Coolkenno History

KILQUIGGAN & SESKIN IN THE 1730's - The Hume Survey was carried out in the 1730s to determine the wealth of the estate as the once massive timber industry was at that stage, in decline. Families had gained great wealth and comfort from the timber felling in the early 1700s as families flocked from Yorkshire and other parts of Britain and Ireland to make a good living. As the great forests of Shillelagh diminished, the ideas of linen production was calculated according to each townland of the estate. Interestingly, the survey not only tells us the principal tenant of each townland but also the sub-tenants. In one sense, this all-estate survey was somewhat a census of our area and included not only the subtenants names but the size of their families. We can thank the authorities of the old Watson-Wentworth estate for such meticulous detail. Today, I shall focus on the notes related to the townlands of Kilquiggan and Seskin. On the 1728 Moland Survey, Peter Mathers held the lease for both townlands. The Hume Recordings show us that Mathers did not reside in the highlighted area but sub-let it to Aaron Abraham who in turn sub-leased it to the following tenants: Edmund McQuirk, James Kealy, Nicholas Tallon, Owen Byrne, William McCaul, Aaron Cooper, Edmund Dolan, John Tool, Thady Dowling, Morgan Doyle and John Byrne. There is no recording of a village or small clustered settlement at that time although Hume's descriptions of the land show it to be hilly, fit for sheep grazing and a location fit only for 'the Romans'. In 1748, the registers show us that Mathers had been replaced by Thomas St.Ledger in lease granted to Philip Wright himself for the life of himself to Thomas St. Leger for 21 years from 1745. St. Ledger was to plough no more than one hundred acres and plant two acres. St. Ledger died in 1757 and his Kilquiggan lease was in turn divided and passed onto Richard Hopkins and James Wall whilst Seskin went to Matthew Slater.