1901 Census Research for Rathangan, Co. Kildare

Rathangan Electoral Division Population Changs 1841 to 1901

The Electoral Division of Rathangan is centred around the town itself which consists of 1,004 acres of the 3,564 total acreage, and 680 of the 923 residents on Census night, March 31st.

From the bridge in the town to the county boundary with Offaly is less than 2 kilometres, passing through the townland of Sheean. Then the western/southern boundaries of the townlands of Ballysooghan South, Kilnabooley, Ballygaddy, Coolelan, the western and northern boundary of Ballinure and the norther boundary of Ballysooghan North all border County Offaly.

The town sits on the River Slate and the Grand Canal’s Barrow line which connects to the River Barrow, providing a direct line to Dublin in the east and the River Shannon in the west arrived in 1783. Industry grew as a result and the population increased 10-fold after the canal opened, benefitting from the presence of the Quakers. Tanning, grain production and fulling (wool cleaning) were some of the local industries to thrive.

The railway lines of Ireland bypassed Rathangan, as they passed through Monasterevin to the south in 1847, during the Famine years. Rathangan’s population declined by 11% in the 1840’s, an average of twenty people a year for the decade, but this accelerated to a drop of 19% or 312 people in the 1850’s, and 171 people or 13% in the 1870’s, before stabilising slightly for the next twenty years. Emigration picked up again in the 1890’s as the population declined 11% to 923 residents. 

In the townlands, Coolelan declined 80% from 242 to 48 between 1841 and 1901, Ballysooghan South declined 75% from 32 to 8, although the number of houses in this townland only decreased from 4 to 2. Sheean’s population declined 65% and Ballinure’s by 60% in the same time period. In the town itself, the population declined 43% from 1,199 in 1841 to 680 in 1901. The number of houses in the town fell from 206 to 130 in the same period. 

In contrast, in Rathangan Demesne, situated on the south bank of the Slate River, the population increased from two residents to fifty-one. Some houses must have been vacant in 1841 because there were four for two people recorded in the census. The number of houses increased to sixteen by 1861, before declining to eleven by 1901. 

Main Landlords in Rathangan in 1854

Griffith’s Valuations tell us that the main landlords in this area around 1854 were the Duke of Leinster and Viscount Harberton. In 1854 the Duke of Leinster was from the Fitzgerald line of Carton House while the Viscount Harberton’s were descendants of Arthur Pomeroy (1723-1798), an Anglo Irish politician who was born in Cork and married Mary Colley, daughter of Henry Colley of nearby Carbury Castle. 

Other landlords worth mentioning are Archibald Billing (Coolelan), Arthur Loftus (Rathangan), and Mrs. Palfrey Burrell. In the Demesne a number of houses were owned by Elizabeth Kinsella and George McMahon.

The Quakers of Rathangan

Though the first record of a Quaker birth in Rathangan is dated 1679, the year 1728 is recognised as the first formal date the Quaker Community of Rathangan was established, when they rented 3,000 acres from the Duke of Leinster. Here is a link to some information on the community, which were also established in Timahoe and Ballitore. There were no Quakers residents in Rathangan when the 1901 Census was taken. 

Excellent Book published on Farming and Society since 1700 in the barony of Carbury

At the end of 2024, as part of the Maynooth Studies in Local History, The Four Court Press has published an excellent book on this part of Co. Kildare that is worth purchasing. The title is “Farming and society since 1700 in the barony of Carbury, Co. Kildare, by Lesley Whiteside. Detailed farm records from the likes of the Holt family were used when researching this local study, and the book can be purchased from the publisher at this link. 

Rathangan by Peadar Mac Suibhne

Interesting Book by Peadar Mac Suibhne (1896-1982) named Rathangan. It is full of interesting facts and folklore about Rathangan and its environs. It is out of print but a copy can be found in the library in Kildare town. 

Behan was the most common surname in Rathangan in 1901

There were thirty-seven residents in the Rathangan ED with the surname Behan in 1901, followed by Byrne and Dunne with twenty-seven each, Gorey with twenty-two, Mooney with twenty-one, and then Lynch and Reilly with eighteen each.