Delaneys in Ireland

In the period 1849-1851, the Griffiths Valuation Survey was undertaken in Tipperary and neighbouring counties. The number of tenants with the name Delaney or Delany were:

626 in Co. Laois
103 in Co. Offaly
201 in Co. Tipperary
261 in Co. Kilkenny
77 in Wexford
75 in Co. Cork

The counties of Laois, Offaly, Tipperary and Kilkenny still contain the greatest concentration of Delaneys.

'Our' Delaneys came from Tipperary, North Riding, in the Barony of Eliogarty , in the Civil Parish of Twomileborris, in the townland of Borris (but using the "local" address of New Hill), and in the Catholic Parish of Moycarkey/Borris ¹. The Catholic parish records of baptisms and marriages date from the early 1830's, with a few entries back to 1796.

John Delaney and Catherine Mary Flynn would have been born in the mid-1750s. John's sister, Margaret Delaney of Borris, is the first recorded Delaney marriage - on 22nd February 1810, to Michael Maher of Brittas. The name "Maher" appears frequently in later records as sponsors and witnesses to Delaney baptisms and marriages.

The Delaneys were farmers, paying rent as tenants to the landlord, firstly to Sir John Nugent in 1849 and later to John Thomas Going Jr² in 1851, who owned land in both the Townland of Borris and in adjacent New Hill. In 1833, John Delaney is recorded in the Tithes Applotment Book (held in the National Archives of Ireland) as occupying 9 ac., 3 roods, 13 perches, which had an annual value per acre of 1 pound, 12 shillings and 6 pence, and an annual tithe of 1 pound, 12 shillings and 11 pence, payable to the clergyman of the Established Church of Ireland. Neighbouring tenants were: Mahers, Hayes and Shanahans, who were related to the Delaneys. In nearby Townlands of Coolcroo and Monaraheen, James and Edward Delaney rented 42 acres between them.

Tenants, in addition to paying tithes to the Protestant Clergymen, also paid rent to the landlords, and rates to the Board of Guardians, who were responsible for Workhouses established for the poor under British legislation, the Poor Law Acts.

In 1842, these Board of Guardians records show John Delaney's holding in Borris was 11 acres and the Net Annual Value (NAV) was 10 pounds and 10 shillings. The rate was 5d. in the pound.

The rates and other dues payable were:

Net Annual Value	10-10-0
Landlord's rates	4-4 1/2
Tenant's rates	4-4 1/2
Tenant's taxes	1-0-0
Landlord's repairs and insurance	nil
Tenant's repairs and insurance	1-10-0
Landlord's other expenses	nil
Tenant's other expenses	1-0-0
Gross Annual Value	14-0-9

The tenant faced these rates, taxes and levies on any repairs or improvements they had made, in addition to the tithes to the Protestant Clergymen, and paid rent to the landlord. The system was designed to keep the tenants poor and to discourage them from improving their houses.

By 1844, John Delaney's share had been increased to 16 acres and the rate was reduced to 2 1/2 d. in the pound, perhaps indicating that the demand for workhouses had reduced. However, in 1847, the rate was increased nearly 15 fold to 36 d. in the pound, as a consequence of the increased demand placed on workhouses because of the Great Famine. During the height of the Famine, 3,000 children a week were dying in workhouses.

In 1851 to 1853, James Delaney, (John's brother) appears in the rate books, occupying a house in Borris, and by those years, John Delaney's land had increased to 50 acres, probably as a consequence of a neighbour's emigration.

Following John's emigration to Australia in 1854, the records show the occupancy of the land as follows:

1856	James Delaney	52 acres
1861	James Delaney	31 acres
1877	John Dwyer	31 acres (probably a brother-in-law, or son-in-law of John and James, who died in 1877)
1899	John Dwyer	(now described as owner)
1920	Lizzie Dwyer
1950	Michael Healy
1998	The land is still owned by the Healys

From all the records, John appears to come from a family of 8 children. It seems that the Delaneys of Coolcroo, Borris (New Hill) and Ballybeg were closely connected. They married into families by the name of Flynn, Maher, Dunn, Brennan, Hickey and Murphy.

From all this we can conclude that John and Bridget and their six children had a large number of relations, some of whom stayed and others emigrated. We have no information about the fate of the Delaneys other than John and Thomas who came to Australia.

prepared by D.J. Delaney

¹ See this Griffiths Valuation Survey page for Tipperary showing John Delaney, District North Riding, Parish Twomileborris, Townland Borris.

² Maybe the 'John Going' on this landowners' page is him