOLAMADDRA (Coolamadra) (Den of the dog or wolf): Kelly, Delaney, Conran, Heney, Brien, Donnelly, Germain, Valentine, Heany.
COOLMONEY (Sheltered Shrubbery): Byrne, Hanlon.
COONANSTOWN (Family Name): Somers, Whittle.
CREHELP (Creehelp, Cryhelp) (A branch of the clan Elpi): Murray, Walsh, Kane, Byrne, Kehoe, Manwaring, Hobart, Metcalf, Heyden, Perry, Galbally, Noon, Quin, Toole, Dempsy, Barden, Maneron, Kelly, Flood, Brad, Mulally, Cunningham, Murphy, Mangan, Cassin, Donohoe, Nowlan, Grattan.
CLONSHANNON (Crosshannon) (Meadow of the old one): Donohoe, Murphy, Martin.
CROSSKEYS (Probably the name of an Inn): Doyle, Connor, Murphy, McEvoy, Byrne x 2, Waddy, Nowlan.
CURTRA (not in Price): Higgins.
DAVIDSTOWN (Area was held by David Donn in the 13th Century): Kenny, Brien.
DERRYNAMUCK (Dernamuck) (Wood of the pigs): Martin, Ryan, Hoxy.
DRUMREAGH (Drumreed) (Striped Hill): Donaghan, Reily.
DONARD (Dunard) (High Fort): Mulhall, Lennon, Fitzpatrick, Byrne, Murray, Farrel, Doyle, Lambe, Grehan, Claxton, Nerale, Coogan, Lewis, Fitzgerald, Tenison, Brady, Russel, Case, Murphy, Lawler, Artry, Conway, Boylan, Eardly, Nowlan, Headen, McEvoy, Donohoe, Harrington, Morgan, Leviston, Ivery, Maneron, Reddin, Stokes, Curren, Fullam.
DUNLAVIN (Fort of Liamhan?): Kehoe, Gavan, Fitzgerald, Gorman, Mahon, Balfe, Morgan, Christy, Martin, Neile, Cullen, Fahy, Murphy, Kavanagh, Donohoe, Hoxy, Dempsy, Fox, Roche, Cahill, Whelan, Molyneaux, Byrne, Doyle, Kenedy, Kealy, Gafney, McEvoy, Elliott, Walsh, Toole, Doran, Power, Connors, Ryder, Whittle, Corrigan, Jiven, Donovan, Neale, Leeson, Chamney, Gyves, Barret, Kearns, Conran, Kelly, Couse, Nowlan, Irwin, Heyden, Wall.
EADSTOWN (Eadestown) (Named for the Ede Family): Donely, Martin, Dwyer, Rice, Farrel, Anderson, Doody, Breen, Brien, Heyden, Finn, Boyce, Weary, Murphy, Cavan, Byrne, Conway, Doran.
FAUNA (Fiawana, Fawna, Faronah) (Sloping Land): Doyle, Kelly, Kehoe.
FRIARHILL (Fryarhill) (Named for Monks in the Rectory of Tober): Byrne, Reilly, Murphy, Flood, Judge, Doyle, Mangan, Meade, Kelly, McEvoy, Heade, Walsh.
GIBSTOWN (origin unknown): Kelly, Dowling, Mackey, Byrne, Hanlon, Lambe.
IRISHTOWN (Area where Norman Fitzgeralds put local settlers?): Bolland.
KELSHA (Wooded Area): Kehoe, Halpin, Toomey, Flyn.
KENOW ( Kennours) (not in Price): Toole, Connel, Kehoe, Marnah.
KILBAYLET (Kilbealet, Kilbeleth, Kilbelet, Kilbalet, Kilbelim) (Church at the Pass): Murphy, Burke, Rourke, Murray, Dowden, Farrell, Coogan, Whittle, Bulger, Foley, Lennon.
KILBREFFY (Kilbruffy, Kilbruffey) (Church of the Wolf-plain): Kerry.
KILCOAGH (Kilcough, Kilcooke) (Church of St. Cuach): Fitzpatrick, Lennon, Byrne, Kelly.
KILLYBEG (Killabegs, Killibeg, Killybeggs) (Little Wood): Heyden, Byrne, Roche, Lennon, Neale.
KINSELLASTOWN (Kinselastown) (Family Name): Cunningham, Keily, Kehoe, Heade.
LEITRIM (Grey Hillock): Kelly, Darcy.
LEMONSTOWN (St. Loman’s Town): Coogan, Mooney, Metcalf, Costeloe, Cullen, Murray, McAtee, Davis, Mulaly, Conoly, Mulally, McDonnel, Gallaher, Coleman, Ayres, Dalton, Donnelly, Murphy.
LOGATRINA (Corncrake’s Hollow): Donovan, Fay, Brien, Fahy.
LOUGEMOGUE (Pool of St. Maodhog): Mahon, Brien, Loughran, Burke, Rowley, Barden, Broughan, Corrigan, Dalton, Henry, Doyle, McEvoy, Wright, Ryder, Dunn, Carroll, Smith, Valentine, Johnson, Deegan, Byrne, Conway, Kealy, Behan, Brady, Connor, Kenedy, Deering, Sleator, Dempsy, Cullen, Maglinn, Smyth, Tyrrel.
MERGINSTOWN (Family name of 15th Century settlers): Rogers, Heyden, Doyle, Dowling, Dempsy, Toole, Nolan, Redmond, Byrne, Fitzgerald, Kavanah, Sleator, Kehoe, Kealy, Walsh, Kane, Murphy, Smyth, Lynch, Myley, Carroll, Brien.
MILLTOWN: Flood, Coleman, Owens, Hede, Byrne, Foley, Duff, Traynor, Toole, Neale, Conway.
MONROE (Monrue) (Red Bog): Headen, Grace.
MOORSPARK (Moorparke) (Family Name): Conran.
NEWPARK: Heyden.
NEWTOWN: Connor, Toole.
KNOCKADERRY (Nockaderry) (Hill of the Copse): Kavanagh, Lenhan, Dowling, Doyle, Kananah, Kehoe, Mackey, Donohoe, Brien, Case, Murray, Higgins.
KNOCKANARRIGAN (Nockanargin) (O’Regan’s Hill): Conoly, Donelan, Benson, Doyle, Byrne, Manwaring, Mahon, Kelly, Donely, Kerwin.
KNOCKBAWN ( Nockbawn) (White Hill): Cassin, Whelan.
KNOCKANDARRAGH (Nockendara) (Little Hill of Oak Tree): Heyden, Dolle, Conran, Butler, Reily, Grace, Byrne, Bulger, Lynch.
KNOCKNAMUNNION (Nocknamunga, Nocknamunion) (Hill of Little Torrents): Doyle, Benson.
OLDMILL: Toole, Metcalf.
PLEZICA (Plessica, Placika) (Shelly Place): Whittle, Nowlan, Byrne, Hagarty, Cunningham, Timins, Dunn, Moran, Copeland, Somers, Grace.
RANDALSTOWN (Family Name): Byrne, Brien, Ennis, Dunn, Kearney.
RATHSALLAGH (Rathsalla) (Dirty Fort): Fay, Byrne, Pigeon, Healy, Wilson, Kavanah, Toole, Brien, Drumm, Fahy, Headen, Norton, Murphy, Kenedy, Nowlan, Darcy, Bowe, Magennis, Dunn, Kelly, Cullen, Doyle, Dowling, Heade, Cooke, Dunlaley, Harrington.
ROSTYDUFF (Rustyduff) (Headland of Black Houses): Geoghan, Lynch, Duffy, Tone, Murphy, Keefe, Flood, Doyle, Rorke.
SESKIN (Marshy Place): Kenedy, Cullen, Dowling, Curran, Rogers, Sullivan, Connor, Lynch, Dwyer, Byrne, Doyle, Kavanagh, Jessop.
STRANAHELY (Shranahely) (Bank of the River Hely): Cullen, Wade, Kinsella.
SLATEQUARRY (Slatequarries) (Old Name for Plezica Area): Nowlan, Whittle, Mangan, Mulally.
SPINANS (Spinings) (Place of the Gooseberry Bush): Cambel, Conway, Doody, Valentine, Ennis, Kavanagh, Kehoe, Doyle, Grady, Byrne, Ryan, Finn.
STUDFIELD (Dating from the 18th Century-Area for Horses): Lennon, Tyrrel, Murray, Kearney, Daly, Quinahan, Flood, Kane, Walsh.
TOOLESTOWN (Toolstown) (Family Name): Cullen, Toole, Byrne.
TOURNANT (Mound of Nettles): Heyden, Coonan, Mackey.
TOBER (Tubber) (Well or Spring): Magarr, Nowlan, Byrne, Harney, Magrath, Moore, Dunn, Fahy, Fay, Doyle, Dowden, Kelly, Judge, Creighton, Ryder, Hyland, Molloy, Rourke, Brien, Donohoe, Moran, Whelan, Waters, Kearney, Murray, Delaney, Ross, Hartigan, Redmond, White, Foster, Hickey, Butterfield, Murphy, Stuart, Kehoe, Neale.
TOBERBEG (Tubberbeg) (The Little Well): Healy, Miley, Kelly, Dalton, Johnson, Whittle. WHITESTOWN (Named for the White Family. Also spelled Fottestown. The Irish form of White was Fait.): Brofy, Byrne, Roche, Doyle, Dunn, Valentine, Brady, Geoghan, Duff, Tracy, Germain, Pendergast.
This beginning of a new parish register probably indicates that a new church was erected on the present site at or about this time. The penal laws were still in force – Catholic emancipation didn’t happen until 1829 – but they were becoming more lax during the late 18th and early 19th century, with the exception of a short ‘backlash’ period after the rebellions of 1798 and 1803.
However, the years after 1810 saw the building of many new Catholic Churches – including the one in Dunlavin, which was built on land donated by the Tynte family. Whether the Church was a permanent structure or a temporary one in 1815 is uncertain, but the fact remains that the first parish register – to have survived, at least – came into being during this year.
Three infants – Michael Brien, Hannah Healy and Michael Magarr were baptised on October 1st 1815. Perhaps this event was not as far – reaching as Wellington’s victory at Waterloo in the same year, but for our parish these three baptisms are the beginning of our own unique social record. There were twenty one baptisms recorded for October 1815 and a total of 100 is mentioned for the year of 1815. This latter figure is a strange one, as there are only 59 entries from October to December in the book for 1815.
Subsequent years show totals in excess of 200, so perhaps the priest simply guessed that there were about 100 baptisms for the year, since records only began in the month of October.
The parish register provides us with lists of names and areas, but reading between the lines it also provides us with some clues about the social history of the time.
Before we move on to the lists of family names, some observations about the register should be made.
The first point to note is that these records do not give the complete picture. They refer only to the Catholic families. Anglicans and/or dissenters who were living in these townlands are not mentioned in the records. Also, by implication, because these are baptismal records, the register will only show young to middle-aged Catholic family names. Older couples, childless or with more mature children by 1815, will not appear on these pages.
The accuracy of townland boundaries is questionable too: For example, certain areas like Tubber seem to be very populous, while other areas like Sandy Hills do not appear at all. I suspect that the term “Tubber” refers to all the townlands in the old parish of Tubber. Hence “Kelly’s of Tubber” for example could refer to “Kelly’s of Man of War”, but there is no way to ascertain this.
FAMILY NAMES
Many family names were very common too, occurring in various different townlands. The old Wicklow names of “Toole” and “Byrne” are widespread, while “Kavanah”, once very prevalent in South Wicklow is also a popular name.
The spelling of Kavanah – without the ‘g’ – brings us another point. All the spellings in the register are as per the priest of the day. No doubt many of the ordinary people were uneducated – National Schools were not established until Lord Stanley’s Education Act of 1831, so, if there were variants of the surname unknown to the priest, they did not appear in the book. (My own name, for example has variants of Lawlor, Lawler and Lalor). Hence, for example, there are no Keogh’s listed, only Kehoe’s. This however, does not mean that some present Keogh’s may not be descended from the Kehoe’s listed. Many names changed spelling at the latter end of the 19th century, during the Cultural Revival. The work of organisations like the Gaelic League “gaelicised” the spelling of many family names. An example of this in the register is that no surname is preceded by ‘O’. Names like “Neile”, “Reily” and “Toole” would surely now have ancestors called O’Neill, O’Reilly and O’Toole. Pronunciation may have changed over the years too, for example, would “Cassin” then become “Cashin” in modem times?
Place names also show pregaelic League spellings in the register. The revived interest in the Irish language taught people the meaning of many old names. Thus the Irish word “Cnoc” (Hill) became “Knock” when it was Anglicised. The English “K” represented the Irish “C”. No such niceties applied in 1815 though, hence we got the spellings “Nockaderry”, “Nockbawn” etc.
Another weakness of the records, is that, due to erratic spelling, the same family may have been recorded twice in certain townlands. Thus, in Ballinabarny, for example, we get both “Connel” and Connell”.
In an effort to avoid repetition, I have not included the same surname twice in the townland lists if it is spelt the same way for more than one family within that townland. This is not to imply that families with the same surname did not inhabit the same townland. They very often did – and I mean very often! There were quite a few families of Rogers in Merginstown, Nowlans in Tubber and Byrnes in Frianstown, to name but three. This would definitely indicate the sub-division of family holdings – a practice common locally and all over prefamine rural Ireland. This practice was mostly brought to an end after the famine when primogeniture (eldest son inherits) became common.
THE FAMINE
Mention of the famine brings me to another point evident if one browses through the parish registers for 1815-1820 – the high birth rate. The total number of baptisms per annum for these precensus years consistently exceeds 200 – put another way there was a rough average of two baptisms every three days. The actual figures are: – 1815 (part of) 100 (possibly a guess – see above) 1816 - 273; 1817 - 201; 1818 - 215; 1819 - 224; and 1820 - 226. There is no doubt that these figures are high for a parish of this size – but high birth rates were a usual feature of rural Ireland at this time. Three and even four baptisms per day in Dunlavin Church was quite a common occurrence. Many parents return during this five-year period – again and again – with three, four and even five children to be baptised. The period 1815 – 1820 saw a “Baby Boom” in Dunlavin, as in the country as a whole.
The infants listed in this register would be in the 25-30 year old age group when the great famine struck – therefore, they would be having their own families and there is no doubt that overpopulation exacerbated an already serious situation in the 1840’s. Large families were the norm. Without going into the moral arguments about family planning, the attitude of the Catholic Church to large families was that they were generally desirable. Families like the Finns of Eadestown, the Balfes of Dunlavin and the Ryders of Loughmogue – to name but three – returned again and again to the baptismal font.
In an interview to mark his 70th birthday, the recently deceased Dr. Noel Brown referred to woman bearing many more children than their body could manage. He blamed his own mothers ill-health and death on this fact. A similar trend is to be found in our own precensus parish records. The low life expectancy, the poverty, the overpopulation are all there if you read between the lines. Dunlavin – and Ireland in general – during this period obviously had some traits in common with many Third World Countries today.
Other trends may also come to light by studying the old registers. Some anthropologists and social historians, for example, have suggested that there was a seasonal nature to childbirths in pre-famine Ireland. Of course, babies were born all year round, but they would expect the figures to peak in the late summer and autumn. The reasoning behind their theory is that both men and women were tired from working on the land during the summer months when dusk could be as late as 11 p.m., with an early dawn to follow. The long winter nights, on the other hand were the time to make babies, hence the expected high in the figure for births should occur in the autumn. The figures for August 1818, for example, saw eighteen baptisms (with sixteen for the previous month of July). However the figures for January of 1819 show only twelve baptisms. Could the ‘Seasonal’ model be true? Further scrutiny of the overall figures tend to cast doubts over it though. January of 1818, for example, recorded a very high number of baptisms indeed – and so did other winter months while many summer and autumn months show low totals. No real evidence here, then, of ‘seasonal childbirths’.
YOUNG FAMILIES
Another trend which can be perceived is that certain areas had large numbers of young families – young parents, while other areas record low totals. Once one allows for difference in actual population, there is still some evidence of differing birth rates in different townlands. One example, here in Milltown – quite a populous townland according to pre-famine census information, and yet an area with quite a low birth rate – and a low number of young parents of childbearing age. One possible reason for this is that Milltown was quite heavily settled with older families and so would show a more mature population pyramid than certain other areas.
A modern comparison might involve a new housing estate with many young families moving in as opposed to an older estate, where the families are older and have settled there for some time, so they would not figure as often in a baptismal register.
There is no doubt that prefamine society was more geographic static than our own well-travelled society. Certain families appear in areas where the surname is still to be found (in or close to the same place) today. Some examples here include Metcalf’s of Crehelp, Moore’s of Tubber and Dwyers of Seskin, to name but three. The question “are they the same families as their modem namesakes”? Could be probably answered by a careful scrutiny of parish records through about 175 years. Generally after the collapse of the Landlord system (c 1880 - 1910) some tenant farmers did survive and buy out neighbouring land to become strong farmers. It is quite probable that there are modern “survivors” still living in the same townlands as their ancestors of 1815 - 20.
The lists published here do have one advantage over the later Census figures. They cover a five year period and so build a fuller picture of any in – migrants during such a five year period – provided they had children to baptise, into the Catholic faith! People living in a townland during any five years between census taking, often left no official trace of their movements.
Judging by the number of baptisms recorded at Dunlavin for families from the “other side” of the parish, it is probable that Donard did not have a Church at this time. One disadvantage of this involves the comparison of contemporary and modem statistics. Any such comparison would have to include modern statistics for all three Churches in the parish to be truly comparable. Even allowing for this, the baptismal rate of two hundred plus, per year seems high. The average rate also rose as one went through the 1820’s and 1830’s – in 1828, for example, Fr. Hyland, the new Parish Priest recorded two hundred and seventy two (272) baptisms while the 1835 figure was three hundred and two (302).
Just to stay in the 1830’s for a moment in order to further illustrate the booming population in those prefamine years, Fr. Hyland records that Archbishop Murray Confirmed four hundred and sixty (460) children in Dunlavin chapel on 5th August 1833, while on the 12th June 1837 the number Confirmed in Dunlavin by Dr. Murray was seven hundred and twenty two (722). This must represent phenomena growth during the 1830’s (c.f. my article in the 1994 Arts Festival Brochure). Modern Confirmation numbers even for the whole Parish, hardly come anywhere near these figures.
But to return to the precensus era. One interesting aspect of the baptismal register for these years is that all parents of children baptised seem to have been married. Indeed, I could not find an exception to this anywhere in the first Parish register book, which covers the years 1815 to 1839. But an interesting footnote for the year 1833 might shed some light on this situation. It states that there were two hundred and ninety four (294) baptisms in 1833. But, “About ten (10) baptisms have not been registered from March to August in consequence of the right of one of the clergymen”. Might these children be ones whose parents were not married (at least not at the time of birth/baptism)? We must remember that we are dealing with a time when Church attitudes were much more hardline, and social stigma was an ever-present reality for anyone that the people chose to reject.
POVERTY
Poverty was quite widespread during these years too. A Mallen family who had a baby Christened in Dunlavin Church in 1816 are recorded as being ‘vagabonds’. The travelling rural labourer, or spalpin, was a common figure in prefamine Ireland. The famine did much to wipe them out, but some survived right up to the time of the First World War. Once again though, the pages of our parish register highlights a local and a national problem.
Footnote 1: Only one mixed marriage seems to be recorded in the first book – Thomas (Protestant) and Briget Moody, Whitestown.
Footnote 2: The marriage register starts in 1831, with Maurice Whelan and Margaret Kavanagh being the first wedding on St. Valentine’s Day of that year. Marriage total from 1831 - 1838 averaged about fifty, the most per annum being sixty six; the least being thirty nine.
Footnote 3: One interesting baptism in 1818 was that of James Whittle, son of Joseph and Margaret, sponsored by Joseph Byrne and Briget Conlon. James Whittle was Parish Priest of Dunlavin from 1862 to 1884 and is buried outside the side aisle and commemorated by a wall plaque inside.
Footnote 4: Two early Curates of Dunlavin were Fr. A. Reynolds and Fr. P. Mulaney both of whom served here in 1833, when Fr. J. Hyland was Parish Priest.
Footnote: 5: The townland of Eadstown contains a family of Dwyers. Michael Dwyer, the famous Wicklow rebel was born in this place and as these records pertain to a time only about 15 years after his campaign and eventual capture, it is probably his family that is registered here.
Catholic Surnames in Townlands
There follows a list of the Catholic Surname for each Townland named in the Parish register during the period from 1st October 1815 to 31st December 1820. (The first Census dates from 1821 and so can be used to get family names after 1820).
I have given the spelling of place names as they appear in Liam Price’s book. These are in bold type. I have also given any deviant form of the spellings which appear in the parish register in brackets after the name.
If only one form of the name appears, the parish register concurs with Price’s spelling. Where possible, I have also briefly given Prices explanation of the origin of the place names (italics). In some cases, names not in Price’s book appear. Where this occurs, I have stated that the name is not mentioned by Price and any explanation is, of course, not applicable.
BALLENARAY (Ballenara) (not in Price): Brien, Kinsella.
BALLINARD (Ballenard) (High Town): Kavanagh, Brien, Lambe, Kinsella, Headen, Butler, Toole, Bulger.
BALLINABARNY (Ballinabarnie, Ballinabarna, Ballabarna) (Cattle Enclosure at the gap road): Connell Kearney, Connel, Shiel, Finn.
Parish Records also show this name with “Bally” instead of Ballinabarny.
The following family names are listed under the corrupted spellings given beside them: Conoly – Ballybarnie. Hoxy, Duffy – Ballibarna. Shiel – Ballybarny. Connell Kearney – Ballybarna.
BALLINCLEA (Ballinaclay) (Mountain Settlement): Kenny, Conran, Kelly, Canavan, Doyle, Crowley, Farrel, Brien, Timmins.
BALLINEBO (not in Price) (Town of the Cows?): Wade.
BALLINEDDAN (Ballineddin) (Town of the Drained Land): Byrne, Shell, Kerwin, Carty, Rourke, Kirwan, Brien.
BALLINFOYLE (Ballinfile) (Booley House of the two Pools): Burke.
BALLINTRUER (Ballintruin, Ballintrure) (Homestead of three people): Webb, Pendergast, Duff, Cullen.
BALLYHOOK (Family Name – Hookes Town): Gavan.
BALLYHUBBOCK (Ballyhubue, Ballyhubbur, Ballyhubut) (Robert’s Town): Pendergast, Mooney, Kavanah, Sheridan, Brien, Valentine, Donahue, Kearns, Murphy, Byrne, Germain.
BALLYHURLEY (not in Price): Mooney.
BALLYLEA (Family Name – Ely’s Town): Dowling.
BALLYLION (Ballyline) (Family Name – Leynagh’s Town): Nowlan, Metcalf, Lewis, Pendergast, Daly.
BALLYMOONEY (Ballymoony) (Mooney’s Town): Toole, Gardly, Flood, Neale, Lennan, Dwyer, Tyrrel, McLoughlin, Lennon.
BALLYMOOR (not in Price) (Could this refer to Ballymore-Eustace?): Kane.
BALLYREASK (Ballyreesh) (Marshy Town): Kenny, Donahoe, Donoghoe.
BALLYTOOLE (O’Toole’s Town) – part of Coolmoney and not to be confused with Toolestown: Butler, Daly, Lennon, Sheridan, Byrne, Lindsay.
BALLYVOHAN (Ballyurahan, Ballyrocan, Ballyoran, Ballyvoran, Ballyorahan) (see below) (O’Mohan’s Town and O’Braghan’s Town): Kelly, Reynolds, Cullen, Byrne, Brien, Brady, Miller, Nowlan.
Price names two separate townlands, Ballyvoghan and Ballyvraghan. The multiplicity of spellings in the parish register make it almost impossible to separate them.
BARRACK (not in Price) (Could the name refer to the police barracks in the village?): Kennedy.
BLACKMOOR (Blackamore): Nugent, Byrne, Kehoe, Ellis, Kinsella, Mullen, Heyden, Reed, Carrol, Daly, Lamb.
BLACKHILL: Traynor, Tracy, Keating, Byrne, Ward, Heade, Reddy, Dunn, Judge, Copeland, Hegarty.
BOWRY (Brothel): Mitchel, Kealy.
BRITTAS (Fortified Dwelling): Case, Butler, Byrne, Flood, Kelly, Kavanagh, Whelan, Darcy.
RUSSELSTOWN (Family Name?): Hayden, Lynch, Smyth, Lennon, Maher, Healy, Smith, Heyden, Donohoe, Fitzpatrick.
BUSHFIELD: Larkin.
CAMARA (Camera) (Drained Area): Doyle, Kelly, Connel.
CASTLERUDDERY (Castlerudry) (Knights Castle or Roderick’s Castle): Hickey, Finn, Donohoe, Duff, Doyle, McEvoy, Brien, Plant, Mackay, Toole, Byrne, Conron, Mulhall, Metcalf, Marlay, Maher, Flood, Boyne, Butler, Brown, Maley, Murray, Daly, Synott, Connor.
CASTLESALLAGH (Castlesalla) (Dirty Castle): Donohoe.
COAN (Cowen) (River Bend): Murphy, Toole, Connel.
COLLIGA (Colloga, Colaga) (Thorny Place): Broughal, Karney, Murphy, Kearney, Moore, Mahon, Kavanah.
COOLAMADDRA (Coolamadra) (Den of the dog or wolf): Kelly, Delaney, Conran, Heney, Brien, Donnelly, Germain, Valentine, Heany.
COOLMONEY (Sheltered Shrubbery): Byrne, Hanlon.
COONANSTOWN (Family Name): Somers, Whittle.
CREHELP (Creehelp, Cryhelp) (A branch of the clan Elpi): Murray, Walsh, Kane, Byrne, Kehoe, Manwaring, Hobart, Metcalf, Heyden, Perry, Galbally, Noon, Quin, Toole, Dempsy, Barden, Maneron, Kelly, Flood, Brad, Mulally, Cunningham, Murphy, Mangan, Cassin, Donohoe, Nowlan, Grattan.
CLONSHANNON (Crosshannon) (Meadow of the old one): Donohoe, Murphy, Martin.
CROSSKEYS (Probably the name of an Inn): Doyle, Connor, Murphy, McEvoy, Byrne x 2, Waddy, Nowlan.
CURTRA (not in Price): Higgins.
DAVIDSTOWN (Area was held by David Donn in the 13th Century): Kenny, Brien.
DERRYNAMUCK (Dernamuck) (Wood of the pigs): Martin, Ryan, Hoxy.
DRUMREAGH (Drumreed) (Striped Hill): Donaghan, Reily.
DONARD (Dunard) (High Fort): Mulhall, Lennon, Fitzpatrick, Byrne, Murray, Farrel, Doyle, Lambe, Grehan, Claxton, Nerale, Coogan, Lewis, Fitzgerald, Tenison, Brady, Russel, Case, Murphy, Lawler, Artry, Conway, Boylan, Eardly, Nowlan, Headen, McEvoy, Donohoe, Harrington, Morgan, Leviston, Ivery, Maneron, Reddin, Stokes, Curren, Fullam.
DUNLAVIN (Fort of Liamhan?): Kehoe, Gavan, Fitzgerald, Gorman, Mahon, Balfe, Morgan, Christy, Martin, Neile, Cullen, Fahy, Murphy, Kavanagh, Donohoe, Hoxy, Dempsy, Fox, Roche, Cahill, Whelan, Molyneaux, Byrne, Doyle, Kenedy, Kealy, Gafney, McEvoy, Elliott, Walsh, Toole, Doran, Power, Connors, Ryder, Whittle, Corrigan, Jiven, Donovan, Neale, Leeson, Chamney, Gyves, Barret, Kearns, Conran, Kelly, Couse, Nowlan, Irwin, Heyden, Wall.
EADSTOWN (Eadestown) (Named for the Ede Family): Donely, Martin, Dwyer, Rice, Farrel, Anderson, Doody, Breen, Brien, Heyden, Finn, Boyce, Weary, Murphy, Cavan, Byrne, Conway, Doran.
FAUNA (Fiawana, Fawna, Faronah) (Sloping Land): Doyle, Kelly, Kehoe.
FRIARHILL (Fryarhill) (Named for Monks in the Rectory of Tober): Byrne, Reilly, Murphy, Flood, Judge, Doyle, Mangan, Meade, Kelly, McEvoy, Heade, Walsh.
GIBSTOWN (origin unknown): Kelly, Dowling, Mackey, Byrne, Hanlon, Lambe.
IRISHTOWN (Area where Norman Fitzgeralds put local settlers?): Bolland.
KELSHA (Wooded Area): Kehoe, Halpin, Toomey, Flyn.
KENOW ( Kennours) (not in Price): Toole, Connel, Kehoe, Marnah.
KILBAYLET (Kilbealet, Kilbeleth, Kilbelet, Kilbalet, Kilbelim) (Church at the Pass): Murphy, Burke, Rourke, Murray, Dowden, Farrell, Coogan, Whittle, Bulger, Foley, Lennon.
KILBREFFY (Kilbruffy, Kilbruffey) (Church of the Wolf-plain): Kerry.
KILCOAGH (Kilcough, Kilcooke) (Church of St. Cuach): Fitzpatrick, Lennon, Byrne, Kelly.
KILLYBEG (Killabegs, Killibeg, Killybeggs) (Little Wood): Heyden, Byrne, Roche, Lennon, Neale.
KINSELLASTOWN (Kinselastown) (Family Name): Cunningham, Keily, Kehoe, Heade.
LEITRIM (Grey Hillock): Kelly, Darcy.
LEMONSTOWN (St. Loman’s Town): Coogan, Mooney, Metcalf, Costeloe, Cullen, Murray, McAtee, Davis, Mulaly, Conoly, Mulally, McDonnel, Gallaher, Coleman, Ayres, Dalton, Donnelly, Murphy.
LOGATRINA (Corncrake’s Hollow): Donovan, Fay, Brien, Fahy.
LOUGEMOGUE (Pool of St. Maodhog): Mahon, Brien, Loughran, Burke, Rowley, Barden, Broughan, Corrigan, Dalton, Henry, Doyle, McEvoy, Wright, Ryder, Dunn, Carroll, Smith, Valentine, Johnson, Deegan, Byrne, Conway, Kealy, Behan, Brady, Connor, Kenedy, Deering, Sleator, Dempsy, Cullen, Maglinn, Smyth, Tyrrel.
MERGINSTOWN (Family name of 15th Century settlers): Rogers, Heyden, Doyle, Dowling, Dempsy, Toole, Nolan, Redmond, Byrne, Fitzgerald, Kavanah, Sleator, Kehoe, Kealy, Walsh, Kane, Murphy, Smyth, Lynch, Myley, Carroll, Brien.
MILLTOWN: Flood, Coleman, Owens, Hede, Byrne, Foley, Duff, Traynor, Toole, Neale, Conway.
MONROE (Monrue) (Red Bog): Headen, Grace.
MOORSPARK (Moorparke) (Family Name): Conran.
NEWPARK: Heyden.
NEWTOWN: Connor, Toole.
KNOCKADERRY (Nockaderry) (Hill of the Copse): Kavanagh, Lenhan, Dowling, Doyle, Kananah, Kehoe, Mackey, Donohoe, Brien, Case, Murray, Higgins.
KNOCKANARRIGAN (Nockanargin) (O’Regan’s Hill): Conoly, Donelan, Benson, Doyle, Byrne, Manwaring, Mahon, Kelly, Donely, Kerwin.
KNOCKBAWN ( Nockbawn) (White Hill): Cassin, Whelan.
KNOCKANDARRAGH (Nockendara) (Little Hill of Oak Tree): Heyden, Dolle, Conran, Butler, Reily, Grace, Byrne, Bulger, Lynch.
KNOCKNAMUNNION (Nocknamunga, Nocknamunion) (Hill of Little Torrents): Doyle, Benson.
OLDMILL: Toole, Metcalf.
PLEZICA (Plessica, Placika) (Shelly Place): Whittle, Nowlan, Byrne, Hagarty, Cunningham, Timins, Dunn, Moran, Copeland, Somers, Grace.
RANDALSTOWN (Family Name): Byrne, Brien, Ennis, Dunn, Kearney.
RATHSALLAGH (Rathsalla) (Dirty Fort): Fay, Byrne, Pigeon, Healy, Wilson, Kavanah, Toole, Brien, Drumm, Fahy, Headen, Norton, Murphy, Kenedy, Nowlan, Darcy, Bowe, Magennis, Dunn, Kelly, Cullen, Doyle, Dowling, Heade, Cooke, Dunlaley, Harrington.
ROSTYDUFF (Rustyduff) (Headland of Black Houses): Geoghan, Lynch, Duffy, Tone, Murphy, Keefe, Flood, Doyle, Rorke.
SESKIN (Marshy Place): Kenedy, Cullen, Dowling, Curran, Rogers, Sullivan, Connor, Lynch, Dwyer, Byrne, Doyle, Kavanagh, Jessop.
STRANAHELY (Shranahely) (Bank of the River Hely): Cullen, Wade, Kinsella.
SLATEQUARRY (Slatequarries) (Old Name for Plezica Area): Nowlan, Whittle, Mangan, Mulally.
SPINANS (Spinings) (Place of the Gooseberry Bush): Cambel, Conway, Doody, Valentine, Ennis, Kavanagh, Kehoe, Doyle, Grady, Byrne, Ryan, Finn.
STUDFIELD (Dating from the 18th Century-Area for Horses): Lennon, Tyrrel, Murray, Kearney, Daly, Quinahan, Flood, Kane, Walsh.
TOOLESTOWN (Toolstown) (Family Name): Cullen, Toole, Byrne.
TOURNANT (Mound of Nettles): Heyden, Coonan, Mackey.
TOBER (Tubber) (Well or Spring): Magarr, Nowlan, Byrne, Harney, Magrath, Moore, Dunn, Fahy, Fay, Doyle, Dowden, Kelly, Judge, Creighton, Ryder, Hyland, Molloy, Rourke, Brien, Donohoe, Moran, Whelan, Waters, Kearney, Murray, Delaney, Ross, Hartigan, Redmond, White, Foster, Hickey, Butterfield, Murphy, Stuart, Kehoe, Neale.
TOBERBEG (Tubberbeg) (The Little Well): Healy, Miley, Kelly, Dalton, Johnson, Whittle. WHITESTOWN (Named for the White Family. Also spelled Fottestown. The Irish form of White was Fait.): Brofy, Byrne, Roche, Doyle, Dunn, Valentine, Brady, Geoghan, Duff, Tracy, Germain, Pendergast.
posted by Chris Lawlor at
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