Cave
O’ Donovan’s Field Name Books (1838)
Griffiths Valuation 1847 – 1864
The area of the townland of Cave is 590 acres, 0 Roods, and 4 Perches. The land value of Cave at the time was £306, one Shilling and one Pence. Also, the buildings value at the time was £23 and 9 Shillings.
The heads of household in Cave in that period were: Matthew Parker, Michael Quinn, Timothy Raftery, Bryan Kelly, Thomas Woods, Malachy Grehan, Rose Feeney, John Noone, Thomas Raftery, John Parker and Henry Rose.
1901 Census
There were 7 houses in Cave in 1901, comprising the following families: Noones, Kellys (2); Nevins; Bakers; Parkers; Burkes, and Brodericks. There were 31 residents in total. 26 of these were Roman Catholic, and 5 were Church of Ireland.
5 of the houses were built of permanent stone wall construction, while 2 had mud, wood or other perishable material. Additionally, all of the houses had roofs of “perishable” material, presumably thatched roofs.
The Census was conducted on March 31, 1901.
Michael Noone (70), a farmer, lived with his wife Anne (70) as well as their son John (38). Ann was a housekeeper while John was an agricultural labourer. All of the family could speak Irish and English. The Noones lived in a third class house of stone walled and thatched roof construction. There were two windows to the front, as well as two out offices adjacent to the house.
Catherine Kelly (40) lived with her son, Michael (17). Catherine was a house keeper while Michael was a farm labourer. Both could speak Irish and English. The Kellys lived in a third class house with two windows to the front (House #2). The roof and walls were constructed of perishable material.
Francis Nevin (60), lived with his wife, Anne (62). They had two sons; John (28), and William (26), and two daughters, Anne M (24), and Kate A (22). Francis was a farmer while Anne was a housekeeper. The Census lists the occupation of John and William as “Farming”, while it does not list any occupation for Anne and Kate. The Nevins lived in a second class house of stone wall and thatched roof construction with 3 windows to the front of the house. There were 6 out offices adjacent to the house.
James Kelly (65), a farmer, lived with his wife, Bridgit (50), a housekeeper. The Kellys had one daughter, Bridgit (19) and three sons; Bernard (17), John (15) and Thomas (12). James and his wife Bridgit could speak both Irish and English. Bernard’s occupation was “Farming” according to the census, while John and Thomas were scholars. Daughter Bridgit does not have any occupation listed. The Kellys lived in a third class house (House #4) of stone wall and thatched roof construction with one window to the the front. There were three out offices adjacent to the house.
Martin Baker (38), a farm laborer, lived with his wife Catherine (24), a housekeeper with their two daughters, Mary K (2), and Ellen A (1). Martin’s brother Daniel (50), a farm laborer, also lived there. Both Martin and Daniel could speak both Irish and English. The Bakers lived in a third class house of stone wall and thatched roof construction with two windows to the front. Two out offices were adjacent to the house.
William Parker (66), a farmer, lived with his wife Mary (46), a housekeeper with their two daughters, Caroline (28), and Maud M (26), and son Thomas (24). Also living there was William Burke (28), a servant, who was born in County Roscommon. The Census lists Thomas’ occupation as “Farming”. William could speak both Irish and English. The Parkers lived in a second class house of stone wall and thatched roof construction with 5 windows to the front. Eight out offices were adjacent to the house.
1911 Census
There were 7 houses in Cave in 1911, comprising the following families: Noone, Kelly (2); Nevin, Parker, Murphy and Broderick. 16 residents were Roman Catholic while 3 were Church of Ireland. The Survey was conducted on April 5, 1911.
John Noone (52), lived with his wife Sarah (39), and their son Michael (11 months). John was an agricultural labourer. Both John and Sarah spoke Irish and English. The Noones lived in a second class house of stone wall and thatched roof construction with 3 windows to the front. An out office was also adjacent to the house. Susan Parker owned the site.
Catherine Kelly (75) lived with her son Michael (28). Michael was an agricultural laborer.
The Kellys lived in a third class house of stone wall and thatched roof construction, with 2 windows to the front, as well as one out office adjacent to the house. Additionally, Susan Parker owned the land house where the house stood.
Francis Nevin (70), a farmer, lived with his wife Anne (71), their two sons, John (30) and William (28) and daughter, Kate A (23). Anne was born in “King’s County” (Offaly). The Census lists the occupations of John and William as Farmer’s sons.
The Nevins lived in a second class house of stone wall and thatched roof construction with three windows to the front, and six out offices adjacent to the house. The out offices (House #3) consisted of a stable, a cow house, a calf house, a piggery, a fowl house, a barn, and a turf house.
Bernard Kelly (28), a farmer, lived with his sister Bridgit (29) and brother Thomas (22). The Census lists Thomas’ occupation as “Farming”. The Kellys lived in a third class house (House #4) of stone wall and thatched roof construction with one window to the the front, and a cow house.
Mary Jane Parker (66), a farmer, lived with her daughter, Caroline (40), and son Henry John (35). Michael Murphy (30), a farm servant lived with the family. Henry John is recorded as a farmer. Mary Jane was born in County Westmeath while all other occupants were born in County Galway. The Parkers and Michael Murphy lived in a second class house (House #5) of stone wall and thatched roof construction, with 5 windows to the front. Eight out offices consisted of a stable, two cow houses, a calf house, a piggery, a fowl house, a barn, and a turf house.
Martin Broderick (76) lived with his son Thomas (45). The Census lists the occupation of both men as agricultural labourers. The Census also indicates that Martin could speak both Irish and English. The Brodericks lived in a third class house of stone wall and thatched roof construction, with one window to the front of the house. There also appears to be an out office close to the house.
Record of Monuments and Places
There is a Ringfort (rath in Irish) in the townland of Cave on an east facing slope in grassland. It is a poorly preserved circular rath (D 25.5m) defined by a bank at north and elsewhere by a scarp, no visible surface trace of which survives at SSE. A field wall also overlies the enclosing element at S and W.
The National Monuments Service contains the above information. It derives from the published ‘Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II – North Galway’. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999).
OSI Maps
The Ordinance Survey Map of Cave is here.
A further map is located here.
