Introduction
Mullinaskeagh townland meets the Ballyeamon River and reaches up to the side of Timoyle. The name Mullinaskeagh may be derived from the Irish Mullach na Sgiathóg meaning ‘Hill of the Hawthorns’. The aerial photograph shows the clachan in the mid 1980s. The house on the bottom left corner of the photo has been demolished and the site is now occupied with a larger house.
In 1860 the names listed in Griffith’s Valuation included Delargy, McVicker, Dunphy and Hanlon with a family of McCay living outside the cluster. Today descendants of the the Delargys and the McVickers (through marriage to McMullan) still live in the clachan. The other names have long since gone.
The Delargys
Around 1860 a Charles Delargy held a house, office and land which was rented from the Rev. Alexander Macauley. The Delargy house (no. 1 on the sketch map and no. 1Aa in the Griffith’s, valued at £2.5.0) was the most substantial house in the clachan at that time. Like all of the houses in the clachan it would have been refurbished and added to in the twentieth century. For example, a large barn attached to the house was constructed by McCollam’s contractors, Cushendall in the 1900s.
Charles Delargy was married to Rose McDonnell of Ballybrack. Charles and Rose had six children, of whom only Charlie Jr. remained in the townland. Mary (later McFall) emigrated to America, Harriet (pronounced ‘Harget’ by older generations) married Charlie McKillop and lived with him in Cloughs. Rosie married Charlie McCambridge of Gortnagross, Dan married Margaret McCurry of Barrard and Alex married Bella McCambridge and they moved to Mount Edwards. Bella and Alex may have also resided in Altmore Upper for a time.
Charles jr. was married to Kate McLaughlin who was from Glenaan. Charles Jr. was recorded as being 47 years old in the 1901 census. Kate died giving birth to a son Alexander and by the time of the 1901 census Charles was a widower, and lived with his two teenage daughters Rose and Mary Jane and six sons – Charles, 20, Patrick, 10, Connor (known as John), 8, Daniel, 4, Neil, 2 and Alexander, 3 months.
Young Charlie, grandson of the occupier in the 1860 Valuation later, died at sea at the age of 48. Mary Jane married Duncan McKeegan of Glenaan, Patrick married Margaret McAuley of Cushendall, John married Annie Neeves of Forfar, Scotland, Daniel married Margaret Mullen in America. Neil married Catherine O’Connor, who grew up in West Torr, near the clachan of Escort. Alex married Teresa Campbell of Glenravel. Alex and Neil along with their families remained in the clachan and their descendants still live there today in houses nos. 1 and 5 on the sketch map.
There was also a Michael Delargy listed in the townland in 1860. However, he only held land and did not live there. Present day Delargys in the clachan cannot verify whether Michael Delargy was connected with their forbearer, Charles. Around 1879 Michael’s property was taken over by the Dunphys and then later by descendants of the Charles Delargy of 1860.
Thomas Hanlon
In 1860 Charles Delargy also rented a house, offices and a garden (1Ac in Griffith’s) to a Thomas Hanlon. By 1865 James McCart had replaced Thomas Hanlon as the tenant. By 1882 this James McCart had moved to the house previously occupied by a Sarah McVicker (see below) and a Cornelius McKeegan had moved into James McCart’s house. Such coming and going was fairly typical of cottier houses at that time. By 1892 McKeegan had gone and the house was ‘down’.
The McVickers and McMullans
There were three families of McVicker in the clachan in 1860 – Hugh, John and Anne. We think that these families were probably related but we are not sure of their exact relationship.
Hugh McVicker had a house and offices (1Ad in Griffith’s) plus land that he held himself and land that he held with Anne McVicker. He also rented a house (only) to John McVicker. Around 1864/5 Hugh was replaced by John McVicker. As a result of this John appears to have moved into Hugh’s house and rented his former house to a Sarah McVicker.
John was not recorded in the 1901 Census so he must have disappeared from the clachan some time before that date. A local source recounts that two John McVickers, one aged 17 and the other aged 63, left together for America, along with a Delargy from outside the townland. It is possible these John McVickers were a John McVicker who attended Ballyeamon school in 1886 (and was aged 12 at that time) and the John McVicker listed in Griffith’s Valuation of 1860. If this is correct they would have left in 1891. The exact relationship between these two McVickers is not known – they could have been uncle and nephew.
The third family of McVickers, Anne, was listed at the time of the 1860 Valuation as occupying a house and offices (1Ae in Griffith’s) plus land that she held herself and land that she held with Hugh McVicker. Around 1882 Anne’s holding passed to a John McMullan. We know that an Anne McMullan married a John McMullan from the Martinstown area. However, we are not sure whether it was the Anne McMullan listed in 1860 or her daughter. Local sources suggest that John and Anne may have lived for a time in Gortlane before coming to Mullinaskeagh. This might suggest that she was a daughter.
In the 1901 Census a John McMullan aged 60 was recorded living with his wife Anne, aged 65 and a son Richard, aged 23. The Ballyeamon school rolls record a Denis and a Jane McMullan, aged 12 and 14 in 1886. We think these were also children of John and Anne and they probably had other children. On the basis of these ages (and remember that 1901 ages were not always recorded correctly) it looks as if John NcMullan was born in 1841 and Anne McVicker in 1836. They had to be married by 1872 and possibly earlier if there were children older than Jane.
Around 1910 Richard (Dick) McMullan built a house in the clachan with the help of John McCurry from Tavnaharry. Dick’s son, John, built a house against his father’s house in the 1930s. These two houses are shown in photo 2 & 3 on the Mullinaskeagh mainpage. The present photograph suggests that these houses were refurbished in the 1960s.
James McCart
As we saw above the McVicker house which had no land attached to it was occupied by a Sarah McVicker from 1864/5. In 1882 Sarah was replaced by a new tenant – James McCart. The 1901 census records a James McCart, a 67 year old labourer, living with his married daughter Catherine Connolly and grandchildren, Margaret and Daniel Connolly.
Catherine’s son Daniel was a seafaring man. He married a lady called Frieda and lived in Cushendall. Later Catherine had another daughter, Mary, who emigrated to America in the 1930s.
Ballyeamon school roll records a Sarah McCart, aged 11, in 1886. As her father’s occupation was recorded as labourer it is likely that Sarah was another daughter of James and sister of Catherine.
The Dunphys
Patrick Dunphy held a house, office and land at the time of the 1860 Valuation. Around 1866 he was succeeded by a James Dunphy, probably his brother. In 1898 the occupier of the property was given as Mary (Jane) Dunphy, Patrick’s sister. She held the property into the twentieth century. Mary Jane Dunphy is referred to in the Song ‘Henry Pat’ by Dan McGonnell. The 1901 census records that Mary was unmarried and lived alone. A local source holds that there may have been a shop at this house. A shop is not mentioned in the Griffith’s Valuation though there may have been a shop here before 1860. After Mary Dunphy’s death this property became part of the Delargy holdings.
Robert McCay
The 1860 Valuation records a Robert McCay as occupying a house, offices and land some distance away from the cluster of houses in the clachan. The property was leased from Charles Delargy, Anne McVicker, Michael Delargy and Patrick Dunphy. So, clearly, he was a sub-tenant of the main occupiers of the clachan. By 1880 McCay was no longer occupying this holding, and it had returned to the Delargys, McVickers and Dunphys.
One source has suggested that Robert McCay ran a sheebeen from his house. It is not possible to verify this though the small size of Robert’s holding may indicate that he had some income other than farming.
Families listed in the School Records
The records show that in 1886 a family of Blues, Daniel aged 10, John aged 9, Emily, aged 5 and Maggie, aged 14 of Mullinskeagh, were enrolled in the school. Their father, presumably, the John Blue who appears only fleetingly in the revisions, was a Mason and they previously resided in Waterfoot.
Below are listed children enrolled in Ballyeamon school from Mullinskeagh but whom we have been unable to connect to families listed in Griffith’s revisions or census information. It is quite likely that these children did not reside in the townland at all but in the neighbouring townlands.
Neil and Maggie McCurry, enrolled in 1886 when they were 9 and 12 years old, their father was a farmer.
Alexander Reid, aged 3 in 1883, father was a farmer.
Mary Galvin, aged 3 in 1887, father was a labourer.
Mary McDonnell, aged 3 in 1896, father was a farmer.