Ummericam Ball

The townland of Ummericam is currently divided into three parts, named after the owners of the land in the nineteenth century. The 1766 Census of Creggan records it as a single entity. The Tithe Applotment Books of 1838 divides it between Ummericam (Ball) and Ummericam (Johnston). In the Tithe Books the area is shown as 195 acres 3 roods and 13 perches (Plantation Irish measure). In The Townland Valuation of 1837 and subsequently, the Ball townland is divided into (North) and (South). Ummericam Ball (North) contains 414 statute acres 2 roods and 33 perches and Ummericam (South) is 44 acres, 2 roods and 33 perches. Although the townlands are separated by Ummeracam Johnston, North and South have beem combined here. The North townland lies about two miles east of Cullyhanna. It is bounded on the north by Ummerinvore, on the east by the parish of Mullaghbawn, on the south by Ummericam Johnston and on the east by Dorsey and Roxborough. The South townland is north of Silverbridge. It is bounded on the north by Ummeracam Johnston, on the east by Carrive (in Mullaghbawn Parish), on the south by Carnally and on the west by Dorsey.

Between 1828 and 1837 the townland seems to have gained about 71 statute acres. The difference is probably due to the way that the 1828 valuation was carried out using local surveyors and assessors and relying on local knowledge about townland boundaries. The boundaries were standardised for the 1837 Townland Valuation.

Name of townland

Iomaire Cam, "The crooked ridge" ⁽¹⁾.

There is no other townland of that name in Ireland.

Ordnanace Survey Name Books: Creggan Parish ⁽²⁾

UMMERACAM (BALL) NORTH (OSNB i 11): There is a lake on the eastern side of this td., through which the Common Boundary of Creggan and Forkhill passes. There is a detached portion of this td. situated over the south of Ummeracam Johnston which is called Ummercam Ball South.
It contains 414..0..34 of which 101..1..36 is uncultivated and Bog, & 2..3..32.

UMMERACAM (BALL) SOUTH (OSNB i 2O): This is a detatched portion of the td. stated in p. 11. Principally under tillage. There is 2 or 3 dwellings here more comfortable than in the adjoining townlands. The road from Dundalk to N.T.Hamilton passes thro' it.
It contains 44..2..19.

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	£168.12	£172.50	£186.00	£231.50	£231.00	£229.75	£226.75	£225.75	£224.70	£240.65	£239.40	£259.65	£270.40

The 1837 Townland Valuation recorded only houses worth £5 or more a year. There was only one such house in the townland -

• William Page Esq (In Ball - South)

Griffiths Valuation records the townland being owned by Walter McGeough Bond.

Census of Ireland 1901

The 1901 Census enumerated 88 people in 19 households, an average of 4.6 people per household. Leaving aside one household of three people who occupied 17 rooms (Robert J. McGeough), the other 18 households had a total of 27 rooms, an average of 1.6 rooms each. Of the 18 households, 9 lived in a single room and the others each had two rooms. One household, headed by Mary Hart, had ten people in a single room.

Native Irish Speakers

Of the 19 households enumerated in the Census, six contained at one native Irish speaker. Since theirs was the last generation to have been born into a substantially Irish speaking environment, their names, occupations and ages are recorded here. All were born in Co. Armagh.

• Mary Harte, widow, 70
• Henry Loye, farmer, 52
• Bridget Loye, wife of Francis, 60
• Margaret Reid, farmer, 60
• James Callaghan, farmer, 82
• Bridget Hughes, domestic servant to Robert John McGeough, 18

* Of the group, two could read and write, one could read and three could neither read nor 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	24	31	31	28	28	24	20	17	16	16	13
People	160	153	147	133	119	104	86	65	67	53	40
People per house	6.7	4.9	4.7	4.8	4.3	4.3	4.3	3.8	4.2	3.3	3.1

In the period of 110 years, the number of households dropped by 46% and the population by 75%. Apart from a short, unsustained, recovery in the 1920s, the population decline was steady throughout the whole period.

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.

The names of house and land holders in the "South" townland are distinguished by "(S)".