| From: "cowan4356" <[email protected]> | To: "fermanagh-gold" <[email protected]> | Sent: Tuesday, February 9, 2016 2:13:01 AM | Subject: The Cowans of Clonkeen/Glenkeen Fermanagh | I am researching my step fathers Cowan family of Clonkeen townland in Fermanagh | in Ireland. | I am posting some information which I have gathered about the origins of the | Clonkeen Cowans and their relationship to the Archdales with the wish that | others who may be researching the same may be able to shed some new light and | insights into the thoughts I have. What is written here are my thoughts and | guesses as to the origins and should be treated as such. Any feedback is | welcomed. E arly history of the Cowans in Ireland and their relationship to the | Archdales | Scottish or early Irish origins? | The Ulster Scot Historical Society were commissioned by the family in 1965 to | perform research on the Cowan family from Clonkeen. They mentioned that Cowan | is both an Irish and a Scottish surname. They said that from the location of | Clonkeen, it seems likely that the family came from Scotland as the Irish | Cowans are found mainly in the West of Ireland or in County Armagh. | The Ulster Scot Historical Society report goes on to say that : | 1) The 1631 Muster Roll for County Donegal, Barony of Eneshone, Lord | Chichester's men, 2 armes, lists a Robert Cowene - sword only, and Walter | McCowene | 2) The County Fermanagh Muster Rolls 1631 and the Heath Money Rolls 1665-1666 | for Lurg Barony both show nil for Cowan | 3) The subsidy rolls for County Donegal from 1664, a form of tax list, records | one Robert Cowan in Taughboy townland [1] which is in the Barony of Raphoe | south and so within easy reach of County Fermanagh. | The Ulster Scot Historical Society reports that although this is not conclusive | proof of the absence of Cowans in Fermanagh, they were probably not there in | the period 1631 - 1664. Cowan family lore goes against these scant written | records. Another theory is that the Cowans were not landowners until they | married into the Graham and Moffitt families included in the Rossachrin lease | of 1699 (see section below). | Family loresays that the family first came to Ireland from Scotland and that | they fought in the battle of Flodden in Scotland in 1513 when the Scots invaded | Britain and then came to Ireland some time after that. Cowan residence in | Bunaninver burnt in 1614 | Cowan family lore says that the first Cowans built a house on the site where the | very first Castle Archdale was later built. We know from written history that | Castle Archdale was in the modern day townland of Bunaninver with Shallany | neighbouring it to the east and Clonkeen again further to the east. | Family lore says that the Cowans predate the Archdales on this land and that the | Cowans had a house that was fortified and called Rossmore. This Cowan house was | burnt down in 1614 and never rebuilt at the same location. What was built in | its place was the very first Castle Archdale. Family lore says that stones from | the Cowan house were used to build Castle Archdale. Castle Archdale 1618-1689 | It has been written that By Letters Patent, dated July 13th 1612, John Archdale | obtained a grant of lands in the barony of Lurg, Co. Fermanagh, but it is | proposed that he did reside on his land until 1614. | In the book 'The history of Enniskillen with reference to some manors in co. | Fermanagh: and other local subjects, Volume 1' (William Copeland Trimble, | published 1919) on page 122, there is a description of Castle Archdale from a | visitor in 1618-19 : | "John Archdall hath 1000 acres called Tullana. Upon this | proportion there is a bawne of lime and stone with 3 flankers | 15 feet high ; in each corner there is a good lodging slated, | with a house in the bawne of 80 feet long and three stories | high, with a battlement about it ; himself with his family are | there resident. He hath also a water mill, and in two several | places of his land he hath made two villages, consisting of | 8 houses a piece. | The Inquisition of 1629 lists the freeholders on the Archdale estate, but does | not mention any Cowans. Perhaps they had a different status at this stage or | were not considered freeholders until they moved to Clonkeen. | The first Castle Archdale burnt down in 1641 in the Irish rebellion. The castle | was rebuilt on the same location by a later Archdale but was again burned in | 1689 and then abandoned. | There would seem to have been no big house on the Archdale estate for much of | the 18th century, until a new (third) castle Archdale was built between 1773 | and 1778 in the townland of Rossmore which still stands today. Rossachrin Grand | Lease 1699 | After the family lore history which states that Cowan house burnt down in 1614, | it wasn't until 85 years later in 1699 that the Cowan surname appeared in | written history in a Grand Lease for the townland of Rossachrin . The earliest | mention of Rossachrin is in 1659 when it was referred to as Rosskrun in the | Irish census when there were 6 English and 2 Irish people counted. | In 1699 a Grand Lease was arranged with Archdale for the townland of Rossachrin. | Here is an extract from a description of the lease | (http://graupner.blogspot.com.au/) : | Ffrancis Moffitt and John Graham on 1 May 1699 take a Grand Lease, doc. T2832/1 | from WM. Archdale of Castle Archdale of County Fermanagh, Ireland. They would | buy this lease from Archdale and thus be the under lords of the area later | stated. Unfortunately the cost stated in the lease had water damaged therefore | no data. Now the lease states that both men were living in Rossachrin as Yeomen | at the time of the lease. | The lease states all the estates to Rossachrin Glanson Lands and Rossmackasabud | and the urbal part of Ballymackataggart and all is commonly known as | Rossachrin. They also had several acres of peat bog adjacent to their lands. Ed | note, that this townland was 425 acres more or less. Part of this townland was | the Archdale castle and property. It cannot be proved but it is believed that | their part was about 140 to 180 acres. At some time about 1760 to 1770 Mervyn | Archdale, who was a Lt. Col. in the Army, decides he want all of Rossachrin for | his estate. Over time Archdale would exchange the land for other areas. | Although it rather confusingly appears from this description of the lease as | though the name Thomas Cowan was replaced twice (1773 and 1784), what is clear | is that both David Cowan and his son Thomas Cowan were names on the lease. It | is assumed that David Cowan was the ancestor of the Clonkeen Cowans. | The blog mentions that, at the time of the Grand Lease, the townland of | Rossachrin included the third Castle Archdale which is now in the modern day | townland of Rossmore. Clonkeen 1622 onwards | There is mention in the book 'The history of Enniskillen with reference to some | manors in co. Fermanagh: and other local subjects, Volume 1' on page 125 of | Edward Archdale born 1604, who succeeded his father John Archdale in 1622, | being allocated additional lands at 'Clonkeen'. It is not known whether this | was the initial allocation of Clonkeen land or an additional allocation over an | already existing one. | In 1720 a survey of Mervyn Archdale lands included the following description for | Clonkeen: | Chloonkeen | Is bounded on the west by Urbulshiney, on the north by Drimyagh, on the east by | Drumrain, on the south by "Lougbrusk" and part of Shalonagh. | The arable and green pasture of this farm is very good ground. The bog may be | drained by draining the corregh which would turn to good account; there is | about 4 acres of it and it would all be meadow if the wood were stubbed. | Viz. arable and pasture 123 acres 2 roods 26 perches. | Bog 19 acres 0 roods 32 perches | Contains in all 42 acres 3 roods 18 perches. | Arable and green pasture 34 acres 1 rood 16 perches. | Bog and corrogh 16 acres 2 roods 8 perches. | Contains in all 100 acres 3 roods 24 perches . Cowans move to Clonkeen between | 1747 and 1751 | In 1744 the Archdales were writing to the Cowans to let them know that they were | to remove themselves from Rossmore and relocate to the townland of Clonkeen. | In a letter from A. Archdale addressed to 'David Cowan of Rossmore by Castle | Archdale near Enniskillen' dated 11/1/1744, A. Archdale is negotiating with | David Cowan on his removal from Rossmore to lands at Clonkeen. The address on | the letter is interesting because the old castle Archdale had been destroyed in | 1689 and the new one was not begun until 1773, so where was 'Rossmore by Castle | Archdale' in 1744? It may be possible that there was an Archdale residence at | Rossmore between the years 1689 and 1773 near where the Cowans lived. Cowan | Family lore says that the Cowans were 'moved from their original homesteads at | Rossmore to make room for the Archdale demesne to be enclosed'. This | recollection lends weight to the proposal that the Cowans were living near an | Archdale residence at Rossmore. | This is the transcribed text of the first letter : | This letter is addressed as follows : | For (Dav) id Cowan at Rossmore by (Castle Arc) hdale near Enniskillen. 11th Jane | 1744. Enniskillen. | Mounteccles 11th Jan '44 | Sirs | I had your letter as also one from your father in law about the | exchange.I am sti1l in ye same mind as when I left ye country | but as nothing could be done until I come there I thought it | needless to write or trouble you with ye expense of letters.You | observe very justly that this has proved a hard season and that | it will be attended with difficulties upun you and your brother | to remove next spring, for that reason I would have you go on | with your labour ..her.. ,and then you will have the next | summer to cut turf and make ye proper preparations for a | removale the spring following and have ye advantages to | incloase gardens in ye winter which may be turned and prepared | for garden stuff against the spring. I hope youle be careful of | ye trees on ye lands and some lime step ? into Clonkeen and see | no wesk be these committed. I shall always consider any other | mans coud dou as if I were in that man's place my self | therefore shall not desire your removal this year although it | will prevent my doing so.. what there next summer which may be | a loss to me but I chose that rather than anybody shud have | reason to complain. I shall be at home early in Spring and I | hope this will be sufficient until we meet. | I am your ffriend and humble servant A Archdall | This letter was possibly written by Angel Archdale, as she was the only 'A' | Archdale at the time. If this letter was indeed written by Angel, then her | language regarding 'I shall always consider any other man's coud dou as if I | were in that man's place my self ..' is interesting. Perhaps the letter was | dictated to her by a male advisor? | And this is the transcript of the second letter (undated, but Angel died in 1745 | so it is assumed that it is written circa 1745): | Sir | Since I saw you on Saturday I consulted councellor Sterling | about ye articles between ye and yr sons in lawr, who says that | the article myst be registered in Dublin. But in particular for | this reason, that David Cowan their father left the freehold to | his sons David and Alexander yr sons in law and you know that | he has a son elder than them by the same wife, also then another | son called John Cowan of Liford by a former wife now pray why | might not John Cowan or his sons pretend a right to these lands | or Adam and his sons, being heirs at law, therefore you ought to | have this article immediately registered, w.E (which) setts | forth ye will and tenhore ? of old David Cowan in leaving this | freehold to his younger sons. I have ye will and will keep it | for their info as well as for my own family ? So that you are | to send the articles to me that I may see them registered in | Dublin and I doe hereby promise and oblige myselfe to deliver | them after they are registered to you for which purpose keep | this letter by you and show it to no man until you give it to | me. | I am yr ffriend and humble servant A Archdall | Brothers David and Alex Cowan were recorded in the 1747 freeholders list for the | townland of Rossmore . But by the 1751 freeholders list, David and Alex Cowan | were listed in the townland of Clonkeen and so it is assumed that they moved | between the years 1747 and 1751. | A Grand Lease was written between the Cowans and the Archdales for the Clonkeen | lands. It was dated 4 July 1749. The Lease most probably included the names of | David Cowan and his son Thomas as mentioned in a Cowan family indenture | document from 1838. This document mentions that 'David Cowan, formerly of | Clonkeen aforesaid being devised and possessed of the lands of Clonkeen in the | County of Fermanagh under and by virtue of a lease for the lives renewable for | ever from the Archdale Family by indented articles of agreement made by and | between the said David Cowan and his son Thomas Cowan'. | The Ulster Scot Historical Society report mentions that "A rent roll of | Archdall's Derrygonnelly Estate, 1753, lists 'The Cowans' - no Christian names | given - as Tenants in Clunkeen and Adam Cowan in Shallony". | Richard Cowan (1808 - 1877) migrated to Australia in the 1850's. He appears to | have inherited some or all of the Clonkeen lands before he migrated. It is | through copies of his letters from Australia back home to Ireland that we | understand that his brother William Cowan (circa 1800 - 1880) was living at | Clonkeen and was paying rent to the Archdale's for his own land as well as | collecting rent from the other tenants at Clonkeen. It appears that the Grand | Lease agreement allowed the lives on the lease to sub-lease the land and | collect rent from the sub-tenants. | In Richard's letter to brother William at Clonkeen dated 27/9/1868 he describes | the lease as follows : 'Dear William, I received your letter today dated 25th | August last - I have just had a look at the Deed between the Cowans and the | Archdales I find it is on payment of £5.0.0 spoken of for each life therefore | if it were necessary to put two lives in it would be only 10£ instead of your | strange information from Mr Collum or any other Gentleman attorney the Deed is | dated 4 July 1749 in it there is a condition which to all appearances would | compel me to give notice six months after the Death of any life to the Heirs of | the property (on the payment of £5.0.0 only) to put in whoever I would nominate | if this condition has not been changed by an Act of Parliament (which I believe | it must have) Clonkeen will soon be out of the name and indeed I would say | justly through the neglect of our Uncle D. Cowan who I fear never did get the | lives renew'd and I fear never gave any notice to General Archdale - at the | Death of Mr Lendrum who is the last life do not you forget as my representative | to give notice in writing to the Heir Mr Archdale before 6 months expire and | Three £5.0.0 notes say £15.0.0 stating the name of 3 lives and I am persuaded | He will grant you Archdale 1st get him to put it on paper his offer Then ask | such a man as Mr Irvine of Irvinestown would he make an offer on paper or any | other person who you know has money to lay out in such a place money must be | very plenty as your interest is very low in the London market I see only 3 | percent and some Banks here paying share Holders 17 1/2 per cent per annum | Interest on their shares .' | From this description, it appears that Richard had either the original or a copy | of the Grand Lease document with him in Australia. It is not known where it is | now. | [1] Refer http://www.townlands.ie/donegal/taughboy/