The 1821 Census for Denn, Co Cavan is, in fact, almost intact. Hugh Smith was 61 in this census and lived with his children, Thomas, Ellen, Edward and Bridget. There is a suggestion that there was another son Phil who was not present at the time the census was taken. Hugh's wife who had presumably passed by the time of the census was known as Eibhlin Bhan (but nothing is known of her family - perhaps yet another Smith family distinguished from others by the addition of Bhan (white). According to family lore the Smiths were previously McGowans (MacGabhain) and two Smith brothers had come from Mullymagowan in the neighboring Lavey parish to work at Lismeen farm. They eventually took over the farm. Perhaps this was Hugh and his brother - or perhaps a previous generation.
In 1821 Lismeen was in the parish of Denn. It became part of Crosskeys Parish sometime before the next census we have in Lismeen in 1901.
There was also and still a Lismeen in Lurgan close to Virginia because somebody thought it would be a great idea to confuse future postmen and census researchers.
There were 19 houses in Lismeen. Nearby Farragh had 21 and Lishenry had 16. It was extremely populated area and most of these were young people.
In Lismeen there were loads of small children and teenagers, far fewer older people. The youngest was 1 and the oldest was 77. There were about 130 people altogether living in Lismeen townland.
The Smiths had the largest acreage of 17 acres. Another two houses ( Both Lynches ) had 10 acres and 9 acres each. Farms Pre famine were divided equally among sons ( partially to do with penal laws) After the famine, it became more normal for the oldest son to inherit. The other houses would have had one acre or smaller. A lot of these would have been small holders or cottiers. The cottier class were the poorest of Irish society and were entirely wiped out during the famine. Before the famine they were the largest social class. Sadly we survived the famine, because others didn’t.
One of the houses was occupied by a 30 year old school master who lived on his own.The other houses had larger families. There was one mason and one 35 year old pensioner ( possibly from the army) other wise the professions were labourers, spinners and weavers.
Hugh Smith was a Farmer ( meaning that he had over 15 acres). Mixed farming would have been the norm
Flax spinning was an industry that the whole townland was involved with.
At this time it was profitable and spinners could take in 10 shillings a week. This would have provided women with some independence and status. It appears that after the famine, and the collapse of the linen industry the status of women fell considerably. Weaving and spinning also were social activities with the young people going from house to house in the evening to work but also to socialise.
The Irish Linen Board published a list of nearly 60,000 individuals in 1796. Spinning wheels were awarded based on the number of acres planted. People who planted one acre were awarded 4 spinning wheels and those growing 5 acres were awarded a loom. There are Smiths from Denn Parish listed in this, quite possibly this family of Smiths.
Marriage age in the area was very young at the time. 14 years -16 years been the norm.
The linen industry went into decline from the 1830s as the mills took over what was a cottage industry. This would have had a detrimental effect on a town land like lismeen who seemed to thrive on it.
Hugh's son Edward emigrated to Australia and many of his descendants have returned to visit. His daughter Ellen married into another Smith family in the area. It's unknown what became of Bridget and Thomas remained at Lismeen marrying Mary Kimmins.
| Additional Information | ||
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| Date of Birth | 1st Jan 1760 (circa) | |
