ANNAGHGAD

Location Annaghgad is a townland of 267 statute acres 3 roods and 28 perches (including 5 acres of water) in County Armagh close to the village of Cullaville. It is bounded on the north by Glassdrummanaghy, on the east by Clonalig and Drumboy and on the west by the Fane River which is the border with County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. Name of townland The name of the townland means either "The Robbers Ford" or "The Robbers Fair" depending on the authority consulted. It is the only townland of that name in Ireland. Sources of Information The 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 Northern Ireland General Revaluation 1935 Second Revaluation 1957 Valuation Annual Rateable Valuation of Townland Year 1828 1837 1851 1864 1935 1957 1969 Valuation £97-1-8 £121-14-8 £135-0-0 £154-0-0 £174-5-0 £183-10-0 £180-0-0 In the Tithe Applotment Books of 1828 the total acerage is given as 135 acres and 1 rood. The Half Yearly Tithe was £4-17-1. 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. Griffiths Valuation records the townland owner as Denis Kelly. The distribution of land holdings in 1864 and 1935 (excluding "Bog only" holdings") is set out in the following table.   Holdings - number by acreage   Less than 10 10 to 19 20 and over Total 1864 18 4 5 27 1935 13 5 4 22 The land holders in 1957 were not counted. Census of Ireland 1901 The 1901 Census of Ireland enumerated 101 persons in 26 households; a ratio of 3.9 people per household. The households ocupied a total of 57 rooms; a ratio of 2.2 rooms per household and 1.8 persons per room. Six of the households occupied 3 rooms, 19 occupied 2 rooms and one occupied a single room. Native Irish Speakers Of the 26 households enumerated in the Census eight contained one native Irish speaker - 12 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 Patrick Farrell, born Co. Monaghan Patrick Gartlan, farmer, 66 his wife Anne, 64 and son Owen, 28 John Keenan, farmer, 62 Bridget Keegan, general servant domestic, 55 Patrick Farrell, farmer, 65 and his sister, Catherine, general servant, 70 Margaret Casey, farmer, widow, 63 Mary Burns, farmer, widow, 65 Michael Keegan, farmer, 36 Patrick Keegan, farmer, 70 and his wife Alice, 66 * The average age of the group was 59; oldest 70, youngest 28 * Two of the group could read and write, one 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 32 28 32 30 32 28 26 21 20 20 17 People 162 137 137 125 144 114 101 76 71 60 53 People per house 5.1 4.9 4.3 4.2 4.5 4.1 3.9 3.6 3.6 3.0 3.1 In the period of 110 years, the number of households almost halved (47%) and the population dropped by two thirds (67%). After an initial fall in the 1840s due to the Great famine the numbers steadied up to 1891. However, the next 60 years saw a steady and continuing decline reflecting the lack of rural employment opportunities. Names of House and Land Holders All the valuations since 1864 distinguish between those with houses in the townland and those, living elsewhere, who leased or owned land there. In addition, the 1935 Revaluation identified bog as a separate category. Since the map references for the bog are the same in 1935 and 1957 I have extrapolated the information to the Second Revision. The Census of Ireland enumerated only households in the townland. The following table uses this approach. In the Title Applotment Books the same name may appear more than once for different parcels of land. 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.