Ballinrobe in the 1821 Census
Unfortunately, the actual census was destroyed. All that remains are statistical analysis done
on the census returns which at least gives some idea of the town and parish at the time.
According to the statistics compiled from the 1821 census:
- County Mayo contained 1,235 square miles, 53,051 dwellings and an average
population of 4.5 persons per square mile.
- The Parish of Ballinrobe contained 968 families in 941 houses with 2,386 males and
2,433 females. 1,407 persons were employed in agriculture, 1,574 in the trades
and 155 in "other". The parish included 15 males and 4 females in school.
Under "Observations" was the following comment: " One female, upwards of 100 years of
age in Ballinrobe Parish.
- The town of Ballinrobe contained 1,103 males and 1,088 females with 188 persons
employed in agriculture, 949 in the trades and 309 in "other".
The town included 139 males and 103 females in school.
Under observations was the following comment: "The town of Ballinrobe is in the Parish
of that name. One male upwards of 100 years of age in the town. There is a charter school of
52 boys and 41 girls."
Ballinrobe in the 1831
In 1831 there were 74,812 people in the Ballinrobe Union.
Ballinrobe Electoral Division had a population of 9,415 in 1831.
Description of Ballinrobe in 1837
The following descriptions of Ballinrobe is from "A Topographic Dictionary of Ireland "by
Samuel Lewis, written in 1837
" Ballinrobe, a market and post-town, and a parish, in the barony of Kilmaine,
county of Mayo, and province of Cannaught, 14 miles (S. by E.) from Castlebar, and 116 1/2
miles (W. by N.) from Dublin; containing 8,923 inhabitants, of which number 2,604 are in the
town. A monastery for friars of the order of St. Augustine was founded here some time prior to
1337, in which year it is mentioned in the registry of the Dominican friary of Athenry,
under the name of the monastery of "de Roba." The town is situated on the river Robe,
from which it derives its name, and on the road from Hollymount to Cong; it consists of one
principal street, from which two others diverge, and, in 1831, contained 441 houses, of which
nearly all are well build and slated, and several are of handsome appearance.
There are barracks for cavalry and infantry; the former adapted to the accommodation of 8
officers and 106 non-commissioned officers and privates, with stabling for 84 horses;
the latter for 6 officers and 96 non-commissioned officers and men, with a hospital for
20 patients. A considerable trade is carried on in corn; and large quantities of wheat and
potatoes, the latter of excellent quality, are sold in town. There are a large flour-mill,
an extensive brewery and malting establishment, and a tan yard, all in full operation.
The market is on Monday, and is well supplied with corn and provisions; and fairs are
held on Whit-Tuesday and the 5th of December, chiefly for sheep and cattle.
A chief constabulary police station has been established here. There is a patent for a
manorial court, but none is held; petty sessions are held every Monday, and general
sessions take place in June and December. The courthouse is a neat building well adapted
to the purpose, and affording also accommodation for the market. The Bridewell contains four
cells, three day-rooms, and two airing yards, with other requisite accommodations.
The parish, which is situated on the Loughs Mask and Carra, comprises 13,504 statute acres,
as applotted under the tithe act, of which 7290 are arable, 3888 pasture, 324 woodland, 1120
bog, and 882 acres waste land. The land under cultivation has been greatly impoverished by
burning and other defective modes of management, and the pastures might be much improved by
draining; the system of agriculture, however, is gradual improving. The plantations are mostly
on rushy land; and of the waste, about 400 acres are limestone rock. Limestone of very good
quality is quarried for building and agriculture purposes. The surrounding scenery, particularly
towards Lough Mask, is very pleasing; the mountains of Joyce country, rising in the distance on
the west side of the lake, and the east side being embellished with numerous handsome
demesnes. Among the gentlemen's seats are Carramore, the residence of Jeffrey Martin, Esq.,
pleasantly situated on Lough Mask; and on the same lake Cuslough House, formerly the seat
of Lord Tyrawley, and now of R. Livesey Esq.; and Creagh, that of J. Cuff, Esq. on Lough Carra is
Lakeview, the residence of Mrs. Blake. Robe Villa is the seat of Courtney Kenny, Esq., in the
demesne of which, and on the bank of the river are the remains of the abbey; Lavally House,
of R. Fair, Esq.; Springvale, of Henry Joseph Blake, Esq.; and Cluna Castle, the residence
of J. Gildea, Esq. The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Taum, and in the
patronage of the Archbishop; the tithes amount to L 480. The church, a neat plain building,
was repaired in 1815, towards which the Board of First Fruits granted a loan of L 300; and the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners have lately granted L 251 for further repair. The glebe-house,
a handsome residence, was build by aid of a gift of L 100 and a loan of L 1050 from the late
Board; the glebe comprises 10 acres. The R.C. parish is co-extensive with that of the
Established Church; the chapel, a large slated building with a lofty square tower, was
erected in 1815 by subscription, toward which the late Lord Tyrawley gave L 50 and one
acre of land. There is a place of worship for Baptists. Two schools in the town are aided
by donations for C.N. Knox, Esq. and afford instruction to about 200 children; and there
are seven private pay schools in the parish, in which are about 320 children, and a Sunday
school. There is also a dispensary. Numerous remains of ancient forts may be traced;
and on the grounds of Mr. Clendinning and Mr. Rycroft are chalybeate springs."
Notes:
- Mary Louisa Cuffe was one of the
lessors to the Walsh and Feeney families.
- Courtney Kenny was a major landlord in Ballinrobe and was the landlord for most
of the property in Knockanotish, where the family of John Walsh lived.
- Colonel Charles Knox was another major landlord in the area and was one of the
lessors to the Walsh and Feeney families.
For information on some of the local landlords GO TO
Local Landlords
Notes:
- Samuel Lewis was an "Anglican ", and a member of the "gentry".
- The description was written before the Great Famine of 1845-8 and therefore
describe Ballinrobe before the potato crop rotted and about two
million four hundred thousand people in Ireland either died from hunger and disease
or emigrated from Ireland. For information on the famine
GO TO Life in Ireland
RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE
Definitions of Terms Used in the Above Descriptions of
Ballinrobe
The following are definitions of some of the terms that might be unfamiliar.
All of the terms connected with the church refer to the Church of Ireland (Protestant).
- Plantations were similar to those we know from America. The plantation system
was instituted under James I, in 1625. In the case of Ireland, the native Irish were
uprooted and their land given to Protestant settlers from England and Scotland.
This was followed by a great period of prosperity for the Anglican landed gentry,
who build the large estates Lewis describes. Catholics were not allowed to buy land.
- The Bridewell was the jail.
- Demesnes were estates.
- The rectory, as used above, was the material benefit derived from the
payment of the tithe, which was basically a tax, paid to the (Anglican) Archbishop.
- The vicarage, as used above, was the salary paid to the (Anglican) priest
in charge of the parish, presumably paid by the (Anglican) Archbishop from the tithes he
received.
- The glebe-house was the land belonging to a clergyman's, in other words:
the material lively-hood of the parish.
- In the 1840's the British pound was worth about $4.86 in US currency
- A prebend was a stipend paid out of cathedral revenue or the land or tithe
which produced this revenue.
The Workhouse and The Famine in Ballinrobe
A workhouse was built on the Kilmaine Road in Ballinrobe in 1840-42.
In common with other unions in Ireland, Ballinrobe suffered greatly during the famine
years 1845-50. The workhouse was greatly overcrowded with over two thousand inmates at the
height of the famine. Fever ravaged in February 1847 after an infected person was admitted.
Dysentery was also common. The Mayo Constitution of 23rd March 1847 reported:
"In Ballinrobe the workhouse is in the most awfully deplorable state, pestilence
having attacked paupers, officers, and all. In fact, this building is one horrible charnel
house, the unfortunate paupers being nearly all the victims of a fearful fever, the dying and
the dead, we might say, huddled together. The master has become the victim of this dread disease;
the clerks, a young man whose energies were devoted to the well-being of the union, has been
added to the victims; the matron, too, is dead; and the respected, and esteemed physician
has fallen before the ravages of pestilence, in his constant attendance on the diseased
inmates. This is the position of the Ballinrobe house, every officer swept away, while the number
of deaths among the inmates is unknown; and we forgot to add that the Roman Catholic
chaplain is also dangerously ill of the same epidemic. Now the Ballinrobe board have complied
with the Commissioner's orders, in admitting a houseful of paupers and in striking a new rate,
which cannot be collected; while the unfortunate inmates, if they escape the awful epidemic,
will survive only to be the subjects of a lingering death by starvation!
Some notes from the 1841 Census
The census (taken 6 June) showed the population of Ireland to be 8,175,124. This census was
carried out by the Royal Irish Constabulary in a single day, and is the first reasonably
accurate one for Ireland.
The census indicated that 47% of persons over five years of age could read.
The census showed that 60,000 migrant workers passing through Irish ports in 1841.
Unfortunately this census and all other up to the 1901 census were destroyed before copies
could be made.
In 1849 it was stated in the London Times that in 1841
the population of the electoral division of Ballinrobe was 10,879
with a Poor Law
valuation of 9,040. In the electoral division of Ballinrobe in 1849
"exclusive of the town, there are not ten families who can pay the rates and one-half year's rent and support
themselves up to the 1st of May."
Some notes from 1849
The London Times of January 1849 reported that in January 1848 about 300 to 400
of the most destitute
families in the electoral district of Ballinrobe had crawled some 10 to 12 miles to the
workhouse or seeking outdoor relief only to be turned away.
Many stood outside the workhouse for days in the cold and rain.
Six people had died the week of Jan 8 dued to hunger.
Slaters directory 1848
Slaters 1846 Directory LDS microfilm #1696703
Roman Catholic church on Castlebar Road,
Rev. John Morris, Abbey Street Parish Priest
Rev. James O'Malley, Abbey Street and Rev. John Gibbons Market St curates.
Gentry
Cuff, James Esq. J. P. Creagh
Golding, Richard, Shrule
Kenny, Courtney, Esq. J.P. Villa Robe
Kenny Courtney, jun . Esq. Market Street
The Saxon in Ireland : or, The rambles of an Englishman in search of a ... By John Hervey Ashworth, 1851
"Long before we reach the town, the tall octagonal tower of the Roman
Catholic Chapel is visible, surmounted with many crosses, and forms a striking
oject to all the cuntry round".
Note: He is describing the church on Chapel Road.
It was market day when he arrived and he passed many of the local
people returning form the market. "the costume of the women being generally
the blue cloak
and scarlet petticoat."
"Notwithstanding the number that had left, the town was full when I arrived, and it was
altogether a busy
bustling scene. No one who has not visited these remote
districts can have a conception of the noise, the jabbering, the perpetual
movement in an Irish market."
Apparently there was a lot of "shouting" and "violent gesticulation". Instead
of civilized "bargaining" to strike a deal "desperate battle" was waged.
Convent of Mercy
Sister Gertrude O'Brien founded the Convent of Mercy in Ballinrobe
15 February 1854. (Frances Warde: American Founder of the Sisters of Mercy, 1973)
1854:
At Ballinrobe, the same contractor, Mr. Egan, has undertaken to complete the Convent of
Mercy for 2,000 [pounds]. The M. Rev. Dr.
McHale advanced 500 [pounds] towards it. The building is already covered in and glazed.
The Metropolitan: A Monthly Magazine, Devoted to Religion ..., Volume 2
By Martin Joseph Kerney
1866: Convent of Mercy Ballinrobe listed Annals of the Society of the Holy childhood
By Society of the Holy Childhood in 1866.
1891: Irisleabar na Gaedhilge: The Gaelic journal, Volume 4
The National language has lost two practical friends
and supporters in the death of Mother
Mary Paul and Mother Mary Aloysius, of the Convent of Mercy
Ballinrobe. The deceased ladies taught Irish in the Convent
schools with great zeal and success.
A County Mayo nun founded the Sisters of Mercy in Philadelphia:
Anne Mary Waldron, later known as Mother Mary Patricia Joseph Waldron, was born in
Tuam, County Galway, Ireland, in 1834. She entered the Convent of Mercy in Ballinrobe,
County Mayo, in 1852 and professed her vows as a Sister of Mercy on July 20, 1855.
Gwynedd-Mercy College.
She later went to the states where she established the Philadelphia
foundation of the Sisters of Mercy. She died
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 30, 1916.
"Sister May Ignatious, an only child, was born in Caunty Galway, at the castle of Ballycurrin, on January 23, 1834. At the age of twenty-three, she
entered the Convent of Mercy at Ballinrobe, County Mayo. County Mayo, where
the famous Archbishop Philip McHale gave her the holy habit, June 10, 1858."
(Sisters of mercy of Nebraska, 1864-1910)
1875 - Annual Bazaar to Benefit the Convent of Mercy
The Freeman's Journal Dublin ran and ad in April 1875 for the Annual Bazaar and Grand Drawing
for the Convent of Mercy in Ballinrobe.
The event was held at the Convent School house on
Thursday June 24, 1875.
"Prizes" donated by the local Ballinrobe population (and some people from Dublin) included:
Two sheep and two lambs, a "nice American clock",
a carved wood reading stand, some handsome bound books,
an electroplated handsome kettle with lamp and stand, an electroplated Epergne
(table centerpiece) with cut crystal
fruit
bowl,a chest of tea, a beautiful table cloth, a prime sheep, a music stand and some
sheets of music,
an assortment of carved wood table ornaments, a hall clock,
a nice Paisley long shawl, plated dinner candlesticks, a one pound note,
a gentleman's portable dressing case and a pair of handsome ruby vases,
a beautiful workbox and writing desk combined, a black lace shawl,
a case of foreign stuffed birds,
a handsome chain drawing room lamp and excellent walnut writing deck,
a ladies valuable ring, an electroplated butter cooler and an alabaster inkstand,
a richly embroidered cushion,
an electroplated biscuit box,
a handsome drawing room lamp,
a valuable paisley scarf,
a beautiful table cover, a gold puzzle ring and a pair of handsome vases,
a set of china toilet requisites and cigar stand furnished,
a pair of electroplated vases with crystal tops,
a dozen of superior pale sherry, an ornamental coal box,
a very superior evening tea and coffee service, half dozen best Champagne, a pictorial family
bible, Irish Varieties, on oil painting beautifully framed,
an electroplated cruet stand, bagatelle table and electroplated butter cooler,
a nice drawing room lamp, one dozen best sherry and and "American clock".
Lady Louise Knox donated a "valuable piece of china".
Miss Valkenburg donated a deer's head inkstand and Japanese tatting companion.
The Rev. Father Barrett, C. C. Ballinrobe donated a pair of beautiful vases and a richly bound
album containing
photographic groups of eminent personages.
Rev. Father O'Malley P. P. the Neale donated an electroplated tea and coffee service.
Rev. Father Ronayne, P. P. Ballinrobe donated 5 pounds.
Mrs. Captain Knox, Cranmore donated a portfolio and envelope case in scarlet morocco.
The Rev. Father Brennan, P. P. Turlough donated one pound.
The Rev. Father Lavelle P. P. Cong donated a electroplated tea pot.
Ireland (part II): East, West, and South including Dublin and Howth By Charles Slegg Ward,
John Bartholomew, 1888
Ballinrobe (Valkenburg's Hotel, very fair), a neat and rather sombre town of 2200 inhab. Close at hand,
west of the main street, there is a pleasant walk along the river Robe, which flows hence into Lough Mask,
and was at one time navigated up to this point.
The road from Ballinrobe to Cong is over a flat plain with the hills of Joyces' country visible to the right,
across Lough Mask. The highest of them (2207 it.) is Maamtrasna, a name only too familiar in the
records of agrarian crime. To the right, further away, rises the graceful cone of Croagh Patrick. Capt. Boycott's
house (whence "Boycotting") is near at hand on the right, but not seen. At the hamlet of Neele (4 m,
from Ballinrobe), there is a pyramidal monument on the left of the road, and a little further we
come broadside on to the wall that encloses the extensive demesne of Lord Ardilaun (Guinness).
The road to the left and then right again round the wall leads to the pier, whence the steamer for Galway
starts every morning; that to the right takes us direct into Cong. Just before entering the village
we see on the right the Titanic rums of the canal by which an abortive attempt was mide to effect a
navigable channel between Lough Corrib and Lougli Mask (see p. 188).
Google Book
Herapath's railway journal, Volume 56,
1894
Advertisement
Free Shooting & FishingCLONBUR, CO. Galway
(8 miles from Ballinrobe Station, M. G. W. Ry)
6000 acres of good Shooting (partridges, hares, grouse woodcock, snipe,
wild dnck, &c.. in profusion) free of charge. Grand pike and trout fishing in
Lough Mask, Lough Nafooey, and Lough Corrib (many miles of water which are seldom fished)
also free of charge. Good hotle accommodations (45s. per week - no extras!)
cars and horses at very low charges; lake flshing-boat and two men, 6s. per day.
Ballinrobe is only 4 hours' rail from Dublin.
Passengers leaving Eustou at 8.20 p.m. reach Ballinrobe at 12.25 next day.
Another route: Dublin to Galway, 3 1/2 hours: thence by steamer (daily at 3 p.m.,
except Sundays) up Lough Corrib to Cong, arriving at Clonbur in the evening.
Cars for Clonbur meet trains at Ballinrobe and steamers at Cong. Further
particulars of Mr. J. A. Joyce, J.P., Mount Gable Hotel, Clonbur, co. Galway.
Google Book
More History of Ballinrobe based on an article by Patrick F Wallace in
The Bridge December 1972
The Plight of The Pre-Famine Irish Peasant
In Pre-Famine Ireland four out of five farmers held less than fifteen acres of land.
Almost half held less than five acres of land. It must be remembered that the farmer neither
owned this land nor the right to a permanent lease. Most of his effort went into raising whatever
was necessary to pay the rent; the farmer and his family for the most part getting by on an
acre of potatoes. In addition to his rent he had to pay tithe to the Church of Ireland
(not to be confused with the Roman Catholic Church of Ireland) and he had to pay fees
(albeit a very small sum) to the Catholic Church for marriages baptisms and funerals.
Opposition to these burdens was a cause for social wars in the 1830's and a
"reason for his
participating in the notorious activities conducted in places by armed and secret peasant
societies like the White Boys especially near the beginning of the century".
But the farmer was not even the worst off. Below him was the agricultural labourer
"who had a plot of ground attached to his cabin in which he grew potatoes which were
almost the sole diet of his generally large family while his rent was paid by his own labour."
He frequently kept a pig not to eat but to pay the rent.
Lower still was the labourer who had no land and lived by conacre (a system of shared land usage).
For the peasant working conacre
"Pay was bad, work seasonal, dwelling conditions deplorable, clothes
scanty, shoes, virtually non-existent especially as far as women"
Food
An inferior, lumpy, soggy, potato was the mainstay of the poor's diet. They were eaten at
every meal, sometimes with a little salted fish or buttermilk. Meals were occasional
supplemented with eggs. Meat, if eaten at all, was reserved for Christmas and/or Easter.
There were the hungry months of the summer when the old harvest had run out and the new
was not yet ripe when the poor ate nettles and weeds. Townspeople who did not rely
directly on the land fared somewhat better. "Nevertheless the poorer people of the
towns were reduced to beggary at certain times of the year". Beggars were mentioned by almost
every travel account of the West.
Animals
Ballinrobe and surrounding area like the Neale and Hollymount were known for their cattle and
sheep and all the surrounding towns had animal fairs. The mutton of the area was
supposed to be exceptional. These animals grazed in the summer and were fed hay and straw
in the winter. The poor feed all of their animals, cattle, horses, poultry and pigs on potatoes.
The poor did not raise animals for their own consumption but to pay the rent.
At the Ballinrobe fair in 1801 claves
sold for £3 to £7 pounds, milk cows for £10 to £15 and sheep for £3.
On the other hand a man's average wages were eight pence a day.
Housing
In 1801 farm houses in the area were neither "neat nor good" and fences were "loose and bad".
Most of the land was open as enclosure had not yet occurred in most of the area. The "upper
ranks of the poor" were "snugly lodged" while the very poor had "very bad cabins,
some made of sods and some of loose stones badly thatched, in which the cattle herd with the family".
Villagers and farmers with some acreage lived in neatly plastered snugly built stone houses.
Most houses were build by the people themselves and not by the landlord.
Courtney Kenny and Rev. Thomas Burgh testified before the Poor Enquiry Commissioner in 1835 that the cabins of the poor in Ballinrobe were: built of dry limestone, thatched with straw over peat sods and wattling, plastered inside with clay, and that only some had chimneys. They varied in size from 12 to 16 feet in width and twenty to thirty feet in length. Some had bedsteads although the bedding was generally bad. Many families slept in one bed that was really a little straw on the clay floor.
"Nevertheless, in 1836 the rent of such cabins was very high."
A cabin without land costing £1 to £ 2 per year with some as high as £4. The
tenant had no right to the land the cabin sat on. The held their property without
lease, and many of them paid the rent by working for the landlord for a rate of 6 pence a day.
There was often more than one family to a cabin.
Turf
Turf was the main fuel. The bog near Ballinrobe was extensive and many of the poor harvested peat,
living in crude cabins along deep ditches and carrying the peat into town on there backs
for two or three miles.
Employment
Employment was low in the winter and summer. Averages wages were six to eight pence a day with some
laborers such as mowers and shearers getting 10 to 12 pence a day. Road work was sporadic and paid
9 pence a day. Linen weaving had been introduced into the area some years before but was
not a viable industry and the line weavers made less than the common labourer. Kenny said
that he employed people to clean and drain his land. Other landlords clearly did not employ
many locals and two of the major land lords in the area, Charles Nesbitt Know Gore and
Lord Lucan, were absentee landlords.
Pre-Famine emigration
Emigration was relatively low. Rev. Burgh said that many people emigrated from the parish
in the three years prior to 1836. Kenny said that about 30 families emigrated in 1831 but
hardly any in the intervening years. All of those who left "went to Canada".
Population Growth
The surprising fact is that despite these apparent hardships the population of the parish soared. At 8,933 in 1831 it jumped to 11,150 in 1841 while the population of the town went from 2,604 to 2, 698.
Trades and Businesses
Two directories (one published in 1824 and the other published in 1846) despite some problems,
give an indication of the trades and occupations in the town of Ballinrobe at the time. There
included one or more of the following: tobacconist, tallow chandler (candle maker), spirit dealer,
wine dealer, grocer, brewer, ironmonger, woolen and linen merchant, haberdasher, publicans,
boot and shoe maker, baker, tailor, hotel owner, apothecary, miller, cooper, harness maker, agent,
letter press printer, plasterer, printer, carpenter, blacksmith, physician and surgeon.
Other occupations not listed in the directories but included by the Bridge article were; tanner, millwright. feather dealer, and saddler.
Later records indicate other occupations that may have been represented but were not listed by either the directories or the Bridge such as some of the occupations connected with the Walsh/Langan clan: stone mason, chimney sweep, clog maker, car (wagon) driver, steward, gardener, and of course the servants in the big houses, such as maids and cooks.
Business appear to have changed hands quickly.
The Town in 1818
In 1818 Ballinrobe appears to have been a small "neat" town where a few new building had
recently been constructed. Most of the houses on the main thoroughfare between Cong and Hollymount
(Main Street) were well built of stone with slate roofs while "cabins"
lined the road to Westport (Bridge Street) and "meanly edificed" houses were to be found
on the "less important streets".
Differences in the Town between 1831 and 1851
There were 441 houses in 1831 with a population of 2,604. In 1841 the number of houses had risen to 535 with 41 unoccupied and 6 in the process of erection while the population stood at 2,678.
By 1851 the population had dropped to 2,161, mostly due to the Famine. Supposedly there were now 354 houses in the town with only 327 being occupied. What happened to the other 181 houses that were listed in 1841? Were they torn down? Left in shambles? Tumbled for nonpayment of rent?
The numbers quoted indicate that there was a 20% reduction in population and a 33% reduction in
house numbers. I do not know about house reduction due to the famine, but estimates of population
reduction vary from 30% to 50%. This indicates that the population of Ballinrobe did no fall
as much as the surrounding countryside.
Schools
"Ballinrobe had a charter school for forty boys at least as early as 1800"
By 1837, two schools in the town were aided by donations from C. N. Knox, and between them they
afforded instruction to about two hundred children."
There were also some Sunday church school instruction for Protestants.
"From this it would appear that the children of the own and parish
were well catered for in the realm of schooling during the fifty years with which
we are concerned; especially when the lack of educational facilities elsewhere in the Ireland
of he day is considered".
While Patrick Wallace felt this reflected that the children of the town were "well catered for".
I feel that it indicates that they were very poorly served. Taking the population at its lowers
in 1851 (at 2,161) and given the very high birth rate of the time, it is impossible to imagine that
less than ten percent of the population was of school age. Even if we assume a very low minimum of at least one quarter of the population to be of school age this would mean at least 540 children. Surely the percentage of school age children was even higher than this. Furthermore this estimate only considers the town population and does not take into consideration the immense number of children living in the outlying townlands
Communication
Communication with other towns in the area was by post. There was a daily jaunting car between Tuam and Ballinrobe that could carry four passengers, a car from Galway to Westport also passed through the town and a daily pos/passengert car to Hollymount.
Water
In 1912 the Robe River was still used for drinking water.
Thanks
Thanks to Patrick F Wallace who researched and wrote the article in The Bridge
on which the above information was based and to John Doherty who emailed be a copy of the
The Bridge (December 1972) in December 2005.
A Petition for the Fortification of
Ballinrobe
JOURNAL OF THE GALWAY ARCHAELOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY JGAHS
Vol. VII. Part III. (1911-12), A Petition for the Fortification of Ballinrobe, 168-170.
168 GALWAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
A Petition for the Fortification of
Ballinrobe.
By C. C. ORMSBY.
THE following petition, which may have some interest for the members of this Society,
as showing the disturbed state of the West country in the early part of the 18th century,
was found not long ago in a box of old papers at Milford, Co. Mayo, where it appears to
have lain for nearly two centuries.
It reads as follows:
To THEIR EXCELLENCIES THE LORD JCSTICES OF IRELAND.
MAY it please your Excellencies
WE the High Sherriff of the peace Grand Jury and other Protestant ffreeholders of
the County of
MAYO assembled att the General Assizes held for the said County att Ballenrobe
this twenty
seaventh day of July one thousand seaven hundred and sixteen. Most Cheerfully
Embrace this Opportunity
of Rendering to your Excellencies our hearty thanks for the tender care your
Excellencies have
all along expressed for the
169 A PETITION FOR THE FORTIFICATION OF BALLINROBE.
security of the protestant Interest in this Kingdom in Generall during the
late unnaturall Rebellion in Great
Brittain and particularly for Appointing an Additional Number of
Barracks to be erected in such Convenient
places of this County, as will enable us, under God to Defend
ourselves in time of Danger from the
many papists with which we are environed and to whose Insults
we have too long been exposed.
As these seasonable precautions Justly raise in us
a very Gratefull sense of your Excelencies most Consumate
wisdom, so, will our latest posterity be obliged to retain the
same, because those Advantages will
Equally Descend to them.
BUT while we are thus paying our Dutyfull Acknowledgements to your Excellencies for the many Inestimable
Benefits which we receive from your Vigilant Administration under our Most Gracious Soveraigne
King George we with the greatest submission begg leave to inform your Excellencies that we Conceive the
Barrack which is now Errecting in this Town in and near which place is a good Stand of Protestants; may,
with a very small Additional Charge be made More Usefull and secure in any time of Danger, for the Militia
and other protestants in this County, if the outward Wall of the same were raised seaven or eight foot
higher, and a ffosse or out Ditch Drawn about it, and the Earth which might be taken out of the said ffosse
or Ditch being Carryed in, would raise a Rampart sufficient to render it Tenable against flying partyes and
thereby would become a Magazine for stores of Amunition and provission and a place of Security for the
protestants of this County to retreat to, who Upon any Dangerous Emergency, must otherwise be obliged
to run great risques and hazards by sending to remote places for any of those Warrlike necessaries, and
perhaps (as formerly) be forced to fly to other places for the greater security of their lives. This said Town
of Ballinrobe standing upon a pass between the plains of this County of Mayo (which open to all the
County hence to Athlone) and the Inaccessible Lawless large Country of Coonamarra, Joyce Country and
Mountains of Partry, where few Protestants dare inhabitt, where the late Inhuman and Barbarous Practise
of Haughing Cattle was first Invented and thence Diffused into the plain Country, and from whence in the
time of the late Warrs (which most of us to our Sorrow Remember) many Companyes of Dissolute fellows
Enter'd the plain Land and Comitted many murthers Depredations and other Barbarityes, and the horrid
Murther of many Protestants of this Country was Comitted in the Warrs of one Thousand Six hundred and
forty one att Shrule within five or six miles of this Town for want of such a Tenable place of Refuge.
AND for a. further Demonstration to your Excellencies that this Town of Ballinrobe should be made more
Capable of Securing the Lives of Protestants in Case of Danger we assure your Excellencies and can Easily
prove our affirmation, That this Town was made a Garrison and more particularly taken care of by the
late King James in the late Warrs as being the principall place of secureing this County to his Obedience
and that here they held their Generall Meetings for that purpose.
We thought it our Duty humbly to lay those Considerations before your Excellencies and if your Excellencies
approve of them that you will be pleased to give such further Directions to the undertaking here as
will
170 GALWAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
answer this good intention or as to your Excellencies great prudence shall otherwise seem most meet and Expedient.
Will Bell
Thos. Hamilton
Joseph Ritchepon
John Bell
Robt. Selwood
Joshua Thompson
James Baill
John ffleming
Jeams ffleming
Ja. Lawlor
John Phillpott
Samuel Phillpott
James Hughs
James fiz Gerrald
Thos. Martin
Thos. Rippingham
John Tunbridge
Benj. Tunbridge
Geo. Ruttledge
Abra. Cammell
Will. Moynaghan
James Rice
Hen. Bell
Edward Pepper
Thos. Bell
Thos. Quinn
Cha. Quinn
David Edwards
John Lacky
Thos. Rippingham
Francis Kelly
James Murray
Thos. Hamilton
M. A. J. Blake
Edwd. Wilson
Rob. Moore
David Courtney
James Rush
Chas. Ousley (?)
Hen. Lawrence
Wm. Cuff
Thos. Kenny
Edmund ffynn
Thos. Kinglake
Patt. Clarke
ffrancis Cuff
Hen. Bingham
And. Semple
John Birmingham
Clerk
Gerald Cuff
Math. Browne
Tho. Lindsey
Tho. Cuff, jun.
Thos. Elwood
Tho. Swanwick
Jno. Carter
Walther Winter
Rob. Lewis
James Clark
Edward Lewis
John Cuff
Robt. Miller
Robt. Miller, foreman
Thos. Vaughane
Matt. E. Bell
Tho. Lewin
Geo. Jones
Tho. Chambers
James Miller
How this document found a resting place at Milford, instead of in Dublin Castle, it is impossible
to say, but it is probable that Robert Miller, the then owner of Milford, who was foreman
of the Grand Jury, brought it home with the view of forwarding it, but for some unknown reason
failed to do so; and the result is that Ballinrobe remains to this day unfortified and has neither
rampart, fosse nor out ditch drawn about it. However, as the "dissolute fellows" inhabiting Connemara
and the Mountains of Partry confine their invasions to market and fair days, no serious
results need be apprehended.
My thanks to Tim Scott who in August 2011 made me aware of this paper from the
Galway Archaeological and Historical Society.