last up-dated Sunday, 05-Feb-2006 14:39:02 MST
Al Beagan"s "Genealogy Notes"© 1996
of Moybolgue, Moybolouge , County Cavan
Sometimes called Kilmainhamwood
Parish map outline of Cavan townlands
March 2003
Family Names in Old Moybolgue Parish in Co. Cavan, Ireland
By Philip Donnelly, Ottawa, Canada
Editor’s Note: Philip Donnelly (1), a native of Moybolgue, and now living in Ottawa, Canada, has embarked on some interesting research on his native parish as detailed in this article. Should readers have other information to add to this research, Philip can be contacted through this office.
If your name is Clarke, and you live within two or three miles from the old cemetery of Moybolgue, you might be interested to know that there were 59 families in the parish with that surname during the 1850s. The next most frequently occurring names were Gargan (in Meath), and Donnelly and Reilly (in Cavan).
The old cemetery, about three miles south from the town of Bailieboro, on the border between Meath and Cavan, is of great historic interest. It is reputed to be the burial place of more of the ancient Irish kings than anywhere else in Ireland (2). I have a special interest in that place because my mother, Alice Tully of Greaghnadarragh, is buried there, with an unknown number of my Donnelly ancestors. Most are in unmarked graves. When you stand at the top of the worn stone steps at the entrance to the graveyard, and look to the north past the centuries-old church ruins, you will see, about two hundred yards away, the greatearthen mound called the motte (pronounced moat) of Moybolgue.
So many questions come to mind, but so few answers. Was this high ground the site of an Anglo-Norman fortification in the Middle Ages? Did the dogs rush down that hill on a warm summer evening 1500 years ago to herald the arrival of St. Patrick, tired and thirsty again after walking from his last short stop for a drink at the Holy Well at Killeeter (3). St. Patrick certainly got around!
Long Life
This place has lived a long life. I wish I knew more of its story. A history of the Roman Catholic part of the parish around the village of Kilmainhamwood has already been recorded (4).
But, unless I am mistaken, the heritage and legends of the civil parish known as Moybolgue, and the stories of the people who lived there, remain to be told.
My own interest is centred on Donnellys and their neighbours in Greaghnadarragh and the surrounding townlands of Coppanagh, Tierworker, Blackhills, Tullynaskeagh, Ballynamona, and Rakeevan. My best guess is that the ancestors of these Donnelly came to Greaghnadarragh around 1820 from the townland of Cloven Eden in the parish of Loughgall in County Armagh near the Tyrone border.
They were brought in as tenants by the Youngs of Bailieboro Castle who also originated from the same area in Armagh. The Youngs became the landlords of most of the townlands around Bailieboro circa 1820. The Youngs, and some Donnellys, were active in various capacities in the East India Company.
Lord Lisgar
John Young, also known as Lord Lisgar, served as Governor General of Canada from 1868 to 1872. Lord Lisgar is buried in the grounds of the Parish Church at the lower end of Main Street in the town of Bailieboro. Today, there are no Donnellys left in Greaghnadarragh, and their numbers in the vicinity of Moybolgue have declined drastically since the 1850s. In 1947, when my father, Jemmy Donnelly, sold the farm now owned by Phil Reilly, my own journey away from home began, and it eventually took me to a different life in Ottawa, Canada, where one of the downtown streets and a very fine high-school carry the name, Lisgar, in honour of John Young, Lord Lisgar, of Bailieboro. Lisgar is the name of a townland situated about 2 miles north of Bailieboro.
A history of Moybolgue should preserve some valuable memories of the ordinary people who, for thousands of years, cultivated the soil, harvested the turf, and tended the cattle, on the hills and in the valleys of this region.
Ring Forts
The traces of ringforts and crannogs which dot the landscape, but which may be recognizable only to trained archeologists, give some clues about the people who lived here in the Early Christian periods and into the Middle Ages (5).
But too much time, and too many generations, have slipped by in the intervening centuries, and even the most tenuous links to that distant past may have vanished for ever. The passing of just 150 years may have wiped out all living recollections of some of the families who were once the neighbours of the Clarkes, Gargans, Donnellys, and Reillys.
And who were those families? In conducting some of my own research, I have noted about 386 names of people who were tenants or owners of land in the civil parish of Moybolgue in 1854 (6). Of course, these 386 people did not all have descendants, but it would surely be interesting to know how the people of Moybolgue of the 1850s are represented around the world some five generations later. The United States, Australia, and England may have captured the lions share, but it is a sure bet that there are children on every continent who have no idea that their great-great-great-grandparent lived within sight of the motte of Moybolgue, and the mortal remains may rest in the shadow of the stone wall ruins still standing after all those years at the centre of the ancient graveyard.
For those who may be interested in people with roots in Moybolgue, here are more details about the parish, and the names of families in the 1850s. The boundaries of the Roman Catholic parish may not coincide with those of the Civil parish.
185 Cavan Families
In the County Cavan part of the parish, there were about 185 families, including some landlord names, in the townlands of Aghnaclue, Ballynamona, Blackhills Lower & Upper, Carnans Lower & Upper, Greaghnadarragh, Leitrim, Relaghbeg, Relaghmore, Srahan, and Tullynaskeagh.
The names, in descending frequency of occurrence, were Clarke, Donnelly, Reilly, Cooney, Tully, Farrelly, Coyle, Garigan, Brady, Haig, Daly, Gaffney, Smith, Bowen, Caffrey, Crossan, Donnellan, Farnan, Flanagan, Gellan, Gill, Heery, Matthews, McCabe, Olwill, Sheridan, Blacker, Bowen, Carolan, Chambers, Clinton, Connell, Cox, Cullen, Curran, Cusack, Dailly, Dunne, Fitzsimons, Flack, Fottrell, Fox, Gallagher, Gillan, Gilston, Gonne, Gumly, Halfpenny, Heeny, Lanesborough, Machonchy, Magawelly, Maguire, McCann, McDermott, Mitchell, Murray, O'Hare, Parr, Pidgeon, Rogers, Smyth, Sullivan, Tierney, Young.
That part of the parish situated in County Meath is composed of the townlands of Agheragh, Bawnbreakey, Boggan, Corcarra, Corgreagh or Killagriff, Cormeen, Doon, Drumbulrisk, Drumlayne, Kilboyne, Kilfannan, Letachmentgallon, Lisnaboy, Losset, Moyhill, Mullaghavally, Mullystaghan, Teevurcher (Tierworker), Tirachorka (Tiercork), and Tirawinnea.
A total of 201 families, including some landlord names, were represented in these townlands. The names, in descending frequency of occurrence, were Clarke, Gargan, McEntee, Smith, McCabe, Williamson, Curran, Reilly, Carolan, Farrell, Fitzsimons, Ormanstin, Cahill, Fleming, Rogers, Tully, Blake, Cassidy, Daly, Fay, Gordan, Miles, Pringle, Roundtree, Brady, Clinton, Connell, Connolly, Cox, Donnelly, Farnan, Gaffney, Hart, Lynch (Rev.), Mawhertor, McDermott, Mitchel, Murray, Westenra (Col.), Anderson, Barrett, Bellew, Bligh, Brien, Brown, Browne, Carry, Conniety (Rev.), Crawford, Fallon, Farley, Finegan, Finley, Garigan, Gaynor, Gleany, Halpin, Halton, Hand, Hynes, Keane, Kernan, Marry, Martin, Mathews, McMahon, McMohon, McWherter, Mooney (Rev.), Mullen, Pollock, Shaffry, Snow, Sullivan, Walsh, Waters, Winright.
If you are a descendant, or remember stories about any of these people, you may be able to write a chapter in the history of the parish. It is well worthwhile. I would welcome your thoughts on this.
(This article appeared in April 3, 2003 edition of The Anglo-Celt – a weekly newspaper published in the town of Cavan, Ireland)
1 Philip Donnelly was born in Greaghnadarragh in 1935. He invites communication about the history of places and people in that area, directed to email:pdon@travel-net.com
2 Bailieboro Historic Sketch by J. A. Coleman, The Bailieboro Studio. (1914)
3 Portrait of a Parish: Mullagh, Co. Cavan, Mullagh Historical Committee. (1988)
4 Kilmainham of the Woody Hollow, Danny Cusack, Kilmainhamwood Parish Council, Kilmainhamwood, Kells, Co. Meath. (1998)
5 The Irish Ringfort, Matthew Stout, Four Courts Press. (1997)
6 Griffith’s Valuation of Ireland, 1848-1864.
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