Fearann Uí Chonchúir

Fearann Uí Chonchúir or Farranconnor is a townland of 28 hectares or 119 acres and in the early part of the 20th century, 27 individual fields were mapped in this townland.

It is in the Electoral Division of Castlehaven South, in Civil Parish of Castlehaven and the Roman Catholic Parish of Castlehaven and Myross.

Fearann Uí Chonchúir is bordered by Gort an Chrosaigh (Gortacrossig) to the south, Leic Eoghain (Lickowen) and An Dúinín (Doneen) to the west and An Scoth Bhán (Scobaun) to the north

OpenStreetmap contributors, with input from the Castlehaven & Myross History Society, have created a detailed townland map including all its minor placenames. Zoom in for more detail.

Etymology

Fearann Uí Chonchúir can be interpreted as the land of O'Connor or Conogher. Bruno O'Donoghue and also JM Burke in his Southern Star article in 1913 both list the townland as Fearann Chonchubair which is interpreted as Conor's land. In his article in Volume 7 of the Skibbereen and District Historical Society Journal, Eugene Daly also interprets it as Conor's land.

There is a high hill in this townland known as Beann an tSíodháin which is interpreted by Bruno O'Donoghue as the peak of the fairy hill. He notes that it is also known as Bean Hill where Bean comes from beann (peak)

History

Plane Landing: In 1975 a small plane, piloted by Rex Dam Schroder on a trans-atlantic flight ran low on fuel and made an unscheduled landing in Farranconnor. This caused great excitement in the area and the gardaí and reporters were quickly on the scene. He was taken to Cork Airport by helicopter and returned the next day to depart (after some bottles of whiskey had changed hands). However, he needed some help from the locals to alow him to take off.

Shipwreck: A French trawler called the Anne Gaston ran into trouble just off the Stags on September 21st 1953. She lost engine power close to the Stags but managed to avoid this rock before she ran aground in Cuas Dubh close to Beann tSidháin in Farranconnor. Her engineer was lost that night. Coincidentally some potatoes on board "seemed" to disappear and re-surfaced as seed potatoes in the following spring. These were known locally as Anne Gastons.

Old Road and Farm: In the past the old road from Castletownshend to Baltimore ran through Farranconnor. The track can still be seen. There is one farm in this townland and it was sold in 1900 and we see that Julia O'Driscoll was running the farm at the time of the 1901 census. She married a McCarthy in 1902 and they had a son Jeremiah (known as Sonny). Her husband died around 1908 and she re-married Michael Goggin and they had a son, Frank, around 1911 and he inherited the farm. More information is given in Volume 2 of the Castlehaven and Myross History Society Journal

Housing

As part of Griffiths Valuation in 1853, a survey of house quality was carried out to calculate what rates were due by each household. These were issued in 1850 in the form of house books (Pg 1, Pg 2) and a guide on how to interpret these can be seen here. These show that all 3 houses in the townland at the time were class 3. This means that they were all thatched houses with stone walls with mud or puddle mortar (as opposed to houses built with stone or brick and lime mortar). Within class 3 there are a number of different categories. Two of these houses are described as old (more than 25 years old) and out of repair. The other one is described as medium, deteriorated by age and not in perfect repair. All houses in the townland at this time are between 4 foot 6 inches (!) and 6 foot 9 inches tall which indicates that they are single storey at this time.

By the 1901 census, there is just one house in this townland at this time and it has walls of stone, brick or concrete with a roof of slate, iron or tiles. It has five or six rooms and five windows in front which indicates that it is probably two storey at this time.

When we advance to the 1911 census there is still just one house in this townland at this time which still has walls of stone, brick or concrete with a roof of slate, iron or tiles. Again it has five or six rooms but now has eight windows.

Places of Interest

Lios: There is a ringfort (lios) in this townland . A ringfort is a circular fortified settlement that were mainly built during the Bronze age up to about the year 1000.

Beann tSídháin - This can be interpreted as the peak of the fairy mound and is the highest point of the townland. It is also known locally as "The Bean"

The ringfort mentioned above is mapped on the Historic Environment Viewer

Interesting Placenames

There is a field named Carraig Fada (long rock) and according to Lankford, this was a field next to a long rock that jutted out to sea. Another field was known as Gáirdín na gCabhlach (garden of ruins) as it was said that there were seven houses there during the famine - some of the ruins can still be seen. Another field was known as the Cuas Field (cove) as a stream ran directly to the sea from this field.

There is a cove known as Cuas Dubh (black cove) which forms the border between Farranconnor and Gortacrossig. Another cuas is known as Cuaisín na hEascainne (small cove of eels) while a third is Cuas Diúlán. We cannot be sure where this name comes from - diúlán is an alternative Irish language word for diúilicín (mussel). However the name might also derive from Cuas na dTollán (small caves) or from Cuas Dólán (Dolan's cove). This was known also by some fishers as Sweeney's Strand. Up to the 1950's it was possible to access this cuas from the fields above.

The name of the cliffs in the south-east corner is Faill na Spuaice which can be interpreted as the cliff of the peak (the peak being Beann tSídháin)

Other old field names in this townland have been captured as follows: The Lawn, Na Cnocíní (small hills), Páirc a' Leasa (the field of the lios/ringfort), Gort a' Gáirr (unsure of meaning), East Gort a' Gáirr,

If you want to see the actual locations of any of these, go to detailed townland map on Open Street Maps. If you know any other field names or placenames in this townland (or if you need to correct any or give further background information), please contact us at [email protected]

Folklore

Seánín Ó'Gráda: It is said that sometime in the early part of the 19th century, there were a few botháns at/near the top of Beann tSídháin (the Bean) - poor dwellings. One scrap of a child, Seánín Ó Gráda, was crawling outside in the dirt & a white-tailed eagle swooped down & picked him up. These eagles nested on the cliffs off the Móin Rua at this time. The eagle carried the boy towards the cliffs with his mother screaming for him - the eagle was low with the weight of the child & dropped him before getting to the cliff nest so the child survived. (Source of story: L.C. Toehead who says that his grandfather told him the story as if he witnessed it).

The first 4 lines of a poem about this event were as follows:

Sé mo leanbh é

Sé mo pháiste

Sé mo leanbh é

Seánín Ó Gráda

Families and Notable Residents

The Tithe Applotment books of 1825 list the following family names: Attridge, Hurley, Murphy, Burke, Sullivan, Crona (Cronin?), Attridge

Griffiths Valuation of 1853 lists the following family names: O'Hea, Brickley

The Census of Ireland of 1901 lists the following family names: O'Driscoll (with Barry, Cadogan and Donohue (all servants))

The Census of Ireland of 1911 lists the following family names: Goggin (with McCarthy (step-son), Sweeney (visitor), Daly (servant) and Daly (child-maid))

Note: the term 'with' refers to a person or persons of a different family name staying in the house. This may have been an in-law or other relative, a guest, or a farm labourer/housekeeper or domestic servant.

Demographics and Landholding

		*Occupiers	Population	Change	Link to record
1825	Tithe Applotment	7	42 (est)		1825
1841	Census of Ireland	14	66
1851	Census of Ireland	3 (Incl. 1 unoccupied)	11
1853	Griffith's Valuation	2	14 (est)		1853
1861	Census of Ireland	4	23
1871	Census of Ireland	8	13
1881	Census of Ireland	2	17
1891	Census of Ireland	1	6
1901	Census of Ireland	1	4		1901
1911	Census of Ireland	1	7		1911

*Occupiers generally equate to households having a house and land but may also include households having houses but no land.

Note the big reduction here at the time of the famine as you can see that the population dropped from 66 in 1841 to just 11 a decade later (with the number of occupied houses dropping from 14 to 2 in the same period). We are unsure of the reason - possibilities would be famine deaths, emigration or eviction. The population nearly doubled in 1861 but started to reduce again after this

Between 1656 and 1658 the Down Survey mapped all areas of the country to track ownership of land after much had been granted to followers of Cromwell after the war of the 1650's. The most prominent proprietor (titulado) of this townland at that time was Edmund Fitzgerald. This townland was called Farranknogher and Bawnteeowen at that time.

The proprietor of this townland in 1841 was Sampson T. French of Cobh and his agent was G. Ross of Smorane, Skibbereen. It was all held under lease by by James Attridge of Farranconnor.

In 1840 the soil was described as half coarse pasture and the other half was middling arable and produced light crops of oats, wheat and potatoes.