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The Birches - from Bassett's The Book of County Armagh 1888
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Note: Refer to Source footnotes, below.
"THE BIRCHES.
"THE BIRCHES is a rural post-office and Petty Sessions district, 6 miles north-west of Portadown. Colonel Stanley, Mr. Edward S. Obré, Mr. Charles Stanley, Lord Charlemont, Capt. William Brown, and Mr. A. T. Wakefield are the landlords. A clump of birches growing near the road, a short distance below the post office, suggests the appropriateness of the name given to the neighbourhood, the greater part of which is a partly cultivated bog. Birches grow naturally in this region. Mr. Thomas Palmer informs me that the entire bog was a birch forest 70 years ago. The roots are now found in cutting peat. Good crops of potatoes and oats are produced in the boggy land by means of a process known as "heating." Turf fires are lighted around the parts about to be planted, and kept up until sufficient warmth is generated to force vegetation. Hot ashes are also spread upon the surface. By treatment of this kind a better crop of oats is secured than is yielded by the richest loam lands.. Without "heating," oats will not average eighteen inchest in height. Some of the landlords have objected to the heating process on the ground that it is using up the surface of the bog. A proposal was made to induce the tenants to pay 5s. an acre extra for the privilege, but they did not seem to relish the idea.
| Church, Methodist, Portadown Circuit. Draper : Thos. Palmer Grocers. Marked thus [*] retail spirits: Jos. Jackson, Clonmacate; Richard Jackson, Clonmacate; John McClure, Derryaugh* ; John Matchett, Ballynarry*; Thomas Palmer, The Birches; Jno. Wethered, Milltown Hardware and Seed: Thomas Palmer, The Birches Petty Sessions, 1st Monday every month, Thomas Palmer, clerk Post M. : Thomas Palmer R.I.C. : Sergeant, Chas. Feeney School, Nat. : Christr. Boyce Farmers and Residents. Bell, David, Derrykeevan Boyce, William, Drumaliss Campbell, Joseph, Derrylard Carrick, David, Foymore Carrick, James, Foymore Carrick, Thomas, Derrykeevan Cassells, Mrs. M., Cloncore Connolly, Patrick, Derrinraw Carrick, William, Derrykeevan Cullen, Daniel, Derrinraw Donnelly, James, Derrylard Farquhar, Robert, Derryaugh Fawcett, A., Derrinraw Fearon, Bd., jun., Derrinraw Ferrin, Bd., sen., Derrinraw Fox, William, Derrinraw Fulton, James, Derrylileagh Gardener, Henry, Foymore Gilmore, James, Derrykeevan Hendron, Joseph, Derrykeeran Hume, Robert, Derrylard Hyde, George, Breagh Jackson, Moses, Ballinary Jackson, Richard, Clonmacate Jackson, Thomas, Ballinary Kilpatrick, Mrs. M., Ballinary Kingsborough, Henry, Breagh Leeman, John, Derrykeevan M'Adam, Thomas, Derryaugh M'Adam, Wilson, Cloncore M'Adam, Wm. H., Cloncore M'Anally, John, Derrykeeran M'Causland, John, Derrykeevan | M'Clelland, John, Derryadd M'Clelland, John, Derrylard M'Clure, James, Derryaugh M'Conville, William, Cloncore M'Cullagh, Aaron, Drumlellum M'Cullagh, Seth, Drumlellum Mackall, Edward, Derrykeeran Mackall, Henry, Derrykeeran Mackall, Mrs., Derrinraw Magee, Henry, Clonmacate Martin, John, Ballinary Matchett, John, Ballinary Matchett, Joseph, Derrycaw Matchett, Joseph, Gallrock Matchett, Richard, Derryall Matchett, Richard, Clonmacate Mathers, John H., Derrykeeran Mathers, Joseph, Derryneskin Matthew, Samuel, Ballinary May, James, Drumlellum May, Richard, Drumlellum Moore, John, Ballynary O'Hanlon, Mrs. C., Ballinary Robinson, J., Druminallyduff Sinnamon, Henry, Clonamola Smyth, Joseph, Ballinary Smyth, Thomas, Derrylileagh Stevenson, Mrs. L., Cloncore Sullivan, James, Derrylard Sullivan, Thomas, Derrylard Sullivan, Wm. F., Cloncore Todd, Joseph, Clonmacate Todd, Robert, Foymore Todd, Wm., Druminallyduff Todd, William, Foymore Trotter, Richard, Foybeg Troughton, Richard, Derrycaw Troughton, Robert, Derrycaw Turkington, Samuel, Ballynary Uprichard, Charles, Clonmacate Wakefield, C. S., Cloncore ho. Wakefield, Edw. T., Cloncore ho. Walsh, Mrs. A., Derrinraw Weatherall, Jno., Derrykeeran Weatherall, Richard, Derrykeeran Weatherhead, Jno., Derrylard Wilson, Wm. D., Cloncore Woods, Loftus, Ballynary Wright, George, Derrykeevan Wright, Wm., Derrykeevan." |
SOURCE: The Book of County Armagh - A Manual and Directory for Manufacturers, Merchants, Traders, Professional Men, Land-Owners, Farmers, Tourists, Anglers and Sportsmen Generally, by George Henry Bassett. Dublin: Sealy, Bryers and Walker, 1888.
Transcribed by Alison Kilpatrick, 25 August 2004.
This transcription is intended solely for the non-commercial use of family historians.