TULLYDONNELL O'CALLAGHAN

Location Tullydonnell O'Callaghan (586 statute acres 2 roods and 26 perches) lies about five miles due east of Crossmaglen straddling the A29 from Newtownhamilton to Dundalk about a mile and a half south of Ford's Cross. It is bounded on the north by Legmoylin, on the east by Carrive, on the south by Tullydonnell (Gage) and on the west by Glassdrumman. Name of Townland The name Tullydonnell means either "Donald's hill" or "Daniel's hill or O'Donnell's hill" depending on the authority consulted. There are five townlands called 'Tullydonnell' in Ireland. They are in Counties Armagh (2), Louth (1) and Donegall (Tullydonnell Upper and Tullydonnell Lower). There are two Tullydonnell townlands in Co. Armagh - Tullydonnell Gage and Tullydonnell O'Callaghan. John Donaldson, in his 'Account of the Barony of Upper Fews" (1838), says - "There are three townlands of the name of Tullydonnell which take their name from their former proprietors - to wit, Tullydonnell Nixon, Tullydonnell Gage and Tullydonnell Tichburn or Ballinaclosh." (Note 16 p.103) The Creggan 1766 Census is of a single townland. If we assume that subsequently the townland was split between the different owners, then Tullydonnell (Nixon) and Tullydonnell (O'Callaghan) are the same. Tullydonnell Gage remains as before and Tullydonnell Tichburn is Ballynaclosha. The 1664 and 1766 details have been incorporated in both the Tullydonnell (Gage) and Tullydonnell (O'Callaghan) pages. Sources of Information Information about the townland was extracted from the following sources - Hearth Money Roll of the Fews 1664 Census of Creggan 1766 Tithe Applotment Books - Creggan Parish - 1828 Townland Valuation 1837 Griffiths Valuation 1854 Census of Ireland 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911, 1926, 1937, 1951 First NI Revaluation 1935 Second Revaluation 1956/7 Valuation Annual Rateable Valuation of Townland Year 1828 1837 1851 1854 1935 1957 1970 Valuation £249-0-0 £276-15-6 £214-18-0 £245-10-0 £298-0-0 £515-15-0 £556-0-0 In the Tithe Applotment Books the area of the townland (then known as Tullydonnell Nixon) was recorded as 359 Irish acres 3 roods and 3 perches. The Half Yearly Rectorial Tithe was £12-9-0. The 1837 Townland Valuation recorded only houses worth £5 or more a year. There were no such houses in the townland. The Third Revaluation (1975) did not identify property by townlands. Instead, it used the new Post Office system of road names and postcodes. 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. The number of people recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books may be overstated as the name duplication may be due in some cases to the same individual holding more than one no-contiguous piece of land. Griffiths Valuation records that the whole of the townland was owned by Mary Anne O'Callaghan. The following table shows the composition of the land holdings at the time of the 1854 and 1935 Valuations Holdings - number by acreage Less than 10 10 to 19 20 and over Total 1854 55 19 3 77 1935 28 14 7 49 Land holdings in 1957 were not counted. Census of Ireland 1901 In Census the 48 households enumerated contained 183 people occupying 109 rooms - an average of 3.8 persons per household and 1.7 persons per room. Forty of the households occupied houses with two rooms, two with three rooms, two with four rooms and one with five rooms. There were three one-room cabins. Native Irish Speakers Of the 48 households enumerated in 1901, 22 contained at least one native Irish speaker - a total of 37 in all. Since theirs was the last generation to have been born into a predominently Irish speaking environment, their names are recorded here. All were born in Co. Armagh, with the exception of Ellen Garvey born in Co. Galway. Owen Fegan, farmer, 92 John Rafferty, farmer, 48 Patrick Fegan, farmer, 61 and his sister Catherine, 62 Michale Fegan, farmer, 50 Patrick Fegan, farmer and stonemason, 70 Terence Fegan, farmer, 66 and his wife, Mary, 45 his brother Michael, 82 and his sons Francis, farmer's son, 24 and Michael, carpenter, 22 Michael Hollywood, farmer, 56 and his wife Mary, 39 Mary Branigan, farmer, 66 Bernard McCabe, farmer, 56 and his wife Ann, 44 and their son John, 22 Mary Heaney, farmer, widow, 60 Patrick Creegan, farmer, 73 and his wife Catherine, 63 Mary Hughes, farmer, 60 Mary Garvey, farmer, widow, 52 and her sisters-in-law Ellen Garvey, 42 and Bridget Small, 60 Elizabeth McGinn, farmer, widow, 86 Catherine Campbell, farmer, 70 and her sister Bridget, 55 Michael Campbell, farmer, 66 and his wife Rosey, 58 and Alice Fegan, lodger, (supplemented by the Union at large), 95 Mary McKeown, farmer, 65 Terence Devlin, farmer and carpenter, 65 Julia Caherty, farmer, 52 Bridget Kelly, farmer, 76 Edward Murphy, farmer, 70 Michael Murphy, farmer, 75 and his wife Alice, 65 * The average age of the Irish speakers was 60; oldest 95, youngest 22 * Of the group, 17 could read and write, one could read only and 19 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 78 79 69 69 68 58 48 45 39 45 35 People 402 325 299 271 236 224 191 178 145 141 142 People per house 5.2 4.1 4.3 3.9 3.5 3.9 4.0 4.0 3.7 3.1 4.1 In the period of 110 years, the number of households more than halved (55%) and the population dropped by 65%. The largest drop (53%) was in the 60 years to 1901reflecting the continuing effects of the Great Famine and lack of rural employment opportunities. In the 50 years to 1951 the decline was more modest. 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. Although the data is not strictly comparable since the information was gathered for different purposes and used varying criteria, the details provide a comparison of the names of house and land holders who were listed in the Townland at the different periods. While we can not discern the direct lines of descent it is clear that many are from the same families.