County Leitrim

The Dolans and Mulveys were from the area near, and a few miles east, of Lough Allen.  Lough Allen (about 7 miles long) is the lake in the center of County Leitrim.
Leitrim is a rural county with a population of only about 30,000.  Leitrim's population level has never returned to the pre-famine levels due to the emigation and starvation that accompanied the famine.  Leitrim's population fell by one third following the famine.
Drumshanbo, Ballinamore, Aughnasheelan, Ballinagleragh, and Mohill are familiar place names in family history.

Double click the map to see a larger map of County Leitrim in 1840

Double click the map to see a larger map of County Leitrim in 1993

The following is an excerpt from Insight Guides Ireland, copyright 1996 APA publications LTD p. 221

Ireland's Cinderella: County Leitrim has very little going for it, (JDH note, this does not sound like an Irishman's comment!) particularly in the matter of travel writing. William Thackeray ignored it in his Irish sketch book, as did most other writers. Leitrim people are understandably sensitive about being the Cinderella of the 32 counties.

It is a narrow county, only 46 miles (74 km) in length, with a maximum breadth of 18 miles (29 km). Of coastline it can only boast a mere 2 miles, wedged between the golden beaches of Sligo and Donegal.

Most of the country is hilly, some reaching rounded peaks of 2,000 feet (600 meters).  The composition of the soil -- shale, sandstone, and millstone grit -- makes the countryside moorish and undulating, with few dramatic features.

To compound its problems, Leitrim lacks both industry and natural resources. It is constantly drained by heavy immigration, to Dublin as well as the United States and Britain. Alone among the counties of Ireland, it failed to show any increase in population when emigration was stemmed in the 1960s. The population is still in decline, with a high percentage of elderly people.

If Sligo was late entering the tourist scene, and can be said that Leitrim is still trying to make an entrance. Its greatest assets, in that respect, are the River Shannon, a mass of lakes, and an expanse of totally unspoiled countryside for those wishing an unconventional holiday.

Lough Allen, six miles long and three miles broad (10 by 5 km), is one of the three great Shannon lakes. It is surrounded on all sides by bleak mountains. But it is a paradise for course fishermen, most of whom come from the English Midlands in search of pike, perch, rudd, and bream. The nearby town of Drumshanbo specializes in catering to anglers, and it is also a great center of Irish music.

With the growth in popularity of cruising holidays on the Shannon, the County town of Carrick-on-Shannon has become the main center for this activity, which is particularly popular with continentals. By comparison with the overcrowded and much polluted European waterways, the Shannon is a virtual ocean.

Cabin cruisers may be hired at Carrick-on-Shannon. The river and its many lakes are navigable as far south as Killaloe, 14 miles (22 km) from Limerick. For those wishing to get "lost" in the most leisurely way possible, a cruise on the Shannon, with its many islands and secluded harbors, would be difficult to beat.

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