1740 Corn Census of County Louth
There are very few substantial mid-18th century census substitutes available for County Louth. The following Index to Rev. Dermot MacIvor's article in the 1948 edition of the Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society, makes easily available a valuable addition for further genealogical research. Father MacIvor painstakingly transcribed the names from a list in the then State Paper Office in Dublin Castle (now in the National Archives of Ireland). The date of 1740 in the title of this page is an estimate, based on known details of two people mentioned in the Corn Census, which father MacIvor writes, places the date of the Census between 1739 and 1741. The list as presented in the Journal is in the same order as the original, by Barony - Parish - Townland etc. The list here is presented in NAME order, and includes the PAGE NUMBER in the Journal for those wishing to research further. The amount of crops produced by each individual on the list as found in the Journal probably gives a good idea of the comparative size of their holdings.
The Corn Census appears to be unique to County Louth and there is no apparent reason as to why it was taken. It includes the baronies of Upper Dundalk, Ardee, Louth and Ferrard (see map). The list for Lower Dundalk is no longer extant. The baronies of Ardee and Louth are treated as one.
Many of the names (as well as Townland names) are spelled phonetically. Some are misplaced. Some are Gaelic - a classic example being the unusual name of Dacker or McDacker which translates as Hardman (or Harmon), deacair being the Irish for difficult or hard.
There are nearly 1,700 names in the list.
The headings in the original article are: Inhabitants, Barony, Parish, Town, Wheat, Rye, Meslin, Oats, Meal, Barly, Pease, Beans
In the following Index, the details given are: Surname, Name, Title, Townland, Parish, Barony, Comment, Page (in 1948 Journal)
Remarks within brackets "[ - ]" are my own.
1740 Corn Census for County Louth
"AN ACCOUNT of the CORN in the possession of the Inhabitants of the County of Louth, shewing to whom belonging, in what BARONY, PARISH, & TOWN, as Likewise the Number of BARRELS of each GRAIN according to the Estimate made thereof, in the Several Haggards, Barns & Storehouses."
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25 January 2010
