CARNALLY

Location Carnally is a large townland of 811 statute acres and 2 roods which stretches south along its long axis from its northern boundary with Dorsey to its southern boundary with Glassdrumman just short of the Bog Road. Forde's Cross (3 miles from Crossmaglen) is in its northern quarter. Its eastern boundary is with Legmoylin and its western with Lurgancullenboy. Name of townland The name of the townland means sither "The wild heap of stones" or "The cairn of the cattle" 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 - 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 1957 Valuation Annual Rateable Valuation of Townland Year 1828 1837 1851 1854 1935 1957 1972 Valuation £325-16-8 £372-2-9 £320-17-0 £347-3-0 £386-0-0 £447-0-0 £564-50 In the Tithe Applotment Books of 1828 the area is recorded as 452 Irish acres 1 rood and 35 perches. The Half Yearly Rectorial Tithe was £16-5-10. The 1837 Townland Valuation recorded only houses worth £5 or more a year. There was only one such house in the townland, that of Francis Forde Esq. 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 three houses and a 4 acre plot, all of the townland was owned by James Eastwood and James Jeffers. The following table shows the distribution of the landholdings, by acreage, in 1854 and 1935.   Holdings - number by acreage   Less than 10 10 to 19 20 and over Total 1854 28 20 4 52 1935 26 23 9 58 Census of Ireland 1901 The Census enumerated 205 persons in 53 households; a ratio of 3.9 people per household. Native Irish Speakers Of the 53 households, 35 contained at least one native Irish speaker - a total of 53 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 Lizzie Taffey and Elizabeth Quinn, both born in Co. Louth. John Martin, ag. labourer, 63 Owen Owens, ag. labourer, 70 Patrick Murphy, farmer, 76 and his wife Mary, 60 James Kelly, farmer, 66 Henry Mines, retired ag. labourer, 112 Peter McNally, farmer, 64 Bridget Murphy, farmer, 74 Henry McKeown, farmer, 62 Michael Rafferty, farmer, 75 and Mary Foster, domestic servant, 55 Bridget Galloghly, farmer, widow, 75 her son Francis, farmer, 55 and daughter Elizabeth, 35 Michael Reel, farmer, 75 Bernard Daly, itinerant mendicant, 80 and his wife Rose, 68 Catherine Mohan, farmer, widow, 60 Patrick Donnelly, farmer, 50 and his wife Anne, 48 Thomas Harte, farmer, 68 Patrick McShane, farmer, 75 and his brother Peter, farmer, 58 Lizzie Taffey, farmer, widow, 55 Stephen Reel, farmer, 71 and his brother Patrick, 81 Michael Reel, farmer, 72 and his sister-in-law Margaret Reel, 46 Peter Galloghly, farmer, 63 Mary Murphy, farmer, widow, 64 Mary Murphy, farmer, widow, 80 Margaret Campbell, farmer, widow, 80 her son John, farmer, 35 and daughter-in-law Mary Campbell, housekeeper, 25 Anne McKiever, (aunt of Patrick McCann) nurse/domestic servant, 60 Patrick Garland, farmer, 63 Patrick McCann, farmer, 60 and his wife Anne, 55 James Lavelle, farmer, 60 Fergus McAlister, farmer, 77 and his son John, farmer, 37 Patrick Branigan, farmer, 50 John Agnew, farmer, 65 his wife Bridget, 64 and his step son Peter Mallon, farmer, 45 John Quinn, farmer, 65 and his wife Elizabeth, 54 Edward Donnelly, ag. labourer, 73 Thomas McCoy, farmer, 60 Catherine McCoy, retired farmer, widow, 84 * The average age of the Irish speakers was 63; the oldest 112, the youngest 35. 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 80 78 63 65 65 57 53 41 38 30 30 People 478 355 280 267 229 223 205 158 146 123 129 People per house 6.0 4.6 4.4 4.1 3.5 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.8 4.1 4.3 In the period of 110 years, the number of households reduced by almost two thirds (63%) and the population dropped by 73% - nearly threequarters. Following an initial fall between 1841 and 1861, clearly as a result of the Great Famine, the population continued a steady decline for the next 90 years reflecting the continuing lack of rural employment opportunities. House and Land Holders All the Valuation records identify separately those with houses in the townland and those who leased or owned land these while living elsewhere. The Census enumerated only those with households in the townland. The Table below sets out this information accordingly. 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.