Oughteragh

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="097f0f21egerdp.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" ><B>Our Family  Past and Present</B></FONT><B>      |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Family Past and Present"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id369.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Eirinn"><U>Eirinn</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id243.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Co Leitrim"><U>Co Leitrim</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id249.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Irish Speakers"><U>Irish Speakers</U></A>   |   <B>Oughteragh</B>   |   <A HREF="id377.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cafferty Genealogy Chart"><U>Cafferty Genealogy Chart</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id246.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Caffertys"><U>The Caffertys</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id156.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mary Theresa Cafferty"><U>Mary Theresa Cafferty</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Creamer"><U>Creamer</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id395.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Origin of the Name OBrien"><U>Origin of the Name O'Brien</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id376.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OBrien Genealogy Chart"><U>O'Brien Genealogy Chart</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id333.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The OBriens of Leitrim"><U>The O'Briens of Leitrim</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id375.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The OBrien Farm"><U>The O'Brien Farm</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Patrick Farrell OBrien"><U>Patrick Farrell O'Brien</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id177.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Farrells of Co Longford "><U>The Farrells of Co Longford </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id346.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Battle of 1798"><U>Battle of 1798</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mary Farrell"><U>Mary Farrell</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id244.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="County Kerry"><U>County Kerry</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id396.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Origin of the Name Sullivan"><U>Origin of the Name Sullivan</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Florence Sullivan"><U>Florence Sullivan</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="096f2f02egerdp.jpg"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id94.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="From the Emerald Isle"><U>From the Emerald Isle</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="099f0f03.jpg"> <div> <I>Oughteragh</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="1e84b880.gif" border=0 width="75" height="136" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> The Parish of Oughteragh</div> <div> County Leitrim, Ireland</div> <bR> <div> Excerpts from the book Sliabh an Iarainn Slopes</div> <div> By Fr. Dan Gallogly, 1991</div> <bR> <div> Uachtar Achadh is the ancient Gaelic name for the area in South Leitrim called Oughteragh. It means " the upper field or meadow".</div> <bR> <div> Thirty three ringforts can be found in Oughteragh, nine in Aughnasheelin alone.</div> <bR> <div> Legend has much to say about the early invasions of Ireland, whereas history tells us very little. According to legend, the Tuatha Dé Danann arrived in Ireland by descending on Sliabh an Iarainn in the form of a mist. There, they discovered iron and forged the weapons that brought them victory in the Battle of Magh Tuiredh Sligo against the Fomorians who occupied the north-western sea coast. According to legend, this is how the mountain got it's name -Sliabh an Iarainn, the Iron Mountain. The memory of the mythical cow of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the "Glas Cow" is preserved in the name of the Glas or Glosh river which flows from Miskaun to join the Yellow River at Greaghglass. Local legend tells us this mythical cow came to graze on the banks of the river from Glangevlin. She crossed the mountain leaving a hugh gap in the top of it  which can be still be seen. It was said that she could not be milked dry and no vessel could be found large enough to hold her milk. </div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Excerpts from the book Sliabh an Iarainn Slopes</div> <div> By Fr. Dan Gallogly, 1991</div> <bR> <div> In Medieval times, it was called Cinel Luachain, and named for the Conmaicne people who settled around Fenagh in the 6th century. These tribes peopled all of South Leitrim and North Longford.</div> <bR> <div> Fenagh is mentioned fourteen times in the Annals of the Four Masters.</div> <bR> <div> Ballinamore lies in the "Valley of the Black Pig". It is a low lying district. In the 4th century, the province of Ulster was pushed back, and the border was marked by dykes and ditches. Legend gives us a convienient explanation as to the origin of this ditch.</div> <bR> <div> A schoolmaster, so they say, from nearby Boyne used to turn his pupils into hares and set his hounds on them. Once he turned two sons of a red-haired widow, one into a hare and one into a hound who chased his brother and killed him. In revenge, the woman turned the teacher into a black pig. The herds of swine refused to associate with him as he raced across the country heaving a huge track in his wake known as the Black Pig's Dyke or Ditch. He was eventually killed by a woman washing clothes in the Shannon at Rooskey.</div> <bR> <div> Another story, the local version of St. Columcille's prophesy, foretells a bloody war in the Valley of the Black Pig before the end of the world. It would be a religious war coming between the scythe and the sickle which would mark the final overthrow of heresy, which in this instance meant protestantism, and that the streets of Fenagh would run red with human blood. "Woe to him who lives in the Valley of the Black Pig when the great war comes. Only those who have escaped across the Shannon into Connaught will be saved." Although attributed to St Columcille, this prophesy does not pre-date the early decades of the last century when prophecies foretelling the end of the world preceded by the overthrow of protestantism were popular.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><U>The reference to fleeing to safety in Connaught is a throw-back to the exodus of people from Ulster into Connaught following the Battle of the Diamond in Co. Armagh in 1795.</U></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><U>This is the time when the Cafferty family made their way into Leitrim.</U></I></div> <bR> <div> Miskaun Glebe, where Andrew Cafferty and Co. settled ,was part of the lands set aside for the clergy in the 12th century. Legend has it that Saint Bridgid rested there with her cow. She is said to have founded a church, and blessed a holy well there, which is still the center of devotion to this day. As with much of  Irish christianity, remnants of ancient myth and ritual became local custom. After traditonal prayers were said, a personal item was left at the well, such as a hair ribbon, coin or medal. Rags were sometimes tied to bushes around the well. This custom is still carried on at Saint Patrick's holy well which is also in Miskaun.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><U>The Cafferty family drew their water from Bridgid's Well.</U></I></div> <bR> <div> The Protestant Church confiscated the area in the 17th century.</div> <bR> <div> In the early 19th century, religious practices were severly limited. Churches were too small to accomodate the large congregations. Many worshipers had to stand outside. The few churches had no seats, statues, pictures, and the Blessed Sacrement was not housed in them. They were only used for Sunday Mass, and not for the baptisms, marriages or funerals. The religious needs of the people were met by "Stations". This meant the priest visited different houses, hearing confessions ,giving religious instruction and often saying Mass.</div> <bR> <div> Ballinamore is described in Piggott's Directory of August 12, 1824 as:</div> <bR> <div> Ballinamore is a market and post town on the banks of a small river in the county of Leitrim, 73 miles north-west of Dublin, nine miles from Carrigallen and six south-west of Ballyconnell. A considerable corn-mill has lately been erected here by Mr. Charles Sharpley, and there are also two extensive tan-yards, which employ many of the inhabitants. The church is a small but neat edifice, possessing neither spire nor steeple; and the Catholic chapel is a spacious stone building. There is a session house where civil suits are decided twice a year. The market ,which is held on , is remarkably well supplied. It's two fairs are on the 12th of May and the 12th of November. The population is about 800. </div> <bR> <div> The parish priest in Aughnasheelin 1841 was Fr. Hugh Cassidy and Fr. Thomas McGuire. The oldest gravestone in the chuchyard dates from 1842.</div> <bR> <div> In 1843, the present church in Aughnasheelin was built. There was a teeming population of over 4000 people in that area of  the parish.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><U>The Cafferty family built and used the first seat in the new church. </U></I></div> <bR> <div> National schools came to the area. Between 1835-1877, ten schools were built.</div> <bR> <div> In 1847, a new Market House was built by Catherine Penelope Jones. It was located near the canal. At this time, it enhanced greatly the commerical life of the town. This was before the railroads arrived, and canals were vital to an area's prosperity. The English landlords, the gentry, were prepared to profit greatly from the success of this new venture. The railroads brought an abrupt end to this scheme.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> The Farms</div> <bR> <div> Early in the 19th century, land in Leitrim was all held in co-partnership or rundale. This meant that a number of families rented between twenty to fifty acres which they divided between them.</div> <div> In the decades before the Famine, this system rapidly disappeared. Farms were divided into individual holdings by landlords who saw it as an opportunity of earning more rent. The families lived in villages or clusters of houses close to each other. As late as 1835, there were twelve villages or clusters in Oughteragh. </div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><U>Andrew Cafferty and Co. had a cluster settlement in Miscon Glebe. Pottore and Stralongford.The remains of this old system farming was nearing it's final days. The changes took only forty years, and was a revolutionary change in traditional land holding. </U></I></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>      Thus, the old communal life of the poor was disappearing. Farmers were forced to  break up their fields and fence them in. The small lots needed to be broken up into pasture, moor and bog. Each farmer needed to produce sufficient food to feed his own family. The land became over cultivated, and there was a lack of manure. Farmers began to burn the land, which enriched it for the first year or two, and thereafter left it totally barren and exhausted.  The land in Leitrim was described at that time as "generally poor, impoverished, shallow, sour and rushy".</div> <bR> <div>      Another  legacy of  these subdivisions was constant  disputes, fights and litigation between neighbord over right of way and trespass. These problems had never existed before. And to compound the problem, the population was growing rapidly. Leitrim was ripe for disaster, and it came in the form of a mist, leaving their main staple, the potato, rotting in the ground.</div> <bR> <div>      Farm tools changed very little over the years. Up until the 1950's, the traditonal agricultural implements were the loy, shovel, spade, grape, pitchfork, slane, harrow, rake fork and steeveen.</div> <bR> <div>      Potatoes were sown in ridges dug with loys by men working in groups or `mehal'. Occasionally, during this `mehal' a contest would start to establish who was the best digger.They also grew oats. Women tied the sheaves in the hay fields at harvest.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="1e949420.gif" border=0 width="329" height="66" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Widow Prior's Eviction</div> <bR> <div> In  the spring of 1886, thirty four families were evicted on the estates of Mrs. King. She was a large land owner in the area. Her baliff was Francis Cooke, referred to locally as "Teapot Cook."</div> <bR> <div> On February 22, the sheriff, sub-sheriff and three baliffs and twenty five police arrived to execute the evictions. The first three were not met by any opposition.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> They did, however run into a great deal of trouble in Cromlin.</div> <div> Old "Widow Prior", [Ellen Prior], was next on the list. A crowd of about five to eight hundred, with drums, fifes and sticks yelling and shouting, "you'll not put out the widow" met them on the road. A number of men entered the house and refused entry to the sheriff. By this time, the crowd had surrounded the house and the police were ordered to fix bayonets to keep them at bay.  Stones were thrown, and some of the police claimed to have been hit. The local clergy were there trying to keep the peace. Fr. McBreen the parish priest told the  sheriff that if he did not withdraw until he had sufficient force, he could not guarantee the peace. He tried to address the crowd from the ditch, telling them to keep quiet until they got Home Rule. This was a desperate  attempt by Fr. McBreen to placate with an empty promise a depressed peasantry whose immediate concern was holding on to their homes. He was ignored and the crowd grew so threatening that the sheriff withdrew to a  send off of cheers and stones.</div> <bR> <div> He went on to evict John Fee in Unsinagh, and the eviction was carried out. By the time they got to Master McGowan's in Unsinagh, the crowd had re-grouped and he had to withdraw. On March third, when the same sheriff went to evict  Michael Gaynor in Meenahill, he was hit by Catherine Gaynor with a porringer of boiling water in the face and scalded. She was later given a month in jail, though she was pregnant at the time.</div> <bR> <div> On March 24, Harrison and Cooke returned with 300 police, and nine emergencymen to complete the job. This time the people, on the advice of the local clergy, offered no opposition. The first evicted was the aged Master McGowan and his sick wife. Next, on the list was Widow Dolan, an octogenarian and the Leitrim Advertiser wrote that "the sad sight of her sitting at the gable of her house would draw tears from some of the manliest eyes."</div> <bR> <div> Mrs Mary Conlon and her two children, John and Mary, were next evicted in Prabagh. It rained all day and the few belonging of the evicted family were destroyed. The newspaper described the houses as over crowded hovels, some shared with domestic animals, the land as "unproductive and almost uninhabitable". A policeman was reported to have commented that if he got the whole townland of Prabagh free, he couldn't live on it.</div> <bR> <div> As a sequel to the events of February 22, twenty-one people who had been prominent at Widow Prior's house were charged with riotous assembly. </div> <bR> <div> <I><U>Among them were Michael Creamer, James Gilheany and Andrew Cafferty.</U></I></div> <bR> <div> Many of them were from Ballinamore, and the lawyer in their defense claimed that they had never seen an eviction before and were following the crowd out of curiosity. They were all eventually acquitted.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>