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Hearth Money Rolls - Smith Ancestry

Hearth Money Rolls

County Monaghan, Ireland

1663 & 1665

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Introduction

Before we begin it is important to understand the purpose of the Hearth Money Roll. Early in the reign of Charles II a tax was imposed on all householders of two shillings for each hearth in County Monaghan; the list of payments is called the Hearth Money Roll. The roll was taken in 1663 and 1665. The Rolls show surname variations for Smith, McPhillips and Greenan. All three surnames figure in our ancestral history.

It is important to remember the story told by Pete Smith to our father, John W. Smith, when he was a young lad. According to Pete, our surname was once McGowan and not Smith A long time ago one of our McGowan ancestors shot a British Captain (Major or General depending on the number of drinks the story teller had) and killed him. He hid in the Irish bogs for almost two years evading British authorities as he had a price on his head. This ancestor had a good friend by the name of ‘Johnnie John Smyth' and he used this name to sneak passage aboard ship heading to America. For fear of being caught this ancestor never used his original surname of 'MacGowan', and 'Americanized' the spelling of 'Smyth' to 'Smith'. That is the story of how we became known as Smith.

Irish records in the nineteenth century verify that ‘Irish John Smith’ was born ‘John Smyth’. In fact, early nineteenth century tithe records, cemetery records and other public records during this time show ‘Smyth’ as our family’s surname. So part of this story rings true. In 1465 an Act of Parliament forced the Irish living within the Irish Pale, the area around Dublin, to take an English surname. In this way the MacGowan became known as Smith. It wasn’t until after the Cromwellian adventures that ‘Smyth’ or ‘Smith’ replaced ‘MacGowan’. In the Hearth Money Rolls we see some Smith surnames; however, these may indicate Scotch-Irish settlers. Before ‘Smith’ became universally used in County Monaghan, the Irish equivalent for Smith appears as O’Gowen, McGowan or some other variant. By 1858 there were perhaps 8 families in County Monaghan with the surname McGowan or its variant. There were no variants for O’Gowan in this County by the mid-nineteenth century.

Oliver Cromwell

In the mid seventeenth century the population of Ireland was estimated at nearly 1,500,000. By Cromwell’s death in 1658 the Irish population was reduced by two-thirds to 500,000 souls.

Cromwell, like a large number of his contemporaries, held the Irish in genuine contempt. He arrived in Dublin with 15,000 men determined to subdue Ireland as quickly and as cheaply as possible. He began his campaign by sacking and massacring the residents of Drogheda. All the defenders of the garrison and most of the civilian population were put to the sword. The survivors were transported to the West Indies. The port of Wexford later met the same fate.

What was the consequence of Cromwell’s stay in Ireland? By the time he left Ireland, out of a population of 1,448,000, some 616,000 perished by sword, famine or plague. 100,000 were deported to be sold as slaves in the West Indies and a further 40,000 emigrated to join European armies. From 1649 to 1652, one-third of the population of Ireland was destroyed. Twenty thousand Irish boys and girls also were sold into slavery to the West Indies. Thirty eight percent of Monaghan’s land was taken away from the Irish and given to Cromwell’s soldiers and officers.

Census of Ireland 1659

The Census of Ireland of 1659 is important in that it lists the major landowners of the time and also lists the number of Irish in each parish. It also lists the principle Irish names and the numbers of such names in each barony. Nice to see the family name if it is in there, but there is no way of linking to it directly. 1659 Census: In the census of 1659, the total population of Monaghan was recorded as 4083 - 3649 Irish and 434 English.

Hearth Money Roll 1663 and 1665

The following was taken from ‘Lewis Topographical Dictionary of Ireland’, published 1837

Early in the reign of Charles II a tax was imposed on all householders of two shillings for each hearth in County Monaghan; the list of payments is called the Hearth Money Roll. The roll for that County exists for two years 1663 and 1665. As it is from this roll the modern history of the people of our county proceeds, it seems advisable that it should be given in full which will enable most inhabitants of the County to trace their ancestors. The date at the head of the first is given as XV in the Reign of Charles II. The years of his reign are counted from the death of his father, not from the date of his accession to the throne. In reading this list, it must be remembered that those who gave their names spoke only Irish, which accounts for many of the forms in which they are written as being unintelligible. It is probably that the person entering the payments could not catch the sounds accurately so they were written phonetically: many of the Gaelic sounds could not be reproduced in English. It appears that in many of the parishes the collectors of the tax were satisfied with one person paying the assessment in each townland where only a single hearth is returned. In the parish of Monaghan, however it will be observed that the one person whose name is returned paid for as many hearths in the townland as the collector was aware of. Monaghan being the garrison town, it was harder to escape payment in that parish than in farther away localities. Many townlands are missing altogether, for out of the 1,850 townlands in Co. Monaghan, only 1,016 are recorded as having rendered any contribution to the Hearth Tax. The list of 1663 consists of 1,748 names, while that of 1665 contains 1,391 names.

It is probable that many people evaded payment and escaped from both lists. There are over 850 names on the second list which are not discoverable on the 1663 list. These, when added together bring the total up to 2,600. Some of those omitted were in isolated localities which probably had not many inhabitants, or the houses of the people who lived in them were inaccessible to tax collectors. Besides, there are groups of townlands which must have been inhabited from which no payments are returned. These people may have resisted payment, the collector may have forgotten to give up the money, or no person may have been obtainable who would undertake the task. It is therefore probable that little more than half the house-holders are recorded; allowing six for each family, which is a fair estimate of the families of that period and taking all circumstances into account, the population of County Monaghan would have been 15,000 to 20,000 in the middle of the 17th century.

MacGowan, O'Gowan, Smith (MacGuane)

In the following records you will see the variations of MacGowan, McGowan or O’Gowan. Few Smith surnames are listed. By 1850 none of these surnames would be found in most areas of County Monaghan. By 1850 these surnames would be anglicized to ‘Smyth’ or ‘Smith’. In Aghabog Civil Parish, for example, we find the surnames O’Gowan and McGowan, but not Smith in these old, seventeenth century records.

The Irish surname MacGowan (not to be confused with the Scottish macGoun) is more often than not hidden under the synonym Smith. In Irish it is Mac an Ghaghain, i.e. son of the smith, and its translation to Smith (commonest of all surnames in England) was very widespread, particularly in Co. Cavan where the MacGowan sept originated. It is included by the chroniclers as one of the principal septs of Breffny. On the borders of Breffny, in Co. Leitrim, and to the northwest in Counties Donegal and Sligo, McGowan is still used in preference to Smith. There was, too, in east Ulster a distinct sept of O'Gowan, a name which was also anglicized Smith. They came originally from a place called Ballygowan in Co. Down. O’Gowan is found in the census of 1659, and is one of the principal Irish name

Irish Census Substitutes

Hearth Money Rolls, County Monaghan, Ireland

1663 and 1665

Published (1921)

History of Monaghan for 200 Years 1660 – 1860

In the following records we indicate surnames of interest to our family. Aughabog Civil Parish was home to the Smith, McPhillips and Greenan families. Each of these families are found in our family tree. No Smith names are recorded in Aughabog Civil Parish. There are no McGowans living in this parish. Patrick McGowan of Ematris Parish is the only ‘McGowan’ living in the Barony of Dartree. Patrick McGowan lived in Carravacan townland, which was less than a mile away from where Irish John Smith was raised.

Click on Any Link Below to View Census Information

Hearth Money Roll for the Parish - Clones (Rosslea)

Hearth Money Roll for the Parish – Killeeven

Hearth Money Roll for the Parish - Imatris (Ematris)

Hearth Money Roll for the Parish - Drumully (Currin)

Hearth Money Roll for the Parish - Currin

Hearth Money Roll for the Parish - Aghabog

Hearth Money Roll for the Parish - Clounes (Clones)

Hearth Money Roll for the Parish - Errigal Trough

Hearth Money Roll for the Parish – Donaghmoyne (Barony Farney)

Hearth Money Roll for the Parish - Inniskeen

Hearth Money Roll for the Parish – Magheracloon