Athleague Area

The area around Athleague was the home to the Delmores, Somers and Curleys. The pictures here were taken along the road going through Rahara, Lackan and on to Athleague.

In 1749 Luke Delmore was a cotter(1) in Lackan. He has two children under age 14 and one child over age 14 all Papists.

There are various definitions for cotter/cottier.  The time period and place in Ireland can be relevant.  In this case I believe that cotter meant a peasant renting a small piece of land under a system of renting land to the highest bidder as opposed to one having the use of a cottage and small garden in exchange for labor for the farmer.  However, that is only a guess based on the fact that there are two cotters and four laborers as well as a weaver listed in the townland.  The size of the holding is not listed in this Elphin Census, again there is a disparity in definitions giving the size of cottiers holdings, some saying that they are generally 1 to 1 1/2 acres in size and others saying they might be as much as ten acres.  Nearby townlands also use the term tenant as an occupation, so how that differs is unknown at this point.

In 1830 Luke Dilmar had a 3 acre holding with a partner in Keenagh.  No family information was included in the Tithe Applotments, we do know that Luke had two sons Luke and Francis born 1816 and 1819, but their christening records do not give a townland. This is the right parish. No other Luke D? was found elsewhere so it seems likely he was either living on this land or living in a town big enough that it was not enumerated. The tithe applotments were limited to rural areas.

Somers and Curley's could be found in Tremain. 

Pictures in Dropbox


(1) There are different definitions of Cottier / Cotter Tenure.  One definition states that a cottier is a peasant renting a small piece of land under a system of renting land to the highest bidder. A second definition states that a cottier was one having the use of a cottage and small garden in exchange for labor for the farmer. Different definitions state the size of a holding could be one to one and a half acres, others state the holdings might be as big as ten acres. It is assumed that the definition for Luke in 1749 fits more with the first definition as he is one of two cotters listed in Lacken and there are four men listed as laborers as well as one with no occupation and a weaver.

English Family Reunion 2002

In 2002 the descendants of John and May (Geraghty) English met in Green Valley, AZ.  Activities included a desert death march led by Mary Cajacob Eisenberg and an Easter Sunday Brunch among other things.  The turn out was good with family coming from as far away as Germany. 

Those in attendance included:

Generation 1-  Dolores English Young, Jean English Madden
(Deceased Clare English Cajacob)

Generation 2 - Jan (Cajacob) and Bob Pohl, Kathy (Young) and Paul Raleigh, Maura (Madden) and William Donovan, Norene (Cajacob) and Larry Moser, Deceased  Robert Young, Deceased Colleen Madden Schneider Roberts, Mary (Young) and Jerry Lametti, John and Suzanne Cajacob, Cath (Madden) and Greg Trindle, Missing Tom Cajacob, Tim Madden, Kris Cajacob & Steve Chudzig, Mary (Cajacob) & Peter Eisenberg, Sean & Nikki Madden, Carol Cajacob, Patrick & Polly Madden.  

Generation 3 - Kevin Pohl, Tony Pohl, Tim and Jackie Raleigh, Cavan Donovan, Cheryl (Moser) & Bob,  Jason Young, Dee Lametti, Tia (Lametti) and  Joe Cunningham, Marin (Lametti) and Todd Wendell,  Jessica Trindle & Scott Carbullido, Andi Trindle, Mariah Madden, Tess Chudzig, Alex Chudzig, Clare Eisenberg, Saige Madden, Liam Madden, Kailee Madden and Clare Madden.

Among the missing the Tom Cajacob family, Megan Raleigh, Jacqueling Moser, Jessica Young, Brianna Cajacob, Bliss Cajacob, Brittany Cajacob, Alex and Emily Schneider and Meaghan Donovan. 

Did I miss anyone???






  
More Pictures

Teevinish

Do the ghosts of the past stay on the land.  Tha day we drove through Teevinish, the townlands that the Earl of Sligo sought to rid of tenents from 1857 on, our GPS went kooky.  It sent us on a wild ride and only hours of fiddling finally returned it to normal.

Teevnish is in Aghagower civil parish.  Between 1841 and 1851 the population of the parish nearly halved, from 12235 to 6509. Males and females in both years were nearly equal and the number of families went from 2292 to 1303.  In 1841 nearly 52% of the families were in 4th class houses.  In 1851 that had shrunk to only 13.5%.  84.8% of heads of household in agriculture fell to 75.4%.  Like much of Mayo, the literacy rate was very low.  Just 14.8 percent of men and 4.1% of women could read and write in 1841.  In 1851 the numbers were 24.6% and 8.4%.

Teevinish - Dropbox Link

Statistics from the Irish Famine Project led by Alan Fernihough of Queen's University Belfast

Aughagower Cemetery

The tiny village of Aughagower is located just a little over 4 km from Teevinish.  In the midst of a few homes and a pub lies the remains of a medivial monestary, once a major stop on the pilgrimage route from Ballentubber to Croagh Patrick.

The monestary of , which was active into the 13th century, was according to legend founded by Saint Patrick who placed Saint Senach in charge. Remains of the monestary include: a round stone tower which was built between 973 and 1013; Dabhach Phadraig, a circular bath surrounded by a stone wall where pilgrims may have bathed their feet; the remnants of a chapel; and many medivial tombstones.

 Prior to the famine Aghagower was the center of a Aghagower parish, the home of over 12,000 people.  In 1996 there were only 796 individuals listed in the parish.

Teevinish East and West were part of the parish of Aghagower.  Judy Burke and John Walsh were married in the parish in 1865. (1)  It seems likely that she has ancestors buried in the graveyard, however like most graveyards in Ireland, stones that early, if they ever existed are seldom legible.  No Burkes early, enough in time, appear in the lists of burials found online.

(1) , Islandeady Civil Register Marriages, Vol 4 page 732 -John Walsh (aged 27) of Derrycoosh, farmer, son of Patt Walsh, married judy Bourke (aged 17) of Theevinish, daughter of ? witness: James McDonnell and Judy McDonnell.




Aughagower Graveyard  includes maps
Aughagower Cemetery - Find A Grave
Aughagower A Parish (Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837) - Library of Ireland
Aughagower - Wikipedia
Aughagower Cemetery - Drop box

Mom's Memorial 2011

Goodbye - Jean Ann English Madden
Memorial Cards and Tributes
More Pictures

Teevnish Papers

Courtesy of the National Library of IrelandMS 40,890/2(17)

With only one day to spend in the Library of Ireland, I decided to collect whatever I could on the townlands of Teevnish.  It was a fascinating journey.

I worked my way through a variety of records some dating as early as 1612. The earliest were carefully protected in mylar, but I was allowed to read them, and photograph them.  There were books and maps from the eighteenth and ninteenth centuries, and I got to touch them!
So...

Teevnish (there are many spellings but this is the most prevalent) was conveyed by Davy Reah McPhilbin of Bownrawer to Sir Theobald Bourke on 3 Nov 1612 (MS 40,890/2(17) ).  Since our known ancestor from Teevnish is Julia Bourke (Burke) this was an interesting fact.  I don't see any family connection from Theobald, but then I don't know the history of Julia's family.  Most likely her ancestors were part of the clan that gathered around these more important Bourkes.  At this point it is just a fun connection.

Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland
MS 40,978/13

By the 1800s the land was part of the holdings of the Marquis of Sligo.  At the time of the great famine, George John Browne, the 3rd Marquis was in power.  His Wikipedia page states that ...

"Browne prided himself on being an enlightened landlord. In the second year of the Great Irish Famine, Browne's tenants gathered at Westport House, the ancestral residence of the Marquesses of Sligo. Browne assured his tenants of his support for them, and proceeded to hand them guns (without regard for his own safety), enabling them to hunt for game. He also went into considerable debt in order to acquire cornmeal from the Americas, and converted most of Westport House into a soup kitchen for the starving peasants." 

The website "County Mayo Beginnings", however paints a very different picture. Using J F Quinn's "History of Mayo" written in 1931 as a major source, a picture emerges of over 1700 tenents evicted from their homes, packed into workhouses and onto immigrant ships.  And that corn...well it turns out he had to open the cornstores at the Quay to house the overflow from the workhouse due to his ejectments. The bulk of those he evicted were from the parishes of Aughagower and Louisburg. 

The 1840-1844 rent ledger for the Altamont estates contains a note for tenants dated Oct 1844 stating......

The Tenants on the Estates of the Marquess of Sligo are requested to take Notice: 1. A New Tenant will not be allowed to come upon the Estate, either to hold land himself or to reside upon the holding of another. 2. In every townland, not under lease, the holdings are to be made separate and distinct from each other, as far as possible, and each tenant or tenants to live on his or their own stripe [...] 5. Alienation, Sub-division or sub-letting will not be permitted, either to strangers or members of a family, but each holding is to be held entire by some one individual member of it, except in cases where the successor to it may wish to set apart a small portion of it for the support of his parents and for such object only, in which case such portion is at their death to revert to him, and complete the original holding...'.

This volume and other individual year collection volumes list the tenants of East Teevnish, including Henry Bourke, however, the tenants of West Teevinish in all found volumes are listed jointly as "villagers" with no breakdown of individuals.  The annual rent from the 1830s through the mid 1840s was £50, but in 1847 it increased to £100.

On 19 Oct 1857 the Marquis of Sligo and assorted other landowners filed suit against the tenants of Theevinish West, claiming they were resident on the land illegally.  One would guess they had ignored the edict of 1844.  Among the named defendants were  Michael Burke, James Bourke, Thomas Bourke, Patrick Giblin, Thomas McGuire, Bridget (widow of Austin) Giblin, Peter McLoughlin, James Scott, Patrick Duffy, James Moran, James Burke, Aply(?) Burke, Mary Burke, Bridget Burke, Austin Kerigan, James Kerigan, John Kerigan, Anthony Faden, and Judith Burke. This is the most complete listing of the tenants of the village of Teevish West found anywhere to date.  It is more inclusive than Griffith's Valuations, the only other record found that listed individual householders up to that time.

Among the notes in the lawsuit file,  is one stating that the summons to Judith Burke were delivered into the hands of her sister Mary.  As the case wore on a number of McGings, residents of neighboring Tonlagee were summoned to give evidence. 

Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland
MS Map 310 (j) L. OS Sheet 98 

Judy Bourke of Teevnish married John Walsh of Derrycoosh in 1865.  Records have suggested her parents are Patrick and Mary Burke.  Patrick is listed in Griffith's Valuations in Teevnish in 1850.  He is not on the list in 1857, however, Mary is.  The records I went through still give no definative answer to the parents of Bridget but they do support the suggestion of Pat and Mary.   The hunt is still on.  DNA has linked our ancestors to McGings, a link through the Burke family seems likely.

The Cancelled Valuation Books for Teevnish begin in 1858 and list the same main defendants as the 1857 ejectments, the books continue to 1869 when all tenants were finally evicted and the townland in it's entirety was either leased to John Egan or held by the Marquis.  

There are more records for the area.  In 1874 there was a complaint against John McGing for building an illegal wall in Teevnish West.  There are also proceedings against John Egan for non-payment of rent and there are entries in a Journal of costs for the farm at Teevnish. Unfortunately there was nothing more on the Burke families of the townland in the records I had time to go through.

Teevnish in Library of Ireland Catalog   -
Permission to use items on blog (If you want to use items from this blog, you must request permission from the library)

• MS 40,890/2(17) Conveyance of land in quarter of Teveenish [Teevinish, barony of Burrishoole] by Davy Reagh McPhilbin of Bownrawer to Sir Theobald Bourke. 3 Nov 1612. 1 item
• MS 40,978/13 Legal papers re ejectment on title of tenants on lands of Teevinish West. 1857, 1859. 4 items
• MS Map 310 (j) L. OS Sheet 98 [fragment of]. Teevenish West and Tonlagee were marked-up. 

Picture Milwaukee

Located in southeastern Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan, the city of Milwaukee is the county seat of Milwaukee County.

LOC collections Milwaukee 1879
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4124m.pm010460

By 1880 it was the 17th largest city in the United States with 115,587 people.  Average life expectancy was 18 years, the result of unwashed inhabitants, unsanitary streets, unsafe foods, and often unchecked spread of disease.

The city was in debt, by 1857 they had lost 1.6 million investing in Rail Roads.  Although they built a reputation for solid conservative banking and fiscal policies in 1880 the debt amounted to $18.69 per individual, a total of $2.2 million for the entire city.

Milwaukee had 231.83 miles of streets.  150 miles were gravel and 25 miles of wood.  Asphalt which was introduced after 1871 still melted in hot weather.  Sidewalks were constructed of plank, flagstone and cement.  Street cleaning was  a problem.  Urine and manure covered the streets.  Cleaning cost the city about $53,000 a year and that did not include snow removal.  Volunteer crews shoveled to create fire lanes.

Dead animal removal cost the city about $850 a year.  The carcasses were taken by private contractors to glue factories.

In 1878 the city began regular collection of garbage and ashes at the cost of $10,000 to the city.  Collections were daily from April 20 - Oct 20 and twice a week the rest of the year. The collections wee taken to dumping grounds beyond city limits.

Liquid household wastes gathered in cesspools, privy vaults, gutters and sewers, causing danger to shallow wells. Licensed scavengers with air-tight carts cleaned out the privies between 11pm and 4 am.  Liquid waste often found its way into lakes and streams.

LOC Collections - Milwaukee  - Beck & Pauli.1882

The sewers, a systemic plan created by ES Chesbrough, consisted of vitrified earthen ware and cement pipes with manhole covers.  With a capacity for 280,000 people they ran to the Menomonee River and into Lake Michigan.  The reality is the waste backed up into the river rather than spreading through the lake.

Industrial waste and smoke were rampant, but, they were considered signs of progress and not a danger to ones health.

Before 1876 Milwaukee had a monopoly on gas lights.  Customers were charged $2.25 a month and outages and flickering were common.  Commercial enterprises were favored over individual customers.  Downtown, gas-lighters ran from pole to pole to light the street lights. When Edison perfected electric lighting Milwaukee was a quick adopter.

In 1870 the city had 42 police officers, one for every 1700 citizens, causing the mayor to claim that the city was more secure than in any other city on the continent of equal or greater size.  By 1880 the number of officers had increased to 69.  They made $800 a year and had to buy their own uniforms at a cost of about $60.  The chief made $3000 per year.  In 1880 there were 2564 arrests, 3445 lodgers in jail and the entire budget was $76000 for the year.  These were high wages, other cities in Wisconsin paid about $1 a day, but the city need to control their tough waterfront dives!

This was the city where Peter Somers (nephew of Margaret Somers Delmore) became mayor in 1890 and where Johannes Baier(l) settled with his daughter after his son John moved to Minnesota.