This website is dedicated to the McCorkell, Williams, Baird, and Peoples and associated families, living mostly in the townland of Ballyrattan during the 19th and early 20th Centuries.
The site now also contains links to various branches of the family both in the British Isles as well as the USA and Canada I would like to give a special word of thanks here to Robert Williams,
who provided almost all the information for the Williams family which appears on this site Special thanks also to Sam Baird for his help with the Baird tree, Sam was born in the townland and has a wide knowledge of the Baird and connected families from the area, I would also like to thank
Donna Wyatt in the USA for help with my Baird tree as well.
About Ballyrattan Townland
Ballyrattan, sometimes written as Ballyratten is a townland in the Parish of Upper Moville, the
townland is mentioned in the Civil Survey of 1654 as well as Penders Census of 1659, in that
census the townland is recorded as having 21 people, 8 English/Scots and 13 Irish 100 years
later
there are 8 names recorded in the Protestant census of 1740 for the townland: Brumhall
Widow,David
Francis,Gillyland Widow,Magihen Edward,Spence Mr,Stuart John,Stuart Patrick,Stuart Samuel,Vance
Thomas although the 1851 Census does not survive population statistics do and the townland of
Ballyrattan is recorded as having a population of 119 at that time, at the time of the Griffith
Valuation recorded as 1858 but may have occurred up to a decade earlier the following names
for the townland are recorded, I have highlighted those appearing in the tree: Baird
James Beatty
Robert Boner John Boner Patrick Caffrill William Cahill James Cahill John Campbell David
Carter Elizabeth Clements Rev. Andrew Dermott Hugh Dermott James Doherty Charle Douglas
Archibald Duffy John Farren James Farren Mary Ferguson Thomas Foster Francis Gillespie
Charles Hagerty James Harken James Havlin Bernard Havlin John Havlin John, Jr. Havlin John, Sr.
Kelly John Lee Robert Long Matthew McCairn Mary McCairn William McCarren Charles McCool
Margaret McCorkhill Mary McCorkhill William McGonigle George McLoughlin Bell McSheffry
Mager Morehead Thomas Orr James Peebles George Peebles William
The townland had a population of 178 peoples at the time of the 1901 Census of Ireland, like
the rest of this rural Parish most made their living from the land in small farms, the townland
at
that time had a well-mixed population of Planter and native Irish families, although there were
no
native Irish speakers living in the townland in 1901. The population had dropped to 146 by the
time
of the 1911 census and has probably been in decline ever since (although figures are not
available).
Many of the surnames recorded in the townland in 1901 appear on this website, the most populous
surnames in the townland in 1901 were Peoples 22, Orr 19, Campbell 18, Doherty 18 and
Baird 17
UPPER MOVILLE 1833
Below is a description of the Parish of Upper Moville where Ballyrattan townland is situated, taken from the Ordnance Survey Memoirs 1833
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Parish of Upper Moville, situated 9 to 14 miles north of the city of Derry, barony of Inishowen and county of Donegal, bounded on the north by the Parish of Lower Moville, south by the parish of
Muff, east by Lough Foyle and west by a range of mountains extending from the church lands north to
the mountains of Eachiheen south,together with the parishes of Culdaff, Donagh and Lower Fahan, extending from 8 to 9 miles and greatest breadth from 4 to 5 miles.The first stream of any consequence is called Bonifoble river, which divides the parish of Upper and Lower Moville; rises in
the mountains of Greencastle and discharges itself into Lough Foyle convenient to Bonifoble(Moville town)
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