TOWNLANDS OF NEWTOWNHAMILTON

Finiskin is a townland of 113 statute acres, 3 roods and 18 perches about two miles north-east of Cullyhanna. It is bounded on the north and north-east by Dorsey Mullaghglass, on the south-east by Roxborough, on the south by Dorsey, on the west by Drumaltnamuck and on the north-west by Camly Ball.

Comment

The townland does not appear in any of the official records used here until the 1864 Griffith's Valuation. It appears to have been previously regarded as part of Dorsey. It first appears as a separate townland, for Census purposes, in 1881. The 1881, 1891 and 1901 Census showed no inhabitants. However, Griffiths Valuation lists 12 householders, and the 1911 Census enumerates 25 inhabitants in 6 occupied houses. Clearly the population of the townland did not simply appear in 1864, and the then disappear until 1911, so it is likely that they were counted as part of an adjacent townland, probably Dorsey.

Name of townland Fionn-uisce, "Clear water" ⁽¹⁾.

Valuation

Although the decimalisation of the currency was introduced only in 1971, all of the valuations in the following table have been converted from £sd for convenience.

Year	1864	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911	1926	1935	1952	1957	1974
Valuation	£78.25	£78.25	£78.25	£81.25	£80.50	£77.00	£78.00	£89.75	£85.25	£89.25	£87.75

Griffiths Valuation records the owner of the land as Thomas Johnston.

Census of Ireland 1901

No one was enumerated in the townland on Census night.

Population Decline

The following table sets out the number of houses and population enumerated in the townland in each of the 11 Censuses held between 1841 and 1951.

Names of House and land Holders ⁽²⁾

The following table sets out the names of those who owned or rented houses and land in the townland at the time the official valuation record or population census was compiled.