CLONALIG

Location Clonalig is a townland of 613 statute acres 1 rood and 15 perches about three miles south west of Crossmaglen, a mile and a half from Culloville and straddling the (Concession) road from Castleblaney to Dundalk where it runs through Northern Ireland. It is bounded on the north by Cappagh and Mobane, on the east by Rassen In County Louth, on the south by County Monaghan and on the west by Drumboy, Annaghgad and Glasdrummonaghy. Name of townland The name of the townland means sither "The slothful tribe" or "The meadow of the flat stones" depending on the authority consulted. There is no other townland of that name in Ireland. Sources of Information Information about the townland was extracted from the following sources - Census of Creggan 1766 Tithe Applotment Books - Creggan Parish - 1828 Townland valuation 1837 Griffiths Valuation 1864 Census of Ireland 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911, 1926, 1937, 1951 First NI Revaluation 1935 Second Revaluation 1957 Valuation Annual Rateable Valuation of Townland Year 1828 1837 1851 1864 1935 1957 1970 Valuation £202-20-0 £247-2-8 £271-5-0 £333-28-0 £382-20-0 £236-20-0 £300-25-0 In the Tithe Applotment Books 1828 the total area is recorded as 307 acres 2 roods and 6 perches (Irish). The Half Yearly Rectorial Tithe was £10-2-6. The 1837 Townland Valuation recorded only houses worth £5 or more a year. There were two such houses in the townland - Catherine McMaster Thomas O'Callaghan The Third Revaluation (1975) did not identify property by townlands. Instead, it used the new Post Office system of road names and post codes. It can therefore not be used to continue this series of household, land and property censuses. To get as close as possible to the present, the position in the townland at the date of the last recorded revision of the Second Revaluation is presented. Griffiths Valuation records that, with the exception of ten houses, ownership of the townland was shared between Peter Murphy and Dominick Daly, neither of whom lived there. The Valuation also records a National School House and a forge (Thomas Waters). The 1935 valuation records a forge (Peter Watters) and two quarries (Francis Gregory and Rose McGeeney). There were two labourer's cottages, each with 2 roods of land (Michael Morgan and Peter Martin). The sizes of the land holdings in 1864 and 1935 are set out in the following table.   Holdings - number by acreage   Less than 10 10 to 19 20 and over Total 1864 52 13 5 70 1935 37 12 6 55 The land holdings in 1957 were not counted. Census of Ireland 1901 The Census enumerated 213 persons in 52 households; a ratio of 4.1 people per household. The households occupied a total of 120 rooms; a ratio of 2.3 rooms per household and 1.8 people per room. One family of 13 had two rooms and one of 12 had three rooms. Twelve of the households had 3 or more rooms, 37 had two rooms and three had a single room. One household of 13 people occupied two rooms. Native Irish Speakers Of the 52 households enumerated in the Census, 18 contained at least one native Irish speaker - 30 in all. Since theirs was the last generation to have been born into a predominently Irish speaking environment, their names, occupations and ages are recorded here. All were born in Co. Armagh with the exception of Mary Ward, born Co. Monaghab and Bridget Donaho, born Co. Louth. Mary Ward, farmer, widow, 75 Kate Rodgers, wife of James, 60 Michael McKenna, farmer, 83 and his wife Mary, 53 Edward Gregory, farmer, 60 and his wife Mary, 58 Mary Kelly, farmer, widow, 58 Francis Harvey, farmer, 70 and his sister Bridget, retired domestic servant, 73 Bridget Mageeney, farmer, widow, 70 Patrick Mageeney, farmer, 68 and his wife Ann, housekeeper, 60 Patrick McCabe, farmer, 68 and his wife, Alice, 70 Owen McGeeney, farmer, 76 Thomas Mackin, farmer, 55 and his wife Alice, 50 Micheal McGeeney, farmer, 72 his wife Catherine, 68 and son Patrick, farmer's son, 27 Michael Donaho, farmer, 58 and his wife Bridget, 58 James Hamill, farmer, 53 and his wife Bridget, 55 Peter Watters, farmer, 62 and his brother bernard, 60 Catherine Watters, farmer, 53 and her sister Margaret, lace maker, 50 Mary Harvey, farmer, widow, 60 Ann Downey, farmer, widow, 70 * The average age of the Irish speakers was 62; oldest 83, youngest 27 * Of the group, nine could read and write, six could read and 15 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 100 85 85 86 69 62 52 52 47 47 44 People 506 410 369 348 290 243 213 207 170 156 156 People per house 5.1 4.8 4.3 4.0 4.2 3.9 4.1 4.0 3.6 3.3 3.5 In the period of 110 years, the number of households reduced by 66% - two thirds - and the population dropped by 69%. Following an initial fall between of almost 100 people 1841 and 1851, clearly as a result of the Great Famine, the population steadily declined over the following 90 years reflecting the continuing lack of rural employment opportunities. Names of House and Land Holders All the Valuations since Griffiths identified those with houses in the townland and those who while living elsewhere leased or owned land there. The Census of Ireland enumerated only households in the townland. The following table uses this approach. The data are not strictly comparable since the information was gathered for different purposes and used different criteria. The table below allows the reader to compare the names and note some remarkable survivals of names. While we can not be sure that there are direct lines of descent in every case, it is more than likely that many are the same families.