Estate: O'Hara (Raheen)

Associated Families

• O'Hara (Raheen)
• O'Hara (Lenaboy)
• Forbes (Raheen)

Description

It was to the Raheen area that some of the Kilkelly family moved when they were deprived of lands at Cloghballymore in the parish of Killeenavarra. Later Raheen came into the possession of the O'Haras. Robert O'Hara "of Rahine" is listed as one of the resident landed proprietors in county Galway by Hely Dutton in 1824. The OS Name Books record James O'Hara of Raheen as a proprietor in the parish of Ardrahan in the 1830s with Barry O'Hara of Galway as his agent and Henry Lahiff of Gort as a middleman. They further record James O'Hara leasing to John O'Hara as another middleman who in turn leased to John McMahon of Newmarket, county Clare. In 1853 much of the O'Hara estate in the baronies of Dunkellin and Leitrim, as well as some land in the barony of Kiltartan, was sold in the Incumbered Estates Court. The Freeman's Journal gives details of the purchasers. The sales realised the sum of £27,000. In 1856 Raheen was occupied by Charles O'Hara who was leasing from James O'Hara. The O'Hara estate in county Galway amounted to over 3000 acres in the 1870s. In 1915 an offer was accepted on almost 350 acres of the O'Hara estate from the Congested Districts Board. Francis O'Hara held land in the parish of Feakle, county Clare at the time of Griffith's Valuation. In the 1870s William O'Hara son of Robert O'Hara of Raheen, county Galway and his wife Frances Taylor, was living at Caher House, Feakle, county Clare, where he owned 1,134 acres.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Raheen (H552) Raheen is associated with both the Kilkelly and O'Hara families. In the 1770s it seems to have been a residence of the Taylor family, with whom the O'Haras intermarried. In the 1830s the OS Name Books record it as "a neat house, in form like a cottage two stories high." Raheen House was badly damaged by fire in the latter part of the twentieth century. The entrance gateway is still extant.	Raheen Demesne	Ardrahan	Gort	Cahermore 102	Kiltartan	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.10529 -8.83325 OSI Ref: M442064 Discovery map #52. OS Sheet #122.
Normangrove (H594) In the 1850s the house at Normangrove, in the Kinvara area, was being leased by John O'Hara to Charles Higgins. In 1814 it had been recorded as the residence of John Burke and was also listed as a Burke house by Lewis in 1837. In 1906 Miss M.L. Forster held over 500 acres of untenanted land here as well as buildings valued at almost £3. The Forsters had held land at Normangrove at the time of Griffith's Valuation but no buildings. O'Connell states that the house was occupied until about 1914 and it fell into ruin therafter. The entrance and driveway lead to a farmyard and there is no trace of the house now.	Normangrove	Killinny	Gort	Killinny 106	Kiltartan	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.09283 -8.93751 OSI Ref: M372051 Discovery map #52. OS Sheet #121/122.
Derryhoyle (H661) In 1855 the house at Derryhoylemore, parish of Lickerrig, barony of Dunkellin, was leased by Robert O'Hara to Samuel Wade. In 1906 the house at Derryhoyle was valued at £12 and was owned by Robert F. O'Hara who also owned over 100 acres of untenanted land there. A house is still extant at the site.	Derryhoylemore	Lickerrig	Loughrea	Kilconickny 131	Dunkellin	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.21948 -8.68125 OSI Ref: M545190 Discovery map #52. OS Sheet #104.
Lydacan Lodge (H1121) Lydacan Lodge is recorded in the OS Name Books as the residence of John O'Hara. On the 1st edition OS maps the house is recorded as Lydacan Lodge. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Lydacan is recorded as the property of James O'Hara where he held a herd's house and 200 acres.	Lydacan	Ardrahan	Gort	Cahermore 102	Dunkellin	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.11695 -8.83646 OSI Ref: M440077 Discovery map #52. OS Sheet #113.
Caher (H2446) Situated close to the shore of Lough Graney, sheltered by trees this house is well maintained and occupied. It was leased by the O'Haras to the Studderts in the 1830s. At the time of Griffith's Valuation William O'Hara, one of the seven sons of Robert O'Hara of Raheen, was the occupier. He held the house valued at £24 and surrounding 255 acres from [his mother] Frances O'Hara. Purchased by the O'Dwyers in the early 20th century.	Caher (Rice)	Feakle	Scarriff	Derrynagittagh 129	Tulla Upper	Clare	Lat/Lon: 52.96975 -8.66392 OSI Ref: R554 912 Discovery map #52. OS Sheet #20.

Archival sources

• Irish Architectural Archive: Raheen. Photographs. 030/048
• National Library of Ireland: A large broadsheet containing the names of occupiers, the size and quality of lands in Streamsfort, Fortlands, Ballinasoora and Woodlands (Co. Galway?) c. 1850? (An exhibit in a legal action James O'Hara v. Lord Ashtown, Dec. 1901.) Ms. 4633
• National Library of Ireland: A survey of the wood-lands part of Calterbride or Streamsfort, in the barony of Kilconnell, Co. Galway, the estate of James O'Hara. By John Lally, Quarto sheet, coloured, 1835. Manuscript map: 21 F. 76 (9)

Contemporary printed sources

Many of these resources are now available online. For a list with Web links please see the Online Printed Sources Links

• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Gort Union, 5 & 38.
• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Loughrea Union, 54 (Derryhoylemore)
• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Scarriff Union, 27 (Caher (Rice))
• DUTTON, Hely. Statistical and agricultural survey of the county of Galway. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society, 1824. : 416
• HUSSEY DE BURGH, U. H. The Landowners of Ireland. An alphabetical list of the owners of estates of 500 acres or £500 valuation and upwards in Ireland. Dublin: Hodges, Foster and Figgis, 1878. [available online at www.askaboutireland.ie] : 352.
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol II, 211.
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol I, 56. (Raheen)
• ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Galway, http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/default.html: Ardrahan Parish
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion..., HC 1906, c, 177: 324.
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. 24th Annual Report of the Congested Districts' Board for Ireland, [Cd 8356], HC 1916, vi, 564-586. Appendix VIII: 45.
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 113, 298

Modern printed sources

• Freeman's Journal: Incumbered Estates Court sale reports, 7 May 1853, p.3.
• BURKE, Sir Bernard. A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Ireland. London: Harrison & Sons, 1904: 458
• MELVIN, Patrick. Estates and landed society in Galway. (Dublin: Éamonn de Búrca, 2012). : p.10.
• WEIR, Hugh W. L. Historical, Genealogical and Architectural notes on some Houses of Clare. Whitegate, county Clare: Ballinakella Press, 1999. : 52