Ballynacarry

Ballynacarry is a townland of 124 statute acres 2 roods and 2 perches (of which 5 acres 2 are water) about a mile north of Cullaville on the road to Castleblaney. It is bounded on the northeast by Cornahove, on the southeast by Cullaville, on the west by Carrickamone and on the north by County Monaghan. It's boundary with the Republic of Ireland is the River Fane which flows from Lough Ross.

Name of Townland

Baile na Caradh, "The townland of the weir"⁽¹⁾

A curiosity about this townland is that it is not mentioned in the sources I have consulted before the 1837 Townland Valuation. Although it is included in that Valuation it is not listed in John Donaldson's Book "Account of the Barony of Upper Fews" published in 1838, one year later. However as Donaldson's book was an updated version of a publication prepared for the Newry Register but only partially published when the Register closed down in 1819, it is possible that the name changed between 1819 and 1837 but was not revised in the 1838 publication. Both Donaldson and the the Tithe Applotment Books of 1828 list a townland called Cornacarry. In addition, a townland listed as Cornancarrow in the 1766 Census of Creggan fits exactly, in its placement in the list, where Ballynacarry would fit, between Carrickenmoan (Carrickamone) and Cornahoo (Cornahove). Neither 'Cornancarrow' nor 'Cornacarry' have modern equivalents. According to Donaldson, Cornacarry means "The odd weir". One further factor is the similarity of the acreage of Cornacarry and Ballynacarry. The area of Cornacarry in the Tithe Applotment Books is 73 acres and 2 rood (Irish). This is approximately 119 statute acres; the same as that of Ballynacarry (less water). It therefore seems that they are different names for the same townland. The names of those families listed below would tend to confirm this approach.

Ordnanace Survey Name Books: Creggan Parish ⁽²⁾

BALLYNACARRY (OSNB ii 4) A small td. within a mile and a half of Crossmaglen and a 1/2 a mile of the village of Cullaville. The road from Cullaghville to Castleblaney runs partly thro' it. The soil is indifferent producing light crops of potatoes and oats. The County river runs on the W, side of it nearly half way round.

It contains 124..3..2 of which 26..0..27 is uncultivated and Bog, and 0..3..34 water.

Valuation

Although the decimalisation of the currency was introduced only in 1971, all of the valuations in the following table have been converted from £sd for convenience.

Year	1837	1851	1864	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911	1926	1935	1952	1957	1974
Valuation	£75.29	£89.00	£84.05	84.05	84.55	£86.80	£86.80	£86.80	£86.80	£89.55	£89.55	£97.80	£97.80

The 1837 Townland Valuation recorded only houses worth £5 or more a year. There were none in the townland.

At the time of Griffiths Valuation the whole townland was owned by John Reid.

Census of Ireland 1901

In Census 33 persons (15 male and 18 female) were enumerated in 8 households; a ratio of 4.1 people per household. The households occupied a totoal of 22 rooms; a ratio of 2.8 rooms per household and 1.5 persons per room. Six of the hoses were thatched.

Native Irish Speakers

One native Irish speaker was identified in the Census -

• Francis Callaghan, farmer, aged 63, born in Co. Armagh

Population Decline

The following table sets out the number of houses and population enumerated in the townland in each of the 11 Censuses held between 1841 and 1951.

	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911	1926	1937	1951
Houses	15	13	12	11	10	8	8	8	8	7	7
People	71	69	57	56	55	35	33	26	27	20	17
People per house	4.7	5.3	4.8	5.1	5.5	4.4	4.1	3.3	3.4	2.9	2.4

In the period of 110 years, the number of households more than halved and the population dropped by 76% - more than threequarters. Following an initial fall between 1841 and 1851, clearly as a result of the Great Famine, the population stabilised until 1881. A dramatic drop in the 1891 census was followed by a steady decline over the following 60 years.

Names of House and Land Holders ⁽³⁾

The following table sets of the names of those who owned or rented houses and land on the townland at the time the valuation records or population censuses were compiled.