In 1937 Patrick Walsh of Derrycoosh wrote about the district he lived in, part of the national schools project that is found on Duchas.ie. He noted that there were thirty-five houses with a population of one hundred and sixty eight.
I've read many of the student essays on the website, this is perhaps the best description of an area that I've encountered.
Pictures of the Walsh family farm in Derrycoosh 2017.
Derrycoosh is in Islandeady Parish. In 1841 there were 8463 (4323m, 4140f) residents in the parish. In 1851 the number had shrunk to 4698 (2281m, 2417f). The number of families shrank from 1532 to 901.
In 1841 68.6% lived in 4th class housing, In 1851 only 16.5% were still in 4th class housing. Heads of households in agriculture went from 77.9% to 72.3%. Literacy made little change 16.1% of males in 1841 only increased to 19.6%. For females the numbers were 2.2% and 4.9%.Islandeady was the parish of not only our Walsh family in Derrycoosh, but also the Geraghty family in Carrownaclea. Both immediate families seem to have survived the great famine. They emigrated with the famine of the 1880s.
Statistics from the Irish Famine Project led by Alan Fernihough of Queen's University Belfast
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