(This is a highly edited version of the introductory history found in
R.T.Grange's "The Granges of Ireland". (1966)
Editorial comments are shown in italics.)
One early reference to the name is contained in the Hundred Rolls - Atte
Grange - in residence, or living at the grange. The Hundred Rolls were
documents of historic interest or value, prepared by early English
historians.
The 'grange' was an almost exclusively Irish land unit and originated
with the Missionary Settlements founded by St. Patrick, St. Columkille
and their successors. Originally the word referred to the farmhouse of a
Monastery (from which it always stood some distance apart). One of the
Monks, called the Prior of the grange would be appointed to inspect the
grange books. Later the name came to be applied to the land on which the
Monastery food was grown, and later still to any tract of land
connected with a Monastery.
Hereditary family names became general in Ireland about the late 10th.
Century and the early 11th., the times of Brian Boru. Some historians,
in fact, assert that this custom
was adopted in obedience to an Ordinance issued by that Monarch. In the
very early days some individuals received their name from a personal
peculiarity such as the colour of their hair, size, complexion, figure, or
bravery, &c., while others acquired theirs through a long association with
a place or tract of territory. Thus it is not a difficult matter to see
how the Grange family came to acquire their name, - "the Grange at the
Monastery," - "the people living at the Grange," - "a Grange man,"
- and so on, so that with the passage of time the name "Grange" came to
be applied to, and accepted by the
people living at the farmhouse near the Monastery.
Altogether there are five villages in Ireland which bear the name
Grange, - one in each of Tyrone, Limerick, and Tipperary, with two in
Connaught, (one of these near Sligo) while throughout the country are
to be found quite a number of granges, or tracts of land. One, a parish
in Co. Armagh comprising about 7,000 acres, has the freestone quarries
which provided the material for the restoration cf Armagh Cathedral.
The Parish Church here is a handsome building dating from 1779. It has
a square tower and octagond spire. The land itself is generally good with a
considerable amount of bog.
There are other places in Ireland with this name:
(1)A tithe-free district in the Barony of Shillelogher, Co. Kilkenny,
Leinster.
(2)A parish of some 2,828 acres in Co. Limerick, Munster. The river Deel
flows through it.
(3) Another parish in Co. Limerick, three miles
from Bruff, on the road to Limerick, comprises 1,224 acres very good dairy
land. In the district of Bruff there are three Druidical Circles, one of
which is 44 yards in diameter and consists of 65 upright stones, principally
of limestone, sandstone and clay-slate, but the largest which is 13 feet
high, 7 feet broad and 4 feet thick is formed of breccia. The second
Circle is 49 yards in diameter and consists Of 72 smaller stones, while the
third, %bich consists of 15 large shapeless blocks, is 17 yards in diameter.
(4) Also called Monksgrange or Grangemonk, is a parish in Queen's Co.,
Leinster, 841 acres, 4 miles from Carlow on the river Barrow.
(5)A parish Of some 2,700 acres in Co. Waterford, Munster, 5 miles from
Youghal on the river Lickey and near the coast.
(6)GRANGE of DOAGH - This ancient parish includes the townland of
Coggrey and part of the townland of Ballyclare, in Co. Antrim, Ulster.
Its Church, St. Mary's, in Church Lane in the village of Doagh, was built
in 1251 but is now in ruins. It seems to have always remained a separate
parish with a curate supplied from the Abbey of Muckamore, about 2 miles
distant. When the Abbey was dissolved Grange of Doagh was joined to the
parish of Kilbride.
From as far back as 1624, the earliest authentic date to which the
family name can be traced in Ireland, the Granges have been divided into
two branches; one living in the Counties of Dublin and Wicklow
in the South, the other in the valley of the Sixmile Water in Co. Antrim in
the North.
The loss of practically all the family papers in 1922, especially those of
the Northern Branch, has led to gaps in the records of earlier generations
and has been a major obstacle in definitely establishing that the two
branches are actually related. Nevertheless despite this lack of
documentary evidence, the many characteristic qualities, especially in
features, is strong evidence for a common ancestry and close kinship.
Genealogists who have made a close study of the family name state that it
is an extremely rare one in Ireland, and has been confined to these two
regions of the island. Their investigations indicate that the present-day
Granges, both North and South, are descendants of the same ancient family.
[ED. NOTE: That the Southern Branch are Anglican protestants while the
Northern Branch are Presbyterians indicates that both branches probably came to
Ireland during the "plantations" of the early 17th. Century; the Presbyterians from
Scotland and the Anglicans from England. Thus the two branches were already separate
when they arrived in Ireland, and moreover, that separation might have predated the
Reformation.]
Showing many of the places mentioned in this History.
The townland of Ballylinney in Co. Antrim, which adjoins Ballyclare, was
for centuries one of the possessions of the Knights Hospitallers of St.
John of Jerusalem, an Order of Monks dedicated to driving the infidels out
of the Holy Land. A blend of Priest and Soldier, they had, at one time,
castles all over Furcpe where their troops were trained in the arts of war
for service in the Crusades.
Nearly 800 years ago these Knights Templar built a Monastery at Templepatrick,
four miles from Ballyclare, and it was in the surrounding lands that the
Granges in the North first farmed. They had land in the Templepatrick,
Kilmakee and Derriaghy areas, while another farm was worked near Carrickfergus.
Altogether they farmed a total of some five or six hundred acres and many
generations of this farming family followed the calling of their ancestors.
The granges were extra-parochial and therefore nominally tithe free. When
King Henry VIII suppressed the Monasteries he confiscated the lands and
gave them to his friends but he neglected to reserve the tithes or any
portion of them for the religious instruction of the inhabitants. Therefore
when the Tithe Commission endeavoured to enforce payment, the occupiers of
the farms within a grange could legally resist all efforts to compel them
to do so. Thus it was that the farmers of the grange of Doagh (in which is
included part of the townland of Ballyclare) won their claim against the
Tithe Commission in 1840.
The Priory at Templepatrick became the property of Sir Humphrey Norton, an
English settler who in 1611 built a castle incorporating earlier remains.
In 1628
the castle was purchased by Captain Henry Upton and it has ever since been
known as Upton Castle. He was ancestor to Viscount Templetown who lived
there in recent years.
The original Temple Church stood near the Priory, while the old graveyard
is within a few hundred yards of the castle itself and, for centuries this
was the family burying ground of the Granges. The last member of the family
buried here was Robert(1861-1938).
The earliest known Granges were prosperous farmers and owned extensive
acreages in the Carrickfergus, Derriaghy, Templepatrick and Kilmakee areas
with large herds of livestock; and horses too, with which they became closely
associated.
However, around the middle of the 18th. Century, they began
to neglect their farms, having become hooked on horseracing, dogracing
and gambling. (A family tradition of heavy drinking did little to help
matters) The loss of work on the farm combined with gambling debts forced
the gradual sale of their properties, until, by the beginning of the 19th.
Century, all of them were gone.
Robert (b.1777) managed to purchase a farm of slightly over 100 acres at
Thornditch, midway between Ballyclare and Doagh, in which he placed his son
Hugh (b.1805). But both Hugh and his son William (b.1834) neglected their
inheritance and William eventually had to sell the Thornditch farm to meet
the demands of his many creditors, spending the rest of his life at the
home of an unmarried daughter, Elizabeth, and dying in the early 20th.Century.
While William might have neglected his farm work,
other responsibilities seemed to have claimed more than their fair share of
his attentions as he and his wife, Margaret, had 11 children!
One of them, Robert(b.1861) remained on the farm for a short period
assisting the new owner, but then moved to Belfast where he took up
employment with a haulier company and in a short time had reached a
responsible position in the firm.
Farming was still in his blood, however, and in the early 20th. Century
Robert bought a farm near Glengormley, mid-way between Belfast and
Ballyclare and prospered sufficiently to purchase an adjoining farm,
doubling his acreage.
Unfortunately, after his death in 1938, his son Robert was forced by his
failing health to sell the farm and retire into private life.
Before the Thornditch farm was sold, Hugh(1805) had placed another son,
Robert(b.1832), in another farm, called "Castle" adjoining Thornditch.
Robert died sometime between the years 1861 (when his last child was born)
and 1864, the year when the registration of deaths became compulsory.
With the assistance of some farm-hands, Jane, his wife, worked the farm
until 1874 when the eldest son Robert(b.1853) became of age and took over
control of the land.
Robert(1853), for reasons unknown, sold the farm shortly after marrying
in 1883 and went into the haulage business in Belfast. He returned to
Ballyclare in the early 20th. century and carried on the haulage business
for a time between Ballyclare, Larne and Belfast. A few years later the
urge to farm
once more came upon him and he purchased the "Ashdale" farm in the district
of Ballyboley. At his death in 1926 his son, John ('Jack' b.1890) succeeded
to the farm and successfully worked it until the late 1950's, when he gave
up active farming and retired to private life. Jack was the last of this
long line of farming Granges in the North.
The extensive search conducted by Rochfort Grange(1882-1943), starting in
1918, has enabled the construction of an authoritative history of the
Southern Branch of the family that dates back to 1624. This is 37 years
earlier than the earliest recorded date in the North. It is lucky for us
that he began his search before the destruction of the records in the
Dublin Law Courts in 1922 thus managing to save information about earlier
generations of Granges that might otherwise have been lost.
The earliest records of the Southern Branch shows that the family were living
at Ballynagilloge, a townland in the Barony of Arklow, Co. Wicklow, and it
was here that Edmund. the first member of the family of whom there is any
record, was born in 1624. The Granges at that time were working a total
of some 650 acres, about 400 of which lay in the Ballynagilloge and Raherd
areas while the other 250 were in the townlands of Ennereilly and
Ballinturney.
The family burying ground was the old Churchyard at Ennereilly and many
members directed in their wills that they should be buried near the old
home farm no matter where they happened to be when they died. Like most
families who have had a centuries-old association with an hereditary home,
the yearning was ever present to return to the place of their birth.
In the early years the farms were carefully tended by generations who were
quite content to follow the traditional ways of their ancestors. The
acreage was gradually increased, both by purchases and by dowries and
marriage settlements. Towards the end of the 18th. Century, however,
many of the younger family members were raising their sights. Some went
into the Church (they were all Anglicans), others into military service.
Those who entered the military usually served with famous cavalry regiments
of the British and Indian armies, for, like their northern cousins, they were very
comfortable around horses. The drift from the land steadily increased
throughout the century and by about 1880, practically all the Southern farms
had been sold. Today no Grange farmers remain in any part of Ireland.
Edmund (b.circa 1782-4) with his wife Diana (Coates) are the earliest
known names in the English branch. While their origins have not been
completely nailed down, the family christian names they used strongly
suggest that they were southern.
Edmund and Diana had three sons, all of whom entered the Army, and
two daughters, both of whom married into the army. The second son,
Lieut-Colonel George John,
emigrated to Canada and settled in County Wellington of which he was
Sherriff from 1840-76. He was president of a railway company there for
many years. One of his sons,
Dr. E. A. Grange, graduated from Ontario Veterinary College in 1873 and
after a distinguished career in various colleges in both Canada and the
U.S.A., he finally became president of the college from which he had
originally graduated.
Farming doesn't seem to have been an option in the English branch, most
entering the professions, especially the military where several rose to
a high rank in the service of their country.
It is not known exactly when the first Grange from Ireland settled in
the U.S.A.
During the first half of the 19th. Century, there was a major migration
from Ireland to the USA, reaching, from Ulster alone, a maximum annual rate
of 12,000, mainly Presbyterians. While the Potato famine of the '40's
was doubtless a strong contributing factor, another, even stronger one was
the intolerable landlordism of the established church.
Episcopalian Bishops who controlled large tracts
of land refused permission to erect either a Presbyterian Church or house on
their property, and wealthy landlords of the same persuasion followed the
example of their clergy and usually refused to let land on any terms to a
Presbyterian, or if given at all, would charge him an exorbitant rent.
It would have been about 1850 that a Robert Grange, (b.1819 in Ireland)
arrived in America with Alicia Rhames (b.1830 also in Ireland). They
settled in Watertown, a town in the State of Wisconsin. Alicia came from a
Quaker family and whether it was a question of religious or social
prejudice, there was strong family opposition to the marriage and the
young couple decided to leave Ireland.
It is unclear in which part of Ireland Robert was born, for an intensive
search of all the existing Church registers in Ireland yielded no record
of the marriage. [Ed. note: they were married in Emmet, Dodge, Wisconsin
in 1851 according to IGI records.
So it is possible that the departure from
Ireland was part of an elopement!]
He was said to have claimed
that he was a Presbyterian and that he'd been born near Dublin. But these
two claims contradict each other, for the Granges in the South, according
to all known records, were all Anglicans while the Northerners were all
Presbyterians.
About the time of Robert's arrival, civic records indicate that there
were several Irish-born Grange families in the Watertown area. :- Robert, a
farmer (b.1810) and his wife Anne (b.18I5);
[Ed. Note IGI records show that a Robert Grange married an Anne Barker
in Mullinacuff, Wicklow, Ireland in 1858; so that "about" could be rather
widespread!] and John, a physician, (b.1780)
(There are no records at either Trinity College, Dublin or Edinburgh
University of his graduation). Living in the same house with John, Robert
and Anne were Sarah Watson and her 2 children, Jane and John who were all
born in Ireland, - Sarah in 1810. She may have been a married daughter of
John. In another house were John(b.1830) and his wife Harriet(b.1837) with
their two children, Matthew aged 3 years and Robert R, aged 5 months.
These two children whad been born in Wisconsin. Again the registers in
Ireland could show no trace of any of these births or marriages.
A partial family tree for Robert Grange's descendants can be found at:
Glenda Grange's
Page
While it is quite possible that there were earlier arrivals than Robert(1810),
up to now no records of them have been found so, for the purpose of this
family history, he is the first known generation of the U.S.A. Branch
of the Granges of Ireland.
The records of the Granges in Watertown were obtained by Betty Grange of
Vancouver, Washington, USA.
IGI Records show that in 1778, in
the Diocese of Dublin, a William Grange married a Martha Ashenhurst and that
a Jane Grange was born of this couple in 1780.
In 1796, a John Grange,
possibly the John(1768) son of Richard Chappell Grange, married a Jane
Grange, possibly William and Martha's as she would have been 16 then.
(The Granges of Leinster were all Anglicans and could only marry other
Protestants. In a 95% Roman Catholic country this severely limited their
choice of mates and marriages of cousins would have been relatively common.)
In 1819,
Robert was born to John Grange and Jane Grange. Jane would have been 39.
(In these birth records, the mother's maiden name, if known, is used.)
This was the Robert who emigrated to the US with Alicia Rhames in 1850,
settled in Wisconsin and initiated the first US
BRANCH.
One of Robert's & Alicia's sons was Robert Ashenhurst Grange,
a name which harks back to the 1778 marriage of his great-grandparents!
Many more Granges have emigrated since, of course,
and some of these are shown on the Main GRANGE
(Northern Ireland) page.
If you have any comments or information, we'd be extremely delighted to
hear from you. Please write to us
Right Now or later at:
rjbw@shaw.ca
Return to the Main GRANGE Page.