cappagh

Location

Cappagh (Cappy) lies about a mile south of the village of Cullaville to the east of the Concession Road which links Castleblaney with Dundalk, passing briefly through this part of Northern Ireland. It is mostly on a hill and has a small lake of five acres. It is bounded on the north by Lisseraw, on the east by Moybane, on the south by Clonalig and on the west by Glassdrumonaghy and Creevekeeran. In the Tithe Applotment Books 1828 the total area is recorded as 84 acres 2 roods and 13 perches (Plantation Irish measure).

Name of Townland

Ceapach, "A tillage plot"⁽¹⁾. With the exception of the Tithe Applotment Books (where it is spelled "Cappy") the name is recorded as "Cappagh" in all the official documents used here.

There are 55 townlands in Ireland called 'Cappagh', many in the same County. They are in Counties Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare (2), Cork, (3) Donegal, Down, Dublin, Galway (9), Kerry (7), Kildare, Kilkenny (5), Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo (2), Monaghan, Offaly (2), Roscommon (3), Sligo (2), Tipperary (4), Tyrone, Waterford (2), Westmeath and Wicklow.

Ordnanace Survey Name Books: Creggan Parish ⁽²⁾

CAPPAGH (OSNB ii 20) There is only one small marshy bye road or lane in this td. It is nearly all surrounded by stripes of bog. Chiefly under tillage in small farms producing very indifferent crops. The houses are poor and the few people living here are very uneducated and ignorant. Cappy Lough on the S.W. Side has some trout & eels in it.

It contains 172..1..8 of which 33..O..5 is uncultivated and Bog, and 5..0..20 water.

Griffiths Valuation records that in 1864, with the exception of two houses, all of the townland was owned by Dominic Daly.

Census of Ireland 1901

The 1901 census enumerated 57 people in 17 households; a ratio of 3.4 persons per household. The households occupied a total of 35 rooms; a ratio of 2 rooms per household and 1.6 people per room. Of the 17 houses, 11 were thatched. One house had 4 rooms, three had 3 rooms, nine had 2 rooms and four had one room.

Native Irish Speakers

Of the 17 households enumerated, 14 contained at least one native Irish speaker - a total of 22. 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 Bridget Carraher, Elizabeth Daily, Margaret Kennan, Catherine Carragher and Mary Gerarty, all born in Monaghan.