A Little History of the Counties and Townlands of our Irish Ancestors
Limerick / Clare - James Madden sailed in 1850 from Limerick to New York. His Declaration of Intention to become a Citizen states that he sailed from Limerick and was from Limerick. To date he has not been found in the County of Limerick. Family tradition states that he was from County Clare. At the lime that he sailed part of the City of Limerick was in the County of Clare, so it is possible that both the Declaration and the tradition are true. There were Madden families in Parteen, a part of the city and also in Cloonlara which lies nearby, as well as throughout Clare. The search is still on for his origins. As another complication we have a DNA match at the right time for James' parents to be the key with a family from Askeaton, a bit west on the Shannon. This was thought to be to James' wife Anna Fitzsimmons, but it seems most likely that her family is from W... The surname of that family is Madkins, could this be another example of a name change?
Armagh John James Haffey is supposedly from Armagh. No proof of his residence there nor any link to a family has been established.
Tipperary
A look at County Tyrone in 1802. The Statistical Survey of County Tyrone 1802
Westerly winds prevalent year-round, the proximity to the Atlantic causes great humidity.. Autumns are generally very wet. Oats are sown from March to May, Barley and Flax at the same time. The weather is not very favorable to hay, so the harvest is generally too late. It's noted that each person generally receives one lb of oatmeal per day as well as 4 1/2 lbs of potatoes. This diet is augmented from the garden in season. They then go on to say that pigs and useless dogs have to be fed out of these amounts.
Horses and occasionally oxen are used to plow the land, often yoked together. Cattle are also sometimes used. A rather cumbersome common plow was the most often used, but newer better versions are starting to be introduced. Within the county there are 159 cattle fairs per year. Milch cows might cost as much at twelve guineas. Dry cattle would craw from 5l to 6l. This was calculated at 3d for beef and 50s for hide and fat. Sheep went according to season from 15s to about 25s.
The greater part of the barony of Dungannon had farms that were from 10 to 40 acres. Fences in the area were generally good. The farms were of the size that discouraged middlemen so rent racking was not prevalent. Many of the houses here are built of clay (mud walls), in a rather slovenly manner, the clay of the area not really adapted for building. Houses built of stone are generally too narrow to support the roof. They should be 2 ft 4 " at the bottom and 22" at the top, with the slope on the outside. Repair to the houses and offices falls to the tenants, who seldom have the means to keep them up. Compounding the problem is the short tenure terms given by landlords. Long leases (31 years or three lives are seldom found in this area.) It is suggested that a splitting of the produce of the farm three ways would be a good solution, 1/3 to the owner, 1/3 for wear and tear and 1/3 for the cultivator.
It is noted that a great many of the cottiers are also weavers but they do not pursue that trade regularly.
Cess for roads, etc is assessed by barony and paid with less rancor than hearth-money and window taxes. Addiionaly there might be taxes to support the vestry.
Famine 1799-1801. Lack of education for all but the rich except for night-school establish by the late Lord Mountjoy. These schools were in session Oct to Feb 1 from 6-10 or 11 pm. Many children were tasked with herding cattle.
AGHALOO - The Keenan Family were from the parish of Aghaloo according to John's tombstone. Registers for Aghaloo Parish are only available from 1832 on. John and family sailed for Canada in 1825.
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