Over the past two centuries the parish has seen different sets of occupations appear from reports and censuses. The ones which remain most constant throughout are farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, labourers and millers. At various other times there have been masons, building labourers, thatchers, servers, maids, grooms and ploughmen.

The most dramatic change occurred when the linen industry was at its height before the famine. Ballyrashane was a very productive place for supplying the linen industry.

In the 1831 census the following list is given;

Occupations; 213 weavers, 766 spinners, 160 farmers, 126 labourers, 16 shoemakers, 4 grocers, 5 tailors, 2 butchers, 13 carpenters, 3 masons, 7 smiths, 4 schoolteachers, 2 bailiffs, 3 fowldealers, 2 ropers, 4 flax dressers, 3 wheelwrights, miller, bleacher, tinker. NO publicans. N.B. This included part of County Antrim which is now Ballywatt, and parts of the Bushmills area.

In places like Ballynag there were whole groups of thatched houses occupied by weavers and spinners and in some of the cottages there was no glass for the windows and the people closed them with sods. [Mullan p8]

Islandeffrick had a mill in connecton with a bleaching green. It was then turned into a paper mill around 1824. The O.S. memoirs states that it had been used as a paper mill for only 10 years and that before that it was for spinning cotton and previous to that in connection with bleaching for 80 years. It can be assumed that some people may have been employed in this side of the linen industry but information is very limited.

By the 1840's linen began to decline causing rural depopulation as manufacturing industry took off in towns. This probably did as much harm as the famine if not more so. The population had certainly begun to decline from 1831 onwards and as there is no indication from the church death records, of a large number of people dying during the famine years, then the only explanation is that they migrated when the linen industry declined.

The 1841 census figures show that there were 246 people, (only 2 women) involved in food production, 157 men and 238 women in clothing, 17 with something to do with lodgings, 2 teachers and 1 minister. It is likely that those involved in clothing were weavers and spinners. This shows the huge reduction in their numbers over the last 10 years.

While there were still a few remnants of the industry towards the latter two decades of the 19th century there is no evidence to support the statement often said in the parish that the two labourer's cottages at the bottom of the manse brae were built for weavers, in such a way that plenty of light got in. It is extremely doubtful since weaving had almost certainly died out by the time these cottages were built in the first decade of the twentieth century. The statement is more likely to have referred to two cottages built on the same site earlier. These show up on the 1860/86 editions of the Ordnance Survey Map.

It is unknown how many men would have been employed in the broth mill and corn mill in the 19th century but it is unlikely to have provided much employment. Many of the men would have been self-employed and others would have been employed whenever work was available rather than full-time. Most men would have been able to do several jobs and would work wherever they were needed Whenever employment was not available they would once again turn to their own plots of land.

During the famine years when work was scarce and land produced insufficient to live on, work had to be found for many of the poorer sections of the community. In 1846 the new road from Campbell's at the Ballyversal crossroads, which is now Rectory Road was built as part of the relief works during the famine. Similarly part of the present moss road through Liswatty was built as famine relief works.

These new roads replaced many of the older ones such as the old road through Anderson's and Patton's of Knocknekeeragh across main road and across McAuley's to Hill's farm at Gorticloughan, still easily walked but no longer used.

In 1896 the creamery began to employ several local men. The numbers, however, were not large enough to prevent many young men from leaving the parish. Ironically today, there would be enough employment in the creamery to suffice for all the male population of the parish who needed it. This has happened too late and the creamery now depends on people from outside areas.

After the first world war the flaxmill in Kirkistown was giving employment to about 22 men which was greatly needed at the time. Although it was seasonal this fitted in with the lifestyle where the majority of men were cutting peat in the summer and tending to their plots of land.

New occupations began to appear after the turn of the century and a look through the parish marriage records show the appearance of a garage proprietor in 1928. This is not to say that the business was in Ballyrashane, but it shows that commuting was beginning to happen. The advent of the railway had little effect on the parish until the end of the 19th century when it began to employ a few of the parish men.

In a couple of the marriage records the occupation is given as miner. Apparently there wre mining operations at Ballylagan, Islandmore and Kilgrain although I have not been able to find out more about the dates of operation although it was closed down sometime around the beginning of the 20th century. Iron ore was mined here and so was boxite. An elderly resident can remember the mines flooding and caving in when he was a small child. They were closed up afterwards and very few people know they even existed.

Weavers disappear completely after 1911 though the instance of weavers in the marriage records generally are rare. There are only two recorded cases where a male partner is a weaver and only seven cases where the father's occupation is weaver. This may help to show that weaving had largely died out in the parish by the time the marriage records start. There are 9 instances of 'scutcher' in the marriage records up until the 1920s. This would tie in with the closing down of the flax mill in the 1920s.

The most common occupations for men in the period up to 1911 were farmers, labourers and servants with a few being blacksmiths and coopers. After 1911 the variety becomes immense and men, other than farmers, were not following their fathers trade to a great extent. Farmers' sons were even more likely to follow their father. This may indicate that the career was becoming more lucrative. Male servants disappear completely after 1911.

The older farmers remember that during the early part of this century many of the labourers went to Scotland to help in the potato harvest. This may have been partly because of conscription in Scotland causing a shortage of manpower.

There were 126 labourers in 1831. There certainly were not as many in the 20th century since farmers often had to get labourers at hiring fairs. Many of the present families date back to the early years of the 20th century when they came in because they were hired at fairs. When these people married they would rent cottages and raise families who often stayed. (McLaughlins, Pattersons)

OCCUPATIONS OF MEN GETTING MARRIED DURING PERIOD 1845 - 1969

pre1912			1912 - 1969
farmers	24	19.8%	farmers	7	14.2%
labourers	59	48.7%	labourers	26	53%
servants	16	13.2%	servants	1	2%
others	22	18.1%	others	15	30.6%
TOTAL	121		TOTAL	49

OCCUPATIONS OF FATHERS OF MEN GETTING MARRIED 1845 - 1969

pre 1912			1912 - 1969
farmers	38	31.4%	farmers	7	14.2%
labourers	49	40.4%	labourers	24	48.9%
servants	0		servants	0
weavers	7	5.7%	weavers	0
others	27	22.3%	others	18	36.7%

Servants as an occupation only seems to be appearing in the generation who ar adult after the famine since none of the fathers state this as their occupation. However, since servant is not defined it is possible that some of these servants could actually be labourers on farms. All of this information is only relevant if the marriage records can be taken as a representative sample.

The only employment for men in this parish today, other than farmers's sons, is the creamery. A few men are self-employed but the rest are employed in various occupations in the surrounding towns.

Working women

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are th periods during which most women worked as servants. There was also a large number of women who did not work. Before 1911 the only jobs which women from the parish would have undertaken would have been as servants. It is possible that before the famine there were more spinners but he marriage records show only two women who put themselves down as spinners. Most women did not work for employment in the periods before 1911. It must be assumed that they helped at home.

Examples of the breakdown of the female occupations of those getting married from three townland.

KIRKISTOWN

pre 1912		1912 - 1969
1 spinner		16 others
10 no work		8 no work
4 servants		4 servants

BALLINDREEN

pre 1912		1912 - 1969
19 no work		7 no work
5 servants		0 servants
0 others		11 others

ARTICRUNNAGH

pre 1912		1912 - 1969
29 no work		8 no work
3 servants		3 servants
2 others		10 others

The most common occupations for women were servants. After 1911 there was still a high proportion of servants and women who stayed at home but the variety of occupations is becoming much wider. This has been a big change in the parish. There would be very few, if any single women of marriageable age who are in domestic work today other than those who are unemployed through no desire of their own.

Today the population has people in every type of employment possible from doctors to labourers. There is still a large number of farmers but people are employed in factories, in garages, in management, the civil service, hospitals, shops, teaching and various government departments. There are very few unemployed men and in most families without young children, the women too have found jobs outside of the home and community.