County Cavan, Ireland

Cavan, Irish An Cabhán (The Hollow Place), one of the three counties of the old province of Ulster, but now part of the Irish Republic. With an area of 730 sq mi (1,891 sq km), it is bounded by Counties Monaghan (northeast), Meath, Westmeath, and Longford (south), and Leitrim (northwest). Northern Ireland lies to the north. Northwestern Cavan comprises uplands, intersected by valleys, declining toward the main valley of the River Erne, where the main features are the drumlins (long, oval mounds) that alternate with lakes, rivers, peat bogs, and pastures. East of the Erne Valley is a line of slate and shale hills.

The Cavan district is mentioned in accounts of the life of St. Patrick (flourished 5th century). Cavan formed part of the kingdom of Bréifne, which included Leitrim, of which the O'Rourkes were princes. In later times Cavan, or East Bréifne, became distinctively Bréifne O'Reilly; and West Bréifne, or Leitrim, became Bréifne O'Rourke. Bréifne long resisted colonization by the Anglo-Normans, and the O'Reilly's of Cavan were not brought under permanent English rule until the late 16th century. Cavan, previously part of Connacht, was designated a part of Ulster in the early 17th century and included in the Ulster plantation from 1608 onward, when it was settled by Scots and English colonists.

Only one-quarter of the people of Cavan live in villages and towns; Cavan, the county seat, Cootehill, and Belturbet are the largest. The Roman Catholic cathedral of Kilmore diocese is in Cavan, the Protestant cathedral in Kilmore. Farms in Cavan average 30–40 ac (12–16 ha); and one-tenth of the improved land is used for crops, one-fifth for hay, and the rest for pasture. Creameries are common, and the towns are market centres with industries such as plastics, food processing, synthetic fibres, and wallpaper manufacturing. Main roads converge on Cavan from Belfast, Dublin, and Athlone. Pop. (1986) 53,965.

In 1821, a party of four hundred Protestant Irish from the area set sail for Canada and settled in a body in South Emily and in Cavan Township, Durham County, which lies directly to the south of Emily.  From this contingent come the modern family names of Adams, Allen, Armstrong, Balfour, Beatty, Bedford, Collum, Cornell, Curry, Davidson, Dixon, English, Evans, Fee, Grandy, Hanna, Hartley, Hughes, Irons, Ivory, Jackson, Johnson, Jones, Knowlson, Lamb, Matchett, Mitchell, Moore, Morrison, McCrae, McNeely, Mc Quade, Neal, Norris, Padget, Redmond, Reel, Robinson, Sanderson, Sherwood, Stephenson, Thornton, Trotter and others.

  Killashandra (Parish & Town)

"Killeshandra is a market town and a parish, in the barony Tullyhunco, county of Cavan, 77 miles NW from Dublin 28 S. from Enniskillen, 19.5 SW from Clones, 11 W from Cavan, 8 SSE from Ballyconnell, and 6 NW from Crossdoney; pleasantly situated on the Croghan, a tributary stream to the Erne. It occupies a romantic site on a gently rising ground, environed by a chain of interesting lakes; and consists of a spacious, clean and well-built street, in the centre of which is a well arranged neatly constructed market-house. This is a flourishing and respectable little place, one of the best markets for linen in the county, and many of the inhabitants of the town and district are employed in its manufacture. The principal inn here is the Victoria Hotel, a remarkably well conducted house. Petty sessions are held every alternate Thursday, and a manorial court occasionally." [From Slater's Directory (1846)]

These comments, made over 150 years ago, are just as true today. Killeshandra is still a rural village, set in the middle of unspoilt countryside, green fields, forests and dozens of lakes and rivers which form the upper Erne system.

Killeshandra (also spelled Killashandra), Co. Cavan, Ireland. With a population of 469, Killeshandra is situated in the heart of Ireland's lakeland region. It is a thriving little village most of whose industry and commerce is centred today around the dairy industry and tourism.

Col. Sir James Delacey Evans (b. circa 1725) in Ireland married Jane Wilson about 1755. Their children, Alexander (b. after 1760), Thomas (b. after 1761), George (b. 1770 ), Rachel (b. 1776), William (b. 1794) and Richard (b. 1796) were all born near the parish of Killashandra in the townland of Laheen.

Map of the Townlands of the Killashandra Parish

George was married in 1796 to Catherine Arnold (the daughter of Robert Arnold, a French Hugenot whose family had emigrated to Ireland in the 1600's). They had 9 children, all born in Cavan County in Ireland

  1. John - (1797 - 1860) married Margaret Grear in 1829 in Canada
  2. James - (1800 - 1882) married Ann Mitchel later in Canada
  3. Thomas - (1803 - 1851) married Jane Elizabeth Bowles in 1820 in Ireland
  4. William - (1806 - 1856) married Sarah Ann Fee later in Canada
  5. George - (1808 - ) married Elizabeth Bessie Robinson in Canada in 1831
  6. Catherine - (1810 - ) married George Bowles later in Canada
  7. Jane - (1813 - ) married George Ferguson in 1839 in Canada
  8. Samuel - (1813 - ) married Jane Fallis in 1832 in Canada
  9. Arnold - (1815 - ) married Ann Eliza Potter later in Canada

George, his wife, Catherine, and all their 9 children together with Thomas' wife, emigrated to Canada around 1821. In his book, "The History of Simcoe County", Andrew F. Hunter (1863 - 1940) writes of the family in his chapter on "Coulson's Corners and Northward":

"George Evans and family came to this neighborhood about the year 1826 from Durham County, Ontario, where they had settled upon coming from County Caven, Ireland a few years earlier. In this family there were seven sons: - John, William, Thomas, James, George, Samuel and Arnold; also two daughters: - Jane and Catharine. James remained on the original homestead, lot 14, con. 10. (West Gwillimbury). A son of the latter was George M. Evans, who was reeve of West Gwillimbury for some years, and Warden of the County in 1883. Zachariah Evans, who was clerk of the township for more than 21 years, and who died in 1906, was the third son of James Evans."

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