Ballynahaglish Civil Parish and the Incidence of the Gahagan (Goaghan, Goghan, Gaughan, Geoghegan) Surname in Griffith's Valuation, County Mayo, Ireland
Ballynahaglish Civil Parish falls within Tirawley Barony and is part of Backs Roman Catholic Parish. Kilbelfad Civil Parish is also part of this Catholic Parish. There are two further divisions of this Catholic Parish that you may come across Backs (Rathduff) and Backs (Knockmore). The LDS microfilm covering this Catholic Parish is 1279205 and the date range covered is 1829-1880. When the Griffith's Valuation was conducted in 1856, there was only one Roman Catholic Chapel; it was located in the Townland of Knockmore. The Townland of Ballynahaglish was the location for the only Graveyard.
I couldn't find any patent applications for fairs or markets for Ballynahaglish Civil Parish. Ballynahaglish was only 2 1/2 miles from Ballina, one of County Mayo's major market towns of the 19th century. There were no designated "Fair Greens" or "Tolls and Customs of Fairs" in the Ballynahaglish Civil Parish Griffith's Valuation when it was conducted in 1856. As far as commercial activity goes, it was minimal and scattered throughout the Civil Parish. The Townland of Bellass had a Tuck Mill, the Townland of Corroy had the only Corn Mill, and there were no documented Kilns, Military Baracks or Pounds. There was one Orchard in the Townland of Ballyderg. Herd's Houses were present in the Townlands of Curragh, Derrygaury, Derrynamuck and Gortaskibbole. This would seem to indicate a fair amount of pasture/grazing land in this Civil Parish. The River Moy did appear to course through many different Townlands of this Civil Parish including Ballyhiernaun, Ballynahaglish, Carrowtreila, Coolcronaun, Corlummin, Curragh, Derrygaury, Drumrevagh, Rahans, Rathbaun, Rathnaconeen, Srah, Sraheen and Tonybaun. (Griffith, 1847-1864; 2003, Ballynahaglish). Samuel Lewis describes an "extensive tracts of bog" area in this Civil Parish. (Lewis, 1837; 1984, p. 156). I didn't see any documented "bog" parcels in the Griffith's Valuation, but there were several lakes, Derrymannin Lough, in the Townland of Derrymannin and Lough Alick in Derrynamuck.
As far as education goes, there were two National Schoolhouses, one in Ballynaraha and one in Lissaniska West. There was also a Schoolhouse in the Townland of Rathnaconeen. (Griffith, 1847-1864; 2003, Ballynahaglish). According to The Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel Lewis, this Civil Parish also had one hedge school. (Lewis, 1837; 1984, p. 156).
A vast array of landlords were represented in this Civil Parish with Oliver Jackson being the most prevalent, followed by Jane E. Pugh, Lord Clanmorris, Major John Frederick Knox, Honorable Edward Perry, Thomas Jones and Colonel Charles Knox among others. (Griffith, 1847-1864; 2003, Ballynahaglish).
Ballynahaglish Civil Parish like many other Parishes in County Mayo had a significant drop in population during and after the peak famine years. In 1841 there were 5,397 people living in Ballynahaglish Civil Parish, dropping to 3,397 in 1851. By the year 1911 there were only 2,678 people remaining in the area. ('Ohara, 1982, p. 7).
The Gaughan Surname variation was documented in 8 different Townlands when the Griffith's Valuation was conducted for Ballynahaglish Civil Parish in 1856. Ballynahaglish is a long narrow parish.
The largest clusters of Gaughans were in the southern portion of the parish in the Townlands of Gortnadrehy, Lissaniska West, Lissaniska East, Sraheen, Rathbaun and Coolcronaun. These Townlands all border each other. James Gaughan and Patrick Gaughan were documented in the Townland of Gortnadrehy (a very small town of 6, one of which was my other surname Corcoran), just east of Gortnadrehy in the Townland of Lissaniska West was Patrick Gaughan, Michael Gaughan, Patrick Gaughan Jun, John Gaughan, Thomas Gaughan, Pat Gaughan (Shoemaker) and Martin Gaughan. Keep in mind that Junior was often used to distinguish between father and son and occupations were used to distinguish between individuals with the same given name. Two Townlands were east of Lissaniska West and each had Gaughans: Patrick Gaughan, Thomas Gaughan, Anne Gaughan and Patrick Gaughan (Mason) in Lissaniska East, and just south of Lissaniska East was Mary Gaughan in the Townland of Sraheen. Rathbaun, which bordered Lissaniska East to the North, was the home of James and Martin Gaughan and bordering Rathbaun on the south was Coolcronaun, home of Anthony Gaughan.
Further south of this cluster of Gaughans was Martin and William Gaughan in the Townland of Bellass. In the northernmost part of the parish Michael, and Thomas Gaughan were documented in the Townland of Carrowntrelia.
There is one caveat to keep in mind when looking at these findings from the Griffith's Valuation: The Griffith's Valuation only includes the individuals (occupiers) who own, lease or rent a parcel. For instance it will list a householder but not the individuals who live with him. It was common in County Mayo for individuals to share parcels, particularly of land (The Rundale system of communal land sharing). Sometimes the whole town shared one parcel of land. Shared parcels may or may not be with related individuals. Just because an individual is a lone occupier of a parcel does not mean that he is living in (house) or tilling (garden) this parcel alone. He may have numerous family members living with him, but they will not be listed unless they actually lease or own the parcel. Occupiers who sublet their acreage of land or houses to others will be listed as landlords.
For helpful details on how to interpret the following records, please take a look at the page I created on "Deciphering Griffith's Valuation."
| Townland | Map Ref Number | Occupier | Landlord or his Rep | Property Type | Area in Acres, Roods and Perches - a-r-p | Total Valuation in pounds, shillings and pence | Shared with (other occupiers) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellass | 1i | Gaughan, Martin | Clanmorris, Lord | Land, House and Office | 355-0-35 | 7-10-0 | William Gaughan and 27 others |
| Bellass | 1j | Gaughan, William | same | Land and Offices | same | 6-18-0 | Martin Gaughan and 27 others |
| Carrowntrelia | 17a | Gaughan, Michael | Jackson, Oliver | Land and House | 3-0-8 | 2-0-0 | none |
| Carrowntrelia | 18 | Gaughan, Michael | same | Land | 7-0-28 | 0-18-0 | one other |
| Carrowntrelia | 29e | Gaughan, Thomas | same | Land and House | 120-3-4 | 3-12-0 | 4 others |
| Coolcronaun | 51a | Gaughan, Anthony | Perry, Hon Edward | Land, House and Offices | 26-0-14 | 8-8-0 | none |
| Gortnadrehy | 5a,b,c | Gaughan, James | Knox, Frederick | Land, House and Office, 2 Cottages | 82-1-37 | 35-10-0 | none |
| Gortnadrehy | 6a | Gaughan, Patrick | same | Land, House and Office | 35-1-15 | 14-5-0 | none |
| Lissaniska East | 2a | Gaughan, Patrick | Perry, Hon Edward | Land, House and Office | 13-2-8 | 6-5-0 | none |
| Lissaniska East | 16a | Gaughan, Thomas | same | Land, House and Offices | 10-0-14 | 8-10-0 | none |
| Lissaniska East | 19a | Gaughan, Anne | same | Land and House | 7-3-12 | 4-10-0 | none |
| Lissaniska East | 21a | Gaughan, Patk (Mason) | same | Land, House and Office | 20-1-1 | 6-5-0 | none |
| Lissaniska West | 3 | Gaughan, Patrick | Perry, Hon Edward | Land | 9-3-23 | 3-4-0 | none |
| Lissaniska West | 4a | Gaughan, Michael | same | Land and House | 11-1-24 | 3-18-0 | none |
| Lissaniska West | 9a | Gaughan, Patrick (Jun) | same | Land and House | 10-0-6 | 6-0-0 | none |
| Lissaniska West | 10a | Gaughan, John | same | Land, House and Office | 6-1-30 | 4-0-0 | none |
| Lissaniska West | 11 | Gaughan, Thomas | same | Land | 14-3-13 | 0-12-0 | 3 others |
| Lissaniska West | 14a | Gaughan, Pat (Shoemaker) | same | Land, House and Office | 9-2-5 | 4-15-0 | none |
| Lissaniska West | 15a | Gaughan, Martin | same | Land, House and Office | 10-2-0 | 3-15-0 | none |
| Lissaniska West | 17a | Gaughan, Thomas | same | Land, House and Offices | 6-1-29 | 4-6-0 | none |
| Lissaniska West | 31a | Gaughan, Patrick | same | Land, House and Offices | 30-2-2 | 9-14-0 | none |
| Rathbaun | 7a | Gaughan, James | Knox, Frederick | Land, House and Offices | 22-0-0 | 10-18-0 | none |
| Rathbaun | 9a | Gaughan, Martin | same | Land, House and Offices | 51-0-26 | 21-15-0 | none |
| Sraheen | 15a | Gaughan, Mary | Arran, Earl of | Land and House | 9-3-7 | 3-5-0 | none |
(Griffith, 1827-1864; 2003, Ballynahaglish).