Patrick Gormley of Ficarry or Aghalane in Cappagh (1827)

Robert,

I can tell you that Aghalane is 889 acres, and Ficarry/Facarry is 1766 (Making both quite big townlands by Irish standards). In 1901 there were 29 households in Facarry with  182 people and 47 households in Aghalane (including the police station) and 140 inhabitants.

Looking at the map both appears to be hill farming areas on the side of the Sperrin mountains. I think you would need to ask locally to find out if there?s anything special in either townland. The general tendency over the years has been to either demolish the older farm buildings (especially agricultural labourers houses) and replace them with a new modern house. Sometimes the older farm houses have been upgraded, and in some cases they have been left to deteriorate. So you will see quite a lot of new buildings but there are a few ruins about too. The landscape hasn?t changed. Apart from tarmac on the roads and new houses it?s much the same as it was in the 1800s.

If you want a detailed description of life in Cappagh in the 1830s, read the parish description in the Ordnance Survey memoirs for the parish. The OS memoirs were drawn up in the 1830s, essentially for taxation purposes, but contain a very detailed description of lifestyles, hobbies, customs, ancient monuments, and so on. Typically each parish runs to 30 or 40 pages of information and names. The Ulster Historical Foundation may be able to sell you a copy. If not, there should be a copy in PRONI in Belfast (on the shelves in the main reading room).

You might also want to go to the Ulster American Folk park in Omagh or to the Ulster Folk Museum at Cultra near Belfast. Both have examples of farms and typical houses and public buildings from around Northern Ireland around 1900. (The Cultra museum is the bigger collection. Considerably bigger). That would give you a flavour of life in Tyrone at that time.

I assume you have directions on how to find the Gormley properties? For Aghalane, Patrick Gormley?s house was plot 23 which is down a lane on the south side of Inisclan Rd. You?ll probably need a copy of the Griffiths map to locate it accurately. I can?t immediately see the Facarry property, so can?t help you with it.

Elwyn

Dear Elwyn:

Thank you for that thoughtful message! I will follow up on the excellent suggestions that you gave me.

As for finding the "Gormley properties," no, I have no idea about how to do that!  The report I received did not address that.  Can you tell me how to find the the Griffiths map so I can try to find the location when I am there in June?

I appreciate your helpful response!

The Griffiths maps are on line. So you may be able to take a screen shot from that. If not PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast has paper copies, as does the local studies section of Omagh library, Co Tyrone. (At least I am pretty sure they do. You might want to check with them if you are going there). The original maps in PRONI and the library are enormous (3 foot by 4 foot) so just photocopy the bit you need.

For the on-line version, this is the link:

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

Go to the Griffiths site and click on the ?Place name search? option

1. Enter Aghalane under townland, Tyrone under county and Cappagh under parish
2. Click on occupants.
3. On the second page of occupants you will see Patrick Gormley listed.
4. Click on original page. You will see that Patrick was listed under plot 23 which was a house, offices (outbuildings) and 10 acres, 3 roods and 37 perches of land (40 perches in a rood, 4 roods in an acre), so just short of 11 acres.
5. Go back to the results page
6. Now click on either of the map view options by Patrick?s name.
7. Enlarge the map till the red line in the middle of the red box is centre screen and you can read the various names. Aghalane should be just to the right of the red line, above Mountfield village.
8. If you look carefully, you will see plot 23 delineated just north of Aghalane village. So that was Patrick?s farm. He was renting it from Sir Beresford McMahon Bt (Bt = baronet).
9. In the top rh corner of the screen you will see a slider bar. That allows you to switch from the 1850s map to a modern map. From  that you will see that the farm is on what is now the Inisclan Rd.

So with a combination of the old Griffiths map, and a decent modern map, you should be able to find that easily enough. Start by navigating to Mountfield village, and then ask for the Inisclan Rd from there. The buildings on plot 23 were set back from the road. There?s a lane in from the Inisclan Rd, which turned through 90 degrees at the farm, and then headed down to Aghalane village. That?s all pretty distinctive and should enable you to find it easily enough, even if its fallen out of use.

I had a look on Google earth to see if I could see what?s there today. I can get the Inisclan Rd up easily enough but the quality of the picture is dreadful and all I can see is fuzzy green in the area around the farm. So I have no idea.

The name Inisclan Rd was added in the 1950s and 1960s to assist deliverymen and the like but in the 1850s, the address would simply have been Aghalane. The postman, and anyone else who mattered, would know where within the townland each person lived.

Note that there is another Aghalane in Co Tyrone (in Bodoney Upper parish) so when looking for maps etc, take care to get the right one. You want the one in Cappagh.

Good luck.

Elwyn