Altshallan either Alt Sealáin, meaning ''The Gorge of the Water Channel'' or Alt Sealán meaning the ''Height of the Gallows'' (probably the former), is a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

Templeport Templeport () is a civil parish in the barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland. The chief towns in the parish are Bawnboy and Ballymagauran. The large Roman Catholic parish of Templeport containing 42,172 statute acres was split up in the 18 ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (''Bréifn ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It lies in the Roman Catholic parish of

Glangevlin Glangevlin () is a village in the northwest of County Cavan, Ireland. It is in the townlands of Gub (Glangevlin) and Tullytiernan, at the junction of the R200 and R207 regional roads. It is surrounded by the Cuilcagh Mountains and borders ...

and barony of

Tullyhaw Tullyhaw ( ga, Teallach Eathach) (which means 'The Territory of Eochaidh', an ancestor of the McGoverns, who lived ) is a Barony in County Cavan in the Republic of Ireland. The area has been in constant occupation since pre-4000 BC. Locat ...

Geography

Altshallon is bounded on the north by

Carnmaclean Carnmaclean, an Anglicisation of the Irish ‘Carn Mhic Giolla Éain’, meaning ''McClean’s Cairn'', is a townland in the civil parish of Templeport, barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland. Geography Carnmaclean is bounded on the north b ...

townland, on the west by Carntullagh and

Mullaghlea Glen Mullaghlea Glen (), is a townland in the civil parish of Templeport, County Cavan, Ireland. It lies in the Roman Catholic parish of Glangevlin and barony of Tullyhaw. Geography Mullaghlea Glen is bounded on the north by Moneenabrone townland ...

townlands, on the east by

Carrick West Carrick West, (), is a townland in the civil parish of Templeport, County Cavan, Ireland. It is named Carrick West or Carrick Hassard to distinguish it from Carrick East or Carrick Fisher townland which is in Templeport parish. It lies in the Ro ...

, Curraghglass and

Knockgorm Knockgorm, an Anglicisation of the Gaelic 'Cnoc Gorm', meaning ''The Blue Hill'' (probably because the soil is light blue), is a townland in the civil parish of Templeport, County Cavan, Ireland. It lies in the Roman Catholic parish of Glangevli ...

townlands and on the south by Slievenakilla townland. Its chief geographical features are Altshallan Lough (also called ''Loch na bFroganna'' meaning 'Lake of the Frogs'), the

oligotrophic An oligotroph is an organism that can live in an environment that offers very low levels of nutrients. They may be contrasted with copiotrophs, which prefer nutritionally rich environments. Oligotrophs are characterized by slow growth, low rates o ...

Lough Nambrack (Loch na mBreac meaning either the ''Speckled Lake'' or ''The Lake of the Trout''), mountain streams, waterfalls, forestry plantations, rocky outcrops and spring wells. Altshallon is traversed by minor public roads and rural lanes. The townland covers 290 statute acres.

History

In earlier times the townland was probably uninhabited as it consists mainly of bog and poor clay soils. It was not seized by the English during the Plantation of Ulster in 1610 or in the Cromwellian Settlement of the 1660s so some dispossessed Irish families moved there and began to clear and farm the land. A deed by Thomas Enery dated 29 Jan 1735 includes the lands of ''Ardshallam''. A deed by John Enery dated 13 December 1774 includes the lands of ''Ardshellam in Glangevlin''. The 1790 Cavan Carvaghs list spells the name as ''Altshallan''. The Tithe Applotment Books for 1826 list four tithepayers in the townland. The Ordnance Survey Name Books for 1836 give the following description of the townland- ''There is abundance of lime & freestone in the townland but they are not quarried nor used for any purpose whatever...There is a small lake on the east side and a large one on the south boundary''. The Altshallan Valuation Office Field books are available for August 1839.

Griffith's Valuation Griffith's Valuation was a boundary and land valuation survey of Ireland completed in 1868. Griffith's background Richard John Griffith started to value land in Scotland, where he spent two years in 1806-1807 valuing terrain through the examinat ...

of 1857 lists twenty landholders in the townland. In the 19th century the landlords of Altshallon were the Annesley and Hassard Estates. In 1875 the Hassard Estate was sold to James Bracken.

Census

In the 1901 census of Ireland, there are six families listed in the townland. In the

1911 census of Ireland The 1911 Census of Ireland was the last census that covered the whole island of Ireland. Censuses were taken at ten-year intervals from 1821 onwards, but the 1921 census was cancelled due to the Irish War of Independence. The original records o ...

, there are seven families listed in the townland.http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Cavan/Dunmakeever/Altshallan/ ''Census of Ireland 1911''

References

External links

The IreAtlas Townland Data Base
{{County Cavan Townlands of County Cavan