Bosnetstown is in the Electoral Division of Kilfinnane, in Civil Parish of Kilfinnane, in the Barony of Coshlea, in the County of Limerick
The Irish name for Bosnetstown townland is: Baile an Bhoscnóidigh Bosnetstown is on Logainm.ie: Bosnetstown.
Bosnetstown- the placename
The Irish for Bosnetstown is Baile an Bhoscnoidigh-the town/townland/homestead of An Bhoscnoideach.[1] It is possible that the name comes from a one-time owner, perhaps of the surname Fox which in Irish is de Bhosc.[2] Allowing for errors in transcription or spelling it is quite possible that John Fox of Ballyvynog in the Barony of Costlea, listed as an Irish papist in the Civil Survey of 1654, is a reference to this townland.[3] In seventeenth century surveys the anglicised version of Baile an Bhoscnoidigh was Ballivosknody/ Ballyvosknode. By the nineteenth century the name had changed to Bosnetstown.
[1] https://www.logainm.ie/en/30981?s=Bosnetstown
[2] Gearóid Mac Spealáin, Some Interesting Place-Names In County Limerick,
North Munster Antiquarian Journal, Vol 03 No 3, 08
[3] https://www.limerick.ie/sites/default/files/Civil_Survey_1654.pdf
Bosnetstown/ Ballivosknody/Ballyvosknode in The Civil Survey 1654-6 and The Down Survey 1656-8
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland between the years 1649-52 was financed by English Adventurers who were repaid with land forfeited by Irish Catholic landowners. Soldiers who served in the Cromwellian army were also paid with forfeited land. As the war drew to a close in 1652, the English parliament passed the Act of Settlement, which specified who exactly would forfeit land in Ireland.
For this purpose the Civil Survey was carried out between 1654-6. The Civil Survey did not involve the making of maps, but a detailed boundary description was made for each barony and parish. Landowner records were collated down to the level of townland. The Down Survey, so called because a chain was laid down and a scale written down, was taken from 1656-8 under the direction of William Petty. Unlike the Civil Survey, the Down Survey is a mapped survey. The area of each townland was calculated with great precision and their boundaries can be seen on the resulting maps.
The townland of Ballyvosknody (Bosnetstown) contained 351 acres of which 326 acres were deemed profitable, the remaining 25 acres were categorised as bog and unprofitable. (Figure 1)
Figure 1: Part of the terrier for the Parish of Kilfynane and Particles
Source: http://downsurvey.tcd.ie:
The townland of Bosnetstown is listed as unforfeited land in the Down Survey. It was in Protestant ownership in 1641 and in 1670 so it may be concluded that Sir Edward Fitzharris, who was the proprietor of most townlands in the parish, was not the owner of Bosnetstown. The Protestant owner is not named in the Down Survey.
Bosnetstown in the 18th Century and 19th Century
The Landlord
Bosnetstown Lysaght (Mountnorth) - At the end of the 17th century Nicholas Lysaght, a supporter of William III, married Grace, daughter of Colonel Thomas Holmes of Kilmallock, county Limerick and his wife Anne Gibbons, of Mountnorth, county Cork. Grace was also a niece of Sir Robert Holmes, Governor of the Isle of Wight. In 1724 Nicholas Lysaght of Brickfield, county Limerick made his will in which he mentions purchasing his county Cork lands from Randall Chaytor [Clayton] and his county Limerick lands from Richard, Earl of Bellomont. Nicholas and Grace Lysaght's son John became the first Baron Lisle in 1758. At the time of Griffith's Valuation, Lord Lisle held an estate in the parishes of Effin, Emlygrennan and Kilfinnane,(including the townlands of Bosnetstown and Moorestown) baronies of Coshma and Coshlea, county Limerick, Clonfert and Kilmeen, barony of Duhallow and Mogeely, barony of Kinnatalloon, county Cork. This estate of over 12,000 acres in counties Cork and Limerick was advertised for sale in November 1869 and unsold portions again in November 1872. The Irish Times reported that Thomas Jamison purchased some of the lots in trust while another lot was purchased by T.H. Downing. Lord Lisle of Queenstown owned 211 acres in county Limerick and 668 acres in county Cork in the 1870s, while his son and heir, George Lysaght, owned 5,408 acres in county Cork.
Mountnorth Court Ballyclogh. Mallow
This residence was described by Smith in the mid 18th century as a square building with two wings and fine plantations. In 1786 Wilson refers to it as "the fine and magnificent seat of Lord Lisle, with ample demesnes". This house is described as "in ruins" on the first Ordnance Survey map and modern farm buildings exist at the site now.
The Tithe Applotment Books
The Tithe Applotment Books are the records produced by The Tithe Applotment Survey which was a valuation of the entire island carried out between 1823 and 1837. The purpose of the survey was to ascertain how much tax (tithe) each occupier of land was obliged to pay for the upkeep of the Protestant clergy in the parish. http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/Limerick/Kilfinnane/Bosnetstown
Bosnetstown in the Tithe Applotment Books (1833)
The Tithe Applotment Books do not provide any information on the ownership of the townland of Bosnetstown but it does provide a list of the occupiers of the farms in 1833. The size of holding, the rent payable, the arrears of rent due and the amount of tithe and arrears due are all recorded. Many of the surnames recorded in 1833 appear in the 1911 Census and some are still associated with the townland today. Using the spellings of the Tithe Applotment Books the following are the surnames recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books for Bosnetstown; Hayes, Bennett, Condon, Sheedy, Brazill, Quin, Riordan, Griffin, Power, Flinn, Hanley, Wallace, Ahern, Fitzgerald, Sweeney, Hanley, Farrell, Howell, Leland, Dawson, Stanton, Carey, Halpin, Moloney, Cleary, O’Brien, Fox, McCarthy, Lane, Lynch, Flanagan and Manahan. Almost all of the land occupiers also rented a portion of bog on which a tithe payment was also due.
Bosnetstown in Griffith's Valuation
Read about Bosnetstown with information gathered from the Griffith Valuation - Click the link
Fr. William Fitzgerald
Read the story about Bosnetstown resident Fr. William Fitzgerald.
Father William Fitzgerald
People and Houses in Bosnetstown 1841 - 1911
The townland of Bosnetstown, as the chart illustrates, suffered a 45% population loss between 1841 and 1851. This dramatic population decline, from 533 in 1841 to 294 in 1851, places it among the more severely affected areas in the country during the years of the Famine and reflects heavy mortality rates and significant emigration level. Furthermore, evidence from a very comprehensive report sent by Rev George Wren, Rector of Kilfinane Church of Ireland, to the Relief Commissioners in Dublin in May 1846 suggest scenes of devastation in the townland. He wrote that 235 individuals (47 families) in Bosnetstown were in a state of ‘destitution’ and that only 51 of those were able to work. Clearly, many families in pre-Famine Bosnetstown subsisted on a diet of potatoes and when the blight came in 1845 they became part of the most vulnerable group in Irish society. It can only be surmised that many succumbed to the ravages of hunger and disease and sadly there are no records or memorials to mark their existence. Even traces of their humble cabins no longer exist. A pattern of emigration can be traced throughout the remainder of the century as the more gradual decline in population suggests. By 1901 the population of Bosnetstown had declined to 168 but remained at that level for the next decade. This stability may, in part, be attributed to the scheme for constructing labourers’ cottages which was underway at that time. A total of 11 labourers’ cottages were built by The Guardians of Kilmallock Union on half-acre sites in Bosnetstown between 1888 and 1910. Each cottage had also been allocated an extra half-acre by 1910.
Bosnetstown House (now known as the Castle)
Click on the link to read about Bosnetstown House
Bosnetstown sold in the Landed Estates Court 1869
People of Bosnetstown in 1911
