Hanly in Griffith's Valuation of Glensharrold, Ireland

In 1825 Richard Griffith was appointed by the British Government to carry out a survey of the general valuation of Ireland. He carried out two major valuation surveys: a townland valuation and a tenement survey which valued individual property. It is this second survey which is most concerned to genealogists because of the lack of census records before 1901. Griffith's Valuation is the closest we have to a census.

Below is the Valuation for the Townland of Glensharrold in Co. Limerick, completed in 1853. This was the townland that my Hanley ancestors lived in. Of the two columns of names in the record, the first is the list of "Occupiers" of pieces of property and the second is the "Immediate Lessors," i.e., the landlords. The record is somewhat difficult to read but looking at the second "Occupier" of land held by landlord, Thomas Carrol, you will see Mary Hanly. Although I have no proof, I suspect that this Mary Hanly is probably my 2nd great-grandmother - the mother of Thomas Hanley, my great-grandfather.

Griffith's Valuation for Glensharrold, Co. Limerick

Bridget Hanley at Ellis Island

For the last couple of months the Ellis Island web site have had problems displaying the actual ships' manifests but today I noticed that it was working again. To get a copy of the manifest you have to purchase a copy for $29 or find a way to download it. The normal way to download a page is to right click and "Save page as ..." unless that function has been disabled. It is possible to just ignore the 'disabled' message and continue to download it. I have been able to do it using an Epiphany, a Linux web browser. Here is a copy of the manifest:

Bridget is passenger number 396. The manifest is from the SS Campania (a Cunard ship) that arrived in Ellis Island on June 22, 1895 from Queenstown, Ireland. Today Queenstown in Co. Cork is called Cobh.

Griffith's Valuation and the Hanleys

Griffith's Valuation was a survey of Ireland completed in 1868 by Richard Griffith, British Commissioner of Valuation. Because there are no true Irish census prior to 1901, Griffith's Valuation is the closest we have to a census for Ireland in the 19th century. In County Limerick the survey was completed at the end of June in 1853.

In Griffith's Valuation the townland of Glensharrold in Co. Limerick lists twenty-nine households and among them was a household whose head was Mary Hanley. Without a doubt this Mary Hanley was a relative of mine and probably a direct ancestor. If I had to guess I would probably guess that this Mary Hanley was the mother or grandmother of Thomas Hanley, my great-grandfather.

In the description of the tenement, some included just a house, others house and land, and others house and bog. The tenement held by Mary Hanley was described as just a house. The immediate lessor, that is the actual owner of the land upon Mary's house sat was Thomas Carroll. Most of the land in Glensharrold was owned by Richard M. Yielding. Mary's house was valued at nine shillings.

Among Mary's neighbors in Glensharrold were a few Aherns that we have seen in the census for both 1901 and 1911. In addition, one of her neighbors was an Egan - Bryan Egan.  (Another one that misspelled their name!)

A copy of the original sheet from the valuation may be found here.

Ireland Does Not Have A Prime Minister

This morning's New York Times had an article relating to Secretary of State Clinton and her visit to Ireland accompanied by a photo with Brian Cowen. Although the article refers to Cowen as the Irish Prime Minister, the Republic of Ireland has no Prime Minister. The head of government in Ireland is the Taoiseach, an Irish term meaning Chief.