Tomnahulla / Tom na hUla

Tomnahulla / Tom na hUla

Compiled by Nicholas Lyons

Overview

Irish name: Tom Na hUla

English name: Tomnahulla

Meaning: The bush of the peritential stone; Tom Na Holla tumulus of the alter-tomb ( bush of the wool scriosta). Information from P. W. Joyce’s Place Names: Tom sometimes represents torm, a bush; sometimes túaim, a burial-mound or tumulus See Vol. i. p. 355.

Area: 617 acres, 2 roods, and 1 perch.

Information from O’Donovan’s Field Name Books

Other names: Tumnahulla (B. S. Sketch Map), Thumnaholla (County Map), Tomnaholla (High Constable 1838), Tomnahulla (Rector of Annaghdown), Tumnahulla (Local pronunciation).

Description: Proprietor Rochfort Esq., Tuam. The most part under tillage in the west side of which is heathy and rocky pasture.

There is no townland information available in The Down Survey of Ireland.

Population Statistics

1841: 5 houses, 25 people (11 male, 14 female)

1851: 4 houses, 24 people (11 male, 13 female)

1861: 12 houses, 63 people (35 male, 28 female)

1871: 14 houses, 80 people (40 male, 40 female)

1881: 13 houses, 80 people (37 male, 43 female)

1891: 14  houses, 72 people (29 male, 43 female)

1901: 10 houses, 42 people (18  male,  24 female)

1911: 11 houses, 42 people (16 male, 26 female)

2011: 50 houses (7 vacant), 134 people (69 male, 65 female)

1821 Tithe Applotment Books

Prior to The Composition Act 1823, tithes due to the Church of England were payable in kind. This new Act specified they should be paid in money. Therefore it was necessary to carry out an evaluation of property in the entire country to determine what landholder should pay.

There were different rates for the varying quality of land. In Tomnahulla the  rates were (1) one shilling and (2) sixpence.

In Tomnahulla, John Egan Esq. is recorded with 300 acres at one shilling per acre,  equalling 15 pounds, and 75 acres at sixpence, equalling £1 17 shillings and sixpence, with a total of sixteen pounds seventeen shillings sixpence divided between Rev R. Marley and John Kirwan.

The tax was not payable on all land, in some areas only on tillage, that is, potatoes, and not on grassland, so there was glaring inequity with its application. Valuations were carried over a fifteen year period until 1838 when they were abolished. 

1840 Griffith’s House Books and 1855 Griffith’s Valuation

There is only one holding listed in Griffith’s Valuation for Tomnahulla townland.

Cornelius Lundie is the occupier with house, offices, labourers’ houses and land of 617 acres, 2 roods and 1 perch held from John Egan. The land was valued at 94 pounds and the buildings at 12 pounds. 

The occupier, Cornelius Lundie, was born in Kelso, Scotland in 1815. He was educated privately and then attended Edinburgh and Glasgow universities doing science. He worked on various bridge and railway projects in England and Wales. During a depression in 1839 he emigrated to New South Wales, remaining there for eight years until 1847 when he returned to the U.K. 

In 1851 he was looking for better opportunities and his attention was drawn to Ireland after the famine, where he took ‘a tract of land in the west of the island’. He invested capital and hard work over a four year period but the returns were not up to his expectations, so in 1855 he was offered and accepted a role as engineer and manager of a little known railway line called Blyth and Tyne, Northumberland.

He continued his involvement in railway management up until his death in Cardiff in 1908.

There is no record of the townland of Tomnahulla having been involved in the sale of the Encumbered Estates in Ireland. 

1871-1901 Deaths

Date	Townland	Name	Sex	Condition	Age	Occupation	Cause	Medical Attendant	Certified	Registered by	Link
15/03/1875	Tumnahola	Patrick Corcoran	M	Bachelor	6 months	Labourer’s son	Chin cough, 4 weeks	N	N	Sarah Corcoran, PAD	Link
20/01/1876	Tumnahulla	Catherine Corcoran	F	Married	75 years	Landholder’s wife	Old age	N	N	Charles Corcoran, husband, PAD	Link
23/08/18777	Tumnahulla	Ellen Dillon	F	Spinster	18 years	Labourer’s daughter	Scrofula, 2 years	N	N	Thomas Broderick, PAD, Bolisheen	Link
27/02/1878	Tumnahulla	Honor Laffy	F	Spinster	7 months	Landholder’s daughter	Debility from birth	N	N	Margaret Laffy, PAD	Link
22/04/1878	Tumnahulla	Julia Burke	F	Widow	70 years	Landholder’s widow	Old age and debility	N	N	Ellen Burke, PAD	Link
05/10/1878	Tumnahulla	Thomas Burke	M	Bachelor	1 year	Landholder’s son	Whooping cough, 14 days	N	N	Patrick Burke, PAD	Link
28/03/1879	Tumnahulla	Michael Laffy	M	Bachelor	8 months	Landholder’s son	Bronchitis, 8 days	N	N	Margaret Laffy, PAD	Link
15/05/1880	Tumnahulla	John Burke	M	Bachelor	9 days	Landholder’s son	Convulsions, 7 hours	N	N	Patrick Burke, PAD	Link
02/07/1881	Tumnahulla	Mary Sheridan	F	Widow	60 years	Landholder’s widow	Rheumatism and debility, 18 months	N	N	Patrick Burke, son-in-law, who caused the body to be buried	Link
22/02/1884	Tumnahulla	James Hession	M	Bachelor	9 months	Landholder’s child	Morbilli, 3 weeks	N	N	Thomas Loftus, grandfather, PAD	Link
13/11/1884	Tumnahulla	Honor Laffy	F	Spinster	12 months	Landholder’s infant	Croup, 8 days	N	N	Margaret Laffy, mother, PAD	Link
10/07/1885	Tumnahulla	Martin McCormack	M	Married	64 years	Landholder	Severe cold and smothering, 7 days	N	N	Francis McCormack, son, PAD	Link
26/12/1885	Tumnahulla	John Creaven	M	Married	46 years	Farmer	Typhus fever, 19 days		Y	Pat Creaven, son, PAD	Link
01/08/1886	Tumnahulla	Charles Corcoran	M	Widower	80 years	Landholder	General debility, 12 months	N	N	John Corcoran, PAD	Link
30/08/1887	Tumnahulla	Bridget Elwood	F	Widow	87 years	Weaver’s widow	General debility, 3 days	N	N	Michael Sheridan, PAD	Link
09/05/1889	Tumnahulla	Catherine McCormack	F	Widow	70 years	Landholder’s widow	General debility, 9 weeks	N	N	Mary McCormack, PAD	Link
18/09/1891	Tumnahulla	Julia Burke	F	Married	40 years	Labourer’s wife	Pneumonia, 7 days		Y	Sarah Corcoran, PAD	Link
08/10/1891	Tumnahulla	Anne Loftus	F	Married	69 years	Labourer’s wife	General debility, 12 months	N	N	Thomas Loftus, husband, PAD	Link
05/12/1891	Tumnahulla	Tom Burke	M	Bachelor	8 years	Labourer’s son	Acute pneumonia, 5 days	N	N	Tom Burke, grandfather, PAD	Link
15/09/1892	Tumnahulla	Maria Burke	F	Spinster	4.5 years	Landholder’s infant	Convulsions, 14 days	N	N	Mary Burke, mother, PAD	Link
11/01/1893	Tumnahulla	Margaret Laffy	F	Spinster	16 years	Labourer’s daughter	Phthisis, 4 months	N	N	Margaret Laffy, mother, PAD	Link
02/03/1893	Tumnahulla	John Fahy	M	Widower	81 years	Labourer	General debility, 8 days	N	N	Pat Fahy, PAD	Link
21/05/1893	Tumnahulla	Mary Burke	F	Married	60 years	Herd’s wife	Acute bronchitis, 12 weeks		Y	Thomas Burke, husband, PAD	Link
17/12/1894	Tumnahulla	Julia Kilroy	F	Widow	50 years	Landholder	Debility, 12 months	N	N	Kate Curran, PAD	Link
30/12/1893	Tumnahulla	Mary Laffy	F	Spinster	24 years	Labourer’s daughter	Phthisis, 6 months	N	N	Julia Laffy, PAD	Link
08/04/1894	Tumnahulla	Anne Loftus	F	Married	69 years	Labourer’s wife	Debility, 8 months	N	N	Patrick Loftus, PAD	Link
21/12/1895	Tumnahulla	John Creaven	M	Bachelor	2 days	Landholder’s infant	Debility from birth		Y	Margaret Creaven, PAD	Link
29/11/1896	Tumnahulla	Mary Corcoran	F	Spinster	14 years	Landholder’s daughter	Febris simple continued, 22 days		Y	Redmond Corcoran, PAD	Link
02/11/1896	Tumnahulla	Thomas Burke	M	Widower	70 years	Herd	General debility, 7 months	N	N	Bridget Burke, PAD	Link
18/10/1898	Tumnahulla	Thomas Loftus	M	Widower	86 years	Labourer	General debility, 2 years	N	N	Honor Loftus, daughter-in-law, PAD	Link
28/04/1901	Tumnahulla	Thomas Laffy	M	Married	80 years	Labourer	Old age and general debility	N	N	Martin Laffy, PAD	Link
07/05/1901	Tumnahulla	John Creaven	M	Bachelor	7 days	Son of labourer	Debility from birth	N	N	Michael Creaven, PAD	Link
07/05/1901	Tumnahulla	Mary Creaven	F	Spinster	7 days	Daughter of labourer	Debility from birth	N	N	Michael Creaven, PAD	Link
18/07/1901	Tumnahulla	Margaret Burke	F	Spinster	17 years	Housekeeper	Consumption, 1 year	N	N	Thomas Burke, PAD	Link

1901 Census of Ireland

The 1901 Census of Ireland records the following  ten households & a Protestant Church in Tomnahulla.

1. Thomas Curran, aged 65,  wife Ellen, aged 60, son Thomas, aged 27, and daughter Mary, aged 20.
2. Thomas Burke, aged 80,  daughter Margaret Creaven, aged 34, son-in-law Thomas Creaven, aged 36, granddaughter Mary, aged 7, grandson Thomas, aged 4, and granddaughter Ellen, aged 1.
3. Ellen Creaven, aged 64, son Michael, aged 28, daughter-in-law Mary, aged 25, and granddaughter Ellen, aged 2.
4. Honor Loftus, aged 50, son James, aged 22, and son Thomas, aged 18.
5. Redmond Corcoran, aged 54,  wife Sarah, aged 54, son John, aged 29 and his daughters, Margaret, aged 19, and Bridget, aged 14.
6. Thomas Laffy, aged 80, wife Margaret, aged 50, and sons Thomas, aged 20, and Martin aged 17.
7. Martin Flaherty, aged 60, and wife Maria, aged 60.
8. William Burke, aged 45, wife Mary, aged 40, daughters Margaret, aged 16, Julia, aged 14, Bridget, aged 10, Winnie, aged 8, Mary, aged 6 and son Thomas, aged 3.
9. Daniel Hessian, aged 70, wife Mary, aged 60, daughter Julia, aged 20, and granddaughter Julia Beatty, aged 1.
10. Mary McCormack, aged 60, and son Patrick, aged 20.
11. Protestant Church.

All houses have walls made of stone and the roofs made of thatch, wood or other perishable material. One house has five rooms with  six windows at the front and it is regarded as second class. Six houses have two windows at the front and three have just one window at front. These nine houses are regarded as third class.

On the night of the census, 31 March 1901, there was one person sick in the townland.

1911 Census

The 1911 Census of Ireland records the following eleven  households in Tomnahulla.

1. Thomas Curran, aged 68, wife Ellen, aged 73, and daughter Julia, aged 30.
2. Michael Creaven, aged 38, wife Mary, aged 39, his son Patrick, and his daughters Ellen, aged 12, Kate, aged 6, and Bridget, aged 1.
3. William Burke, aged 60,  son Thomas, aged 12, and his daughters, Julia, aged 22, Bridget, aged 19, Winnie, aged 17, and Mary, aged 15.
4. Thomas Creaven, aged 47, wife Margaret, aged 46, his son Thomas, aged 17, and his daughters Mary, aged 14, and Ellen, aged 11.
5. Redmond Corcoran, aged 73,  son John, aged 39, and daughter-in-law Mary, aged 40.
6. Mary Hession, aged 73, her son-in-law Ned Commons, aged 27, her daughter Julia Commons, aged 33, granddaughter Maggie, aged 2, grandson Pat, aged 1, and granddaughter aged 3 months.
7. Margaret Laffy, aged 73, and son Pat, aged 32.
8. Pat Skerrit, aged 35, wife Winney, aged 40, his daughter Norah, aged 2 and his son Pat, aged 6 months.
9. Mary McCormick, aged 73, and son Pat, aged 29.
10. Pat Loftus, aged 60, and wife Honor, aged 66.
11. Martin Flaherty, aged 73,  wife Mary, aged 76, and son John, aged 39.

All of the houses had walls made of stone. Two houses have roofs made of slate, iron or tiles; one of these had five rooms with six windows at the front making it a first class house, and the other had four rooms with four windows at the front, making it a second class house. Nine houses had roofs made of thatch, wood or other perishable material with six houses regarded as second class and three houses regarded as third class.

All eleven houses have a cow house, nine houses have a stable, six houses have a calf house, six houses have a piggery, six houses have a barn, six houses have a turf house, six houses have a cart house and four houses have a fowl house.

Tomnahulla borders the following other townlands: Ardgaineen to the east, Aucloggeen to the south, Bolisheen to the west, Bunoghanaun to the north, Gortroe to the west and Turloughgarve to the west.