Bursan, in Gaelic 'Bus-an' possibly meaning ''The Little Mouth'', is a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Templeport Templeport () is a civil parish in the barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland. The chief towns in the parish are Bawnboy and Ballymagauran. The large Roman Catholic parish of Templeport containing 42,172 statute acres was split up in the 18t ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It lies in the Roman Catholic parish of

Glangevlin Glangevlin () is a village in the northwest of County Cavan, Ireland. It is in the townlands of Gub (Glangevlin) and Tullytiernan, at the junction of the R200 and R207 regional roads. It is surrounded by the Cuilcagh Mountains and borders the c ...

and barony of

Tullyhaw Tullyhaw ( ga, Teallach Eathach) (which means 'The Territory of Eochaidh', an ancestor of the McGoverns, who lived ) is a Barony in County Cavan in the Republic of Ireland. The area has been in constant occupation since pre-4000 BC. Locate ...

Geography

Bursan is bounded on the north by

Dunmakeever Dunmakeever is a townland in the Civil Parish of Kinawley, Roman Catholic Parish of Glangevlin, Barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland. Etymology The townland name is an anglicisation of the Gaelic placename "Dún Mhic Íomhair" which mean ...

townland, on the west by Tullyminister townland, on the east by

Commas (Kinawley) Commas (Irish derived place name ''Cam Eas'', meaning either ‘The Bend in the River’ or ‘The Crooked Stream’) is a townland in the civil parish of Kinawley, barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland. Sub-divisions of the townland are- (a) ...

townland and on the south by Bellavally Lower townland. Its chief geographical features are the

Owenmore River (County Cavan) The Owenmore River ( ga, Abhainn Mór, meaning "Big River") rises in the Cuilcagh Mountains, in the townland of Dunmakeever, civil parish of Kinawley, Roman Catholic parish of Glangevlin, Barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan. It then flows in a nort ...

, mountain streams, waterfalls and forestry plantations. Bursan is traversed by minor public roads and rural lanes. The townland covers 406 statute acres.

History

In earlier times the townland was probably uninhabited as it consists mainly of bog and poor clay soils. It was not seized by the English during the Plantation of Ulster in 1610 or in the Cromwellian Settlement of the 1660s so some dispossessed Irish families moved there and began to clear and farm the land. The 1790 Cavan Carvaghs list spells the name as ''Bossangrave''. The Tithe Applotment Books for 1826 spell the name as ''Bussan'' and list one tithepayer in the townland. The Ordnance Survey Name Books for 1836 give the following description of the townland- ''It is altogether a track of barren mountain. The parts reclaimed yield only potatoes &c ...It is bounded on the west and north sides by a large mountain stream which is joined by several from the townland. Sandstone & iron ore can be procured but there is neither of them used for any purpose''. The Bursan Valuation Office Field books are available for August 1839.

Griffith's Valuation Griffith's Valuation was a boundary and land valuation survey of Ireland completed in 1868. Griffith's background Richard John Griffith started to value land in Scotland, where he spent two years in 1806-1807 valuing terrain through the examinati ...

of 1857 lists four landholders in the townland. In the 19th century the landlord of Bursan was Leonard Dobbin.

Census

In the 1901 census of Ireland, there was one family listed in the townland. In the 1911 census of Ireland, there was one family listed in the townland.http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Cavan/Dunmakeever/Bursan/ ''Census of Ireland 1911''

References

External links

The IreAtlas Townland Data Base
{{County Cavan Townlands of County Cavan