The Tipperary Antiquarian

I started off this article with the idea to review the various Books of Survey and Distribution to see if there were any "stray" Ryan landowners out there.  From the Book of Survey and Distribution for Kilkenny - dated to circa 1680 These records show who owned the land in a particular area circa the mid 1600s and who was to receive the same lands after they had been confiscated by Cromwell.  I had a look at the Carlow version of this document but there were no Ryans included in it which was unusual considering this was supposed to be the original home of the Ryans, however it appears that the Gaelic Kavanaghs and Anglo-Normans such as the Bagnals had taken much of their land prior to the 1600s.  I then went on to review the Kilkenny Books here - not expecting to find much in those either.  Books of Survey and Distribution: County Kilkenny: Gowran Barony - Virtual Treasury I had reviewed all the books up to the last one - Gowran Barony.  There I found a large nu...

  By Derek Ryan I took this photo without knowing anything about who General Sir Richard Bourke was. Amazingly now biographies of historical figures such as this guy are now very easy to find. Although from two Tipperary / Limerick families in the Bourkes and his mother was a Ryan, Richard was brought up a Protestant. His father was John Bourke of Drumsally near Murroe and his mother Anne Ryan a daughter of Edmund Ryan of Boscable? Tipperary.  He joined the British Army in 1798 and served with distinction in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. A severe facial wound early in his career left him physically marked, but it did not hinder his advancement. After the wars, he returned to his Limerick estate, where he served as a magistrate and landowner, gaining firsthand experience of rural governance and social inequality in Ireland. His administrative abilities led to colonial appointments, first at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and then, most importantly, as Gov...

  By Derek Ryan I'm sure many of ye have passed this monument near the Castleconnell exit off of the M7 at Limerick (Junction 27). I have passed it many times and finally got a chance to spot and have a look at it. It has been moved to make way for the nearby motorway and re-erected here.  Some might say that the monument could have removed altogether as the Fitzgibbons record as landlords were mixed to say the least.  They had the title of Earls of Clare, the 1st Earl John Fitzgibbon was anti-Catholic and pro the Act of Union.  https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-FitzGibbon-1st-earl-of-Clare It was the great grandson of the 1st Earl that is commemorated here.  From the roadside information board "Lady Louisa Fitzgibbon and her first husband, Gerald Dillon, had this arch erected in 1875 in memory of their eldest son, Charles Richard George (1849-70), who died of blood poisoning aged 20. It was positioned over a road side pump originally installed by Louisa...

Ned of the Hill's Cave near Cappawhite, Co. Tipperary. By Derek Ryan Bawn Who was Ned of the Hill? Ned or Eamonn O'Riain an Chnoic was an Irish Rapparee or Highwayman from near Upperchurch in Co. Tipperary. In folklore he developed a reputation as a kind of Irish Robin Hood, taking from the rich to give to the poor. It is said that he went to France to train to be a priest but on a trip home to Ireland he got into some trouble and became an outlaw. He fought during the Williamite War when many Rapparee's fought on the side of King James's forces. Local folklore records that he led Patrick Sarsfield and his soldiers through the secret passes of the Slieve Felims on their way to blow up the Williamite Siege train at Ballyneety in Co. Limerick in 1690. https://thetipperaryantiquarian.blogspot.com/.../sarsfiel... In the mountain area between Cappawhite and Hollyford is the reputed gravesite of Ned of the Hill. https://www.facebook.com/Thetipperaryantiquarian...

  Created by the page owner - Derek Ryan As far as I can recall these are townland / areas in Owney that have an entry in the Civil Survey of 1654-56 and the Hearth Money Rolls of 1665-66-67 and also feature a person that was listed for Transplantation to Connacht.  Why is this important? This allows you to trace particular names between the various records. This has never been done before to my knowledge and will be of great use to researchers.  Ballyhourigan Bauraglanna / Glenculloo Tullow / Newport Mountphilips / Cloncummer Cragg Rossaguile Oakhampton Killoscully / Aughavehir Garraunbeg Doonane Clonygaheen Shower Clonbunny Ballymackeogh & Rossary Tonetiry / Ballkinlalee

Not in copyright - dates to the 1680s Why Transcribing the Civil Survey of Owney & Owneybeg into a Spreadsheet Matters The Civil Survey of the 1650s is one of the most valuable historical sources for understanding land ownership in Ireland before the Cromwellian confiscations. For the baronies of Owney and Owneybeg, it records who owned land, where that land was located, and how much was held. However, in its original manuscript form, the survey is difficult to analyse. Transcribing it into an Excel spreadsheet transforms the document from a static historical text into a powerful research tool. Turning Historical Records into Usable Data The Civil Survey was written as a series of descriptive entries. Each entry usually includes: The landowner’s name The townland The type of land The acreage When this information is transferred into a spreadsheet, each detail can be placed into its own column. This allows the data to be sorted, filtered, and analysed in ways that ...

  From 1840s Ordnance Survey map of Tipperary (not in copyright) The famed rapparee is more often associated with Atshanboy and the Upperchurch area. However I recently came across a few interesting references linking him to the townland of Knockmeale near Killoscully.  In the Four Tipperary Septs pg 80 it says "An inquisition taken at Clonmel on Sept. 10th. 1633 found that Daniel Ryan late of Knockmoell in Co. Tipperary was seised in fee of the 6th part of one carucate of land at Knockmoell and died on May the 10th. 1630. That Edmond Ryan was his son and heir, of full age and married. The lands were held in capite and by knight's service.  Probably from Edmond descended Eamon an Chnoic or Edmond of the Hill a noted Rapparee whose name and exploits are still preserved among the inhabitants of the district where he held at bay for several years in his mountain fastness the forces endeavouring to capture or hill him.  He was born at Athcanboy in the parish of Upperchur...

Back in 2022 I received a newspaper cutting from a friend of mine, Joe Ryan Cooper about a bit of lost rock art in the Arra area. He said along the lines of, you probably already know about this one but just sending it on anyway! I didn't and I hadn't heard of it!  From Tipperary Vindicator / Limerick Reporter 1877 (not in copyright) The newspaper was the Nenagh Guardian and it referred to an article by Maurice Lenihan in the Tipperary Vindicator / Limerick Reporter.  I wrote a detailed article about it in the Annals of Arra Vol. 5 under the title "Alleged Megalith in Coumbeg".  I have since knocked on doors and walked a lot of the townland looking for this possible rock art, to no avail.  Recently AI has been able to generate images from sketches and I thought it might be interesting to see what the sketch of it would look like in "real" life.  Here is it -  Created using Google Gemini Hopefully some day this stone will turn up again sometime. As of now, m...

I posted on my facebook page recently about spotting the stonecarver name L. Guerin in Burgessbeg graveyard.  Created by Derek Ryan  Created by Derek Ryan https://www.facebook.com/Thetipperaryantiquarian/posts/pfbid0so3ebTSP8GAJV1cCJFr9J7Nfub3grwvQ6CvsG8XiiUsWGNovTtTffi53MK4xasPel Going back over some photos I noticed that the same stonecarver had signed some gravestones at Youghalarra graveyard as well.  Thanks to the graveyard committee who carried out some great work their over the Summer. By Derek Ryan  These photos suggest his name was Lau probably short for Laurence Guerin.  By Derek Ryan By Derek Ryan  The stone in Burgessbeg dates to 1799 and the one in Youghalarra I can't make out. This gravestone to Hugh Meagher is another that isn't included in the Ormond Historical Societies survey of the graveyard. 

Recently I wrote about a bit of research on Bansha Castle and the O'Ryans of Bansha.  "The O'Ryans of Bansha Castle. Bansha castle is mentioned as part of the Civil Survey under the townland of Beallanchela in the Parish of Tample Ineyry in the Barony of Clanwilliam. See Civil Survey Tipperary Vol II page 20 Beallanchela is made of 3000 acres. 1500 of that is Mountain and Woodland. There are three owners; Edward Butler of Ballybirrane Esqr Piers Butler of Banshigh Esqr The Lord of Castle Connell Theobald Bourke of Rossidrohid and Donnogh Macraigh Gent of Lisvonny Irish Papists Piers Butler owns 1666 acres Edward Butler 666acres Theobald Bourke 416 acres Donnogh Macragih 83 acres The castle is mentioned in description of the lands “Uppon thsse lands stands a castle in Banshigh wanting repayre”. This castle was to the east of the present Bansha Castle, pretty much where the Marian road side shrine is according to the OS maps. So at this time the lands wer...

  By WH Patterson - RSAI (1912, 46) In the early 1900s an antiquarian named W.H. Patterson (from Belfast) purchased an ancient seal in Kingston-on-Thames in London.  It was made of silver and following some investigation it was thought to be of Irish origin. On it was the inscription "+ S HOSPITALIS IER NENAGH".   Patterson wrote a note about the seal in the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquarians Ireland (1912, 46) detailing that the inscription  " may be translated: "The seal of the Jerusalem Hospital at Nenagh," or " The seal of the Hospital of Jerusalem at Nenagh." The device in the central part shows two female figures ; the taller, I presume, is intended to represent the Virgin Mary, and the smaller one an angel holding a scroll, on which is inscribed "Ave Mari”. In this note he appeals for any further information on its origins.  In 1936 Dermot Gleeson picks up the case, again appealing in the Royal Society of Antiquarians Journal (19...

From Danny Graces lecture on Dermot F. Gleeson for the Gleeson Clan Gathering (2016) GCG2016 - Dermot F. Gleeson "Father of Local History" (Danny Grace) - YouTube Author Search Results :: Library Catalog ‘Note: A mediaeval game’,   Gleeson, Dermot F.  Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 1940. Vol. 45, No. 162, page(s) 135 Title: Note: Curious name Gleeson, Dermot F. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 1940. Vol. 45, No. 162, page(s) 135-136 ‘Sources for local history in the period,1200-1700’,  Gleeson, Dermot F.  Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society,  Vol. 46, No. 164 (1941),   page(s) 123-129 The Castle and Manor of Dromineer Dermot F. Gleeson ,  H. G. Leask  The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Seventh Series, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Dec. 31, 1936), pp. 247-269 (23 pages) Ancient Friary Bell, Nenagh Dermot F. Gleeson The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries o...

By Derek Ryan  "There is a bridge in Foilmahonmore called Ái Solas, or the "Ford of the Light". In olden times there was no bridge there & there used be a watch fire there to help travellers to cross the stream in safety at night time. It is a historic place, as it was that way Patrick Sarsfield came, when on his way to Ballyneety. Sarsfield & his men, led by the famous Galloping O'Hogan, left Limerick & from that on to the valley of Glean Cúlú & Foildubh and Kilcommon. When they reached At Solius, they turned the shoes on there horses so as to deceive their enemies. They they continued on their journey thro' Foilmahonmore, Croughmarka, Glengar and on by Carnahalla. On their way there was a stream on the side of the road where some of the officers stood to give drinks to their horses. One of the men said to the other, "I'll sell the "pass" or something to that effect. That minute the other officer, fearing he would spy on the ot...

From -  The Civil Survey A.D. 1654–56 vol. ii, county of Tipperary western and northern baronies - Irish Manuscripts  - available to download here Link to the landownership and size of land holdings as per the Civil Survey of 1654 for the half-barony of Arra in spreadsheet form.  Here For more on this - see my article available in the Annals of Arra Vol 7.  I will eventually publish the full analysis of the Civil Survey in Arra on my blog here but first it is available in the Annals of Arra. 

Not in Copyright - dates to the 1680s I don't think this has ever been transcribed before into text (Currently a work in progress).  The Book of Survey and Distribution for Arra https://virtualtreasury.ie/item/NAI-QRO-1-1-3-19-10-1 Why Transcribing the Civil Survey of the half-barony of Arra into a Spreadsheet Matters The Civil Survey of the 1650s is one of the most valuable historical sources for understanding land ownership in Ireland before the Cromwellian confiscations. For the half-baronies of Arra, it records who owned land, where that land was located, and how much was held. However, in its original manuscript form, the survey is difficult to analyse. Transcribing it into an Excel spreadsheet transforms the document from a static historical text into a powerful research tool. Turning Historical Records into Usable Data The Civil Survey was written as a series of descriptive entries. Each entry usually includes: The landowner’s name The townland The type of land The acreage W...

  From -  The Civil Survey A.D. 1654–56 vol. ii, county of Tipperary western and northern baronies - Irish Manuscripts  - available to download here In the Civil Survey Donnogh O Bryen of Beallanaha als mcI Bryen Arra Esqr Is recorded. It is interesting he is given his full title of mcI Bryen or Mc I Brien. He was designated the Chief of the Mac I Briens. The description in the Civil Survey also mentions his castle “Upon ye id lands of Beallanaha stands the ruines of a Castle and Barbicon” "Researches in the south of Ireland, illustrative of the scenery, architectural remains, and the manners and superstitions of the peasantry. With an appendix, containing a private narrative of the rebellion of 1798" by Thomas Crofton Croker, 1798-1854. The book was published in 1824. A map of the Ballina / Killaloe area dates to between 1779 - 1840. https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000302564 Ballina Castle on the Tipperary side of Ballina / Killaloe was still standing in 1838...

  Created by Derek Ryan  In the Hearth Money Rolls 1665 The following names were recorded in Ballina townland (Ballinaghan / Ballinahoe / Ballana). Edmond Hogane John O'Killane Hugh O'Dwigin   There is also this in 1665 Samuell Barclay John Barbar Thomas McShane Maurice McAward Jon Casie Mahowne McTeige Donnogh O'Mullowny Sheeda Mcnamarragh   In the add-on 1666/67 return the following are recorded.   Samuell Berkeley John        Barber Thomas   McShane Morrish   McAward Andrew   Silley Barnaby Rawlins Connor   McCough Connor   McDonnogh John        Casie Sheedy   McNamarragh Don         O'Malloony   I wasn’t 100% sure on Ballinaghan being Ballina but it seems most likely and I will leave it here for the time being. I had originally thought that Ballinahoe was Ballinamoe in Youghalarra. Generally the first name in a townland seems to b...