Annagh is a townland in the Parish of Tomregan, Barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland.
Etymology
On the 1609 Ulster Plantation Baronial map it is split into two townlands named Shannaontra and Shannaititr. In a 1610 grant they are spelled Tanaghyeightra and Tanaghwotra. In an Inquisition dated 20 September 1630 the two townlands were spelled Townaeiateragh and Tawnaowteragh. In the 1652 Commonwealth Survey the spelling was Tenaghoghtragh and Tenaghightragh. On the Down Survey map of 1655 these townlands were merged into one and it is named Annagh. A 1666 grant spells the names as Anagh alias Tannaghyeitragh alias Tannaghowoteragh. William Petty's 1685 map spells it as An. The usual meaning suggested for the place name is that Annagh is an anglicisation of the Irish language placename "Eanach" which means 'A moor or marsh'. However it is more likely that Annagh is an abbreviation of 'Tannagh' (meaning a pasture) as the older names of the place in Irish were 'Tamnach Íochtar' & "Tamnach Uachtar" which mean 'Lower Pasture' and "Upper Pasture".
Geography
Annagh is one of four townlands over which the town of Ballyconnell extends. It is bounded on the north by the international border with Fermanagh and Northern Ireland, on the east by Cuillaghan, Killywilly, Corranierna and Mullaghduff townlands, on the south by Cullyleenan townland and on the west by Doon (Tomregan), Rakeelan and Gortawee townlands. Its chief geographical features are Annagh Lough, the Dhoogue stream, Scotchtown Island, Monkey's Island, a chalybeate well, Bray Wood, some drumlin hills reaching an altitude of above sea-level and the Shannon-Erne Waterway which flows north along the western boundary of the townland. Bray Wood is the finest and most extensive area of woodland along the Shannon-Erne Waterway, consisting principally of Ash (Fraxinus) and Hazel together with Oak, Elm and Rowan trees. The undergrowth consists of Holly, Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) and Bramble, with a rich ground flora. Scotchtown Island has a wet woodland flora, dominated by Alder and Weeping Willow (Salex spp). The original non-canalised Woodford River Channel on the boundary with Cloncoohy contains rich wetland floras. Annagh is traversed by Bridge Street, Daisy Hill, the N87 road (Ireland), the L1063 road and some demesne lanes. The townland covers 419 statute acres, including of water.
History
In the Plantation of Ulster by grant dated 23 June 1610, along with other lands, King James VI and I granted one poll each in Tanaghyeightra and Tanaghwotra to Hugh Culme, esquire, as part of the Manor of Calva. Culme then surrendered his interest in Annagh to Walter Talbot of Ballyconnell. Walter Talbot died on 26 June 1625 at Ballyconnell and his son James Talbot succeeded to the Annagh lands aged just 10 years. An Inquisition held in Cavan Town on 20 September 1630 stated that Walter Talbot's lands included one poll each in Townaeiateragh and Tawnaowteragh. 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. George Talbot was appointed Surveyor-General of Maryland in 1683. In the aftermath of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, James Talbot's estate in Ballyconnell was confiscated in the Cromwellian Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652 because he was a Catholic and he was granted an estate in 1655 at Castle Rubey, County Roscommon instead. He died in 1687.