Townlands
A townland is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. It is a unique feature of the Irish landscape and is one of the most ancient divisions in the country. The origins of the townland remains obscure but they are undoubtedly of great antiquity. They existed long before the parishes and counties. Townlands originally consisted of a number of sub-divisions such as gneeves and ploughlands but they are now recognised as the smallest administrative division in the country.
They were used as the smallest geographical unit in both the Tithe Survey and Griffith’s Primary Land Valuation, as well as census returns, and are still in use today. Anything from 5 to 30 townlands may be grouped together to form a civil parish. If you are searching for your family anywhere in Ireland, knowing the Townland they came from is one of the best ways of tracing them. Knowing the Barony, Parish, etc will also be of great help to you, since many townlands share the same name - for example there are 47 Townlands named Dromore and 56 Kilmores. To find which Civil Parish, Barony, Province etc a Townland is in, visit www.thecore.com/seanruad/ or www.townlands.ie.
They were used as the smallest geographical unit in both the Tithe Survey and Griffith’s Primary Land Valuation, as well as census returns, and are still in use today. Anything from 5 to 30 townlands may be grouped together to form a civil parish. If you are searching for your family anywhere in Ireland, knowing the Townland they came from is one of the best ways of tracing them. Knowing the Barony, Parish, etc will also be of great help to you, since many townlands share the same name - for example there are 47 Townlands named Dromore and 56 Kilmores. To find which Civil Parish, Barony, Province etc a Townland is in, visit www.thecore.com/seanruad/ or www.townlands.ie.
Townland Sub-Division
It is important to be aware of townland subdivisions when conducting research. Sub-townlands seldom appear on maps but are used in church records. Very often the placename that was held most dear by an emigrant was the subdivision, and you will likely not find it in a reference book. While researching Beagh, I did not come across any comprehensive list of such sub-townlands, so decided I should try and compile a list of those I could find, and their corresponding modern names. Although from Beagh myself, I have never heard some of these names before, so I encourage anybody with more sub townland names to contact me so I can update this list.