On a recent trip to Ireland, I was informed by a local historian, Jack Jackson, that there is evidence of the McCaffrey family having been in Clogher from as far back as the 1700s. Fortuitously, I happened upon Johnson when I was making an Airbnb booking in the region. Knowing I had access to his expertise and historical knowledge of the area helped me seal the deal with this choice of accommodation.
The first possible item of evidence is registered in The Clogher Story (2015). Johnston describes a raid on the Clogher Barony in the 1500s by Cu-Connacht Maguire. Felim McCaffrey, purportedly one of Maguire’s followers, died while tending a fire which was lit to roast a stolen cow (p.18).
Other evidence comes from records retained by St Macartan’s (Church of Ireland) cathedral graveyard. In the following image, a 5 year old boy James, the son of James McCaffrey was buried in 1788.
Another inscription entry is dated 1792, where a Felix McCaffrey was interred.
This extract contains the same information as the previous image. The information in the image below comes from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
Despite the discrepancies in dates, there is sufficient conjecture to be made linking the references above to the McCaffrey family that continued to own land in Meltagy, Ballywholan to the present day.
Mealky is probably Meltagy, or some other spelling variation. Meltagy is the townland used traditionally to describe Ballywholan. During my recent trip to Ireland, I was told that it was the Roman Catholic version of Ballywholan.
Further to this entry, Jack Johnson had researched leaseholders in the Ballywholan area from 1791 onwards. In the excerpt from his notes, Felix McCaffrey and his sons took on a 21 year lease in Meltagy from 1789 at 50 pound a year. We can assume that the aforementioned Felix is the same man, as there is a further note to indicated that he is deceased by 1794.
Only 15 years later, the same McCaffrey family were farming in and around Ballywholan. The following map shows the area of Northern Ireland.
Clogher, County Tyrone Tithe Applotment Books
The Tithe Applotment Books record the results of a land survey taken to determine the amount of tax payable by landholders to the Church of Ireland. They are known as the Tithe Applotment Books because the results of this land survey were originally compiled in nearly 2,000 hand-written books. This data set represents a virtual census for pre-Famine Ireland and as it covered most of the country it is very important for historians and genealogists researching family origins or the history of specific areas.
The Tithe Applotments created a lot of civil unrest in Ireland especially from the Catholic population as they vigorously disagreed to paying taxes to a Protestant church. The Tithe Applotments were carried out in Clogher Parish in 1825 and 1829. In 1825, the following McCaffrey families paid rent in the Clogher area: Bryan, Patrick, Peter and Felix.
Clogher Parish Tithe Applotment Book 1825
Clogher Parish Tithe Applotment Book 1829
In 1829, the following McCaffrey families paid rent in the Clogher area: Bryan, Patrick, Peter, Owen and Felix.
Griffiths Valuation Clogher Parish 1851
Based on this Griffiths Valuation, I have accessed a series of historical maps showing both the location and ownership of the leases. It was until the late 1800s, early 1900s, that Irish farmers began to own their land.
The area associated with a name is predominantly mountain country. This vast area appears to have been owned by brothers, sons and sons in law. The land sits on the Monaghan/Tyrone border, and demarcates Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.