I was recently asked if I knew of any sources that could be used as a Census for the area earlier than the 1766 religious census I recently submitted to our page. This immediately brought back memories because, while completing my Doctoral  studies in the USA, aided by a  prestigious Fulbright Fellowship from the United States Government, I actually created a database of the seventeenth century land settlement for all of  Ireland  where, in the 1650’s, a revolution, unmatched before or since, in the ownership of property occurred. This was precipitated by the Gaelic Tribes from Ulster who, in 1641, rose in rebellion and attacked their Protestant neighbors.

The Old English (descendants from the Normans) of Ardee, and the surrounding area,  initially offered their services to the government in Dublin to fight against this rebellion but, because they were Catholics, their offer was refused and this forced them to join the Gaelic Tribes of Ulster in their rebellion as they were united with them by their Catholic Faith.

When the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, went to war with their King, Charles I, that Royalist versus Parliament war eventually spread to Ireland which greatly complicated things. All the Old English of Ireland, including Ardonians, then united with their Royalist Protestant neighbors to fight against the Parliamentary Forces that were sent to Ireland in the 1640s. They also had to fight against the Gaelic Tribes whom they had initially supported out of necessity.

I will submit, in the future, a more detailed study of Ardee and this conflict and the subsequent land confiscations that occurred. It will show how, in this period, almost all of the lands of Atherdee Barony, with few exceptions, changed from Catholic to Protestant ownership.

The Royalist armies in Ireland were holding their own against the Parliamentary forces in battles when on 30^th January 1649, King Charles I was executed by the English Parliament. This act of Regicide, which had never been seen before, caused the Royalist ranks to swell in number as the people could not understand why their King had been executed. They began to get the upper hand over the Parliamentary armies in Ireland so, in August 1649, Oliver Cromwell came to Ireland with a large Parliamentary Army.

He immediately headed to Drogheda where history has lied to us when, we were told in our Schools, that he killed every Gaelic Catholic men, women and children when he stormed the town. That never happened as the garrison that were killed that day were mainly a Protestant Royalist Garrison. The only Gaelic Catholic Irish army still in the field at that time were actually helping the Parliamentary Army in Ulster to attack the Royalist Garrison in what was the first siege of Derry.

After the victory in 1650 of the Cromwellian army in Ireland, it was decided that the defeated Catholic and Anglo-Irish landowners would forfeit their estates in proportion to the help they had given against Cromwell. These lands were to be distributed partly in wages to Parliamentarian soldiers, partly to the government’s creditors who supplied the army, and partly to new settlers from England and America.

What happened next was that almost all of Irish Catholic lands were confiscated and given over to Protestant newcomers. To facilitate this it was necessary to generate a map of all of Ireland. This task was handed over to Sir William Petty.

He arrived on Irish shores as physician-general to Cromwell’s army in Ireland. His job was to reorganize and improve the efficiency of its medical service but his later and larger task became his major life’s work. This was the surveying, mapping, describing, evaluating and redistribution of the Irish lands.

This work became known as the ‘Downe Survey’. It employed about a thousand men and took thirteen months. Petty also undertook the first complete mapping of Ireland in 1673 and the first census of Ireland, for the year 1659.

It seems that while mapping the country for the land distribution that was to occur, Petty was also getting his surveyors to note down who was living where. Therefore the ‘1659 Census’ provides a unique vista of Ireland at one of the most pivotal points in Irish political and cultural history. Apart from providing a detailed, almost island-wide picture of settlement, ethnic groups and population distributions in the mid-seventeenth century, it also facilitates both a retrospective reconstruction of ethnic patterns of settlement created in earlier centuries as well as providing a crucial benchmark against which to measure later cultural transformations in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Inspired by William Petty’s obsessive concern with the ratio of Irish to English in each barony and county, a most crucial component of the ‘Census’ is the listing of the principal family names at the end of each baronial entry.

The census is broken down by County, Barony, Parish and Townland. It also lists the names of the Irish people in the barony and gives the numbers of families by names.

In the Barony of Atherdee, these are the Irish family names that Petty’s Surveyors listed along with the number of families carrying that surname. I used the original spelling.

O’Boyle	13	Connoly	10	Kelly	16	Murtagh	5
Byrne	37	Cawell	11	McLoghlin	11	McMaughon	16
Boylan	5	Carwell	5	Lynnan	6	Meghan	6
Bellew	6	Carney	10	Mullen	5	O’Mury	12
Barran	6	Cartan	6	Murphey	7	Neale	5
Brady	8	Cappocke	7	McGenis	8	Reyly	11
Chamberlin	5	Dowdall	10	McGrory	7	Skehan	6
Callen	16	Dowlin	7	Gernon	7	Smyth	11
Cullen	4	Duffe	10	McGroyre	15	Taaffe	8
Clinton	5	Dermott	7	Hughes	11	Tath	7
Crolly	8	Fenegan	13	Hoy + O’Hoy	18	Terty	7
Carroll	7	Fedegan	9	Halfepenny	9	White	12
Connolan	6	Kennon	6	Matthews	11	Welsh	6

The main part of the census showed, by Parish and Townland, the numbers of Irish and English families. I have used the original spelling for the parish and townland names along with the surnames.  It also occasionally listed the names of important local gentry, by town or townland,  which the survey called Tituladoes. As the town of Atherdee had eight mentioned the others were Henry Neile Gent, John Ruxton Esquire, John Tooke Gent, William Armitage Esquire, Thomas Winne Gent and John Thomas Gent.

		Number
Parish	Townland	of People	English	Irish	Tituladoes names
Atherdee	Town of	405	157	248	Sir Robert Sterling, James Dowglas Gent and others
	Gause land	8	0	8
	Broadlogh	6	1	5
	Mullens Towne	25	0	25
	Mullogh cloe	13	0	13
	Guithers towne	21	0	21
	Obris towne	22	3	19
	Shanlis	44	2	42	James Burtsides Gent
Charles Towne	Cookes towne	62	5	57	Peter Ashenhurst Gent
	Peppers towne	52	8	44	William Pepper Gent
	Charles towne	32	0	32
	Cooles towne	36	0	36
Clunkeene	Stermonds towne	28	2	26	John Chambre Esquire
	Rogers towne	15	3	12
	Ballybonny	17	0	17
	Cardis towne	23	0	23
	Rath canory	9	0	9
	Cruemartin	14	0	14
	Lagan	20	2	18
	Tully	25	0	25
	Greatwooode	5	0	5
	Tullikeele	19	0	19
Killany	Corcreagh	6	2	4
	Greater Stonetowne	22	5	17
	Stone towne	10	3	7	Richard Blomfield Gent
	Dromard	18	0	18
	Tulligone	10	0	10
	Coolecalan	24	0	24
	Annaermone	21	0	21
Phillips Towne	Phillips towne	14	0	14
	Nisalrath	42	0	42
	Reagh towne	41	0	41
	Athelint	26	0	26
	Thomas towne	28	0	28
	Clintonrath	15	0	15
	Nicholls towne	10	0	10
Tallons Towne	Tallons towne	51	0	51
	Little Lisrany	35	6	29
	Great Lisrany	7	2	5
	Little Rathbody	12	0	12
	Arthurs towne	28	0	28
	Rathory	9	5	4
Mapers Towne	Dowds towne	40	8	32	George Carfelott Esquire
	Irish towne	10	0	10
Stabanum	Stabanum	28	6	22	William Disney Esquire
	Bragans towne	40	9	31	James Garstin Esquire
	Roods towne	37	2	35
	Clintons towne	35	4	31	John Pierce Esquire
	Drumcashell	32	0	32
Richards towne	Purcells towne	2	0	2
	Richards towne	78	5	73	William Aston Esquire
	Irish towne	10	0	10
	Crins towne	10	0	10
	Haris towne	29	6	23	John Bernard Gent
	Hoaths towne	2	0	2
	Stickillen	30	3	27
Smyrmar	Smyrmar	48	0	48	Brian, Francis and William Heron Gents
Kildemmocke	Millox towne	27	4	23
	Rose towne	4	0	4
	Haclem	5	4	1
	Hunters towne	3	0	3
	Annagloge	26	0	26
	Blakes towne	10	0	10
	Drakes towne	31	0	31
	Kilpatricke	32	4	28
	Pawhans towne	22	6	16
	Funshocke	38	0	38
Mostowne	Rahasker	37	16	21	Robert Wynne Esquire
	Phillips towne	38	4	34	William and Maurice Edwards Gents
	Marshall rath	3	0	3
	Hamons towne	13	0	13	Patrick Fagan Gent
	Mostowne	27	0	27
	Knocke	16	0	16	William Savidge Gent
	Listolke	21	0	21
Drummin	Drummin	37	0	37
	Pains towne	10	2	8	William Rutter Gent
	Rathcoole	6	4	2
Cappocke	Cappocke	42	0	42
	Ardaghs towne	31	4	27	Nicholas Moore Esquire
Drumcar	Willis towne	14	5	9	Thomas Moore Gent
	Drumcar	32	7	25	Richard Holt Gent
	Warrens towne	14	6	8	James Hopton Esquire
	Newtowne	27	9	18
	Cargin	5	0	5
	Tullogh Donell	8	0	8	Brent Moore Esquire and Richard Bolton Gent
	Cashells towne	27	2	25
	Verclons towne	25	0	25
Kilsauran	Germons towne	112	16	96	Henry Bellingham Esquire and Ralph Gibbs Esquire
	Kilsauran	24	2	22
	Mullencrosse	31	0	31
	Boolis	23	2	21	Christopher Sipthorpe Gent
	Myles towne	18	0	18
	Wood towne	5	0	5
	Drumcath	13	4	9
	Mayne	24	3	21	Roger Gregory Gent
	Willamstown	17	3	14
	Coolis towne	14	0	14