1901 Census Research for Thomastown, Co. Kildare

Thomastown Electoral Division Population Changes 1841 to 1901

The Electoral Division of Thomastown consists of 16 townlands and 4,958 acres, the largest being the townlands of Thomastown East and Clonmoyle West, with 582 and 572 acres, respectively.

Thomastown ED sits on a northwest/southwest access bordering the town of Rathangan in the north and stretching south towards Monasterevin and southwest to the Red Hills on the outskirts of Kildare town. 

Its western townlands of Foy, Kiltaghan North, and Clonmoyle West form part of the Offaly/Kildare border. It is traversed by the Barrow line of the Grand Canal passing from Rathangan and which reached Monasterevin in 1785. The road between the towns is the R414.

Bordered as it is by Rathangan to the north, Monasterevin to the south and Kildare town to the southeast, there are no large conurbations within the Thomastown ED.  There is an average of 1 person for every twelve acres in 1901 or 1 household every fifty-eight acres.

Main Landlords in Thomastown Co. Kildare in 1854

Griffith’s Valuations tell us that the main landlords in this area around 1854 were:

1. Clonmoyle: Duke of Leinster, leasing most of the land to Simon Malone;
2. Clonmoyle West: Duke of Leinster, leasing the land to Peter Flood, Patrick Kelly, and Simon Malone; 
3. Ellistown: Robert Cassidy, leasing the lands to Richard Coffey;
4. Foy: Duke of Leinster, leasing the land to Patrick Kelly; 
5. Grangeclare: Robert B. Steele, who leased the lands to Patrick Donagher;
6. Knocknagalliagh: Duke of Leinster, who leased the lands to Thomas Cleary, Maurice Dooney, James, Mary and Rose Colligan, Peter Reddy, Catherine Dunne, Michael Conlan;  
7. Mountprospect: Duke of Leinster leasing the land to Walter Tyrrell, and some to Patrick Kelly; 
8. Mullantine: Duke of Leinster, leasing the land to Walter Tyrrell, and Cherry Farrell; 
9. Rathwalkin: Duke of Leinster, leasing the land to Daniel Cleary;   
10. Red Hills: Duke of Leinster, leasing the land to William Forbes and Addison Hone;
11. Tullylost: Duke of Leinster, leasing the land to Cherry Farrell and William F. Johnston;
12. Thomastown East: Duke of Leinster, leasing the land to Cherry Farrell, Addison Hone, Lawrence Flood, and John Flood; 
13. Thomastown West: Duke of Leinster, leasing the land to Elizabeth Hynes, Simon Farrell, Simon Long, Addison Hone, and Revd. Joseph North;
14. Watergrange: The Duke of Leinster.

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. 

Population Decreased by 48% between 1841 and 1901.

The population decrease of 48% between 1841 and 1901 is like surrounding areas but significantly less than that experienced further north in the county. There were 122 houses in 1841 housing 768 residents, an average of 6.3 people per household. By 1901 only eighty-five houses were occupied, housing just 397 residents, an average of 4.7 per household.

During the famine decade, the population only declined by 39 (5%) between 1841 and 1851, which is truly little compared to surrounding areas. But the population declined by 18% of 128 people in the 1850’s and by another ninety-two residents in the 1860’s before reducing by under 2.5 people for the next twenty years. In the 1890’s the rate of decline increased to sixty-five for the decade, a 14% reduction on the 1891 Census.

The population changes varied significantly by townland between 1841 and 1901. with Kiltaghan North’s population declining by 80% but Rathwalkin’s population increasing by 20%, albeit off an extremely low base.

Kiltaghan North’s population increased during the famine decade from 95 to 119, before more than halving in the 1850’s before steadying for 20 years only to fall again from 1881.

Bruce Springsteen’s ancestors emigrated from Mountprospect in 1853

The population of the townland of Mountprospect increased from 22 in 1841 to 36 in 1851 before declining again to 22 in 1861. Amongst those to leave in 1851, were Christy Gerrity (aka Geraghty) and his family, to whom Bruce Springsteen can trace his roots. 

According to Griffith’s Valuations of c1854 for Mountprospect, a Catherine Geraghty was the tenant of a house there, but no lands. A Margaret Geraghty (aged thirty-five and unmarried) was the only namesake living in the Thomastown Ed at house 4 Clonmoyle West according to the 1901 Census. 

Flood was the most common surnames in Thomastown in 1901

There were twenty-eight residents in the Thomastown ED with the surname Flood in 1901, followed by Kelly with twenty-seven, Gurry with twenty-three, Kennedy with sixteen, Molloy with fourteen, Behan with eleven and Mylod with ten.