Mountventure

Mountventure                                               Irish Grid M 66554 36564

Author: Roger Harrison

The townland of Mountventure is in the civil parish of Ballymacward, in the barony of Kilconnell and the County of Galway.

Situation:

(John O’Donovan 1806-1861)

Mountventure if bordered to the north by Alloon Upper and Garrymore, to the east by Ballymacward, to the south by Ballyvoneen and to the west by Cave.

Census of Ireland 1821 – 1911

The first full population census of Ireland was taken in 1821 and every ten years thereafter and the first four were arranged by county, barony, civil parish and townland.

1821: Only some fragments for small parts of county Galway survive. There are no   surviving records for Ballymacward.

1831: The only surviving records are from Counties Antrim and Derry.

1841: There are no surviving records for County Galway.

1851:   There are no surviving records for County Galway.

1861: Census records for 1861 and 1871 were deliberately destroyed by the government

1881: The records for 1881 and 1891 were pulped as waster paper during the shortages of World War I.

1901: Full Census records are available. See below.

1911:   There are no census records for Mountventure for 1911.

1901 Census

Overview of the townland.

The census of 1901 shows that there was only the one house in the townland. The house was occupied and was listed as being a private dwelling. It was constructed of stone, brick or concrete and had slate, iron or tiles for roofing. It was a 1^st class dwelling that had 5 rooms and 5 windows in the front. It had 13 out buildings but there was record of what types that included. There were 4 occupants and 2 were Roman Catholic and 2 were Church of Ireland. The enumerator was Sergt. A. Wilson.

House 1: Foster / Neill / While

The head of the only house in Mountventure was William (37) who was married to Mary Edith (34) and they shared the house with 2 servants, Michael Neill (26) and Mary While (28). William was born in Co. Tipperary, Mary Edith was born in Co. Waterford and both were Church of Ireland. Michael and Mary were born in Co. Galway and were Roman Catholic. There was nothing entered under the “Irish Language” heading, which could indicate that they only spoke English. William’s occupation was Clk in holy orders, Mary Edith was a housekeeper, Michael was a coachman and general man and Mary was a general servant. The house was a 5 roomed, 1^st class dwelling and the landholder was James Raftery of Carrowmore.

Griffiths Valuation:

The Primary Valuation of Ireland in 1855 was a survey involving a detailed valuation of every taxable holding of agricultural or built property on the island of Ireland. It was completed between 1864 and 1865.

James Raftery leased 76 acres, 1 rood and 39 perches of land from the Earl of Clancarty along with a house and offices and for that he paid £36 10s for the land and £9 10s for the buildings.