Gortmore

Gortmore is situated in the civil parish of Abbeygormacan, barony of Longford, Co Galway. It is bounded on the north by Abbeygormacan, on the west by Cappanaughtin, on the east by Gurtnappagh and on the south by Lurgan beg and Lurganmore.

O’Donovan’s Field Name books give another spelling of this townland: Gurtmor and Gort M.

Down Survey map shows that this land was owned by the Earl of Clanrickard, a protestant in 1641. It was owned by Ulick Burke the Earl of Clanricard, a catholic and the Earl of Clanrickard a protestant in 1670.

Census 1901

There were 2 houses in Gortmore in 1901. There were 14 residents in total: 9 were male and 5 were female. All occupants were Roman Catholic. They were born in Co Galway. The heads of the households were: Thomas Murphy and Patt Headd. The census taken on the 1^st of April 1901 showed that the houses were built as private dwelling. The walls were built with stone, brick or concrete. The roofs were made with perishable material.

Thomas Murphy (42) worked as a herd. He was married to Catherine (35). There was no occupation listed for her. They had 6 children. Michael (9), James (7), Margaret (6), Thomas (5), Ellen (4) and Patrick (3) were scholars. James Whyte (33) was single. He was listed as a farm servant. Thomas (42) and Catherine could read and write. Michael and James could read only. The rest of the household could not read. They lived in a 3^rd class house with 2 rooms, 2 front windows and 4 outhouses. James Ryan owned the land the house was situated on.

Patt Hedd (77) was a farmer. He spoke Irish and English. He was married to Margaret (50). She recorded her occupation as a farmer. They had 2 unmarried children. James (30) was listed as a farmer’s son. Maria (20) was listed as a farmer’s daughter. Patt’s nephew Thomas (20) was single. He recorded his occupation as a carpenter. The entire household could read and write. They lived in a 2^nd class house with 3 rooms, 3 front windows and 5 outhouses. Patt Hedd owned the land the house was situated on.

Census 1911

There were 2 houses in Gortmore in 1911. There were 17 residents in total: 10 were male and 7 were female. All occupants were Roman Catholic. They were born in Co Galway. The heads of the household were: James Head and Thomas Murphy. The census taken on the 3^rd of April 1911 showed that the houses were built as private dwellings. The walls were built with stone, brick or concrete. James Head’s house roof was made with perishable material. Thomas Murphy’s roof was made with slate, iron or tiles.

James Head (44) was a farmer. He was married for 4 years to Bridget (38). They had 2 children with 1 living in 1911. Margaret Mary was 10 months old. Margaret (71) was a widow. James’s sister Maria (31) and his niece Mary Hardiman (15) were single. There were no occupations listed for Bridget, Margaret, Maria or Mary. James’s nephew Patrick Hardiman (16) was single. He was listed as a farmer’s son. James’s nephew Michael Hardiman (11) was a scholar. The entire household spoke English. All occupants could read and write except for Margaret Mary. They lived in a 3^rd class house with 3 rooms and 1 front window. There were 5 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 piggery, 1 fowl house and 1 barn. James Head owned the land the house was situated on.

Thomas Murphy (56) worked as a herd. He was married for 11 years to Catherine (43). There was no occupation listed for her. They had 6 children with 6 living in 1911. Michael (20), James (19) and Thomas (16) were single. They recorded their occupations as agricultural labourers. Ellen (15) was single. Patrick (13) was a scholar. John was 4 years old. James Whyte (38) was single. He was listed as a farm servant. All occupants could read and write except for John and James (38). They could not read. They lived in a 2^nd class house with 3 rooms and 3 front windows. There were 4 outhouses: 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 piggery and 1 shed.  Mrs Alice Ryan owned the land the house was situated on.