Lettershea

Leitir Seithe

Roger Harrison / Forum Connemara

Townland:                                   Lettershea

Civil Parish:                                 Moyrus

Barony:                                        Ballynahinch

Church Parish:                           Roundstone

District Electoral Division:     Bencorr

Area:                                           548.65 acres / 548 acres, 2 roods, 24 perches

 

Baptism and Marriage records for Roundstone R.C. Parish 1872-1881

Old Pension Census (1841-1851) for Lettershea  (no records)

Map

Galway Library for Lettershea

Logainm for Lettershea

NUI Galway Digital Collections for Lettershea

West Connemara men who lost their lives in WWI (Clifden and Connemara Heritage Society)

 

1911 Census for Lettershea

Overview of Lettershea in 1911

The 1911 census shows that there were 4 houses in the townland of Lettershea and all the houses were occupied and listed as being private dwellings. They were all constructed of stone, brick or concrete walls and Thatch, wood or other perishable materials for roofing. House 1 was a 2nd class dwelling while the other 3 houses were 3rd class. House 1 had 2 rooms and 3 windows in the front and the other houses all had 2 rooms and 2 windows. The out-offices and farm-steadings return (Form B2) shows that there were a total of 12 out buildings in the townland and they consisted of 4 stables, 4 cow houses, 2 piggeries and 2 barns. The enumerator’s abstract return (form N) shows that there were a total of 15 people living in Lettershea, 7 male and 8 female. The enumerator was Const. James Boland.

 

King

The head of the first family in Lettershea was Patrick (86) who was a widower and he shared the house with his son, John (30) and his daughter-in-law, Bridget (39). All were born in Co. Galway and were Roman Catholic. All spoke both Irish and English and John and Bridget could read and write. Patrick was a farmer and John was listed as being a farmer’s son. They all lived in a 2 roomed, 2nd class dwelling and they had a stable, a cow house and a barn. Patrick King was the landholder.

 

Coynes 

The head of the Coyne family in house 2 was the widow Mary (82) and she shared the house with her 3 children, Mary (42), Michael (47) and Thomas (39). All were born in Co. Galway and were Roman Catholic. All spoke both Irish and English and Mary (42) could read only and the rest could not read or write. Mary (82) was a farmer, Mary (42) was listed as a farmer’s daughter and Michael and Thomas were farmer’s sons. They all lived in a 2 roomed, 3rd class dwelling and they had a stable, a cow house, a piggery and a barn. Mary Coyne was the landholder.

 

King 

The head of this King family was John (73) and had been married to Catherine (69) for 28 years and in that time they had had 8 children of which 7 had survived. They shared the house with 4 of those children, Sarah (20), Patrick (19), Ellen (13) and Margaret (11). All were born in Co. Galway and were Roman Catholic. All spoke both Irish and English but only Patrick, Ellen and Margaret could read and write. John was a farmer, Sarah was a farmer’s daughter, Patrick was a farmer’s son and Ellen and Margaret were scholars. They all lived in a 2 roomed, 3rd class dwelling and they had a stable, a cow house and a piggery. John King was the landholder.

 

Duane

The head of the last house in Lettershea was Michael (40) and he shared the house with his sister, Ellen (28). Both were born in Co. Galway and were Roman Catholic. Both spoke both Irish and English and only Ellen could read and write. Michael was listed as being a farmer. The house they lived in was a 2 roomed, 3rd class dwelling with a stable and a cow house. Michael Duane was the landholder.

 

1901 Census for Lettershea

Overview of Lettershea in 1901

There were 4 houses in the townland of Lettershea according to the 1901 census for the area. All were occupied and were listed as being private dwelling. All the house were constructed of stone, brick or concrete walls and had thatch, wood or other perishable material for roofing. Houses 1 and 2 were 2nd class dwellings while houses 3 and 4 were 3rd class. Houses 1 and 2 had 2 rooms and 3 windows and houses 3 and 4 had 2 rooms and 2 windows in the front. According to the enumerator’s abstract return (Form N), there were a total of 23 people living in the townland, 12 male and 11 female. The enumerator for the area was Const. William Lavelle.

 

King

The head of the King family in house 1 was Patrick (60) and he was married to Maggie (56) and they shared the house with 2 of their sons, Myles (23) and John (20) as well as a niece Sarah (9). All were born in Co. Galway and were Roman Catholic. All spoke both Irish and English except Sarah, who only spoke English. Patrick, Myles and John were the only ones to be able to read and write. Patrick was a farmer, Myles and John were listed as being farmer’s sons and Sarah was a general servant domestic. They all lived in a 2 roomed 2nd class dwelling and Pat King was listed as the landholder.

 

Duane                         (additional surname: King)

The head of the family in house 2 was the widower Michael (60) and he shared the house with his son, Michael (35), his daughter, Ellen (20) and a servant, Bridget King (12)All were born in Co. Galway and were Roman Catholic. All spoke both Irish and English but only Ellen could read and write. Michael was a farmer, Michael was a farmer’s son, Ellen was a farmer’s daughter and Bridget was a general servant domestic. They all lived in a 2 roomed 2nd class dwelling and Michael Duane was the landholder.

 

King

The head of this King family was John (60) and he was married to Honor (45) and they lived in the house with 6 of their children, Peter (25), Mary (13), Patrick (9), Annie (6), Ellen (4) and Margaret (9mths). All were born in Co. Galway and were Roman Catholic. John, Honor and Peter spoke Irish and English and the other members of the family spoke only English. Only John and Peter could read and write. John was a farmer, Peter and Patrick were farmer’s sons and the girls were all farmer’s daughters. They all lived in a 2 roomed 3rd class dwelling and John King was the landholder.

 

Coyne 

The last house in Lettershea was home to the Coyne family and the head of that family was Thomas (70) and he was married to Mary (60) and the shared the house with 4 of their children, Michael (35), Mary (28), Joseph (?[i]) and Thomas (24). All were born in Co. Galway and were Roman Catholic. All spoke both Irish and English except Thomas (70), who only spoke Irish. Mary (60) and Thomas could read only, Joseph could read and write and the others could not read. Thomas (70) was a farmer, Michael was a gardener, Mary was a farmer’s daughter and Joseph and Thomas were farmer’s sons. They all lived in a 2 roomed, 3rd class dwelling and the landholder was Thomas Coyne.

 

Griffith’s Valuation (1847-1864) for Lettershea

Griffith’s Valuation (1847-1864) shows that the main immediate lessor in the townland was the Directors of the Law Life Assurance Co. They had 629 acres and 14 perches of land and buildings that they leased to 3 people. Roger Tuohy leased a house and office on some of the land for ££5 10s for the land and £1 5s for the buildings and Patrick King and John Duane leased houses and offices on land for £5 10s for the land and 7s for the buildings each. There was also a vacant house belonging to the Directors of the Law Life Assurance Co. with an annual valuation of 5s.

 

1670 Down Survey for Lettershea

The 1670 Down Survey names for this area were Tannaghmore & Lishoughter. The 1641 owner was Murragh O’Flaharty, a Catholic and in 1670 the owner was the Protestant, Dr Thomas Seele. There were 980 plantation acres of unprofitable land, 58 plantation acres of profitable land and 58 plantation acres were forfeited.

[i] Age unreadable

This page was added on 11/06/2018.

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