Genealogy & Family History research in Ireland and the United Kingdom Gillian Weir Scully - Diploma in Family History, Awarded Distinction

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Administrate Divisions – Ireland is divided into 32 counties. Each county is then sub-divided into geographical areas for both civil and church administration.

Barony – is a sub-division of a county. Irish baronies were generally defined during the Anglo-Norman and later English conquests of Ireland, some baronies mirror earlier territories held by Gaelic chieftains. Baronies are no longer used for local government but are still useful for older documents.

Civil Parish – the land division that occurs in Irish records they can cross Barony and County boundaries which is mostly related to the Church of Ireland.

Civil Records – In Ireland civil births, marriages and deaths began fully in 1864 with non-Catholic marriages being registered from 1845. All events were supposed to be registered but in the early years in particular this did not always happen even in later years not all events were registered and some events were registered late perhaps as long as 2 years late.

Church Records – to research church records you need to know the religion, parish, event, date and names.
Roman Catholic: Microfilm of many parishes is available in the National Library of Ireland up to about 1888.  Parishes rarely follow the same boundary as the civil parish although they may have the same name.

Church of Ireland: Was once the established church having a connection with the Anglican Church in England. Each parish has its own boundary and once performed probate of Wills, granting of marriage and other forms of licence which are now undertaken by the State. Most records and ledgers for Southern Ireland are held at the Representative Body Library in Dublin or they may be locally held by the Parish.

Presbyterian: The majority of records for Northern Ireland are at the Public Records Office in Northern Ireland. For Southern Ireland the majority of records are held by the local church.

District Electrical Division (DED) – a sub-division of the PLU for which census information was compiled and the returns are arranged. The divisions were used for elections and national representatives established under the Local Government Act of 1898.

General Register Office (GRO) - Each Registrar registered births, marriage and deaths within his district that is in the Dispensary District. Then he sent certified copies of the Registers to his immediate superior, the Superintendent Registrar, who was responsible for Registration within his district of the PLU.  The Superintendent Registrar of a Union sent certified copies of registers in his possession to the Registrar General (the official in Dublin who had overall charge of Registration). He kept the original registers himself and was obliged to make an index of the register books in his possession.

Griffiths Valuation - The Primary Valuation of Ireland is more popularly known as Griffith’s Valuation after Sir Richard Griffith the Commissioner who surveyed Ireland between c1848 and 1864. Griffith’s Valuation provides the most completed guide to the location of surnames throughout Ireland in the years following the Great Famine.

The valuation was primarily completed for tax purposes so anyone who fell below the tax bracket would not be mentioned as this was about property and not people. There is a printed valuation book for each barony or poor law union, showing the names of occupiers of land and buildings, the names of people, from whom these were leased, and the amount and value of the property held. About 1.25 million people appear in the records so the survey can be used, to some extent, as a replacement for the missing census records. The population in Ireland on the 1861 census was more than 5.5 million so many are not listed.

Irish Census Returns – most have been lost for the 19th century. The 1901 and 1911 census returns are available at the National Archives of Ireland or on-line on their website.

Ordinance Survey Field Name Books – are notebooks used by the surveyors compiling the first ordinance survey maps in 1838. They are arranged by civil parish and each townland is listed alphabetically. They generally contain the townland name, derivation of the name, location within the parish, proprietor’s name and their comments.

Poor Law Union (PLU) – established under the Poor Law Act (Ireland) of 1838 for the administration of the poor. Under the Act the country was divided into over 150 areas each of which maintained a workhouse paid for by local taxes. Each PLU covered an area of about 10 miles radius of a market town. The number of divisions would depend on the size of the county, Longford has 3 and Cork has 18.

Primary Valuation – see Griffith’s Valuation.

Registry of Deeds - the Registry of Deeds was established in 1708 to regulate property transactions. Records were created by property owners and merchants and are indexed by Grantors and by the townland. The indexes are arranged by time period for each county.

Tithe Applotment Books - were complied between c1823 and 1837 in order to determine the amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings should pay in tithes (tax) to the Church of Ireland. They record, for almost every parish, the names of Occupiers, the amount of land held, classification of land and the sums to be paid in tithe. This tithe or tax was for arable land only.

Townland – the smallest civil division in a county. The Townland Index of Ireland in 1851 provided an alphabetical listing of all townlands, towns, civil parishes, poor law union and baronies of Ireland giving their location, area and map reference.

Valuation Office Records - Located in the Irish Life Centre in Dublin, the Valuation Office contains the rates or “real estate tax” records based on the Primary Valuation of Ireland. It is possible to trace the occupiers of land from the original survey until the present day. Rates books for the 6 northern counties are held in the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.

Wills - Can be obtained from the National Archive in Dublin, Ireland. If you are told that there is not a will available for your ancestor as it has been destroyed do not despair as there are ledgers giving a summary of the will and nearly always there is another name mentioned and where they lived. So remember to ask for the details in the Will ledgers. They are sorted for each year and then in alphabetical order.

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