CLARNAGH

Location Clarnagh measures 357 statute acres 2 roods and 8 perches. It lies about three miles south east of Crossmaglen. It is bounded on the north by Drummuck and Liscalgat, on the east by Coolderry, on the south by Sheelagh and Courtbane (both in Co Louth) and on the west by Drummuckavall. name of Townland The name of the townland means sither "The bare field" or "The level place of the ford" depending on the authority consulted. There is no other townland in Ireland with this name. Sources of Information Information about the townland was extracted from the following sources - 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 £125-16-0 £160-0-10 £168-16-0 £217-16-0 £223-8-0 £244-3-0 £255-13-0 In the Tithe Applotment Books of 1828 the area is recorded as 202 Irish acres 3 roods and 20 perches. The Half Yearly Rectorial Tithe was £6-5-10. 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 that, with the exception of six houses, the owner of the townland was Rev. Patrick McKeown. The following table sets out the sizes of the land holdings in 1864 and 1935.   Holdings - number by acreage   Less than 10 10 to 19 20 and over Total 1864 22 9 2 33 1935 13 10 3 26 The land holdings in 1957 were not counted but may be later. Census of Ireland 1901 The Census enumerated 133 persons in 33 households, a ratio of 4 people per household. The total number of rooms occupied by the households was 72; a ratio of 2.2 rooms per household and 1.8 persons per room. Five of the households had 4 or more rooms, one had 3 rooms, 22 had two rooms and five had a single room. Native Irish Speakers Of the 33 households enumerated in the Census, 12 contained at least one native Irish speaker - 18 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. Thomas Hearty, farmer, 50 and his wife, Bridget, 56 Thomas Lenaghan, farmer, 68 and his wife Mary, 61 Bridget Donnelly, housekeeper, widow, 71 Owen Hughes, farmer, 43 and his wife Mary 47 Bridget Hearty, wife of Thomas, 60 James Hughes, farmer, 58 Catherine Lafferty, farmer, 50 Mary Laverty, farmer, widow, 67 and her son Patrick, farmer, 47 Patrick Gregory, farmer, 65 Peter Donnelly, farmer, 60 Rose Casey, cousin of James Casey, 55 Patrick Byrne, RIC pensioner and farmer, 54 his wife Bridget, housekeeper, 54 and sister Mary, housekeeper, 62 * The average age of the Irish speakers was 56; oldest 71, youngest 39 * Of the group, six could read and write, three could read and nine 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 47 47 42 44 42 39 33 34 30 27 25 People 354 232 186 205 175 149 133 116 105 87 89 People per house 7.5 4.9 4.4 4.7 4.2 3.8 4.0 3.4 3.5 3.2 3.6 In the period of 110 years, the number of households dropped by 47% and the population by 75%. Between 1841 and 1951 (the Famine years) the population reduced by a catastrophic 34% and was followed by a long decline right into the middle of the twentieth century. 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.