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 are not possible when working directly from
the manuscript.
Calculating Land Ownership Accurately
Many landowners appear multiple times throughout the survey,
often holding land in several townlands. Without transcription, it is very
difficult to work out:
How much land an individual actually owned in total
Whether their land was concentrated in one area or scattered
How their holdings compared with others in the barony
Using an Excel spreadsheet, land can be filtered by owner
name and total acreage calculated instantly. This reveals the true scale of
ownership that is otherwise hidden within the text.
Revealing Patterns Across the Barony
Once the survey data is organised, wider patterns become
visible, such as:
Which families held the largest estates
How land was distributed among different social groups
The balance between arable land, pasture, and other land
types
These patterns help explain how wealth and influence were
structured in Owney and Owneybeg in the mid-seventeenth century.
Supporting Local History and Genealogy
A searchable spreadsheet is also invaluable for:
Local historians researching specific townlands
Genealogists tracing family landholdings
Identifying families who disappear from the record after the
1650s
By making the data easier to access, the Civil Survey
becomes useful not only to historians, but also to the wider public.
Preserving the Record for the Future
Digitally transcribing the Civil Survey helps preserve its
information for future generations. A well-checked spreadsheet:
Reduces the need to handle fragile original documents
Allows errors to be corrected and notes to be added
Makes the data easy to share and build upon
In this way, the survey is protected while also becoming
more useful.
Conclusion
Transcribing the Civil Survey of Owney and Owneybeg into an
Excel spreadsheet is not just about copying text. It allows land ownership to
be measured accurately, patterns to be identified, and history to be explored
in new ways. By turning a seventeenth-century manuscript into structured data,
we gain a clearer picture of land, power, and society on the eve of dramatic
change in Irish history.
Books of Survey and Distribution: Killmillane & Killniragh Parishes - Virtual Treasury
Books of Survey and Distribution: County Limrick: Outhnebegg Barony [Owneybeg] - Virtual Treasury
More Civil Survey Notes -
Civil Survey Notes - Derryleigh
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 Upperchurch at the foot of Knockalough mountain and being intended for the priesthood was educated on the Continent from where he returned at the beginning of the war of 1689".
A word of caution however is, how did Cahalan link this Daniel Ryan to Ned of the Hill other than he had a son named Edmond?
I had always assumed that Knockmoell was close to Ashanboy. However it may in fact be located near Killoscully.
This appears to be Knockmoell now Knockmeale - An Cnoc Maol/Knockmeale | logainm.ie
In the Civil Survey
we can see the landowners in Knockmoyle including Edmond Ryan of Ballyourigane.
Previously I wrote about this Edmond Ryan here -
https://thetipperaryantiquarian.blogspot.com/2024/11/civil-survey-notes-ballyhourigan.html
He may have survived being transplanted to Connacht to be included in the Hearth Money Rolls of the 1660s.
According to Lenihan, it was at Ballyhourigan that Sarsfield's men camped in 1691 and "it is said was visited by one of the old O'Ryans of that country who offered him hospitality". (pg232 "Limerick and its Antiquities".
Could it have also been here that they picked up their scout Ned of the Hill who took over the scouting from Galloping O'Hogan? Knockmeale to Ballyhourigan are less than 2kms apart.
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!
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 -
