Ballykine Upper

Baile Ui Chadhain

Teresa Philbin  

Tomas O Flatharta

 Translation: O’Kyne’s town

The Down Survey:

The Down Survey of Ireland carried out by William Petty an English scientist in 1655 and 1656 is the first ever detailed land survey on a national scale anywhere in the world. The Down Survey is a cadastral survey of Ireland and was so called simply by its topographic details being all laid down by admeasurement on maps. The survey sought to define legal property boundaries and measure all the land to be forfeited by the Catholic Irish in order to facilitate it’s redistribution to merchant adventurers and English officers and soldiers in Oliver Cromwell’s army. It was to repay them and the many English politicians and adventurers who had funded Cromwell’s military campaign in Ireland.

The Down Survey name for Ballykine Upper was Liscoyle.  In 1641(pre Cromwell) the owner was Andrew Lynch a catholic.  In 1670 (post Cromwell) the owner was John Lynch and he too was catholic.  Ballykine is in County Mayo, in the barony of Kilmaine and in the parish of Conge (sic). The profitable land was forty two acres and this amount was forfeited.

O’Donovan’s Field Name Books 1838:

The standard name for the townland was Ballykine Upper.  It contained 159 acres, 1 rood and 14 perches.

Situation:

It is situated in the west side of the parish and bounded on the north by the townland of Ballykine Lower; on the east by Gorteenroe; on the west by Knockbeg and to the south by the parish of Ross.

Description:

The proprietor was Martin D’arcy, Esq., and all the land was held by Mr. Thomas McDonald, who part let the land to under tenants at 40 shillings per acre yearly.  The under tenants were all Catholics.  The soil was rocky producing middling crops.

Griffith’s Valuation 1855:

According to Griffiths valuation 1855 (Ordnance Survey Sheet 120.) William Booth was the occupier of the townland of Ballykine Upper.

Plot 1 (a):  William Booth held 150 acres, 1 rood and 14 perches of land, a herd’s house and office in fee.  The total rateable annual valuation for the land was £51 and the buildings had an annual valuation of 15 shillings.  His total annual valuation of rateable property was £51 and 15 shillings.

1901 Census of Ballykine Upper:

Constable Richard Kelly was the enumerator and the census return for this district was collected on the 10thApril 1901.  There were two private dwellings in Ballykine Upper and both were occupied by Halloran families.

No 1:  Julia Halloran (60) a farmer was a widow and she had eight children recorded on this census. Her sons were; James (26), Patrick (20), Michael (17) and Thomas (14). Her daughters were; Kate (24), Norah (18), Margaret (15) and Catherina (12). The mother was born in County Galway and her family was born in County Mayo. The children were listed as farmer’s sons and farmer’s daughters.  Julia and her two eldest sons could not read while the other children could read and write. All in this household spoke both Irish and English.  The house was 3rdclass and it had two windows to the front and nine family members occupied two rooms.  They had four outbuildings on the property; a stable, a cow house, a piggery and a shed.

No 2:  Stephen Halloran (50) and his wife Mary (43) were farmers.  They had six children living with them; Anne (19) was a farmer’s daughter, Bridget (14) and James (11) were scholars, Sarah was (6), Martin (4) and Patrick (1) year old.  Mary was born in County Galway and her husband and family were born in County Mayo. The parents could not read but the older children could read and write and all were bilingual.  The house was 3rdclass and it had one window to the front. The family of eight occupied two rooms. They had a piggery and a shed on the holding.

1911 Census for Ballykine Upper:

Constable William John Gallagher collected the census for the two families that lived in Ballykine Upper on 10thof April 1911.

No 1:  Julia Halloran (70) a widow was a farmer.  Her sons James (44), Patrick (35) and Thomas (27) were farmer’s sons and her daughter Catherine (23) a farmer’s daughter.  All were single.  Julia, her sons James and Patrick could not read while her other children could read and write. All spoke Irish and English. Julia’s grandson Thomas Fitzgerald (3) was also in the house.  The house was 3rdclass and had two windows to the front.  Six family members occupied three rooms.  They had a cow house and a piggery on the property.

No 2:  Stephen Halloran (71) and his wife Mary (64) were married for thirty five years and of the twelve children born to the couple, eight were still living.   Kate was (29), Mary (26), Michael (25), James (23) and Sarah (21).  The parents could not read while the children could read and write and all were bilingual. The house was 2ndclass and had three windows in front.  The family of seven shared four rooms.  They had four outbuildings on the premises; a stable, a cow house, a piggery and a fowl house.

 

 

 

 

This page was added on 06/02/2019.

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