And the not-so-wealthy

And the not-so-wealthy

What a contrast to these grand estates is provided by Griffith's Valuations of the tenant farmers in Balleykinlettragh:  Anthony Granahan, senior, and eight other families shared a total of 87 acres! They rented this land from Maria Bingham. The table below is the Valuation of Tenements for the Parish of Kilfian, showing the land distribution in Ballykinlettragh - transcribed from Griffith’s Valuation.

 

The Valuation page shows the Plot number on the left, the Tenant’s name, the Owner of the land, whether there was a house on the property as well as offices [these were any additional outbuildings such as barns or sheds], the size of the property [in acres, roods, and perches, remember them?]. The last three columns on the right indicate the value of the land, the house, and the total value.

A close up of the page shows Plot 10, of 87 acres, 2 roods, 32 perches, was shared by Andrew and Anthony, junior, John, Anthony senior, and Patrick Granahan, as well as John, Bridget and William Merin. We can see that Anthony senior had the best/biggest plot of land because it was worth £4/4/0 [4 pounds, 4 shillings, 0 pence] and the best house. ‘Best’ house is, of course, relative.  

 

This map from Griffith’s shows, in the left hand red box, where the Granahans lived.

 

Ballykinlettragh

The wealthy

 

This is a transcription of the Griffith’s valuation for the land rented by the Granahans. (The spelling at the time seems to have been 'Granahan' and may indicate the correct pronunciation.)  The landowner is Maria Bingham; Sarah Bingham was another landowner in Ballykinlettragh.   I believe Maria is the daughter of Major Denis Bingham was one of the biggest land-owners in County Mayo.



The Irish Times, 17th May, 1999 outlines the holdings of the Bingham family: "Denis Bingham, Bingham Castle, had 4,827 acres; Henry Bingham, Annagh House, Belmullet, had 9,471 acres; Col Henry Bingham, London, had 2,311 acres; Maria and Mrs Sarah Bingham, Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire), had 133 and 10,110 acres respectively; Anne Bingham, Dalkey, Co Dublin, had 4,768 acres, and Letitia Bingham, Dalkey, had 12,525 Co Mayo acres".  While these may not have been one family, they would certainly have been related.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Granaghan homeland

The Granaghans

The next step brings us closer to the Stevens Story. Anthony Granaghan was our great-grandfather was the first of our Irish ancestors to come to Australia. He was born in County Mayo, Ireland, in 1850/52, the son of Anthony Granaghan, senior, and Ann Clerk. His family leased land in the Townland of Ballykinlettragh,
the Parish of Kilfian,
the Barony of Tirawley,
in the county of Mayo.

 

The County of Mayo in the west of Ireland

 

Thanks to Griffith’s Valuation, I have been able to locate their farm in the north of County Mayo.
Ballycastle, on the wild north coast, was the nearest village, less than 10 miles away and Killala, another village to the east.  Ballina was a small town to the south-east. From Wikipedia we learn that “the west (of Ireland) consists largely of poor subsoils and is covered with large areas of extensive Atlantic blanket bog, whereas the east is largely a limestone landscape. Agricultural land is therefore more productive in the east than in the west.“

Griffith’s valuation is an Irish treasure trove for genealogists. Between the 1820s and the 1840s, the British government (which ruled Ireland) commissioned a geologist, Richard Griffith, to survey every single landholding in Ireland and assess its value, so that taxes could be levied consistently throughout the country. Every property was described, giving the name of the tenant, the land owner, a description of the property and, of course, its rateable value, an estimate of productivity. The Valuation for county Mayo was completed and published in 1856.

This map shows, at Number 40, the position of the parish of Kilfian, where the Granahans lived, within County Mayo.