Submitted by Debbie Romilly to the Ireland mailing list at Rootsweb

Jan 2001.

GEOGRAPHY AND IRISH GENEALOGY

(Notes from Brian Mitchell)

In Ireland the geographical dimension in genealogy is of the utmost

importance as historical records were gathered by various administrative

divisions. Most Irish records were gathered by at least one of the

administrative divisions mentioned in this article.

In this article I attempt to describe the major administrative/territorial

divisions that family researchers of Irish records must come across. For

each administrative division described I have provided a map to illustrate

their scale, extent and distribution. I also list against each division what

records of genealogical significance in Ireland are organized by them.

COUNTY

This division reflected the imposition of the English system of local

government in Ireland. Begun in the 12th century the 32 county framework was

completed with the creation of Wicklow in 1606. Their boundaries usually

reflected the lordships of major Gaelic families. The four provinces of

Ireland -- Ulster, Connaught, Munster and Leinster -- owe their origin to

the pre-eminence of the families O'Neill (Ulster), O'Brien (Munster],

O'Conner (Connaught) and Mac Murrough (Leinster). It was these families that

strived for the High Kingship of all Ireland in the centuries before the

Norman Invasion of the 12th century. The Irish families reflected in county

divisions owed allegiance to these provincial kings.

All major records will provide at least the County name.

BARONY

This is now an obsolete division, but in the 19th century it was widely

used. There were 331 baronies and they also tended to reflect the holdings

of Irish clans. Baronies and counties became established in the government

land surveys of the 17th century.

Records organized by Barony:

17th century surveys

Early 19th century Tithe books

Mid 19th century Griffiths valuation

POOR LAW UNION

Under the Poor Relief Act, 1838 Ireland was divided into districts or unions

in which the local rateable in habitants were to be financially responsible

for the care of all paupers in their areas. These unions, which didn't

respect county boundaries, were usually centered on a large market town. By

1850, 163 unions had been created. The Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898

adopted the poor law union as the basic administrative division in place of

the civil parish and barony. The Poor Law Unions of Ireland were subdivided

into 829 Registration Districts and 3,751 District Electoral Divisions.

Townlands were now arranged according to these divisions, with parishes and

baronies being retained only as a means to make comparisons with records

gathered before 1898.

Records organized by Poor Law Union:

Indexes to civil Births, Marriages and Deaths

Griffiths valuation

DIOCESES

Three Ecclesiastical synods -- Cashel in 1101, Rathbreasail in 1111 and

Kells in 1152, imposed a diocesan organization of 4 provinces -- Armagh,

Cashel, Dublin and Tuam, each headed by an archbishop and under them 22

bishops in charge of as many dioceses. These diocesan boundaries have

remained virtually constant to the present day and are in use by both the

Catholic and Anglican churches. The number of dioceses has, however, varied

with consolidation through time by both the Catholic and Anglican churches.

Dioceses have little or no relation to the boundaries of the counties, the

latter having been created long after the dioceses. It is the Church of

Ireland dioceses, as existing in the mid-19th century, that are mapped here.

Until 1834 the dioceses of the Church of Ireland were grouped into 4

provinces. The number of provinces was then reduced to 2, namely Armagh and

Dublin.

Records gathered by Diocese:

Marriage License Bonds

Wills before 1858

PROBATE DISTRICTS

In 1858 a principal registry and 11 district registries were established for

purposes of proving wills and granting administrations. The boundaries to

these probate districts were either baronies or counties.

Records gathered by Probate District:

Wills since 1858

CIVIL PARISH

>From the 17th century the so-called civil parish, based on the early

christian and medieval monastic and church settlements, was used extensively

in various surveys. By the mid-19th century the pattern of civil parishes

was well established. By 1841 the population of Ireland had risen to

8,175,124 and this was reflected in changing parish boundaries. New parishes

were created by either subdividing larger ones or by withdrawing townlands

from adjoining parishes.

The civil parish essentially covered the same area as the established Church

of Ireland. The Roman Catholic church, owing to the Reformation of the 16th

century, had to adapt itself to a new structure centered on towns and

villages. By use of "A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland" by Samuel Lewis

(London, 1837, Reprinted by the Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore,

1984) it is, however, possible to locate all churches within their civil

parishes, and to map the boundaries of Roman Catholic parishes as the civil

parish or parishes covered by each Catholic parish are listed. In addition

Lewis' dictionary gives a brief description of the geography, history,

agriculture and industry of every civil parish in Ireland.

Civil parishes, of which there were 2,428 in Ireland, frequently broke both

barony and county boundaries, indicating they were drawn up at an earlier

period. To 1898 the civil parish was the major administrative division.

Records complied by Civil Parish:

Hearth money rolls

19th census records

Tithe books

Griffiths valuation

TOWNLAND

The townland is the smallest and most ancient of Irish land divisions. The

townland was named at an early period, and they usually referred to a very

identifiable landmark in the local area such as a mountain, a bog, an oak

forest, a village, a fort or a church. The townland became standardized as a

basic division in the 17th century surveys by people with little knowledge

of the Irish language. As a consequence many place names were either lost or

had their meaning or construction altered.

A record of townland names, shapes and sizes for all Ireland exist in the

maps of the Ordnance Survey completed in 1846 at the scale of 6 inches to 1

mile. Furthermore the "General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and

Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland" by Alexander Thom, Dublin, 1861

(reprinted by The Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1981) will

identify all of Ireland's 60,462 townlands against their Ordnance Survey

sheet number, county, barony, parish and poor law union.

All major records will provide the townland address of an ancestor. The

civil parish, the major administrative division, is in effect a group of

townlands.

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