Mullaghduff, County Cavan

Mullaghduff (Irish: Mullach Dubh) is a townland in the Parish of Tomregan, Barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland.

The townland name is an anglicisation of the Gaelic placename 'Mullach Dubh' which means "The Black Hilltop", which probably derives from the blackish soil which covers the hill.

Its chief geographical features are Killywilly Lough on its eastern boundary and a central drumlin hill which rises to 309 feet above sea level.

[6] James Talbot married Helen Calvert, the daughter of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore of Maryland, USA, in 1635 and had a son Colonel George Talbot who owned an estate in Cecil County, Maryland which he named Ballyconnell in honour of his native town in Cavan.

[7] Gwyllym's name first appears in the area as the owner in the 1652 Commonwealth Survey, which lists the townland (spelled Mullaghduffe and Clioghan) as belonging to 'Captain Gwilliams'.

After the restoration of King Charles II to the throne in 1660, James Talbot tried to have the Ballyconnell estate restored to him but a final grant was made to Thomas Gwyllym in August 1666,[8] which included 210 acres of profitable land and 10 acres-2 roods of unprofitable land in Mullaghduffe alias Cloghane alias Cormerin.

[9] The Gwyllym estate was sold for £8,000 in 1724 to Colonel Alexander Montgomery (1686–1729) of Convoy House, County Donegal, M.P.

In 1856 they sold the estate to take advantage of its increased value owing to the opening of the Woodford Canal through the town in the same year.

The estate, including Mullaghduff, was split up among different purchasers and maps & details of previous leases of the sold parts are still available.

[12] Four deeds relating to land transactions in Mullaghduff in 1749 are now in the Farnham Papers[13] held in the National Library of Ireland (Collection List No.

The losing candidates were George Montgomery (MP) of Ballyconnell and Barry Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham.

[16] The Tithe Applotment Books for 1827 list the following tithepayers in the townland- Moore, Gallagher, Whitely, Sturdy, Sheridan, Taylor, Quinn, Reilly, Graham, Gerty, Watt, Baxter, Matthews, O'Brien.

[17] The Ordnance Survey Name Books for 1836 give the following description of the townland- Mullach Dubh which means Black Summit.

[18][19] Griffith's Valuation of 1857 lists the landlord of the townland as Netterfield and the tenants as Cochrane, Quinn, Fallon, Moore, Faris, McGinn, Reilly, Graham, Gallahar and Roe.