Moybane

Moybane townland comprises 340 statute acres 1 rood and 15 perches (including a small lake). It lies to the southeast of Crossmaglen, partly straddling the road that connects Crossmaglen to the N5 (Concession Road) beyond Sheelagh Chapel). In the Tithe Applotment Books of 1828 the area was recorded as 153 acres 3 roods and 30 perches (Plantation Irish measure). It is bounded on the north by Lisseraw, Crossmaglen and Sheiland, on the east by Drummuckavall, on the south by Rassen in County Louth and Clonalig and on the west by Cappagh. Until the 1830s there was a small Chapel in the townland, situated close to the crossroads.

Name of townland

Máigh Bhán, "The uncultivated plain" ⁽¹⁾.

There are two townlands called 'Moybane' in Ireland; the other one is in County Fermanagh.

Ordnanace Survey Name Books: Creggan Parish ⁽²⁾

MOYBANE (OSNB ii 41): There is a lake called Cappy Lough on the Western side of this townland, in which the borders of Cappy, Clonaligg and Mowbawn meet. There is a R.C. Chapel in the N. end of this Td. where four roads intersect each other. There is a large portion of bog and water belonging to there. The dwellings are very poor.
It contains 342..3..20 of which 88..24..14 is uncultivated and Bog, and 4..3..24 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	£129.55	£153.50	£203.00	£199.00	£198.00	£193.25	£193.25	£180.75	£180.25	£223.00	£237.75	£278.75	£323.60

The 1837 Townland Valuation recorded only houses worth £5 or more a year. There were no such houses in the townland. There was an exception for a Roman Catholic Chapel in 2 roods of land.

A remarkable event concerning the name McCave occured in the first half of the eighteenth century. In 1828 eighteen of the twenty family names in the townland was "McCave". By 1864 this name had entirely disappeared. However, there were instead 14 families called McCoy. It seems reasonable to assume that these are the same families as the McCaves, the name being changed for some unknown reason. There is no reference in either of Edward MacLysaght's two main reference works to such a name anywhere in Ireland, although it does appear frequently in the 1766 Creggan Census.

Griffiths Valuation records Dominic Daly as owner of the townland.

Census of Ireland

The 1901 census enumerated 114 people in 26 households; a ratio of 4.4 persons per household. The households occupied a total of 69 rooms; a ratio of 2.7 rooms per household and 1.7 people per room. Of the 26 houses, 16 were thatched. Seven houses had 4 rooms, six had 3 rooms, nine had 2 rooms and four had one room.

In 1911 there were 111 people enumerated in 23 households; a ratio of 4.8 people per household. The total number of occupied rooms was 58; a ratio of 2.5 rooms per household and 1.9 people per room. Fifteen of the houses were thatched. There were no single room houses. Thirteen families occupied houses of 2 rooms, 8 families had 3 rooms and two has four rooms. Fifteen houses were thatched.

Native Irish Speakers

Of the 26 households enumerated in 1901, nine contained at least one native Irish speaker - a total of 13. Since theirs was the last generation to have been born into a substanially Irish speaking environment, their names, occupations and ages are recorded here. All were born in Co. Armagh with the exception of Margaret Rocks, born Co. Louth and Joseph O'Reilly, born Co. Fermanagh.

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	38	33	32	32	30	28	26	23	19	18	17
People	197	167	161	149	154	106	115	111	81	69	79
People per house	5.2	5.1	5.0	4.7	5.1	3.8	4.4	4.8	4.3	3.8	4.6

In the period of 110 years, the number of households more than halved (55%) while the population dropped by 60%. The largest drop (46%) was in the 50 years from 1841 to 1891, reflecting the effects of the Great Famine. After a brief rally between 1891 and 1911, the decline continued for the next 40 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.