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DONEGAL IN THE ULSTER PLANTATION

From “An Historical Account of the Plantation in Ulster
at the Commencement of the Seventeenth Century, 1608-1620”

Rev. George Hill

M’Caw, Stevenson & Orr

Belfast (1877)

Including Nicholas Pynnar’s Survey of 1618-1619

Extracted by Loretta (Lynn) Layman

Definitions of Certain Terms Used in the Ulster Plantation

Land - While the following terms are not included in this index, their definitions will be helpful to those who refer to Hill’s volume [hereafter referred to as “Hill’s Account”] for additional information.

1. Pole = 24 acres
2. Pottle = ¼ of a pole (6 acres)
3. Proportion : Great = 2,000 acres
4. Proportion : Middle = 1,500 acres
5. Proportion : Small = 1,000 acres

Persons

1. British : born in either England, Scotland, or Wales.  A person’s place of origin is not always stated or obvious in the text.
2. Freeholder : one who held land in fee simple and in perpetuity.
3. Leaseholder : one who held land by contract for a specified term and specified rent.
4. Native : native Irish.
5. Servitor : typically, a military officer in service of the Crown.
6. Undertaker : A man, often of aristocracy, who was granted one or more proportions, each of a thousand acres or more (as described above), which proportion(s) it was his duty to people, develop, and defend in a manner prescribed by the Crown.  The undertaker often lived some distance from the property, sometimes in England or Scotland.  Some came to Ireland but later returned to their own countries.  Still others came and took up permanent residence on their properties.  Hill often tells in which of these three categories a specific undertaker falls; in compiling this index, I am attempted to do likewise but probably missed some.

Additional Notes

1. Individuals indexed as appearing on pages 445-590 are those found in Pynnar’s Survey.  All others are those found in State papers and documents (other than Pynnar) compiled by Hill.
2. Many surnames such as O’Donnell plainly are native to Ireland.  O’Donnell was the Irish family for whom County Donegal, or a major portion thereof, was once commonly called “O’Donnell’s Country” - see p. 175, 1^st full par.
3. In many instances, a man’s name appears multiple times on the same page of Hill’s Account.
4. Some men appear only in footnotes on the page listed.
5. See the relevant page(s) in Hill’s Account to learn: (1) whether a man was an undertaker, a freeholder, a leaseholder, or a mere resident; (2) whether he was a Native, Servitor, or other; and (3) the names of properties held or inhabited.
6. Many undertakers were granted multiple proportions in a precinct, and some undertakers were granted lands in more than one precinct or even in  more than one county.  Be sure to look for all occurrences of any particular name in all precincts of Donegal.
7. Any bracketed, italicized text indicates a notation by this compiler.  Bracketed text which is not italicized represents information included in Hill’s Account.

UNDERTAKERS, FREEHOLDERS, LEASEHOLDERS, AND OTHER INHABITANTS

DFINITIONS of CERTAIN TERMS USED in the ULSTER PLANTATION

PRECINCT OF BOYLAGH AND BANAGH ALLOTTED TO SCOTTISH UNDERTAKERS BUT SOME WITH IRISH TENANTS

PRECINCT OF DOE AND FAWNETT [NOW IN THE PRECINCT OF KILMACRENAN] GRANTED TO SERVITORS AND NATIVES

THE PRECINCT OF KILMACRENAN GRANTED TO SERVITORS AND NATIVES

PRECINCT OF LIFFER [LIFFORD], BARONY OF RAPHOE ALLOTTED TO ENGLISH UNDERTAKERS

PRECINCT OF LIFFER [LIFFORD], BARONY OF RAPHOE GRANTED TO SERVITORS AND NATIVES

PRECINCT OF PORTLOUGH GRANTED TO SCOTTISH UNDERTAKERS

COUNTY DONEGAL JURORS FOR SURVEY AND INQUISITION 12 SEPTEMBER 1609 [p. 173] NO OTHER PLACE NAMES INCLUDED

RECEIVERS OF RENTS, ISSUES AND PROFITS IN TYRCONNELL [DONEGAL] CIRCA 1608-1610 [pp. 256-58]

PRE-1610 IRISH RESIDENTS OF DONEGAL, WEST OF LOUGH SWILLY [p. 257]

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