Rosslee Civil Parish and the Incidence of the Coffee (Coffey, Coffy) Surname in Griffith's Valuation, County Mayo, Ireland
There were no individuals with the Coffee, Coffey or Coffy Surnames documented in Rosslee Civil Parish when the Griffith's Valuation was conducted in 1857.
Rosslee Civil Parish falls within Carra Barony and is part of Mayo Abbey Roman Catholic Parish. Mayo Civil Parish is also part of this Catholic Parish. Church records cover the years 1841-1906. When the Griffith's Valuation was conducted for Rosslee Civil Parish, there were only 21 Townlands and all except Rathnacreeva and Weatherfort were quite small.
There were no Roman Catholic Chapels or other Churches documented in the Griffith's Valuation for Rosslee Civil Parish and the only Graveyard was present in the Townland of Rathnacreeva.
I couldn't find any patents applications for fairs or markets and the Townlands of Rosslee weren't mentioned in the Statistical Survey of County Mayo when it was conducted in 1802. The Griffith's Valuation didn't show a "Fair Green" or "Tolls and Customs of Fairs" in any of the Townlands of Rosslee Civil Parish. There was very little in the way of commercial activity aside from a Forge in Ballynamuddagh and Herd's Houses in the Townlands of Cloghannageeragh, Graddoge, Hollowpark, Knockatotaun, Peenoge and Rathnacreeva. The numerous Herd's Houses would seem to indicate a fair amount of pasture, grazing land. I didn't see any "Bog" parcels designated in this Civil Parish and only one lake, Lough Frank a portion of which is in Weatherfort. (Griffith, 1847-1864; 2003, Rosslee).
As far as education goes there were no documented Schoolhouses in this small Civil Parish when the Griffith's Valuation was conducted in 1857, but Samuel Lewis in his book "A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland" mentions a private school in Rosslee Civil Parish. (Lewis, 1837, 1984, p. 538).
Mark Blake was the primary landlord in this Civil Parish representing 12 Townlands; Lord Clanmorris was predominant in 8 and George O'Malley in one Townland.
Rosslee Civil Parish like many others during the famine and post-famine years saw a significant population drop. In 1841 there were 1,283 people living in Rosslee Civil Parish, dropping to 694 in 1851. By the year 1911 there were only 334 residents of this Civil Parish. This was just shy of a 75% population drop. (O'Hara, 1982, p. 8).