Drumacoo

Drumacoo

Drumacoo is a townland, located in the civil parish of Drumacoo, and the Barony of Drumkellin.

Its standard name is Drumacoo, and the Irish form of the name is listed as Drom a’ Chú, which translates to Mochu’s Church, from one of the Saints Mochua, of whom there were many.

Other forms of this name include the following: Drummacoo, when referring to A.F. St. George, Drumacoe, on the county book, Dromacoe, when referring to the high constable for the Barony, Drumacow, referring to Inq Temp. Jac I and Drummacoo Sketch Map.

The proprietor’s in this townland were A.F. St George and the Agent was J.O’Hara. The rent for the area was 26 shillings per acre with no lease. In the townland was an ancient church which is in ruins, as well as St. Sornach’s grave, well and bush. The proprietor had a cemetery in the graveyard, and the village is called Newton Drummacoo.

Drumacoo is situated in the east of the parish, being bounded on the north by Stradbally parish and Tyrone townland, in the South by townlands Carhoonacreggaun and Croasheen and on thewest by Ballyvullaun and Tyrone.

Griffith’s Valuation

The aim of Griffith’s valuation was to produce a uniform guide to the relative value of land through Ireland, in order to decide how to pay out the Poor rate.

Griffiths Valuation has recorded of this townland  was composed of 246 Acres,1 Rood and  11 Perches.

The total land value at the time would have been £150.0s.0d

The currency measures at the time was in the form of Pounds, Shillings, Pence (£.s.d)

In this townland, there were 3 separate landholdings, looked after by 7 different occupiers, with a subdivision of the third landholding being left vacant at the time of the Griffith’s Valuation.

Christopher St George was the occupier and lessor for Plot 1, of land and a graveyard.

1. Christopher St George: Land – £135.0s.0d

1a. Christopher St George: Graveyard – The graveyard was exempt from Griffith’s Valuation, and this is indicated at the end of the section for Drumacoo townland.

2. Henry Conway: A house, office and land – £2.15s.0d

3a. Peter Healy: A house, offices and land – £9.15s.0d

3b. Surney Connell: A house – £0.10s.0d

3c. Richard Shennan: A house, office and a small garden – £0.10s.0d

3d. James Fynes: A house and garden – £0.10s.0d

3e. James Niland: A house and garden – £0.10s.0d

3f. Vacant – owned by Peter Healy: A house – £0.10s.0d

1901 Census

In Drumacoo in the 1901 census, there were 5 inhabited private dwellings, with an additional 8 out offices. The population of the townland was 24, 14 males and 10 females. All the residents were Roman Catholic

House 1 – Conway – 5 people were in this household on the night of the census. Patk (sic) Conway was the head of the family, aged 56, he worked as a farmer. He was married to his wife Honor, who was also listed as a farmer in the census. Together they had 2 children who lived with them, 25 year old son Matthew, listed as ‘Farmer’s Son’, and 22 year old daughter Mary Anne, listed as ‘Farmer’s daughter,’. Patk’s uncle, Michael Moore, aged 88 was also in the residence on the night of the census, as well as Paim (sic) Wallace, a 17 year old servant for farming and labouring. All of the household could speak Irish and English. They lived in a 2^nd class private dwelling, with 3 out offices, which were: a stable, cowhouse and piggery. Their family occupied 4 rooms in their house.

House 2 – Sheehan – The Sheehan family lived in the second house, with Mary Sheehan being the head of family. She was aged 74, was a widow and worked as a seamstress. She lived with her two sons, Patrick (51) and John (49), both farmers. All were able to read, with both sons also being able to write. They could all also speak Irish as well as English. They lived in a private dwelling, which had wooden-type walls, and stone0tyoe walls, with 2 front windows. Their house was deemed as 3^rd class.

House 3 – Healy – Patk (sic) Healy was the head of the family, working as a farmer, and was 65 at the time of the 1901 census. He was married to his wife Catherine, who was aged 60, and also listed as a farmer on the census. They had a son who lived with them, named Michael, aged 25 and had the occupation of ‘Farmer’s Son,’ Michael was the only person in the household able to both read and write, whilst his parents could read. They all spoke Irish and English, and were all born in County Galway. They lived in a house, which had 2 front windows, and a cowhouse as an additional out office, Their house was deemed a 3^rd class residence.

House 4 – Fahey – 4 people occupied this house on the night of the census. Thos was the head of family, aged 50, and worked as a farmer. He was married to his wife Mary, also listed as a farmer, aged 46. They had a son named John (22), who was referred in the census to as ‘Farmer’s Son,’. Also living with them was Mary Healy, the head of family’s mother in law, who was aged 80. All of the household, except for Mary were able to read and write. They occupied a 3^rd class house, which had 2 out offices: a cowhouse and a piggery.

House 5 – Foynes – On the night of the census, there were 8 people living in this residence. Julia Foynes was the head of the family, a 42 year old widow working as a seamstress. She lived with her 7 children, her eldest being 17 year old Ellen. Thomas (15), Patk (14), Mary (12) and Michael (8) were all listed as being scholars. Bridget (5) and Martin (1) were Julia’s youngest children, both unable to read or write yet. All of the household were born in County Galway, and all except for the two youngest children were able to speak Irish and English. Their house had no front windows and no out offices, with the family occupying 9 rooms. It was classified as a 4^th class house.

1911 Census

The 1911 census indicated that there were 4 separate private dwellings, all inhabited. The population of the townland was 19, made up of 9 males and 10 females.

House 1 – Sheehan – 4 people lived in this house at the time the census was recorded. The head of the family was John Sheehan, a single 63 year old farmer. He lived with his nephew, 28 year old Martin Walsh, who also worked as a farmer. Martin was married to Anne Walsh (24) for 4 years, who he had 2 children with, 1 of whom was still alive, and living with them. Josephine was aged 3 and a half, and listed as a scholar. She was born in Dublin, and her mother Anne was born in County Meath, while John and Martin were born in County Galway. They all lived in a private dwelling, with 3 out offices and 3 front windows, and it was deemed a 2^nd class house.

House 2 – Healy – The Healy family occupied the second house listed in the census, with Patrick Healy being the head of the family. He was aged 82, and worked as a farmer. He had been married to his wife Catherine for 30 years prior to the census being recorded, and had one child, a son who lived with them. Michael was aged 37, and also listed as a farmer on the census. All members of the household were able to speak Irish and English, but only Michael was able to read and write. They lived in a 2^nd class residence with 4 out offices, which included: a stable, a cow house, piggery and a barn.

House 3 – Fahy – 7 people lived in this residence, all members of the Fahy family. Thomas Fahy was head of the family, a 65 year old farmer. He had been married to his wife Mary (62) for 34 years, and they had 1 child together, John Fahy, whom they lived with. John was a 33 year old farm labourer, and had been married for 7 years to Mary (33), and they had 4 children, all who were still alive. Three of the four children were in the house with them on census night, 6 year old Lizzie and 5 year old Thomas, who were both listed as scholars and 2 year old Maryanne. All of the adults in the family were able to speak Irish and English, whilst the children were assumed to only speak English, according to the census. They stayed in a 2^nd class private dwelling, which had 3 out offices.

House 4 – Conway – The Conway family occupied the 4^th house in Drumacoo, and Norah Conway was the head of the family. She was a 73 year old widow, who was employed as a farmer. She lived with her son Mathew, who was 35, and worked as a farmer and a heard. He had been married for 9 years to his wife Bridget (34), and they had 2 children together, both of whom were still alive, and living with them. Their daughter Mary Anne was aged 8, and listed as a scholar, whilst their son Henry was 5 years old, and listed as a ‘Farmer’s Son,’. All of the adults in the household could speak Irish and English, while it is presumed that the children only spoke English. They lived in a 2^nd class private dwelling with 3 out offices, which included: a stable, cow house and a barn.