1901 Cavananore Census

NOTE: There is a spelling error in the online transcription, and the townland is listed as Cavamanore.

In this census, Thomas Jackson owns two buildings. The more substantial of the two, is inhabited by two generations of Patrick Lynch’s and their children. Jackson had brought the families up from Co. Kildare to run the farm some time in the 1890s. The senior Lynch lived in the large house with two unmarried daughters, as well as his married son and their two children. The house include 7-9 rooms, so the two families were not overcrowded. Associated with this house were 17 outbuildings including: 2 stables, 1 coach house, 1 harness room, 2 cow houses, 4 calf houses, 1 dairy, 1 piggery, 1 fowl house, 1 boiling house, 1 barn, 1 potato house and 1 store house. The house itself is recorded having 5 windows in front, although there are 11 noted in the 1911 Census. Given the outline of the house as shown in maps from 1854, it is likely that the two wings of the L were both counted in 1911, but not in 1901.

The second house owned by Thomas Jackson was much more modest and was occupied by the family of Thomas Murray. This was a smaller house with only 3 windows in front. As with the larger house, it too was built of stone, brick or concrete and had a substantial roof made of slate, iron or tile. I believe that in 1906, going from the cancellation books that the Lynch’s moved into this house.

A third house was owned by Samuel Bradford, and was occupied by the Hill family. It had the same roof and wall designation, and sported 4 windows in front. Associated with this house was a stable, but no other out-buildings. This would seem to place this house in the section of the property to the east of the large house. I suspect that this was the house that Eugene Lynch remembers having two stories, being near the road. It was torn down some time in the mid to late 1900s.

It is fascinating to learn from the census that not only were Joseph Hill and Patrick Lynch both employed as farm managers, but also that both were born in Co. Kildare. Going by where the Hill children were born - Co. Wicklow as well as Co. Louth - it would seem that the family moved around a bit. They are gone by the 1911 census, and show up in House #5 in Ballinatone, Lower (Ballincor, Wicklow). They have been married for 20 years, he is an agricultural labourer, and they have had 8 children, 7 of whom are still living.  The youngest son, Rowland Hill, age 3, was born in Co. Wicklow. This tallies with the change in occupancy in 1906. NOTE: The 1 year old Joseph B. Hill is now recorded as “Joseph Benjamine Hill”.

Going from the cancellation books, it would appear that Peter Curtis took over the residency in the house that had been occupied by the Hill family in 1906, and that by then the house was owned by Thomas Jackson. It would not surprising if Joseph Hill was descended from William Hill and Esther Coulter who lived at Ballsmill, Co. Louth. The Hill family were Church of Ireland, and the Lynch’s were Catholic.

NOTE: I have used colour in the cells of the table to indicate family units. Two shades of green distinguish the two generations of Patrick Lynches.