Mahanagh in Barony of Mohill??

I can explain a little about the Encumbered Estates information you have found.

Many of the big landowners in Ireland in the 1800s had borrowed heavily against their estates. They relied on the rental income to service their loans. During the mid 1800s, the famine and other factors meant that many tenants either could not pay their rents or could not pay in full (and many also died or emigrated which reduced the rental income too). The consequence was that many of the owners ended up in serious financial difficulties and faced bankruptcy. The extent of this was so widespread that some of the banks who lent the money also faced potential bankruptcy. (Somewhat similar to recent financial crises around the world where lenders lent rashly against assets that proved to be overvalued). The solution in the 1850s was the creation of a special process and eventually a court for enabling them to sell their estates at a fair market price (which would go to the lender) but after which any outstanding debt would be written off.

As with any sale process, an inventory was drawn up showing what the property consisted of, including any sitting tenants. The potential rental income, and existing tenure, was clearly a critical piece of information for any prospective purchaser. The inventory normally would detail all the properties for sale, by townland, (similar to Griffiths) together with details of the leases ie when granted, and when it would expire etc. Sometimes people had 3 lives leases and this can be very useful in genealogical terms as it would list the 3 lives and their relationships, so you might get several generations named.

In your particular case it appears that the owner of land in Mahanagh townland was applying to sell it under the Encumbered Estates mechanism. The document you have located was drawn up as part of that process. Assuming it all went ahead, there would have been a public auction and a new owner would have acquired the estate. Provided they had a valid lease and were up to date with their rent, sitting tenants would normally have been unaffected by the sale. (Just as if you live in a modern rented appartment and the owner of the block sold it, and you acquired a new landlord).

Elywn:

Great explanation! I was looking at this message last night  I was having the same problem as Nancmoff. There are Mahanagh townlands in Inishmagrath and Kiltoghert parishes but neither are in the Barony of Mohill currently (at least according to my Brian Mitchell resource book). Tullaghan is also in Inishmagrath parish. So maybe as Nancmoff suggested the Barony lines changed at some point. 

Roger

Roger,

Thank you.

I kept away from the question of where Mahanagh is because I don’t know. I was hoping someone with better knowledge of Leitrim would pitch in.  I would expect it to be a townland name, not the name of an estate.

However if Nancmoff would like to list all the tenants in Mahanagh in the Encumbered Estates records she has found, together with the landlords name, then we can compare that with Griffiths and perhaps identify the correct one that way.

I did wonder about Muckanagh.  In 1857 the surnames found there were Heslan, Carroll, Maguire & Creagan. (There were only 5 farms in the townland). The landlord was Hugh O’Bierne. Total acreage was 190, plus 1 rood & 6 perches, Does that match the Encumbered Estates details at all?

Thank you everyone for your replies.  I contacted the Leitrim Heritage Center and was told that:

"Mahanagh(Mahanaugh) is an example of a “Placename”, it is believed to be an area in the official townland of “Lissagarvan”.  Lissagarvan is an unusual townland in that it straddles both Cloone and Aughavas Roman Catholic parishes.  This couple obviously lived in the Cloone part as their children were baptised in this parish."

I did compare the names in the estate records with the Townland of Lissagarvan and found my people - James Moffatt and Peter Moffatt - as well and many other names in both places.

Elywn, thanks for the complete explanation.  I surmised some of what you wrote, but this really filled in the details.  It's a really interesting set of records, with maps and all.

Best regards,

Nancy Moffett

Sunnyvale CA

Nancy:

Thanks for the feedback! Half of Cloone parish was in Mohill barony.

Elwyn:

Sorry for the name typo. I've asked Laura a number of times for spell check but that change is not on the top of the enhancements list.

Roger