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. 

Tomnahulla in Griffith’s Valuation

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

DateTownlandNameSexConditionAgeOccupationCauseMedical AttendantCertifiedRegistered byLink
15/03/1875TumnaholaPatrick CorcoranMBachelor6 monthsLabourer’s sonChin cough, 4 weeksNNSarah Corcoran, PADLink
20/01/1876TumnahullaCatherine CorcoranFMarried75 yearsLandholder’s wifeOld ageNNCharles Corcoran, husband, PADLink
23/08/18777TumnahullaEllen DillonFSpinster18 yearsLabourer’s daughterScrofula, 2 yearsNNThomas Broderick, PAD, BolisheenLink
27/02/1878TumnahullaHonor LaffyFSpinster7 monthsLandholder’s daughterDebility from birthNNMargaret Laffy, PADLink
22/04/1878TumnahullaJulia BurkeFWidow70 yearsLandholder’s widowOld age and debilityNNEllen Burke, PADLink
05/10/1878TumnahullaThomas BurkeMBachelor1 yearLandholder’s sonWhooping cough, 14 daysNNPatrick Burke, PADLink
28/03/1879TumnahullaMichael LaffyMBachelor8 monthsLandholder’s sonBronchitis, 8 daysNNMargaret Laffy, PADLink
15/05/1880TumnahullaJohn BurkeMBachelor9 daysLandholder’s sonConvulsions, 7 hoursNNPatrick Burke, PADLink
02/07/1881TumnahullaMary SheridanFWidow60 yearsLandholder’s widowRheumatism and debility, 18 monthsNNPatrick Burke, son-in-law, who caused the body to be buriedLink
22/02/1884TumnahullaJames HessionMBachelor9 monthsLandholder’s childMorbilli, 3 weeksNNThomas Loftus, grandfather, PADLink
13/11/1884TumnahullaHonor LaffyFSpinster12 monthsLandholder’s infantCroup, 8 daysNNMargaret Laffy, mother, PADLink
10/07/1885TumnahullaMartin McCormackMMarried64 yearsLandholderSevere cold and smothering, 7 daysNNFrancis McCormack, son, PADLink
26/12/1885TumnahullaJohn CreavenMMarried46 yearsFarmerTyphus fever, 19 daysYPat Creaven, son, PADLink
01/08/1886TumnahullaCharles CorcoranMWidower80 yearsLandholderGeneral debility, 12 monthsNNJohn Corcoran, PADLink
30/08/1887TumnahullaBridget ElwoodFWidow87 yearsWeaver’s widowGeneral debility, 3 daysNNMichael Sheridan, PADLink
09/05/1889TumnahullaCatherine McCormackFWidow70 yearsLandholder’s widowGeneral debility, 9 weeksNNMary McCormack, PADLink
18/09/1891TumnahullaJulia BurkeFMarried40 yearsLabourer’s wifePneumonia, 7 daysYSarah Corcoran, PADLink
08/10/1891TumnahullaAnne LoftusFMarried69 yearsLabourer’s wifeGeneral debility, 12 monthsNNThomas Loftus, husband, PADLink
05/12/1891TumnahullaTom BurkeMBachelor8 yearsLabourer’s sonAcute pneumonia, 5 daysNNTom Burke, grandfather, PADLink
15/09/1892TumnahullaMaria BurkeFSpinster4.5 yearsLandholder’s infantConvulsions, 14 daysNNMary Burke, mother, PADLink
11/01/1893TumnahullaMargaret LaffyFSpinster16 yearsLabourer’s daughterPhthisis, 4 monthsNNMargaret Laffy, mother, PADLink
02/03/1893TumnahullaJohn FahyMWidower81 yearsLabourerGeneral debility, 8 daysNNPat Fahy, PADLink
21/05/1893TumnahullaMary BurkeFMarried60 yearsHerd’s wifeAcute bronchitis, 12 weeksYThomas Burke, husband, PADLink
17/12/1894TumnahullaJulia KilroyFWidow50 yearsLandholderDebility, 12 monthsNNKate Curran, PADLink
30/12/1893TumnahullaMary LaffyFSpinster24 yearsLabourer’s daughterPhthisis, 6 monthsNNJulia Laffy, PADLink
08/04/1894TumnahullaAnne LoftusFMarried69 yearsLabourer’s wifeDebility, 8 monthsNNPatrick Loftus, PADLink
21/12/1895TumnahullaJohn CreavenMBachelor2 daysLandholder’s infantDebility from birthYMargaret Creaven, PADLink
29/11/1896TumnahullaMary CorcoranFSpinster14 yearsLandholder’s daughterFebris simple continued, 22 daysYRedmond Corcoran, PADLink
02/11/1896TumnahullaThomas BurkeMWidower70 yearsHerdGeneral debility, 7 monthsNNBridget Burke, PADLink
18/10/1898TumnahullaThomas LoftusMWidower86 yearsLabourerGeneral debility, 2 yearsNNHonor Loftus, daughter-in-law, PADLink
28/04/1901TumnahullaThomas LaffyMMarried80 yearsLabourerOld age and general debilityNNMartin Laffy, PADLink
07/05/1901TumnahullaJohn CreavenMBachelor7 daysSon of labourerDebility from birthNNMichael Creaven, PADLink
07/05/1901TumnahullaMary CreavenFSpinster7 daysDaughter of labourerDebility from birthNNMichael Creaven, PADLink
18/07/1901TumnahullaMargaret BurkeFSpinster17 yearsHousekeeperConsumption, 1 yearNNThomas Burke, PADLink
Deaths in Tomnahulla, 1871-1901

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.

Tomnahulla / Tom na hUla

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