The Sproule Maize that is Altamullan – the Really Tricky One

We are now at the northern part of Altamullan and this was the really tricky one – 10 years of tricky! It was actually over 10 years ago when this all began for me in the big room in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin, with me bent over one of those gigantic books. It was then that I first saw the name that would haunt me for a long time to come, the name that is still pinned to my wall to this day, it was Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare.

The name was on a deed from 1770. By now, Thomas of Golan’s sons James and Samuel had divided the Altamullan land between them. The northern part of the Altamullan land went to son James, who was known as James Sproule of Newtonstewart. James was an Innkeeper and merchant, and again an affluent man. But he was not a farmer, so in this deed of August 1770 he was selling his Altamullan land.

He sold it to another Sproule, the one and only Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare, and in this same deed we find Joseph Sproule the Elder of Clare, who witnessed the signing of the Deed. So I had Joseph the Younger and Joseph Sproule the Elder of Clare buying the northern part of Altamullan in 1770.

My first problem with all of this was that I couldn’t find any Sproule families in Clare at all at this time capable of buying this land, except the Bridgehills, and they don’t have any Josephs. So where are these Josephs of Clare coming from?

And more importantly, where did they go?

If we look at this same Altamulan land in the first half of the 1800s we immediately see the next problem. There should be the children of  some Joseph of Clare owning the northern part of Altamullan, but there isn’t.

We can certainly see that there are a lot of Sproules there. If you look on the map you will see them, and I am using the same numbers as Griffiths Valuation on the map to show the areas.

Northern part of Altamullan prior to 1850

So we have the numbers 3, 4 and 5 - that whole area is owned by William Beatty Sproule. He lives in the area numbered 5. The area number 2, to the north of this, is also owned by William Beatty Sproule. So he owns most of the north end. This was most of the land bought by Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare in 1770.

William Beatty Sproule we know well. His father is John Sproule of Altamullan, and his grandfather is Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill – a Curraghamulkin Sproule. So my thinking was, could Joseph Sproule of Clover Hill be our Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare? But if he were, we would expect his father to be also a Joseph Sproule, as in Joseph Sproule the Elder of Clare – but he wasn’t. His father was John ‘Jack Roe’ of Curraghamulkin. So this doesn’t fit.

What if Joseph Sproule the Elder is not the father, but is the grandfather? The grandfather of Joseph of Clover Hill was indeed a Joseph, Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin.  Now at this point I thought I had solved the whole riddle, for I even the had evidence to support this from John Inch himself.

John Inch had written;

“Joseph Sproule (called “Neblaugh”) was also a Grannan man and uncle to the bleacher, he came to live in Clare (near Bridgehill) and supplied buttermilk to his nephew at Spamount for bleaching purposes and charged him the highest price for it, to the astonishments of his neighbours who gave buttermilk gratis, so they nicknamed these ‘Buttermilk Sproules’. He is the ancestor of the Burrels folly and Kirlish Sproules, when he left Clare and settled in Curraghamulkin.”

So Joseph Sproule the Elder of Clare was none other than Joseph of Curraghamulkin, 5^th son of Cornet Andrew Spreull who must have lived first in Clare and then he moved to Curraghamulkin. So Joseph must have had a son that we didn’t know anything about, and this son was called Joseph Sproule of Clare the Younger, who stayed in Clare, and then bought the Altamullan land.

It all fit. I was terribly clever.  But of course, it didn’t! None of it fit, but it took me a good while to realise that.

First of all, Joseph Sproule of Curraghamulkin was never called Joseph of Clare, never ever. He was living in Curraghamulkin in 1731, in the deed that formalised his tenancy of the land, and he was called Joseph of Curraghamulkin in that 1731 deed, and indeed in every other deed.  Our Joseph Sproule the Elder of Clare had his name in 1770. They are definitely not the same man.

And now move forward in time and we come to this year, and I am again working on the Registry of Deeds, but this time transcribing them from Familsearch, and what did I find? Yes, it was yet another Joseph Sproule of Clare and he was taking over this very same piece of Altamullan land!

In 1806, Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare is now called Joseph Sproule Senior of Altamullan, so he must have been living there on his Altamullan land. In this 1806  deed he passing on his Altamullan land to one Joseph Sproule Junior of Clare Hall. 

So now we have another one, 3 of them up to 1806, all owning the north part of Altamullan. And none of this is fitting with William Beatty Sproule!

So I was back to asking the same three questions,

1. Who the **** is Joseph Sproule the Younger of Clare?
2. Where on earth did all the Joseph Sproules of Clare come from, and where did they all disappear to?
3. How did William Beatty Sproule and his Curraghamulkin father end up with the northern half of Altamullan?

And yes, ten years later, I do have the answer.

References:

• 1770 Deed -  James Sproule of Newtonstewart sells north part of Altamullan to Joseph of Clare the Younger, 282 278 183106, 22^nd & 23^rd Aug  1770, Registry of Deeds, Familysearch
• John Inch quotation, from the Brian J. Sproule document, written by Jack Elder, quoting John Inch, unpublished.
• 1806 Deed Joseph Sproule Senior of Altamullan gent selling Altamullan northside to Joseph Jun of Clarehall, 582557 396019  1 Aug 1806, Registry ofDeeds, Familysearch 

The Sproule Maize that is Altamullan –Thomas Sproule of Altamullan

The Sproule Maize that is Altamullan – Fitting the Final Pieces