Aughrim, County Cavan
Aughrim is a townland in the Parish of Tomregan, Barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland.
Etymology
The townland name is an anglicisation of the Gaelic placename Each Druim which means ‘Horse Hill’. The oldest surviving mention of the name is in the Fiants of Queen Elizabeth I (No. 4813) dated 19 January 1586 where it is spelled Augherym. The 1609 Ulster Plantation map spells the name as Aghrim.[1] The 1652 Commonwealth Survey spells it as Aghrom. The 1659 Down Survey map spells it as Agharim.[2] William Petty's 1685 map spells it as Agharin.[3]The 1790 Cavan Carvaghs list spells the name as Aghrim.[4] Ambrose Leet's 1814 Directory spells the name as Aharim.[5].
Geography
It is bounded on the north and east by the international border with Fermanagh and Northern Ireland, on the south by Gortawee & Mucklagh townlands and on the west by Snugborough townland. Its chief geographical features are swallow holes, limestone caves containing stalactites including Pollnagollum Cave and Slieve Rushen mountain, on whose south-eastern slope it lies, reaching an altitude of 1,005 feet above sea-level. The townland is traversed by Aughrim Lane. Aughrim covers an area of 247 statute acres.
History
The owners of the townland in 1586 were Garrett McGovern, son of Edmund McGovern and grandson of Sean Glas McGovern and also Giolla Ruadh McGovern, son of the above Garrett McGovern, both receiving a pardon in the Fiants of Queen Elizabeth I (4813) dated 19 January 1586. At the beginning of the 17th century it was owned jointly by Bryan McPhilip O’Reyly and Edward Rutlidge but was confiscated by the Crown in the 1609 Ulster Plantation and it formed part of the half-territory of Aughrin which was granted to Sir Hugh Culme in 1610. Culme later relinquished his claim to the Crown and by Letters Patent dated 25 January 1627 Aughrim was granted to Martin Baxter, the first Church of Ireland rector of Tomregan parish and since then it passed down as part of the glebe lands belonging to the Rectory of Tomregan. A hill in the townland is named ‘Church Hill’, either in honour of this ownership or because it originally belonged to the medieval Catholic church in the adjoining townland of Knockateggal.[6] The 1652 Commonwealth Survey lists the townland as belonging to the Cromwellian Commonwealth of England and the tenant as Dun Magawran.
The Hearth Money Rolls of 1664 list the occupiers of Aughrim as Owen McGillehooly, Cormac Magawran, Manus McCanany and Patrick White.
The Tithe Applotment Books for 1827 list the following tithepayers in the townland- Donohoe, Francis, Prior, Reilly, Cusker, Heavey, Clerk, Drum.[7]
The 1841 Census of Ireland gives a population of 74 in Aughrim, of which 45 were males and 29 were females, with 10 houses, all inhabited.[8]
The 1851 Census of Ireland gives a population of 44, a decrease of 30 on the 1841 figure, due to the intervening Irish Famine of 1845–47, of which 26 were males and 18 were females, with 9 houses, all inhabited. The decrease was larger in the male population who had probably left the townland to look for work.[9]
Griffith's Valuation of 1857 lists the landlord of the townland as the Reverend Henry James Erskine & the tenants as Drum, Reilly, Prior, O’Donnell, Donohoe, McTeague and Heavy. The Rev. Erskine was rector of Tomregan at the time which shows the townland still belonged to Tomregan Church.[10]
In 1861 the population of the townland was 37, being 20 males and 17 females. There were ten houses in the townland, all were inhabited.[11]
In 1871 the population of the townland was 37, being 17 males and 20 females. There were eight houses in the townland, all were inhabited (page 297 of census).[12]
In 1881 the population of the townland was 45, being 26 males and 19 females. There were nine houses in the townland, all were inhabited.[13]
In 1891 the population of the townland was 41, being 21 males and 20 females. There were eight houses in the townland, all were inhabited.[14]
In the 1901 census of Ireland, there are seven families listed in the townland.[15]
In the 1911 census of Ireland, there are ten families listed in the townland.[16]
In the Dúchas School's Collection at [17] a story by Mr J. McCabe in 1938 relates a fairytale that occurred in Aughrim. Another such story in the same collection by Mr P. Gallen, Aughrim at [18].
Antiquities
The only historic site in the townland was a prehistoric wedge tomb but this was excavated in 1992 and moved to the grounds of the Slieve Russell hotel in Cranaghan townland due to quarrying operations, (Site number 7, page 2, Aughrim townland, in “Archaeological Inventory of County Cavan”, Patrick O’Donovan, 1995). It was one of only two megalithic structures in Tomregan parish; the only one now remaining in situ is the court-cairn in Doon townland.[19] [20]