Clonalig

Clonalig is a townland of 613 statute acres 1 rood and 15 perches about three miles south west of Crossmaglen, a mile and a half from Culloville and straddling the (Concession) road from Castleblaney to Dundalk where it runs through Northern Ireland. It is bounded on the north by Cappagh and Mobane, on the east by Rassen In County Louth, on the south by County Monaghan and on the west by Drumboy, Annaghgad and Glasdrummonaghy. The Tithe Applotment Books 1828 recorded the area of the townland as 307 acres 2 roods and 6 perches (Plantation Irish measure).

Name of townland

Cluain na Leac, "The meadow of the flatstones". Older English form is 'Clonaligge'. Cluain Lice. "The meadow of the flagstone" ⁽¹⁾.

There is no other townland of that name in Ireland.

Ordnanace Survey Name Book ⁽²⁾

CLONALIG (OSNB ii 19): This is a large td. with considerable patches of bog interspersed thro' it. The road from Cullaghville to Dundalk runs straight thro' E. & W.. Td. 3/4 of a mile from the former. Mr. Thos. O'Callaghan has a residence here called Ivy Lodge, & a surgeon Mc Parlan another called Foxfield. The land is well cultivated, yielding very fair crops in some portions while other parts are very inferior. The general run['?] of the dwellings are poor cabins.
It contains 613..1..15 of which 65..1..9 is uncultivated and Bog.

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	1828	1837	1851	1864	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911	1926	1935	1952	1957	1974
Valuation	£202.50	£247.06	£271.25	£333.90	£339.50	£337.00	£332.50	£322.00	£332.75	£328.75	£382.50	£406.35	£236.50	£300.65

The 1837 Townland Valuation recorded only houses worth £5 or more a year. There were two such houses in the townland -

• Catherine McMaster
• Thomas O'Callaghan

Griffiths Valuation records thatownership of the townland was shared between Peter Murphy and Dominick Daly. The Valuation also records a National School House and a forge (Thomas Waters). The 1935 valuation records a forge (Peter Watters) and two quarries (Francis Gregory and Rose McGeeney).

Census of Ireland 1901

The Census enumerated 213 persons in 52 households; a ratio of 4.1 people per household. The households occupied a total of 120 rooms; a ratio of 2.3 rooms per household and 1.8 people per room. One family of 13 had two rooms and one of 12 had three rooms. Twelve of the households had 3 or more rooms, 37 had two rooms and three had a single room. One household of 13 people occupied two rooms.

Native Irish Speakers

Of the 52 households enumerated in the Census, 18 contained at least one native Irish speaker - 30 in all. Since theirs was the last generation to have been born into a predominently Irish speaking environment, their names, occupations and ages are recorded here. All were born in Co. Armagh with the exception of Mary Ward, born Co. Monaghab and Bridget Donaho, born Co. Louth.

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	100	85	85	86	69	62	52	52	47	47	44
People	506	410	369	348	290	243	213	207	170	156	156
People per house	5.1	4.8	4.3	4.0	4.2	3.9	4.1	4.0	3.6	3.3	3.5

In the period of 110 years, the number of households reduced by 66% - two thirds - and the population dropped by 69%. Following an initial fall between of almost 100 people 1841 and 1851, the population steadily declined over the following 90 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.