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Moybane

Location

Moybane townland comprises 340 statute acres 1 rood and 15 perches (including a small lake). It lies to the southeast of Crossmaglen, partly straddling the road that connects Crossmaglen to the N5 (Concession Road) beyond Sheelagh Chapel). In the Tithe Applotment Books of 1828 the area was recorded as 153 acres 3 roods and 30 perches (Plantation Irish measure). It is bounded on the north by Lisseraw, Crossmaglen and Sheiland, on the east by Drummuckavall, on the south by Rassen in County Louth and Clonalig and on the west by Cappagh. Until the 1830s there was a small Chapel in the townland, situated close to the crossroads.

Name of townland

Máigh Bhán, "The uncultivated plain" (1).

There are two townlands called 'Moybane' in Ireland; the other one is in County Fermanagh.

Ordnanace Survey Name Books: Creggan Parish (2)

MOYBANE (OSNB ii 41): There is a lake called Cappy Lough on the Western side of this townland, in which the borders of Cappy, Clonaligg and Mowbawn meet. There is a R.C. Chapel in the N. end of this Td. where four roads intersect each other. There is a large portion of bog and water belonging to there. The dwellings are very poor.
It contains 342..3..20 of which 88..24..14 is uncultivated and Bog, and 4..3..24 water.

Valuation

Although the decimalisation of the currency was introduced only in 1971, all of the valuations in the following table have been converted from £sd for convenience.

Year 1837 1851 1864 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1926 1935 1952 1957 1974
Valuation £129.55 £153.50 £203.00 £199.00 £198.00 £193.25 £193.25 £180.75 £180.25 £223.00 £237.75 £278.75 £323.60

The 1837 Townland Valuation recorded only houses worth £5 or more a year. There were no such houses in the townland. There was an exception for a Roman Catholic Chapel in 2 roods of land.

A remarkable event concerning the name McCave occured in the first half of the eighteenth century. In 1828 eighteen of the twenty family names in the townland was "McCave". By 1864 this name had entirely disappeared. However, there were instead 14 families called McCoy. It seems reasonable to assume that these are the same families as the McCaves, the name being changed for some unknown reason. There is no reference in either of Edward MacLysaght's two main reference works to such a name anywhere in Ireland, although it does appear frequently in the 1766 Creggan Census.

Griffiths Valuation records Dominic Daly as owner of the townland.

Census of Ireland

The 1901 census enumerated 114 people in 26 households; a ratio of 4.4 persons per household. The households occupied a total of 69 rooms; a ratio of 2.7 rooms per household and 1.7 people per room. Of the 26 houses, 16 were thatched. Seven houses had 4 rooms, six had 3 rooms, nine had 2 rooms and four had one room.

In 1911 there were 111 people enumerated in 23 households; a ratio of 4.8 people per household. The total number of occupied rooms was 58; a ratio of 2.5 rooms per household and 1.9 people per room. Fifteen of the houses were thatched. There were no single room houses. Thirteen families occupied houses of 2 rooms, 8 families had 3 rooms and two has four rooms. Fifteen houses were thatched.

Native Irish Speakers

Of the 26 households enumerated in 1901, nine contained at least one native Irish speaker - a total of 13. Since theirs was the last generation to have been born into a substanially Irish speaking environment, their names, occupations and ages are recorded here. All were born in Co. Armagh with the exception of Margaret Rocks, born Co. Louth and Joseph O'Reilly, born Co. Fermanagh.

  • Patrick O'Brien, farmer, 59
    and his wife Ellen, 65
  • Margaret Rocks, retired farmer, 70
  • Joseph A. O'Reilly, farm labourer, 31
    and his wife Annie, 28
  • Bridget Grant, wife of Patrick, 55
  • Margaret Wade, domestic servant, 60
  • Owen McCoy, farmer, 60
  • Pat McCoy, farmer, 75
    and his brother Michael, farmer, 78
  • Mary Smith, farmer, widow, 72
    and her son John Smith, farmer, 40
  • Catherine McCoy, farmer, 79
* The average age of the Irish speakers was 59; oldest 79, youngest 31
*Of the group, five could neither read nor write and eight could both read and write.

Population Decline

The following table sets out the number of houses and population enumerated in the townland in each of the 11 Censuses held between 1841 and 1951.

  1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1926 1937 1951
Houses 38 33 32 32 30 28 26 23 19 18 17
People 197 167 161 149 154 106 115 111 81 69 79
People per house 5.2 5.1 5.0 4.7 5.1 3.8 4.4 4.8 4.3 3.8 4.6

In the period of 110 years, the number of households more than halved (55%) while the population dropped by 60%. The largest drop (46%) was in the 50 years from 1841 to 1891, reflecting the effects of the Great Famine. After a brief rally between 1891 and 1911, the decline continued for the next 40 years.

Names of House and Land Holders (3)

The following table sets of the names of those who owned or rented houses and land on the townland at the time the valuation records or population censuses were compiled.


1828 1864 1901 1911 1935 1957 1974

Households &c Households Households Households Households Households Households
Anthony McCave Terence Harvey Owen Devlin Owen Devlin Patrick Connor Patrick Boylan Gerald Devlin
Arthur McCave Ann Keeran Patrick Grant Patrick Grant Owen Devlin Peter Devlin Peter Hearty
Bryan McCave John Flood Peter Grant Rose Hanratty Patrick Donnelly Peter Hearty Patrick Loye
Catherine McCave John Grant Rose Hanratty Bernard Keenan Thomas Hanratty Owen Loye Owen Loye
Cornelius McCave Thomas Hamilton Patrick Hughes Thomas Loye Owen Loy Thomas Loye Thomas Loye
Felix McCave Catherine Kinlan Mary Loughran Ann Martin Patrick Loy Thomas Martin Thomas Martin
Felix McCave Jun. Owen Loy Thomas Loye Thomas Martin Thomas Loy T. Morgan Bridget McCoy
Hugh McCave Neill Mageeny Anne Martin Thomas Martin Susan Mageeny M. McCoy M. McCoy
John McCave William Makes Bernard McCoy Ann Murtagh Thomas Martin Mary McCoy Michael McCoy
John McCave Bryan McCoy Catherine McCoy Bernard McCoy Ann McCoy Michael McCoy Patrick McCoy
Laurance McCave Edward McCoy Mary McCoy Bernard McCoy Bernard McCoy Owen McEneaney Owen McEneaney
Matthew McCave John McCoy Michael McCoy Catherine McCoy James McCoy Mary McKeown Patrick O'Brien
Michael McCave laurence McCoy Owen McCoy M. McCoy Mary A. McCoy Patrick O'Brien Patrick O'Connor
Owen McCave Mary McCoy jun. Pat McCoy Patrick McCoy Patrick McCoy Sen Patrick O'Connor Terence O'Neill
Owen McCave Mary McCoy sen. Patrick McCoy Patrick McCoy John McKeon Edward Richardson Edward Richardson
Owen McCave Michael McCoy Patrick McCoy Patrick McCoy Michael O'Brien Catherine Sloan
Philip McCave Jun. Michael McCoy Patrick McCoy Philip McCoy James Richardson
Stephen McCave Michael McCoy jun. Owen McGeeney Owen McGeeney Michael Rock Land Land
Widow O'Brien Michael McCoy sen. Anne Murtagh Patrick O'Brien Catherine Sloan John Feenan John Feenan
Bryan Rocks Owen McCoy Patrick O'Brien Katie Richardson   Bernard Hamill Bernard Hamill
  Patrick McCoy Joseph O'Reilly Elizabeth Rocks Land Mary Keegan Margaret Kelly
  Patrick McCoy James Richardson Patrick Rocks Patrick Carraher Margaret Kelly Owen McAnaney
  Patrick McCoy Margaret Rocks Mary Smith Margaret Kelly Susan Mageeney Michael McCoy
  Michael Murphy Patrick Rocks   Mary Martin Owen McAnaney Michael McEnteggart (Michael)
  Paul Murtagh Mary Smith   Reps. Mary McCoy Michael McEnteggart (Michael) Mary McKeown
  Michael O'Brien Margaret Wade   Michael McEntaggart Ann McCoy Eugene McShane
  James Richardson     Mrs J. O'Hagan Patrick McCoy Sen Rev. Patrick Morgan
  Francis Rock     Edward Richardson (Hall) J.O'Hagan J.O'Hagan
Mary Rock     Peter Smith Charles O'Neill
  Ann Waters       Catherine Sloan
         
  Land      
  Edward Keenan      
  Patrick Lennon      
  James McEntagart      

Note:
1. Hugh Macauley, "Creggan", Journal of Creggan Local History Society, No.6 1992 p.38
2. G. Jarvis (up to 1835) as compiled by A.J. Hughes in Seanchas Ard Mhacha Vol 15 No 1 1992 pp 97 - 112.
3. See Appendix 2

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Last Updated on 9 February 2006
Email: pdevlinz@btinternet.com

© Patrick Devlin 2006