Dolans of the Glan

This is a website about our Dolans from Glangevlin.

DOLAN SURNAME

Dolans have been in this part of Ireland for centuries, if not millennia. Dolan (Irish: Ó Duibhlin , Ó Dubhshláin, Ó Dubhlainn and Ó Dúláin) is a surname of Irish origin.

This interesting surname is of Irish origin, and is an anglicization of the Old Gaelic "O'Dobhailein". The Gaelic prefix "O" indicates "grandson" or "male descendant of", plus the personal byname "Dobhailein", from "dobhail" meaning "unlucky" or "unfortunate". Traditionally, Irish family names are taken from the heads of tribes, or from some illustrious warrior, and are usually prefixed by "O" (as above), or "M(a)c", denoting "son of".

The Dolan family traces its origin back to Fiacha Suighe, who was the son of Fedlimid Rechtmar, the High King of Ireland from 110 AD to 119 AD. The Dolan branch of this clan settled in counties Sligo and Mayo and take their name from Dobhailen, the son of Gormghus. Being expelled from Slogo, the Dolans settled in Lietrim. Then Cú Connacht Óg mac Con Connacht Maguire, who was chief of Fermanagh from 1527 to 1538, was in a war with his relatives and offered the O'Dolans land in Fermanagh if they would fight for him. They agreed and Maguire granted 16 tates or townlands in Clanawley barony to Tigernán O'Dolan, the son of the chief of the clan. The Dolans remained owners until the Plantation of Ulster when their land was confiscated by the English.

A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. It is also the case that many Irish septs or clans that are related often belong to larger groups, sometimes called tribes.

Variations of the Dolan family crest range widely, as seen below.

 

According to the website irishsurnames.com, the crest is described as follows:

	Argent/White - denoted peace and sincerity.
	Azure/Blue - represents loyalty and truth.
	Yellow/Gold - represents generosity.
	Chief - represents dominion, authority, wisdom, achievement in battle.
	Crescent/Increscent Moon - Signifies on who has been 'Enlightened and Honoured by his Sovereign'

 

CAVAN

Cavan County is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (Bréifne). Cavan borders six counties: Leitrim to the west, Fermanagh and Monaghan to the north, Meath to the south-east, Longford to the south-west and Westmeath to the south. Cavan shares a 43 miles border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. Cavan is the source of many rivers. Shannon Pot on the slopes of Cuilcagh is the source of the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland at 240 miles.

Glangevlin (Irish: Gleann Ghaibhle, meaning 'glen of the fork') is a village in the northwest of County Cavan, Ireland. It is in the townlands of Gub (Glangevlin) and Tullytiernan, at the junction of the R200 and R207 regional roads. It is surrounded by the Cuilcagh Mountains and borders the counties of Leitrim and Fermanagh. The area is described by Samuel Lewis (1837) as a mountainous district between the counties of Fermanagh and Leitrim, generally known as the country of the MacGaurans. Around 1837 there was no public road, only one difficult pass; the Gap of Beal. At that time the area was approximately 16 miles in length by 7 in breadth. It was also stated by Lewis that their sole occupation was tilling the land and attending the cattle; potatoes and milk, sometimes with oaten bread, being their chief food.

Townlands in Glangevlin parish include: Altnasheen; Altshallan; Bellavally Lower; Bellavally Upper; Bursan; Carnmaclean; Carrick West; Coppanaghbane; Coppanaghmore; Corneenflynn; Corracleigh; Corratawy; Creea; Curraghglass; Curraghvah; Derrylahan; Derrynananta Lower; Derrynananta Upper; Derrynatuan; Drumhurrin; Dunmakeever; Eshveagh; Garvalt Lower; Gowlat; Gub (Glangevlin); Knockgorm; Lattone; Legatraghta; Legglass; Legnaderk; Legnagrow; Moneenabrone; Moneensauran; Mullaghlea Glen; Mully Lower; Mully Upper; Tonanilt; Tullycrafton; Tullynacleigh; Tullynacross (Glangevlin); Tullyminister; Tullytiernan.

 

TITHE APPLOTMENT

Tithe Applotment books were records compiled in Ireland between 1823 and 1837 for the purpose of assessing the monetary rate of the tithe, a 10 per cent religious tax on the agricultural output of land in the country that was levied for the upkeep of the Church of Ireland. All of the agricultural lands in Ireland were surveyed and the name of the occupier, the size of their holding and the rate of the tithe were recorded. Although they are not a comprehensive record of all households, the tithe applotment books are the earliest all-island source that documents occupiers of property in 19th century Ireland.

Records indicate that there were 44 Dolans in the Parish of Killinagh and 101 Dolans living in the Parish of Templeport. 

Below are parish maps for each of these locations.

Of note are these townlands that this blog is primarily focused on:

Bellavally        -	2
Corracleigh    -	1
Derrynatuan    -	4
Drumhurrin    -	8
Gowlat            -	2
Mullies            -	1
Tullynacross    -	6

 

FAMINE

Ireland’s 1845 Potato Blight is often credited with launching the second wave of Irish immigration to America. The fungus which decimated potato crops created a devastating famine. Starvation plagued Ireland and within five years, a million Irish were dead while half a million had arrived in America to start a new life. Living conditions in many parts of Ireland were very difficult long before the Potato Blight of 1845, however, and a large number of Irish left their homeland as early as the 1820s.

In fact, Ireland’s population decreased dramatically throughout the nineteenth century. Census figures show an Irish population of 8.2 million in 1841, 6.6 million a decade later, and only 4.7 million in 1891. It is estimated that as many as 4.5 million Irish arrived in America between 1820 and 1930.

Between 1820 and 1860, the Irish constituted over one third of all immigrants to the United States. In the 1840s, they comprised nearly half of all immigrants to this nation. Interestingly, pre-famine immigrants from Ireland were predominately male, while in the famine years and their aftermath, entire families left the country. In later years, the majority of Irish immigrants were women.

It is uncertain how many residents of Glangevlin left for America because of the famine, or because of issues with their tenancy, their landlord, or personal situations.

Ireland has always been a land of occupation, whether it was the the Norman invasion of Ireland in the twelfth century; the Tudor reconquest in the sixteenth century; the so-called 'Plantation' of Protestant settlers in Ulster early in the seventeenth century; the alleged massacre of Protestants in 1641; the invasion of Cromwell, the imposition of the Penal Laws against Catholics; Grattan's Parliament, and the abortive rising of 1798; or the glowing promise and ultimate frustration of Daniel O'Connell, the struggle for land ownership continues.

 

GRIFFITH'S VALUATION

Details about Dolans in the Griffith's Valuation (with details about each townland).

There were a recorded 390 Dolans as head of households listed in all of County Cavan, 195 in Templeport, 13 in Kilawley, 93 in Killinagh and 18 in Drumreilly.


The land question in Ireland was ultimately defused by a series of Irish Land Acts, beginning in 1870 with rent reform, establishing the Land Commission in 1881, and providing for judicial reviews to certify fair rents. The Ashbourne Act of 1885 started a limited process of allowing tenant farmers to buy their freeholds, which was greatly extended following the 1902 Land Conference, by the Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903.

The success of the Land Acts in reducing the concentration of land ownership is indicated by the fact that in 1870, only 3% of Irish farmers owned their own land while 97% were tenants. By 1929, this ratio had been reversed with 97.4% of farmers holding their farms in freehold.

Details about the number of Dolans who owned property in 1901 when the Irish tenants stood up and took possession of the lands. how much the land cost, and how many didn't have the cash to own and were forced off their lands, maybe to settle in places like New York, Boston, New Jersey or Philadelphia.

LAND OWNERSHIP IN CAVAN

Griffiths	Title Transfer	To Who	# Acres
a – Peter Dolan	1904	Mary Dolan (3398)	26
b – Lawrence Dolan	1904	Alice Dolan (3399)	21
c – Terence Dolan	1904	Catherine Dolan (3400)	35
d – Tierney Dolan	1904	Owen McGovern (3401)	10
e – Thomas Dolan	1927	Mary Dolan and Thomas Sheridan (Gub) (14822)	21
f – Michael Dolan	1928	Patrick Dolan / Felix Dolan (15003)	22
g – Patrick Dolan (Peter)	1904	Michael Reilly (3402)	24
h – Patrick Dolan	1904	Patrick McGovern (3403)	20
			179 total acres

 

1901/1911 CENSUS

An electoral division (ED) is a legally defined administrative area in the Republic of Ireland, generally comprising multiple townlands, and formerly a subdivision of urban and rural districts. Until 1996, EDs were known as district electoral divisions (DEDs) in the 29 county council areas and wards in the five county boroughs. Until 1972, DEDs also existed in Northern Ireland.

The predecessor poor law electoral divisions were introduced throughout the island of Ireland in the 1830s. The divisions were used as local-government electoral areas until 1919 in what is now the Republic and until 1972 in Northern Ireland. 

DED	1901	1911
Derrylahan	139	107
Dunmakeever	126	104
Killinagh	56	60
Kinawley	32	34
Templeport	121	77
Tuam	50	38
	524	420