My Townland

transcribed at

My Townland  [duchas:4358373]

The townland in which I live is Tavneena which means the fertile fields of the woods. There are about fifty four houses in it and it is part of the Parish of Cill Beitheach. There are about fifteen people over seventy in the village and non of them can tell Irish stories. There are no woods or streams or rivers in it of any importance but there was a wood in it in olden times and it was cut down some years ago for firewood. The houses were mostly all thatched up until the last few years. Many new houses have been built and roofed with tiles or slates. Long ago the houses were all clustered together in the one street and this was called a “village”. The land of Tavneena is very poor and barren and it is of a boggy nature. Before the land was divided the fields were scattered about here and there through the village and this kept the people very busy in minding their cattle from damaging another man’s crops because the fences they had were not high enough to keep out the cattle and the fences were called “caoilóga”. The two commonest names round this district are Doherty and Duffy. Most of the people emigrated in olden times either to America or England. Not so many went to America at that time because they had sail boats and what ever way the wind blew it used sail that

My Townland  [duchas:4358374]

way for America. They had no railways at that time and when the “spalpins” used to be going to England they used to have to walk to Dundalk and then sail in a sailing boat to England. Sometimes when the landlord used to put a person out of his land for not paying the rent that person would have to go to England and leav his home then the landlord would give his land to one of his neighbours.