Ballykilcline Society Members Transcribe 1842 Mahon Estate R
Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 12:48 pm
Ballykilcline Society Members Transcribe 1842 Mahon Estate Rent Roll
Adapted from The Bonfire, newsletter of the Ballykilcline Society
In 2005, the Famine Museum at Strokestown, Roscommon, offered the Ballykilcline Society access to two Mahon estate rent rolls. A small group of members gathered in an upstairs museum room to copy them in a short time. It became obvious that it couldn’t be done in the time available. It was decided therefore to take digital photos of the 1842-43 roll and Cassie Kilroy Thompson and subsequently member Anne Marie Bell set about making a transcript of it.
The earlier roll, from the 1820s, was published in the Society’s newsletter in 2006. And now, Bell, over years, has completed the 1842 portion of the later roll, which lists more than 700 Mahon tenants. The list is significant since many of the tenants named died or emigrated during the Famine a few years later and do not appear in the 1850s Griffith’s Valuation. Kilglass lost more than 60% of its population during the Famine decade.
The list also may capture some of an older generation of Irish people who were not liable to pay the tithe and thus were not recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books (TAB) of about 1830. It has been estimated that only about 37 percent of the population is recorded in the TAB because most did not hold enough land to qualify for inclusion in that record set.
The Mahon rent roll spreadsheet has taken years to produce and you can appreciate why when you see it. When printed out, it fills approximately 130 pages. Bell worked from digital photographs. The Society is extremely grateful to her for taking this huge task to completion. She has now begun work on the 1843 data in the records provided by the museum.
When the Society undertook the transcription, we pledged to give a copy of the final product to the Famine Museum and one has been sent recently to John O’Driscoll at the museum.
The data allows us also to develop a list of townlands where the Mahons owned property. We had requested one some years ago from the Famine Museum but none was available then. The list has great significance because of its date: it tells who lived on the estate before famine and emigration chaos disrupted the local society. The spreadsheet holds a unique dataset that will fascinate all descendants of Strokestown-area people.
The rent roll, apart from naming individuals in particular townlands, records tenants’ rent, and in some cases, their arrears and pending actions due to arrears. “Ejected” is listed after some names.
A note accompanying the rental book says: “Rental of the Strokestown Estate for the half-year ending 1 May 1842. “The most striking difference between the 1840's estate rentals and those from earlier periods is the appearance of a new column to record rent arrears. A total of 745 individuals are recorded in this rental, the majority of whom are in arrears. The size of the estate was approximately 4,000 ha (10,000 acres) and the annual income in a good year was about £10,000. By the summer of 1842, rent arrears of £1,539 had accumulated. By the time Major Mahon inherited the estate three years later, this had risen to £14,000. This increase was due to the growing poverty and economic recession, and the work of the "combinations" against rent payment.”
It is apparent that a map of the area that identifies landlords of particular locales would greatly benefit re-searchers. Other landlords of the Strokestown-Kilglass area, apart from the Crown authorities of Ballykilcline, include the Marquess of Westmeath, Daniel Farrell, and Nicholas Balfe, who was the son-in-law of Daniel O’Connell, the national hero who was called the Liberator.
Some records of the Marquess of Westmeath’s property were reported in the society’s 2006 spring newsletter, courtesy of author Desmond Norton. A portion of a rent roll from the Marquess’ property in Kilglass appears on the cover of Norton’s book, Landlords, Tenants, Famine / The Business of an Irish Land Agency in the 1840s (University College Dublin Press). When Norton spoke at a Ballykilcline Reunion, he brought that rent roll with him and allowed Society members to copy records from it. Norton’s book devotes a chapter to Kilglass Landlord Farrell and his properties.
Adapted from The Bonfire, newsletter of the Ballykilcline Society
In 2005, the Famine Museum at Strokestown, Roscommon, offered the Ballykilcline Society access to two Mahon estate rent rolls. A small group of members gathered in an upstairs museum room to copy them in a short time. It became obvious that it couldn’t be done in the time available. It was decided therefore to take digital photos of the 1842-43 roll and Cassie Kilroy Thompson and subsequently member Anne Marie Bell set about making a transcript of it.
The earlier roll, from the 1820s, was published in the Society’s newsletter in 2006. And now, Bell, over years, has completed the 1842 portion of the later roll, which lists more than 700 Mahon tenants. The list is significant since many of the tenants named died or emigrated during the Famine a few years later and do not appear in the 1850s Griffith’s Valuation. Kilglass lost more than 60% of its population during the Famine decade.
The list also may capture some of an older generation of Irish people who were not liable to pay the tithe and thus were not recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books (TAB) of about 1830. It has been estimated that only about 37 percent of the population is recorded in the TAB because most did not hold enough land to qualify for inclusion in that record set.
The Mahon rent roll spreadsheet has taken years to produce and you can appreciate why when you see it. When printed out, it fills approximately 130 pages. Bell worked from digital photographs. The Society is extremely grateful to her for taking this huge task to completion. She has now begun work on the 1843 data in the records provided by the museum.
When the Society undertook the transcription, we pledged to give a copy of the final product to the Famine Museum and one has been sent recently to John O’Driscoll at the museum.
The data allows us also to develop a list of townlands where the Mahons owned property. We had requested one some years ago from the Famine Museum but none was available then. The list has great significance because of its date: it tells who lived on the estate before famine and emigration chaos disrupted the local society. The spreadsheet holds a unique dataset that will fascinate all descendants of Strokestown-area people.
The rent roll, apart from naming individuals in particular townlands, records tenants’ rent, and in some cases, their arrears and pending actions due to arrears. “Ejected” is listed after some names.
A note accompanying the rental book says: “Rental of the Strokestown Estate for the half-year ending 1 May 1842. “The most striking difference between the 1840's estate rentals and those from earlier periods is the appearance of a new column to record rent arrears. A total of 745 individuals are recorded in this rental, the majority of whom are in arrears. The size of the estate was approximately 4,000 ha (10,000 acres) and the annual income in a good year was about £10,000. By the summer of 1842, rent arrears of £1,539 had accumulated. By the time Major Mahon inherited the estate three years later, this had risen to £14,000. This increase was due to the growing poverty and economic recession, and the work of the "combinations" against rent payment.”
It is apparent that a map of the area that identifies landlords of particular locales would greatly benefit re-searchers. Other landlords of the Strokestown-Kilglass area, apart from the Crown authorities of Ballykilcline, include the Marquess of Westmeath, Daniel Farrell, and Nicholas Balfe, who was the son-in-law of Daniel O’Connell, the national hero who was called the Liberator.
Some records of the Marquess of Westmeath’s property were reported in the society’s 2006 spring newsletter, courtesy of author Desmond Norton. A portion of a rent roll from the Marquess’ property in Kilglass appears on the cover of Norton’s book, Landlords, Tenants, Famine / The Business of an Irish Land Agency in the 1840s (University College Dublin Press). When Norton spoke at a Ballykilcline Reunion, he brought that rent roll with him and allowed Society members to copy records from it. Norton’s book devotes a chapter to Kilglass Landlord Farrell and his properties.