Cloondahamper Brown
Extract from Killererin - A Parish History (pps. 81-85)
Cloondahamper Brown
Meaning of Townland Name
Cloondahamper Brown, Cluain Dá Ampar[1], “lawn of the two troughs”[1]
First references to the townland of Cloondahamper
The earliest located reference to the townland of Cloondahamper is recorded in the 18th Century archives of Westport House[2]. A Deed of Conveyance dated 17th August 1751 conveys land at Cloondahamper belonging to Denis Daly of Ratford, Co. Galway to Denis Kelly, Lisduff, Co. Galway. Later, a lease makes reference to part of the lands of the townland between Peter Browne, Mount Browne and William Hand, weaver, dated 22nd July 1858; a lease again involving Peter Browne Kelly and another man, Hugh Reynolds, yeoman, Cloondahamper is dated 22 July 1758; a deed of rent charge of £6 7s 6d on land at Mount Browne between Peter Browne of Mount Browne and James Collins, servant to Peter Browne details the part surrender of his lease of lands at Cloondahamper and Lavally granted by Denis Kelly in 1756. The deed is dated 26th February 1758[3].
Division of Townland of Cloondahamper
At one point the lands at Cloondahamper were sold and so the division of the townland between Blake and Browne occurred. Peter Browne was married to Elizabeth Kelly, daughter of the Chief Justice of Jamaica. The townland of Cloondahamper Brown is situated in the Civil Parish of Killererin in the Barony of Dunmore. The townland is bordered on the north by Meelickmore, the south by Cloondahamper Blake, the west by Levally East and Lisnaminaun and in the east by the townland Cloonboo Beg. According to O’Donovan’s Field Name Books 1830,[4] early references to ‘Cloondahamper’ were found in Larkin’s County Map of Galway 1819 and to ‘Cloondahamper Brown’ in the Boundary Survey Sketch Maps[5]. The townland was described as the property of J. Brown, Esquire, Sligo. It contained 203 acres statute[6] measure including about 90 acres of bog.
Census 1841-1851[7]
There were 14 families and 69 people living in the townland in 1841 and this population decreased slightly to 64 people and 12 families in 1851.
Griffith’s Valuation 1855[8]
In 1855, a large plot was leased from John W. Brown in Cloondahamper Brown. John Shaughnessy, Arthur Potter, Edmund Kelly, Richard Kelly, Patrick Long, Dominic Hawd, Thomas Burke Junior, William Shaughnessy and Thomas Burke senior all leased a house, offices and land amounting to 202 acres, 3 roods and 13 perches with an annual valuation of £52 5s 0d. (These plots represent clachán or group plots that were based on cluster-type housing around ‘in-field-out-field’ systems of land holding[9]. Clachán settlements generally had no church, school or shop and the land around houses were small plots). Along with this land, Thomas Burke senior, leased a corn mill. Denis Connor leased a house and office from the tenants of the townland with an annual valuation of 10s 0d.
Census 1861-1881[10]
There were 64 people or 10 families living in Cloondahamper in 1861 and this population decreased slightly to 59 people or 11 families in 1871. By 1881 there were 10 families or 56 people living in the townland. There were 25 out-buildings in total in 1881 and no uninhabited dwellings. The total area of the townland in 1881 was 202 acres, 3 roods and 13 perches with an annual valuation of £53 5s 0d.
Census 1891[11]
There were 10 households and a population of 47 living in Cloondahamper Brown in 1891.
Census 1901[12]
There were 30 people listed in Cloondahamper Brown in 1901.
Thomas Burke
Thomas Burke aged 50 was married to Bridget aged 45. They lived with their son Thomas aged 27.
Edward Potter
Edward Potter aged 65 was married to Margaret aged 65. Edward and Margaret lived with their children Arthur aged 30 and Ellen aged 15.
John Shaughnessy
John Shaughnessy aged 74 was a widower. John lived with his daughter Jane aged 30.
Martin Geoghegan
Martin Geoghegan aged 60 was married to Winifred aged 40.
Michael Long
Michael Long aged 51 was married to Bridget aged 40. Michael and Bridget lived with their children: Mary aged 18, Delia aged 16, Rose aged 14, Kate aged 12 and Patrick aged 5.
Richard Kelly
Richard Kelly aged 74 was a widower. Richard lived with his son John aged 26 and his daughter Eliza aged 28. Richard’s niece, Mary Kate Mitchell aged 13 also lived in this house.
John Potter
John Potter aged 50 was married to Mary aged 45. John and Mary lived with their children Bridget aged 14 and Maggie aged 8.
John Hard
John Hard aged 54 was married to Margaret aged 60. John and Margaret lived with their daughter Mary aged 27.
Honor Burke
Honor Burke aged 65 was a widow. Honor lived with her children: Bridget aged 35 and Michael aged 28.
Those listed in 1901
All of those recorded in 1901 listed their place of birth as ‘Galway’ and all are listed as scholars (the children) and farmers with the exception of Jane Shaughnessy who was a ‘seamstress’.
There were 9 inhabited buildings in the townland in 1901 and 1 uninhabited building, the latter on land owned by John Hard. All dwellings recorded were listed as ‘private dwellings’ with the exception of the shop, a 2nd class building where Michael Long lived. All dwellings were 2nd class with 2-3 front windows with the exception of Honor Burke and John Hard who lived in 3rd class dwellings. In each of these houses 3 people lived in 2 available rooms. In Michael Long’s home, conversely, 7 people lived in 3 available rooms. All of those listed in the census for this townland owned the land on which their dwellings were situated.
Youngest and oldest person in townland in 1901
The youngest person in the townland in 1901 was Patrick Long aged 5 and the oldest was Richard Kelly aged 74.
Census 1911[14]
There were 38 people listed on the census in Cloondahamper in 1911. Bridget Burke aged 64 was a widow. Bridget lived with her son Thomas aged 36, daughter-in-law Maria aged 26, and her grand-daughter Delia aged 3.
Patrick Howley
Patrick Howley aged 42 was married to Jane aged 52. Patrick and Jane lived with their children Margaret and John. This family did not live in Cloondahamper in 1901. Patrick and Jane were not yet married in 1901 and Patrick may have lived with his father, William, in the townland of Ballina.
Edward Potter aged 77 was married to Margaret aged 67. Edward and Margaret lived with their son, Arthur aged 41.
Michael Burke aged 40 was married to Ellen aged 32. Michael and Ellen lived with their children James and Thomas. Michael’s sister Bridget Burke aged 48 also lived in this home.
Michael Long aged 66 was married to Brigid aged 54. Michael and Brigid lived with their daughter Brigid and son Patrick. A grandaughter, Margaret Mary Huggan, aged 3 also lived in this house.
John Hard aged 73 was a widower. John lived with his son Dominic Thomas, daughter-in-law Amelia and grandchildren Mary Alice, John Thomas and Margaret.
Martin Geoghegan aged 76 was married to Winnie aged 60.
John Potte, aged 70 was married to Mary aged 65. John and Mary lived with their daughters Maggie and Brigid.
John Kelly aged 44 was married to Ellen aged 41. John and Ellen lived with their children Richard Bernard, John Michael and Fanny.
All of those recorded on the census listed their place of birth as ‘Galway’, with the exception of 3 members of the Hard family, Amelia aged 43, Mary Alice aged 10 and John Thomas aged 3 who were all born in England.
A number of people in the townland were married over 30 years in 1911 including: Brigid Long, married for 31 years who had 7 children with 5 still living in 1911; Margaret Potter, married 42 years who had 4 children and 4 still living in 1911 and Mary Potter, married 32 years with 8 children and 2 still living in 1911.
There were 9 buildings listed in 1911 and all of these were private dwellings. There is no longer any listing for the shop, referred to as the property of Michael Long in 1901. The homes in Cloondahamper Browne in 1911 were mostly 3rd class dwellings with the exception of that of Brigid Burke who lived in a 3rd class dwelling. In this house there were 3 front windows and 4 people lived in 3 available rooms, while in the house of John Hard, 6 people lived in 2 rooms. All of those listed owned the land on which their houses were situated.
There were 29 out-buildings recorded in total and most of these were owned by Patrick Howley including a stable, cowhouse, piggery, barn and shed. John Potter and Martin Geoghegan held only a cow-house. The youngest person in the townland in 1911 was Thomas A. Burke who was less than a year old and the oldest was Edward Potter aged 77.
Census 1991-2006
The bar graph below plots the changes in population in this townland between 1841 and 2006 according to census information[15].
Mapping Change
The Ordnance Survey OS map 1837-1842[16] shows that a large portion of the western part of the townland with a branch into the centre was liable to flooding. A mill was located in the south of the townland and all of the dwellings are congregated around it. It was in this location presumably that Thomas Burke, mentioned in Griffith’s Valuation, worked his corn mill. A small road led from this area in the south towards a larger road in the north that ran in a north-westerly direction from the border with Cloonboo Beg into the central part of Levalley East. A mill, river and stepping stones were located there.
A comparison between the 25 inch map 1888-1913[17] and the modern Aerial map 2005,[18] shows how the landscape and geography of the area has changed. The 1888-1913 map does not show the mill but the number of houses in the area has increased. All but the southern area of Cloondahamper Brown was uncultivated or marshy ground. A lime kiln was located in the west, near to the area liable to flooding.
The modern 2000 and 2005 Photographic maps, show the same pattern of residences in the southern part of the townland as in the early maps. Most of the land is green fields with the exception of some in the west and a large portion in the north east that is bog. The road still runs from the houses in the south of the townland. This road again leads to the larger one that no longer simply stops at the stepping stones and river in the middle of Lisavalley East, but continues to travel in a north-easterly direction until it reaches the junction
[1] Placenames Database, (http://www.logainm.ie/)
[2] Galway County Library, O’Donovan’s Field Name Books’ (http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/)
[3] With thanks to Luke Silke, Cloondahamper for this information
[4] National Library of Ireland, ‘Westport Estate Papers’, (http://www.nli.ie/)
[5] Galway County Library, O’Donovan’s Field Name Books’ (http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/)
[6] ibid
[7] PODUNK ‘Place Types and Land Allocation in Ireland’ (http://ei.epodunk.com/place-types.html) (June 2011) An Irish acre, the measure used from the 17th century, equalled 1.62 statute (English) acres, also called a plantation acre
[8] ‘Table VII –Area, Out-offices and Farm Steadings and Population together with the Valuation of Each Parish, Townland and Township of the County of Galway in 1881’ (James Hardiman Library, National University of Ireland, Galway, p38)
[9] Ask about Ireland, ‘Griffith’s Valuation’ (http://www.askaboutireland.ie/)
[10] Ask About Ireland (http://www.askaboutireland.ie/narrative-notes/enclosed/) (July 2011)
[11] ‘Table VII –Area, Out-offices and Farm Steadings and Population together with the Valuation of Each Parish, Townland and Township of the County of Galway in 1881’ (James Hardiman Library, National University of Ireland, Galway, p38)
[12] Census of Ireland for the Year 1911 [Province of Connaught, County of Galway] Area, Houses and Population, ‘Table VII-Area Houses Out-Buildings and Farm Steadings, and Population together with the Valuation of Each Poor Law Union, Dispensary District, Electoral Division, Townland in the County of Galway in 1911’ (Galway County Library, p110)
[13] The National Archives of Ireland, ‘Census Ireland 1901/1911’ (http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/)
[14] The National Archives of Ireland, ‘Census Ireland 1901/1911’, (http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/)
[15] Kids Zone Learning with NECS ‘Create a Graph’, (http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/)
[16] Ordnance Survey Ireland, ‘25” Historical Map 1888-1913’ (www.osi.ie/publicviewer) (July 2011)
[17] ibid
[18] ibid
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