The rated occupiers of Mayo county town in 1857 recalled

PART THREE

By Tom Gillespie

IN January 1959 The Connaught Telegraph published a list of the rated occupiers of Castlebar for the year ending 1857. The list was taken from the General Valuation List, which was issued for the first time that year and contains the names of all the householders in the various streets in 1857.

Linenhall Street (Townland of Knockthomas): Charles O’Malley, unoccupied old Linen-hall with out offices and yard, Peter Lavelle, Sarah Hughes, Ellen McHale, Patrick Philbin, James McDonnell, Michael McHugh, unoccupied house, John McTigue, Martin Moran, Thomas Cunningham, Richard Flannery, Ellen Brannigan, Patrick Feeney, Thomas Maher, John Cox, Randal McDonnell, James Hearne, Mark Fitzmaurice, William McDonagh, Patrick McDonagh, Michael Canton, Margaret Clarke, Michael McDonagh, Patrick Conroy, Patrick McNamara, Dominick McGreal and Mary Hughes. All of these were medium sized houses with the exception of Mr. Charles O’Malley’s residence, which must have been a commodious one, as valuation of £16 had been placed upon it.

The former Linen-hall, afterwards the Castlebar Reading Room, Catholic Club, which was not occupied in 1857, had a valuation of £11. At that period the Town Hall at the rear had not been erected.

Rush Street (Townland of Knockthomas): Patrick Coogan, Hugh Feeney, Earl of Lucan (ruins), John Devers, Dan Donnelly (for lodgers), John Fergus, John Killeen, James H. Walsh, Daniel Donnelly, unoccupied house, Sarah Callaghan, Laurence Gildea and Anne Levingstone. All of these were small houses with the exception of those held by Messers. Patrick Coogan and Hugh Feeney. In the former case the residence was valued at £13-19-0 while Mr. Feeney’s residence bore a valuation of £18.

Collectors’ Lane (now Lucan Street and in the townland of Knockthomas): Patrick Coogan - store yard and garden, Patrick Gavan, Patrick Waters, unoccupied house, Thomas Cooley - out offices and garden, Patrick Malley, Martin Fadian, unoccupied house, Patrick Flynn, Peter Gavin, Michael Derham, James Rogers, Mary Foy, John Malley, Julia Culkin, Owen Smith, Thomas Cooley - out offices and yard, John Hannon, John Malone, George Duggan, James Curry, Michael McManamon, John Kevlin, Henry Fearns, John Garvey, Thomas Garvey, James Costello, Denis Kilroy and William Halligan. All small houses.

Barrack Street (Townland of Knockthomas): Patrick Devitt, Honoria Lynch, James Walsh, John Larkin, Anthony Rogers - garden only, John Joyce, and an unoccupied house. All these dwellings were of a small type.

Thomas Street (Townland of Knockthomas): Anne Jennings, Mary Byrne, Thomas Mullen, Edward O’Boyle, John Moloney, John Brawley, John Hopkins, John Donlan, John Gallagher, Andrew Terrell, Henry Dowdall, Edward Fenaughty, unoccupied house, Henry Sullivan, Earl of Lucan - ruins and garden, Dominick Moran, John Cleary, Margaret Lynch, Ellen Moran, Samuel MacCormack, Earl of Lucan - ruins and garden, Martin Murtagh, Anthony McGreevy, Mary White, James Kilpatrick, Andrew McTigue and Anthony Rogers. All small houses.

Upper Charles Street (Townland of Knockthomas): James Walsh (for lodgers), John Feeney, unoccupied house, John Shaughnessy, James Mea, Joseph Robinson, George Kean, Daniel O’Donnell, Margaret Gavan, Anne Glynn, Ellen Murphy (for lodgers), Henry Sheridan, John McKinley, Daniel Fallon and James Callaghan. All small houses.

Lower Charles Street (Townland of Knockthomas): Ellen Murphy (£7-5-0), Honoria Walsh (£8-10-0), Fanny Sheridan (£6), Mrs. Bourke (£6-10-0) and James Conry (£11-5-0).

Richard Street (Townland of Knockthomas): John Fallon, unoccupied house, Mary Walsh, Thomas Conry, James O’Dowd, and Laurence Gildea - out offices and yard only, Dr. Thomas Christie, Andrew Howley, John Connor, Stephen Kilboyne and William Garvey. All were small houses while Dr. Christie’s residence was the largest in the street and valued at £3 only.

Poorhouse Hill (now Staball in the townland of Knockthomas): James Malley, Mary Faughney (Faulkner), Patrick Brannley, Thomas Collins, John Twiggs, James Faughney, (Faulkner) - out houses and garden only, Thomas O’Donnell, James Smart, Walter Durkan, John Callaghan, Thomas Lally, Peter Gillen, Patrick Kilgannon, John Bradley - garden only, Jas. Kilcoyne, Catherine Guthrie, Charles Brawley, John Bradley, Edward Torkington, John Fitzgerald, James Faughney, Mary Hutton, James Gavan, John Fergus, Bridget Feeney, Thomas Hoolaghan, Edmond Monnelly and three unoccupied dwellings. All were small houses.

In the townland of Lisnageeha or Antigua, beside Castlebar, the Earl of Lucan was valued at £10 for the brick and tile works he had established there. When the Castlebar Bacon Company first took possession of Lord Lucan’s farmyard for conversion into a modern bacon factory it was found that most of the extensive range of buildings had been roofed with brick tiles made at these works.

The brick factory, which ceased operations many years ago, was situated off the Ballyheane Road, convenient to the comfortable homestead of Mr. Winters, Aughadrina.

Concluded.