Ballintober

Ballintober

The Gaelic term for this townland Baile an Tobair which means town of the well.  Ballintober is a townland in the civil parish of Kilconnell in the electoral district of Kilconnell, the barony of Kilconnell and the county of Galway.  It lies in the South of the parish bounded by Curraneena townland in this parish and by Ballantubber in the parish of Killallaghton in the barony of Kilconnell.

O’Donovan’s Field Name Books (1838)

1st Ed Ordnance Survey, Ireland

O’Donovan’s Field Name Books provide various spellings of this townland Ballintober, Baile an Tobair, Ballantubber, Ballantubber Boundary Sketch Map, Ballantobber Inq, Temp. Car. I, Ballintobbar Inq, Gul. III, Ballintobber Inq, Temp. Jac. I, Ballantubber James Lambert, Esqr., Ballantubber Revd. W. Collis, Ballintubber Thos. Bermingham, Esqr., Ballintubber William French, Esqr.  Ballintober is the property of J ? French Esqr., held by deed for ever. It contains 25acres. 0roods. and 10perches. about 1/3 of it is bog, the remainder of a poor quality. For the last half year 4^th October 1837 the amount of County Cess is £0. 13s. 8 ½ d.

Down Survey

The Down Survey Map (1641) in ownership of Bishop of Clonfert (Protestant).  The Down Survey Map (1670) in ownership of the same name.

Griffiths Valuation

The area of the townland of Ballintober is 25 acres 0 roods and 10 perches of land.  The valuation of the land was £11 5s and 0d.  The total valuation of the property was £11 5s and 0d,

John Loughnanne paid £11 5s and 0d for land.

Tithe Applotment

In 1837 Ballintober held 17 acres 1 rood and 30 perches of land which was occupied by 1 tenant.

Catherine Cahill held 2 acres, 1 rood, and 30 perches of land and had a total valuation of £1791. 16s. and 7 ½ d. She paid £57. 17s. and 10 ½ d of a tithe tax. The ecclesiastical commissioners received £14. 15s. and 8 ½ d. The Rector received £43. 2s. and 2d.

Census 1901 for Ballintobber

The census lists 4 households listed in the townland of Ballintober in 1901 comprising of the following families: Colohan, McLoughlin, Fergus, Loughnanne, Monahan, Fahey and Kilkelly.  There were 21 residents in total.  All of the residents were Roman Catholic.  All of the residents were born in Co. Galway. The heads of the households were: John Colohan, Patrick McLoughlin, Rose Monahan and Anne M. Fahey. The census forms collected on April 16th 1901 showed that 4 houses were listed as private dwellings along with 4 outer buildings.

John Colohan (81) was married to Margaret (46).  They lived with their four children Michael (26), John (24), Patrick (23) and Margaret (16).  John worked as a farmer while there was no listed occupation for his wife Margaret.  Both John and Margaret spoke Irish and English.  John could read and write.  Michael, John and Patrick were listed as Farmer’s Son’s.  Margaret was listed as Farmer’s Daughter.  All of the children could read and write.  The Colohan family lived in a 2^nd class house with 3 front windows and the house had 2 rooms.  The house walls were made of stone, brick and concrete and the roof was made of thatch, wood and other perishable material.  John Colohan owned the land on which the house was situated.

Patrick McLoughlin (45) was married to Catherin (30).  They lived with their 4 children Mary (6), Kate (4), Anne, (2) and Eliza whose age is not documented.  Patrick worked as an Agricultural Labourer while there was no listed occupation for his wife Catherin.  Catherin could read and write.  Mary was listed as a Scholar and could read.  Naturally at this young age there were no listed occupations for Kate, Anne and Eliza.  Naturally at this young age Kate, Anne and Eliza couldn’t read and write.  The McLoughlin lived in a 2^nd class house with 3 windows and the house had 2 rooms.  The house walls were made of stone, brick and concrete and the roof was made of thatch, wood and other perishable material.  Anne Fahey owned the land on which the house was situated along with 2 outer buildings.

Rose Monahan (69) a widow lived with her two children John (39), Kate Loughnane (35) also a widow, and John Fergus (20).  Rose worked as a farmer, spoke Irish and English and could read and write.  There were no listed occupations for John and Kate.  John spoke Irish and English and could read and write.  Kate could read and write.  John Fergus was listed as a farm servant.  John could read.  The Monahan family lived in a 2^nd class house with 3 front windows and the house had 2 rooms.  The house walls were made of stone, brick and concrete and the roof was made of thatch, wood and other perishable material.  Rose owned the land on which the house was situated.

Anne M Fahey (47) a widow lived with her three children John (23), Dan (14), Mary (20) and Michl Kilkelly (34).  Anne M Fahey worked as a Farmer, spoke Irish and English and could read and write.  John was listed as a Farmer he could read and write.  Dan was listed as a Scholar and could read and write.  Michl Kilkelly was listed as a General Servant.  Michl spoke Irish and English and could read and write.  The Fahey family lived in a 2^nd class house with 5 front windows and the house had 3 rooms.  The house walls were made of stone, brick and concrete and the roof was made of slate, iron and tile.  Anne M Fahey owned the land on which the house was situated along with 2 outer buildings.

Census 1911 for Ballintobber

The census lists 3 households for the townland of Ballintober in 1911 comprising of the following families: Colohan, Connolly, Fahey, Healy, Kilkelly, McDonagh and Monaghan.  There were 17 residents in total.  All of the residents were born in Co. Galway.  All of the residents were Roman Catholic.  The heads of the households were: Michael Colohan, John Fahey, and John Monaghan.  The census forms collected on April 11th 1911 showed 3 houses listed as private dwellings along with 13 outer buildings (4 stables, 1 coach house, 3 cow houses, 2 piggeries, 2 fowl houses and 1 calf house).

Michael Colohan (40) was married to Esther (35).  They lived with their two children John (1), Margaret (2), niece Mary Connolly (3) and his mother Margaret (74), a widow.  Michael worked as a farmer while there was no listed occupation for his wife Esther.  Both Michael and Esther could read and write. Margaret, John and Mary Connolly were listed as scholars.  There was no listed occupation for Margaret.  Naturally at this young age Margaret, John and Mary couldn’t read.  Margaret couldn’t read.  The Colohan family lived in a 2^nd class house with 3 front windows and the house had 2 rooms.  The house walls were made of stone, brick and concrete and the roof was made of thatch, wood and other perishable material.  Michael owned the land on which the house was situated along with 1 stable, 1 cow house, 1 piggery, and 1 fowl house.

John Fahey (32) lived with Joseph McDonagh (40), Michael Kilkelly (45), and Margaret Healy (73).  John worked as a farmer and could read and write.  Joseph McDonagh and Michael Kilkelly were listed as farm servants.  Margaret Healy was listed as a domestic servant.  Joseph McDonagh spoke Irish and English and could read and write.  Michael Kilkelly spoke Irish and English and could read.  Margaret Healy spoke Irish and English.  The Fahey family lived in a 2^nd class house with 5 front windows and the house had 2 rooms.  The house walls were made of stone, brick and concrete and the roof was made of slate, iron and tile.  John Fahey owned the land on which the house was situated along with 1 stable, 1 coach house, 1 cow house, 1 calf house and 1 fowl house.

John Monaghan (48) was married to Margaret (29).  They lived with their four children Mary (3), Martin Jas (2), John Jas (1), Rose whose age is not documented and his mother Rose (81) a widow.  John worked as a farmer while there was no listed occupation for his wife Margaret.  Both John and Margaret could read and write.  Mary, Martin Jas, John Jas, and Rose were listed as scholars.  Naturally at this young age the children couldn’t read.  There was no listed occupation for Rose.  Rose spoke Irish and English.  The Monaghan family lived in a 2^nd class house with 3 front windows and the house had 2 rooms.  The house walls were made of stone, brick and concrete and the roof was made of thatch, wood and other perishable material.  John Monaghan owned the land on which the house was situated along with 2 stables, 1 cow house, and 1 piggery.

Recorded Monument

GA086-033—-

Class: Ringfort unclassified

Townland: BALLINTOBER (Kilconnell ED)

Description: On a rise in undulating grassland.  Well-preserved subcircular rath (ENE-WSW 33m, NNW-SSE 26.6m defined by a bank.  Gaps at WSW and NW appear modern.  According to local information, the outer bank was removed in 1974 during land development.  Within the interior is a probable souterian.

GA086-033001-

Class: Souterian

Townland: BALLINTOBER (Killaan ED)

Description:  In NW quadrant of a ringfort (GA086-033—).  According to local tradition there is a cave within the ringfort.  All that is visible is a nettle-filled depression (L 5.7m, Wth 2.2m), running ENE-WSW and up to 0.5m in depth.  The landowner removed a large slab from here some years ago.