The horizon is usually no more than a few hundred yards away, making the countryside feel small-scale and intimate. The O Reillys maintained their independence from English rule until the rebellions of the early 1600s. Cavan was then incorporated into the province of Ulster, having previously been considered part of Connacht, and was included in the plantation of Ulster from 1608. However there may have been some of the name farming in Co. Cavan then as this list comprises only the names of 58,000 farmers who grew a flax crop in Ireland that year. No offical census from the 19th century covering eastern County Cavan has survived.
Land valuations provide somewhat of a subsitute.
The earliest land valuations available for the Parish of Killinkere are known as the Tithe Applotments. This valuation was done in 1833 for Killinkere Parish. Its purpose was to provide a basis for the imposition of an annual tithe, payable to the Church of Ireland, on the occupiers of agricultural lands. The only persons of these name variants noted in Killinkere parish were Patrick and Francis Shiels, each occupying 3 acre farms in Kilmore townland located about 3 kilometres to the south of Coolnacola. Most likely born between 1800-1810, it is possible John Shiels the father of William Shiels, was a son of either this Patrick or Francis Shiels from Kilmore townland.