Moherloob () is a small
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 ...
of
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 is in area and lies in the 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 ...
. As of the 2011 census, there were no people living in Moherloob.
Geography
Moherloob is bounded on the north by
Gortmore and
Moherreagh townlands, on the west by
Gortullaghan townland and on the south and east by
Mullaghlea townland. Its chief geographical features are a stream, forestry plantations and dug wells. Moherloob is traversed by minor roads and rural lanes. The townland covers 111 statute acres.
History
In medieval times the McGovern barony of Tullyhaw was divided into economic taxation areas called ballibetoes, from the Irish ''Baile Biataigh'' (Anglicized as 'Ballybetagh'), meaning 'A Provisioner's Town or Settlement'. The original purpose was to enable the farmer, who controlled the baile, to provide hospitality for those who needed it, such as poor people and travellers. The ballybetagh was further divided into townlands farmed by individual families who paid a tribute or tax to the head of the ballybetagh, who in turn paid a similar tribute to the clan chief. The steward of the ballybetagh would have been the secular equivalent of the
erenagh
The medieval Irish office of erenagh (Old Irish: ''airchinnech'', Modern Irish: ''airchinneach'', Latin: ''princeps'') was responsible for receiving parish revenue from tithes and rents, building and maintaining church property and overseeing the ...
in charge of church lands. There were seven ballibetoes in the parish of Templeport. Moherloob was located in the ballybetagh of "Bally Cloinelogh" (alias 'Bally Cloynelough'). The original Irish is ''Baile Cluain Loch'', meaning 'The Town of the Lake Meadow')
The 1609 Ulster Plantation Baronial Map depicts the townland as part of ''Aghalough'' (Irish 'Achadh Locha' meaning "The Field of the Lake".
The 1652 Commonwealth Survey lists the name as ''Moherloob''.
The 1665 Down Survey map depicts it as ''Maghaloroby''.
William Petty
Sir William Petty FRS (26 May 1623 – 16 December 1687) was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth in Ireland. He developed efficient methods to su ...
's 1685 map depicts it as ''Mahalloroby''.
On 19 January 1586 Queen
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Eli ...
granted a pardon (No. 4813) to ''Teig Oge M’Teig M’Tirlagh O Dollan of Aghholagh'' for fighting against the Queen's forces.
In the
Plantation of Ulster
The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation ('' plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the se ...
by grant dated 24 February 1614, King
James VI and I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
granted, inter alia, ''one pole of Mogherlooby to Phelim McHugh O'Reyly, Bryan McHugh O'Reyly and Cahir McHugh O'Reyly, the sons of Hugh Reyly, late of Ballaghaneo, County Cavan.'' Ballaghaneo is now the townland of Ballaghanea in Lurgan Parish, County Cavan, on the shores of
Lough Ramor
Lough Ramor () is a large natural lake of 741 hectares situated near Virginia, County Cavan. From early records ''Vita Tripartita'' identified as being in the territory of Cenal Muinreamhair. The literal meaning of the term Muinreamhair is 'fat ...
, so the O'Reillys were removed a long way from their home by the Plantation. Hugh Reyly was the great-grandnephew of the chief of the
O'Reilly
O'Reilly ( ga, Ó Raghallaigh) is a group of families, ultimately all of Irish Gaelic origin, who were historically the kings of East Bréifne in what is today County Cavan. The clan were part of the Connachta's Uí Briúin Bréifne kindred a ...
clan, Eoghan na Fésóige mac Seoain, who ruled from 1418–1449. The O’Reilly lands in Moherloob were confiscated in the Cromwellian
Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652
The Act for the Setling of Ireland imposed penalties including death and land confiscation against Irish civilians and combatants after the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and subsequent unrest. British historian John Morrill wrote that the Act and as ...
and were distributed as follows-
The 1652 Commonwealth Survey lists the proprietor as ''Captain Payne'' and the tenant as ''Caffeira O'Dolan''.
In the Hearth Money Rolls of 1662 there was nobody paying the Hearth Tax in Moherloob.
A lease dated 23 December 1720 from
Morley Saunders to Thomas Enery of Bawnboy includes the lands of ''Morherlube''.
A deed dated 30 April 1740 by Thomas Enery includes: ''Moherlube''.
A lease dated 10 December 1774 from William Crookshank to John Enery of Bawnboy includes the lands of ''Moherlube'', as does a further deed dated 13 December 1774.
The 1790 Cavan Carvaghs list spells the name as ''Mogher, Loob''.
In the 1825 Registry of Freeholders for County Cavan there were four freeholders registered in Moherloob- Hugh Donnelly, Terence Farry, Michael Golrake and Farrell King. They were all
Forty-shilling freeholders
Forty-shilling freeholders were those who had the parliamentary franchise to vote by virtue of possessing freehold property, or lands held directly of the king, of an annual rent of at least forty shillings (i.e. £2 or 3 marks), clear of all ...
holding a lease for lives from their landlord Mr. Magrat
The Tithe Applotment Books for 1827 list six tithepayers in the townland.
The Moherloob Valuation Office Field books are available for November 1839.
In the 1830s Moherloob was owned, along with other lands, by Luke McGrath of Lakeville House, Gartinardress townland, Killeshandra (the
High Sheriff of Cavan in 1809), together with his daughter and her husband, Margaret and Richard Young. On 1 November 1833 they mortgaged the lands to Robert Hutton. Luke McGrath died in 1834, having left his share to his daughter Margaret Young. In 1848 Robert Hutton applied to court to sell the lands in order to get the proceeds of his mortgage and on 10 December 1849 a court ordered the sale. The sale took place on 13 December 1850 and maps of the Moherloob land sold are still available. Robert Hutton bought Moherloob at the sale and was still the owner during Griffith's Valuation in 1857.
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 five landholders in the townland.
Census
In the
1901 census of Ireland, there are five families listed in the townland,
and 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 only four families listed in the townland.
Antiquities
# An earthen ringfort.
# An earthen ringfort.
[Site number 990 in "Archaeological Inventory of County Cavan", Patrick O’Donovan, 1995, where it is described as- ''Raised oval area (int. dims. 47.3m NE-SW; 28.4m NW-SE) enclosed by a substantially modified earthen bank incorporated into the field boundary, and a fosse best preserved from E-S-W. Narrow break in bank at S with accompanying causeway may represent original entrance''.]
# Stepping stones across the stream
References
External links
The IreAtlas Townland Data Base
{{Coord, 54.07514, -7.810271, display=title
Townlands of County Cavan