quinheritagroup@gmail.com

A long stick or staff

This sparsely populated townland is adjacent to Craggaunowen and directly facing Cullaun townland and the entrance to the Cullaun demesne.

Placename confirmed to Ordnance Survey Boundary Surveyor in 1839 by Rev Daniel Corbett PP, R. Studdert, Rector. Recorded also as Cappaghnamadgh (Cappanamuddagh). Ceapach na Muide

Ceapach – tillage plot; na Muide – of the mud.

99.92 hectares / 0.9992 km²/0.39 square miles/246.91 acres

1825 Occupiers of land in Cant (Cappaghnamadgh) on 1st May eligible for tithe payment
Mr James Frost

 

1855 Griffiths Valuation – occupiers/property owners
1. Occupier James Frost, Owner Crosdale Maloney
2. Occupier Mary Fere, Owner Crosdale Maloney. John Bermingham, Freeholder

Richard Griffith began his work as a civil servant in the early 1820s and was appointed Boundary Commissioner in 1825. Griffith and his team of surveyors, draftsmen and spademen established the boundaries of townlands, civil parishes, baronies and counties for the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. Griffith then became instrumental in the work of the Valuation Office, which surveyed land and buildings to ascertain their value for taxation purposes. The result of his work, the Primary Valuation of Ireland, was published for the entire island of Ireland between 1847 and 1864. Griffith and his team placed a rateable valuation on every piece of property in Ireland, which became the basis of a property tax called rates, which was used to fund the local Poor Law Union, including the Workhouse.

Census Records for Cant

1841 Census: Population 17; Households 3

1851 Census: Population 31; Households 8

1861 Census: Population 24; Households 7

1871 Census: Population 24; Households 6

1881 Census: Population 18; Households 6

1891 Census: Population 13; Households 4

1901 Census

Michael & his sister Marghet Phayer.

Mary McDonnell, sons Patrick, John.

1911 Census

Michael & his sister Margaret Fair.

Patrick McDonnell & his brother John.

1926 Census

Patrick McDonnell & his brother John (both single farmers)

Martin O’Brien & his sister Margaret.

1918 Quin Subscribers to Major Redmond Memorial Fund

John McDonnell, Patrick McDonnell DC.

Surnames found in this townland

Fere may be a variant of Fahy or O’Fearghail/Farrell. The Frost family was highly prominent throughout the broader Dangan and Quin area. Notably, James Frost of this wider clan was a well-known local historian who published The History and Topography of the County of Clare in 1893. Bermingham is an Anglo-Norman surname that became deeply integrated into Connacht and Munster (including East Clare) over the centuries. Other surnames found in records are Broggy, Coalman, Garvey, Lyddy, Lynch.

Death of Dr Patrick McDonnell, Quin Dispensary District

Right: Dr Patrick McDonnell pictured with his family in the late 1880’s. A medical doctor, he was originally from Broadford, but was then living in Cant.

Also in this photo is his wife Ellen nee Johnston from Clonlara to whom he married in 1877. Their four children were John, Catherine, George and Mary. Dr McDonnell died as a result of an accident in 1890.

EXTRACT FROM THE SATURDAY REPORTER OF APRIL, 28th. 1890

Death of Dr McDonnell. We regret to hear of the death, under particularly unusual circumstances, of Dr McDonnell of Quin, which occurred last Thursday night the 25th inst. He was attending a sick call on Wednesday last, and while returning, was thrown from his trap a short distance outside the village. From the nature of his injuries, he appeared to have alighted on the back portion of the bend, the skull being fractured on that spot. His servant boy was with him in the trap at the time, and the occurrence was also witnessed by a Mr Carmody, a neighbouring farmer, who was in an adjoining field, and they assisted in removing him to a house in the vicinity where he was attended by Dr Scanlon of Tulla and Dr Jennings of Ennis, who rendered all the aid that medical skill could give, but, though he rallied (?) at first, he succumbed on Thursday night. The deceased gentleman was a son of Mr John McDonnell of Broadford, and leaves a widow and young family, for whom universal sympathy is felt in their sad bereavement. He was, for several years, Medical Doctor of Quin Dispensary District, and was extremely popular on account of his generous disposition.

The remains were interred at Broadford yesterday, the funeral cortege being the largest ever witnessed in that part of the County.

EXTRACT FROM THE “SATURDAY RECORD’ OF APRIL, 28th. 1890.

Through the death of Dr. McDonnell, who was a former President of the Clare County Board G.A.A., the ties in the County Championships which were to be played on Sunday in Doora were postponed, as a mark of respect to his memory.

Extract from the “Saturday Record of May, 1st. 1890.

Quin Dispensary.

For the vacancy in the Medical Officership, held for a number of years by the late Dr. McDonnell, whose death it was our painful duty to announce in our last issue, the names of several gentlemen are spoken of as probable candidates for the office.

Dr O’Mara of Limerick, son of Mr James O’Mara, Dr Purceli, son of Mr Mather Purcell, Bauroe House, Feakle, a cousin of deceased, Dr Hannan, son of Mr P. Hannan, Killula, and Dr McDonnell, brother of deceased gentleman.

Drs. McDonnell, Hanna and Purcell are all in practice in England. The Committee of Management has not yet fixed the date of election. The salary is £100 with fees under various Acts which substantially increases it.

From ‘Vintage Lens’ Facebook November 2023:

Yesterday, I posted a photo of a family from Quin with their bicycles c.1888. The father of the family, Dr Patrick McDonnell, died not long after the photo was taken, in 1890. Sadly the mother, Ellen McDonnell, née Johnston, also died in the 1890s, leaving five children: George (1879-1939), John (1882-1915), Mary (1884-1948), Catherine (1885-1968), Hanora (1889-1956). John emigrated to New York in 1908. Mary and Hanora went to the UK and Catherine became a Sister of Mercy nun in Kilrush (Sister Aquinas).

The eldest, George Patrick McDonnell, is pictured here. He kept up cycling and won several competitions. He ended up as a civil engineer in Mullinahone in Co Tipperary. Not only was he a keen cyclist but an inventer too. He patented the ‘Tipperary Starter’ for cars in 1915. In a newspaper ad that year it was said: ‘Start your own car from the seat….without ratchets, free wheels, electricity or other trouble givers, and no possible danger from back fire.’ 

Previous to that, in 1913, he had also applied for a patent for a grass trimmer. This is how it was described in the ‘Cork Examiner’: ‘Apparatus for trimming grass edges of roads, sidewalks, grass plots, etc., comprises a special rotary cutter acting as a supporting wheel, an adjustable undercutting-knife, and means for discharging the cut turf at one side, or for elevating it into a cart. The ordinary wheel and cutting wheel are mounted on an axle, on which is pivoted a support for the seat, and a frame carrying the draught shafts. The undercutter, a continuation, and a guide-plate are connected by bars to the seat support, and are adjusted by rotating a screwed rod connecting the seat support to the draught frame. The plate discharges the material at the side of the machine or into elevating-apparatus. The cutting part of the wheel is preferably secured by screws, so that it may be detached for sharpening or shaping.’

National Monuments

CL043-010 Cappanamuddagh Ringfort Enclosure (Right)

CL035-086 Enclosure

Description: On a gentle S-facing slope, in improved, gently undulating pasture. A circular area (diam. 20m) defined by a well-formed sod-covered wall of stone (int. H 0.5m; ext. H 1.15m; Wth at top 2m; overall Wth 7.25m). Thorn trees grow around top and sides of bank. There is no obvious entrance gap. The interior has a slight tilt downslope to E. An irregular heap of stones covered in vegetation is located within the centre and other loose stones are scattered around the interior. A linear limestone ridge (long-axis NE-SW) projects (L c. 55m) from exterior of monument at E and appears naturally formed. A laneway (long-axis NE-SW) flanks the exterior of the monument to N. A field fence (long-axis NW-SE) is located c. 2.5m to W and a stone wall townland boundary (long-axis NE-SW) is located c. 4m to N.

CL035-090 Enclosure

Description: On a low rise, having a steep E-facing slope where there is a small valley (long-axis N-S), in improved gently undulating pasture. Not visible at ground level. Depicted on all historic OS mapping as an oval area (34m N-S; 31m E-W) defined by a single enclosing element. A small field and settlement is shown adjoining to S. According to local information this land was intensively improved sometime prior to the 1980s. Enclosure (CL035-095—-) is c. 65m to ENE.

CL035-095 Enclosure

Description: On a plateau on a low, gently undulating ridge, overlooking a small valley to the immediate W, in improved pasture. Depicted on all OS historic mapping as an oval area (33m N-S; 30m E-W) defined by a single enclosing element. Not visible at ground level. According to local information this land was intensively improved sometime prior to the 1980s. Enclosure (CL035-090—-) is c. 65m to WSW.

CL035-097 Enclosure

Description: On a low, yet distinctive knoll, in improved pasture, overlooking woodland to E and gently rolling pasture elsewhere. Depicted on the 1840 edition OS 6-inch map as a large oval area defined by a single enclosing element. The monument is shown as a sub-oval area (30m N-S; 19m E-W) defined by a single enclosing element on the 25-inch OS map and 1921 edition of the OS 6-inch map. Not visible at ground level. This knoll was clearly used as a well-drained vantage point with land sloping down steeply to N and E. According to local information this land was intensively improved sometime prior to the 1980s.

 

Descriptions courtesy of Mary Tunney, National Monument Services

Baptisms in 1800’s

 

Date Child’s name Father’s F/n Mother’s maiden name Sponsors
22.04.1826 John Broggy Lot Steele Anna James Hannin(Mannion?)
24.02.1822 Patrick Coalman Cornelius Ready Honora Michael Torpey, Margaret McNamara
??.05.1836 Ellen Fair Michael Baker Maria William Ready, Maria Liddy
13.04.1838 Michael Fair Michael Baker Mary Thomas Meany, Honor Baker
18.04.1840 John Fair Michael Baker Mary Pat McDonnel, Bridget (?)
05.07.1841 Margaret Fair Michael Baker Mary Pat Liddy, Mary Meany
12.01.1826 Briget Garvey James Birmingham Mary Maichael Cain
22.04.1826 Timothy Lyddy James Roughan Nancy Daniel Lynch
30.01.1835 Ann Lynch John Reddy Joan William Ready, Mary Meany
22.12.1845 Bridget McDonnel James Molony Mary Tom Hogan, Judy Donnelan
17.03.1850 Catherine McDonnel James Molony Mary Michael Murphy, Mary Meany
20.11.1844 Margaret McDonnell James Molony Mary Pat Hogan, Mary Hogan
25.07.1852 James McDonnell James Molony Mary Thomas Molony, Honora Molony
25.04.1855 Michael McDonnell James Molony Mary Michael Fa(?), Anne Fai(?)
30.11.1861 John McDonnell James Maloney Mary Patt Hallinan, Margaret Fair
06.10.1864 Winnifred McDonnell James Molony   Mary Cotter
08.11.1857 Thomas McDonnell James Moroney Mary Thomas McDonnell, Margaret McDonnell

What did the Anglo Normans ever do for us?

We are well aware of the impact of the Anglo-Norman invasion on our history, the undermining of Gaelic society and the replacement of our native structures. Poor old Diarmuid MacMurrough takes a lot of blame for all of this, despite the fact that Henry II in England had already sought and had been given approval by Pope Adrian to invade and civilise us. Henry was just waiting to finish his war in France before sorting us out!

Anyway, in they came, conquered, settled, married and eventually becoming more Irish than even ourselves, ‘níos gaelaí ná na Gaeil féin’! But besides building towns and castles, robbing our women (and probably taking our jobs!), what did the Anglo-Normans do for us – if anything?

Well, for one, they gave us a whole new suite of names, both forename and surname, to choose from.

The Norman influence on Irish surnames

Following the invasion of 1169, a large number of Anglo-French first and last names entered into Ireland. Many, such as Power, Browne, Fleming, Joyce, Burke, Barry, Costello, Nagle, Nugent, D’arcy, Roche and Walsh/Welsh/Wallace, are nowadays considered Irish and are commonly found in Clare. So, too, are those with the Fitz prefix such as Fitzmaurice, Fitzgerald, Fitzgibbon and Fitzpatrick which most people would regard as Irish as the shamrock. Fitz, meaning ‘son of’, can be considered the Norman version of Mac (it derives from the Latin/French ‘fils de’, meaning ‘son of’). Burke came from de Burgh, Roche from de Roiste, Power from de Paor.

In 1366, a law was passed that “Every Englishman do use the English language, and be named by an English name, leaving off entirely the manner of naming used by the Irish.” This was introduced to dissuade the settlers from adopting Celtic prefixes or forms of surname. It didn’t have much affect as many settler families added Mac or ‘O’ and Norman names evolved into an Irish form (eg McHenry, McArthur).

In 1465 a law was passed enacting “that every Irishman that dwells betwixt or amongst Englishmen in the County of Dublin, Myeth, Vriell, and Kildare … shall take to him an English Surname of one town, as Sutton, Chester, Trym, Skryne, Corke, Kinsale; or colour, as white, blacke, browne; or arte or science, as smith or carpenter; or office, as cooke, butler ….”

Many of the trades of the early medieval period such as Archer, Butler, Cooper, Carpenter, Draper, Skinner, Tanner found their way into our surnames. Other introductions from this period came from the mercenary soldiers who accompanied the Norman invasion: Walsh (meaning Welsh), Joyce and Fleming (from Flemish mercenaries) are examples.

Incidentally, the Normans usually took their surnames from the place of their family origins. So, D’arcy originates in Arcy in Normandy. De Clare originates in Clare in Suffolk where the Anglo-Norman family were based. While De indicated their place of origin, Le was used to describe them, eg Le Poer meant ‘a poor person’.

De Burgh – Burke – from a placename in Suffolk, France

Le Botilier – Butler – Occupation bottle steward

De Barra – Barry – from an estate in Wales

Le Waleys – Walsh – the Welshmen

De Angulo – Costello/Nangle – from Nangle Pembrokeshire

What of their influence on forenames?

 Many of the Normans forenames introduced here were of a biblical or European saintly origin.

 In 1922, Reverend Patrick Woulfe wrote extensively on the topic of Irish name origins as follows:

In the same manner Norman and English names became current in Irish families during the thirteenth and subsequent centuries. These have now almost completely supplanted the old Gaelic names. The names borne by the Normans and by them introduced into Ireland, were of three kinds :

 (1) names of Scandinavian origin which their ancestors had carried with them to Normandy ;

(2) names of Germanic origin which the Frankish conquerors had brought across the Rhine and which had ousted the old Celtic and Latin names from France ; and

(3) Biblical names and Latin and Greek names of saints,, which the Normans began to adopt about the beginning of the eleventh century.

Together with these came in a few Celtic names from Brittany, a small number of Anglo-Saxon names, some Danish and Norse names from England, and one or two British or Welsh names. These were nearly all very rare and most of them soon died out. Of the Anglo-Saxon names, only two, Edmund and Edward, survived. Alfred has been revived in recent times. At the period of the Invasion, Frankish names were by far the most popular among the Normans, but Biblical and saintly names were coming rapidly into favour.

The following is a list, in order of frequency, of the more common names borne by the early Anglo- Norman invaders, the Biblical and saintly names of Latin and Greek origin being printed in italics :

William, Robert, Richard, John, Walter, Roger, Ralph, Adam, Hugh, Henry, Thomas, Nicholas, Gilbert, Geoffrey, Elias, Peter (Piers), Osbert, Reginald, Jordan, Simon, Alan, Stephen, Philip, David, Arnold, Alexander, Laurence, Baldwin, Herbert, Martin, Maurice, Godfrey, Andrew, Alfred, James, Samson, Turstein, Warin, Ailward, Daniel, Edward, Gregory, Bernard, Benedict, Hamon, Matthias, Michael, Gerard, Gervase, Lambert, Wilkin, Patrick, Edmund, Edwin, Hubert, Ivor, Joseph, Oliver, Mark.

 The following in alphabetical order were rare :

 Abraham, Adelard, Ailmer, Antony, Augustine, Brian, Clement, Constantine, Estmund, Eustace, Everard, Gocelin, Isaac, Leonard, Luke, Matthew, Miles, Milo, Odo, Osbern, Osmund, Pagan, Ponce, Randulf, Redmund, Rodulf, Silvester, Turold, Ulf, Vincent.

 The following names only came in, or at least became popular, at a later period :

Bartholomew, Christopher, Francis, Gerald, George, Paul, Roland, Theobald.

 Women’s names among the Normans were nearly all of the Biblical or saintly class:

 Agnes, Alice, Amelina, Anastasia, Annabella, Catherine, Cecily, Christina, Dorothy, Egidia, Eleanor, Evelyn, Frances, Honora, Isabella, Johanna, Matilda, Margaret, Susanna.

 The name Mary does not seem to have come into use in Ireland before the end of the16th century. Brigid only began to be used about the same period.

 

Extracted from ‘Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall’, Patrick Woulfe 1922

Out with the old, in with the new

The Anglo-Normans also brought with them new animal species such as the rabbit and fallow deer, new foods such as wheat, orchard fruits, mutton and farming practices such as hay-making. They introduced us to continental European religious saints and practices of the Roman Church. European religious orders soon followed such as the Franciscans, Augustinians, Cistercians, Dominicans etc. These replaced the structures of the native Irish Christian Church.

Up to then, the Irish natives did not adopt the name of saints as they considered this to be placing themselves on a par with the saint. Such naming convention was reserved for those of higher status in the monasteries. This was circumvented by use of the prefix Maol or Giolla meaning follower or servant. The Normans changed all of that and it was now acceptable to be called Peter, James, Michael, John, Mary, Brigid or Margaret.

Very few of us to this day do not have either a forename or surname that is not of Norman origin. Eventually, arising from the Gaelic Revival in the late 19th century, new Irish language versions of these forenames appeared such as Séan, Seamus, Peadar, Máire, Bríd, Mícheál, Cathal and many more appeared.

The Irish Church did not condemn the practice of slave-trading by the Irish until the invasion by the Anglo-Normans and the encroachment of the Roman Church. The story of Patrick (Patricius, son of a Roman administrator), which was introduced here after the Norman conquest, presents the native Irish as uncivilised pagan slavers who needed to be brought to heel. So the Normans inadvertently gave us our native saint and a forename for a good chunk of our population for generations following.

Out with the new, in with the old

Children are rarely given these European saint names today. Authentic Gaelic forenames are much more popular. We are nevertheless, unlikely to see the demise of the Anglo-Normans surnames that were introduced here. But all of us Mikes, Jimmies, Johnnys, Paddys, Kittys, Cathys, Maggies and Bridies can thank the Normans for what they brought us!