Garryduff, home of the Durneys

Like most of my Irish ancestors, my great grandmother, Margaret Durney Allen, came from County Kilkenny, Ireland.

The name Durney is fairly rare in Ireland, with most Durney's listed on the 1847 Griffith's Valuation were found in Kilkenny (20 families) and Waterford (9 families.) Outside of those areas, the family name was almost never found, so the Durney family apparently stayed in their place of origin. 

Her family lived in the southernmost part of Kilkenny, about 4 miles north of Piltown, the home of the Earl of Bessborough, who was largest landowner in the area, and the landlord for her family, who lived as tenant farmers in a tiny townland called Garryduff- An Garrai Dubh in Irish, which was spoken by many of the inhabitants. Garryduff encompasses about 520 acres of land.

https://www.townlands.ie/kilkenny/iverk/owning/templeorum/garryduff/

Garryduff today (Google Maps)

The homes of Garryduff were located along the sides of the road, with the farm fields stretching out behind them. 

Griffith's Valuation map of Garryduff

In 1835, a survey was taken to determine how much the tenants would be taxed to pay a tithe to the Protestant Church of Ireland (despite the fact that they were  all Catholics.) Most of the local tenants farmed 20-30 acres of land. There were several related families living in Garryduff- Pat Durney Sr., Pat Durney Jr., and their neighbors the Cuddihy's, Malone's, Kenneally's, Nowlin's, Bulger's, Whealan's and Ryan's. 

These families attended church in Owning, about 2 miles south of Garryduff- an easily walkable distance. Although in the 1700's Catholicism was strongly discouraged and Catholics had to celebrate mass in hiding, in personal homes or outside at "mass bushes," by 1800 there was a fine Catholic chapel built in Owning. In the beginning the interior was not finished, and there were no pews- the small congregation knelt or stood on the bare floor. 

By 1853, there were five Durney families in Garryduff.

Pat Durney Sr. had a house and land on 15 acres, while Patrick Jr., Thomas, and John Durney shared the farming of 166 acres with the Nowlan's, Whelan's, and Bolgers. Daniel Durney had just a house and garden (making it likely that his family had already left to emigrate to America.) The Cuddihy's and Malone's had separate plots of land, and Timothy Connolly (Kennealy,) like Daniel Durney, had just a house and garden. This was common for older, retired farmers.