Ballyfintan

Béal Átha Fiontain, mouth of Fintan’s ford

Jo Kelly/Galway Rural Development (GRD)

Ballyfintan

 

Ballyfintan is situated in the civil parish of Abbeygormacan barony of Leitrim, Co Galway. It is bounded on the north Carhooshanbally, on the north east by Gurtymadden, on the east by Liscoyle and Kilbride, on the west by Carhooshanbally and Shangarry North and on the south by Shangarry South.

 

O’Donovan’s Field Name Books give other spellings of this townland: Béal Áit Fiontain, Recte Bellafintan, Ballyfenton and Beallafenton.

 

Down Survey map shows that this townland under the name ‘Ballafinton’ was owned in 1641 and 1670 by the Earl of Clanrickard, a protestant. It states it had 249 plantation acres of profitable land.

 

Census 1901

 

There were 10 houses in Ballyfintan in 1901. There were 42 residents in total: 20 were male and 22 were female. The heads of the households were: Denis Fahy, Ellen Finnegan, John Murphy, Patrick Kearns, John Head, Frank Murphy, James Kenny, John Dolphin, Thomas Kearns and Thomas Hanrahan. All residents were Roman Catholic. They were born in Co Galway. The census taken on the 6th of April 1901 showed that the houses were built as private dwellings. The walls were built with stone, brick or concrete. The roofs were made with perishable material.

 

Denis Fahy (71) was a widower. He was a farmer. He spoke Irish and English. Listed were his 2 unmarried daughters. Mary (30) and Bridget (21) were recorded as farmer’s daughters. The entire family could read and write. They lived in a 2nd class house with 5 rooms and 4 front windows. There were 6 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 dairy, 1 piggery, 1 barn and 1 shed. Denis Fahey owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Ellen Finnegan (57) was a widow. She was a farmer. She had 5 unmarried children. Mary (27), Ellie (23) and Margaret (18) were recorded as farmer’s daughters. Pat (26) and James (25) were recorded as farmer’s sons. The entire family could read and write. They lived in a 2nd class house with 4 rooms and 3 front windows. There were 6 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 piggery, 1 fowl house, 1 barn and 1 shed. Ellen Finnegan owned the land the house was situated on.

 

John Murphy (25) was a farmer. Listed were his sister and 2 brothers. All 4 were single. Catherine (26) had no occupation recorded for her. Patrick (24) and Michael (16) were recorded as farmers. The entire family could read, write and spoke English. They lived in a 2nd class house with 5 rooms and 4 front windows. There were 7 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 dairy, 1 piggery, 1 fowl house, 1 barn and 1 shed. John Murphy owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Patrick Kearns (62) was a farmer. He was single. His unmarried brother John (60) recorded his occupation as a labourer. They spoke Irish and English. They could not read. They lived in a 2nd class house with 3 rooms and 3 front windows. There were 4 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 piggery and 1 shed. Patrick Kearns owned the land the house was situated on.

 

John Head (65) was a farmer.  He was married to Anne (67).  She recorded her occupation as a farmer’s wife.  Listed was his sister in law Ellen Jennings (63).  She recorded her occupation as a seamstress.  She was a widow.  All the family could read, write and spoke Irish and English.  They lived in a 2nd class house with 4 rooms and 4 front windows.  There were 5 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 piggery, 1 barn and 1 shed.  John Head owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Frank Murphy (60) was a widower.  He was a farmer.  He spoke Irish and English.  He had 3 unmarried children.  Mary K (19) and Annie T (14) were listed as farmer’s daughters.  John J (17) was listed as a farmer’s son.  The entire family could read and write.  They lived in a 2nd class house with 4 rooms and 3 front windows.  There were 5 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house. 1 piggery, 1 barn and 1 shed.  Frank Murphy owned the land the house was situated on.

 

James Kenny (41) was a farmer.  He was married to Margaret (29).  There was no occupation recorded for her.  They had 1 child.  Mary Susan was 9 months old.  James’s mother in law Catherine Farrell (65) was a widow.  There was no occupation recorded for her.  The 3 adults could read and write.  They lived in a 2nd class house with 4 rooms and 4 front windows.  There were 5 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 piggery, 1 barn and 1 shed.  James Kenny owned the land the house was situated on.

 

John Dolphin (62) was a farmer.  He spoke Irish and English. He was married to Ellen (52). She recorded her occupation as a farmer’s wife. They had 4 unmarried children. Patrick (24) was recorded as a farmer’s son. Kate (20) recorded her occupation as a seamstress. Teresa (18) was recorded as a farmer’s daughter. Thomas (13) was a scholar. All the family could read and write except John. He could only read. They lived in a 2nd class house with 5 rooms and 4 front windows. There were 6 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 piggery, 1 fowl house, 1 barn and 1 shed. John Dolphin owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Thomas Kearns (70) was a farmer. He was married to Anne (55). There was no occupation recorded for her. They both spoke Irish and English. Listed were his unmarried sister in law, his niece and 1 male servant. Bridget Glennon (45) recorded her occupation as a seamstress. Mary Glennon (9) was a scholar.  William McDonnell (30) recorded his occupation as a labourer. He was single. All the occupants could read and write. They lived in a 2nd class house with 4 rooms and 3 front windows. There were 5 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 piggery, 1 barn and 1 shed. Thomas Kearns owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Thomas Hanrahan (56) was a widower. He was a blacksmith. He had 3 unmarried children. Thomas J (17) recorded his occupation as a shopkeeper. Mary Teresa (13) and John (10) were scholars. Margaret Ward (19) was single. She recorded her occupation as a domestic servant. All the occupants could read and write. They lived in a 2nd class house with 4 rooms and 3 front windows. There were 4 outhouses: 1 piggery, 1 fowl house, 1 store and 1 shed. Thomas Hanrahan owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Census 1911

 

There were 11 houses in Ballyfintan in 1911. There were 37 residents in total: 22 were male and 15 were female. The heads of the households were: Ellen Finnegan, Frank Murphy, John Murphy, Margaret Kenny, Denis Fahy, Ellen Dolphin, John Head, William McDonnell, Thomas Joe Hanrahan, Patrick Kearns and Patrick Glennon. All residents were Roman Catholic. The census taken on the 3rd of April 1911 showed that the houses were built as private dwellings. The walls were built with stone, brick or concrete. Frank Murphy’s, Denis Fahy’s, Ellen Dolphin’s and Patrick Kearns’s roofs were made with slate, iron or tiles. The other 7 roofs were made with perishable material.

 

Ellen Finnegan (74) was a widow. She was a farmer. She had 6 children with 5 living in 1911. All 5 were single.  Mary (36), Ellen (31) and Margaret (27) had no occupations recorded for them. Patrick (34) and James (33) were listed as farmer’s sons. They were born in Kings Coy. Mary was born in Coy Clare. The rest of the family were born in Co Galway. The entire family could read and write. They lived in a 2nd class house with 3 rooms and 3 front windows. There were 4 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 piggery and 1 fowl house. Ellen Finnegan owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Frank Murphy (76) was a widower. He was a farmer. He spoke Irish and English. He had 3 unmarried children. John (27) and Michael (26) were recorded as farmer’s sons. Annie Teresia (24) recorded her occupation as a housekeeper. The entire family were born in Co Galway. They could read and write. They lived in a 2nd class house with 7 rooms and 5 front windows. There were 5 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 fowl house, 1 barn and 1 turf house. Frank Murphy owned the land the house was situated on.

 

John Murphy (42) was a farmer.  He was married for 6 years to Mary Kate (38).  There was no occupation recorded for her.  She was born in Kings Coy.  John’s unmarried brother Patrick (40) recorded his occupation as a farm servant.  John and Patrick were born in Co Galway.  Mary Kate and Patrick could read and write.  John could not read.  They lived in a 2nd class house with 4 rooms and 3 front windows.  There were 5 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 coach house, 1 cow house, 1 piggery and 1 barn.  John Murphy owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Margaret Kenny (45) was a widow. She has no occupation recorded for her. She had 4 children. Winifred (9), Kate (8), Joseph (7) and John (4) were scholars. John Hanrahan (16) recorded his occupation as a farm servant. All the occupants were born in Co Galway. They could read and write. They lived in a 2nd class house with 3 rooms, 3 front windows, and 1 stable and 1 cow house. Margaret Kenny owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Denis Fahy (85) was a widower. He was a farmer. His son Thomas (40) was recorded as a farmer’s son. There was no occupation recorded for his daughter in law Kate (30). His daughter Mary (43) was single.  She had no occupation listed. The entire family were born in Co Galway. They could read, write and spoke English. They lived in a 2nd class house with 5 rooms and 5 front windows. There were 4 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 piggery and 1 barn. Denis Fahy owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Ellen Dolphin (67) was a widow.  She was a farmer.  She had 2 unmarried sons.  Patrick (35) and Thomas (24) were recorded as farmer’s sons.  The entire family were born in Co Galway.  They could read and write.  They lived in a 2nd class house with 5 rooms and 5 front windows.  There were 5 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 coach house, 1 cow house, 1 piggery and 1 barn.  Ellen dolphin owned the land the house was situated on.

 

John Head (75) was a farmer.  He was married for 50 years to Anne (80).  His sister in law Ellen Jennings (77) was a widow.  There were no occupations recorded for Anne or Ellen.  The entire family were born in Co Galway.  They spoke Irish and English.  Anne and Ellen could read.  John could read and write.  They lived in a 2nd class house with 3 rooms and 3 front windows.  There were 3 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house and 1 barn.  John Head owned the land the house was situated on.

 

William McDonnell (39) was single. He was a farmer. He was born in Co Galway. He could not read or write.  He lived in a 2nd class house with 2 rooms, 2 front windows and 1 piggery. William McDonnell owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Thomas Joe Hanrahan (27) was a blacksmith. His brother John (20) recorded his occupation as a blacksmith. Martin Mooney (28) recorded his occupation as an assistant blacksmith. All 3 were single. They were born in Co Galway. All occupants could read and write. They lived in a 3rd class house with 2 rooms and 2 front windows. There were 3 outhouses: 1 cow house, 1 barn and 1 forge. Thomas Hanrahan owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Patrick Kearns (75) was single.  He spoke Irish and English.  His brother John (71) was a widower.  They recorded their occupations as agricultural labourers.  They were born in Co Galway.  They could read and write.  They lived in a 3rd class house with 1 room and 1 front window.  There were no outhouses recorded.  Michael Glennon of Shangarry owned the land the house was situated on.

 

Patrick Glennon (70) was a widower.  He worked as an agricultural labourer.  His sister Bridget (72) was single.  She recorded her occupation as a housekeeper.  They were born in Co Galway.  They could read and write.  They lived in a 3rd class house with 2 rooms, 2 front windows and 1 fowl house.  Michael Glennon of Shangarry owned the land the house was situated on.

 

This page was added on 20/02/2020.

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