Townlands
Lands but not necessarily with towns!
When tracing your family history in Ireland there's one bit of the geography you are going to have to wrestle with which I guarantee it will drive you to distraction at times - the townland. This is generally the lowest sub-division (60,000+) of the Irish landscape (although some sub-townlands do exist too.) They can vary hugely in size and you will find them referenced in virtually every historic record by way of an address. Without it, you may find it difficult to make progress in differentiating between common names in many types of records. For example, you will need it to work out in which Registration Districts births, marriages and deaths might have been registered and you will certainly need it when looking at any of the land records. Whilst many townlands do contain farms and settlements, a huge number are empty. They tend not to be used so much in the largest towns and cities where street names became more common in later records.
Townlands are then generally grouped together under a number of other layers as roughly portrayed below, each of which you will need to know to find the right records in the given record sets. The one ancient grouping I haven't attempted to include in this cartoon is the Barony, as it predates all of the others mentioned below. These were groupings of townlands and parishes that were used long before the counties were all shired. You will find them used in a host of land records and you will even need to know them for working out probate jurisdictions in the latter half of the 19th century, so don't ignore them when you find them used.
When tracing your family history in Ireland there's one bit of the geography you are going to have to wrestle with which I guarantee it will drive you to distraction at times - the townland. This is generally the lowest sub-division (60,000+) of the Irish landscape (although some sub-townlands do exist too.) They can vary hugely in size and you will find them referenced in virtually every historic record by way of an address. Without it, you may find it difficult to make progress in differentiating between common names in many types of records. For example, you will need it to work out in which Registration Districts births, marriages and deaths might have been registered and you will certainly need it when looking at any of the land records. Whilst many townlands do contain farms and settlements, a huge number are empty. They tend not to be used so much in the largest towns and cities where street names became more common in later records.
Townlands are then generally grouped together under a number of other layers as roughly portrayed below, each of which you will need to know to find the right records in the given record sets. The one ancient grouping I haven't attempted to include in this cartoon is the Barony, as it predates all of the others mentioned below. These were groupings of townlands and parishes that were used long before the counties were all shired. You will find them used in a host of land records and you will even need to know them for working out probate jurisdictions in the latter half of the 19th century, so don't ignore them when you find them used.
What's in a name? Cad ata in ainm? English or Irish?
The townlands you are most likely to be dealing with in genealogical records do have their roots, geographically and etymologically, in a much older view of the landscape. Their boundaries and their names are often rooted in Gaelic descriptions of the terrain, which means there can be many repetitions of some townland names, both within and across counties. You will see lots of common prefixes originating from this same language root too e.g. "Bally", "Kil". English-speaking invaders probably struggled with some of these names and imposed many of their own when they appropriated the land, especially from the 17th Century onward. These are subject to the same issue of repetitions too - try searching for "Glebe" for example.
When the Victorians implemented censuses in the first half of the 19th century they decided a bit of order was in order and attempted to standardise townland names. The result was the "General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland" based on the 1851 census and published in 1861. This DIPPAM version is a bit clunky to leaf through but it is the original source for quite a few on-line searchable databases and is worth browsing to see what other mapping information was recorded alongside the townland names. It is also good for seeing at a glance which higher groupings any recognised townland was placed in, including County, Barony, Parish and Poor Law Union.
For more sophisticated online findings aids, take your pick of the sites referenced below and see what works for you;
Trying to find a townland?
Firstly, don't get hung up on spellings as you will find lots of variations (see my page on using Wildcards for some tips.) You might also find that the place you seek has changed either subtly (e.g. suffixes added because it has been split up) or it has acquired a completely new name over time (see my page on Rules for some examples and ideas for tackling this problem.) Therefore, be sure to look at ALL the candidates that are returned and look out for those repetitions.
Where are you going to find out about townlands? There are quite a few places where there are good searchable databases and you will often find out more such as which other geographical groups it is in e.g. parishes, baronies etc. You may also see it highlighted on a rudimentary map perhaps with co-ordinates to help you know where it is. However, what I've struggled to find is a good basic online mapping resource that allows you to see ALL the names townlands in an area to give you the context you need to, say, sort out multiple families of the same name. Read on for my best advice so far.
The townlands you are most likely to be dealing with in genealogical records do have their roots, geographically and etymologically, in a much older view of the landscape. Their boundaries and their names are often rooted in Gaelic descriptions of the terrain, which means there can be many repetitions of some townland names, both within and across counties. You will see lots of common prefixes originating from this same language root too e.g. "Bally", "Kil". English-speaking invaders probably struggled with some of these names and imposed many of their own when they appropriated the land, especially from the 17th Century onward. These are subject to the same issue of repetitions too - try searching for "Glebe" for example.
When the Victorians implemented censuses in the first half of the 19th century they decided a bit of order was in order and attempted to standardise townland names. The result was the "General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland" based on the 1851 census and published in 1861. This DIPPAM version is a bit clunky to leaf through but it is the original source for quite a few on-line searchable databases and is worth browsing to see what other mapping information was recorded alongside the townland names. It is also good for seeing at a glance which higher groupings any recognised townland was placed in, including County, Barony, Parish and Poor Law Union.
For more sophisticated online findings aids, take your pick of the sites referenced below and see what works for you;
Trying to find a townland?
Firstly, don't get hung up on spellings as you will find lots of variations (see my page on using Wildcards for some tips.) You might also find that the place you seek has changed either subtly (e.g. suffixes added because it has been split up) or it has acquired a completely new name over time (see my page on Rules for some examples and ideas for tackling this problem.) Therefore, be sure to look at ALL the candidates that are returned and look out for those repetitions.
Where are you going to find out about townlands? There are quite a few places where there are good searchable databases and you will often find out more such as which other geographical groups it is in e.g. parishes, baronies etc. You may also see it highlighted on a rudimentary map perhaps with co-ordinates to help you know where it is. However, what I've struggled to find is a good basic online mapping resource that allows you to see ALL the names townlands in an area to give you the context you need to, say, sort out multiple families of the same name. Read on for my best advice so far.
- John Grenham's Irish Ancestors Placenames database will help you identify a townland and which civil parish it is in. You can also zoom in on the civil parish maps and see all the townlands contained within them. Even better, if you click on the parish name, you can also find out about surviving records.
- The IreAtlas Townland Database aka SeanRuad has a versatile search box, particularly for where you might only have a partial name from a transcription, but again no townland maps,
- Irish Townlands - this site lets you search by name then highlights the townland on a simple map. Zoom out and you will get a better idea of where it is in relation to other places nearby. The bordering townlands feature is also really good although it would be even better if their labels could be on the map. The site appears to be run as a volunteer project and has covered a great deal of Ireland already - see their progress page for more details. It is closely coupled with the OpenStreetMap for Ireland project listed below and there is a lot of data to pick through. There is a also page called "Duplicate Names" which does appear to highlight how some of the same townland names do crop up in different places, but the list is also dense with exact duplicate entries which seems to indicate more than one volunteer has mapped the same townland? I don't really know, as the site is great for data but short on explanations of it for those unfamiliar with the terms. Probably more useful for being aware of true duplicates in different places is their alphabetical Townland Index.
- The Placenames Database of Ireland is an Irish government initiative (DCHG) that helps you to navigate between Irish and English versions of selected place names, helpfully pinpointing them on a map. The data is not just limited to townlands - lots of other named geographical features are also included, so if you come across an unfamiliar place in a document either in English or Irish, lob it into the search box on this site. If you are intrigued to learn more about where the Irish names originate, be sure to take a look at their Glossary & Distribution Maps where you can learn not only the meanings but also see a distribution of where the term is used across the island of Ireland. There is even a function to hear how to pronounce the place name in Irish!
- Townland Maps of Northern Ireland - This useful site is buried at the bottom of the GRONI on-line records search page and you will have to create an account on the site to use it. The search interface takes a bit of getting used to but you can also just zoom in on the map and be patient - the vivid orange townland boundaries will resolve into a more labelled map on which you can at least see them all next to each other, but that's about it.
- Townlands of County Dublin - Brian Hollinshead has used OpenStreetMap to create a beautiful coloured overlay map of the townlands of this county (excluding the inner city of Dublin.) This is particularly useful for seeing how the Dublin suburbs have spread over what were once more rural townlands. Very simple but effective.
The Ordnance Survey of Ireland has a really nice application called the Irish Townland and Historical Map Viewer, which will allow you to search for townlands by name and view them on different underlying maps and even compare them with modern aerial photos. I've put together a page of basic instructions for getting started with using it.
Image sourced from OpenStreetMap
I've mentioned some sites already that use the maps compiled under open source by OpenStreetMap for Ireland. This site is powered by a huge volunteer effort and is free to use but I am at a loss to understand who is directing the design and presentation of the information. When I first came across it, I loved it (see my blog story.) For example, there used to be a very simple way of identifying parishes and their townlands and an option to switch to historical maps that had lots of old detail on them too. However, sadly, this feature appears to have disappeared (or I'm proving particularly inept at finding it again!) If you want to hear first-hand from someone who has worked a lot with this resource, then get a cup of tea and settle down to listen to Brian Hollinshead's National Library of Ireland 2016 talk about "Mapping townlands and other boundaries old and new". He gives some very useful insights into how the resource has evolved, highlights the problem of copyright and the difficulties of being precise with boundaries and names and waxes lyrical about the importance of detailed maps for many different purposes.
You can access the website using the link above, which should have the Humanitarian layer switched on. This should give you named boundaries when you zoom in but there appears to be a mixture of different levels all displayed as one layer now? One really annoying change is that instead of the townland names being neatly and logically labelled more or less in the middle of the townland, you have to hunt round the boundaries and squint sideways to read most of them now in tiny font * sigh *.
There is a function called "Query features", which you have to zoom in many times to activate. If you then click on it to turn it green and then click where you are interested in on the map with the "?" pointer active now, a panel will appear on the left hand side of the screen with a list of geographic layers to choose from (as illustrated above.). Click on any active blue link in the list and the named area will appear enclosed with a red boundary on the map. There is also a search facility on the main page now too.
You can access the website using the link above, which should have the Humanitarian layer switched on. This should give you named boundaries when you zoom in but there appears to be a mixture of different levels all displayed as one layer now? One really annoying change is that instead of the townland names being neatly and logically labelled more or less in the middle of the townland, you have to hunt round the boundaries and squint sideways to read most of them now in tiny font * sigh *.
There is a function called "Query features", which you have to zoom in many times to activate. If you then click on it to turn it green and then click where you are interested in on the map with the "?" pointer active now, a panel will appear on the left hand side of the screen with a list of geographic layers to choose from (as illustrated above.). Click on any active blue link in the list and the named area will appear enclosed with a red boundary on the map. There is also a search facility on the main page now too.
Contemporary map for Griffith's Valuations - image sourced via www.askaboutireland.ie
Once you've got your bearings and know the townland you're interested in, you can search for it via Name Search on Ask About Ireland's Griffith's Valuations site and then choose one of the map views. You will be able to zoom in on historical maps that have the townlands outlined in thick red lines. The picture will flicker between this version and a modern version as you zoom in and I believe you can use the slider to choose the composite view of old and new that suits your purpose. Unfortunately on the historical maps, you'll have to squint a bit at the underlying faint text to make sure you're looking at the right townland and the maps are littered with parish names writ large across many townlands in bigger fonts too. However, you will be able to see the detail of buildings, field boundaries, roads etc.
Note, that although they accompany the Griffith's Valuation which was published between 1847 and 1864, these maps are believed to be a bit older, but they are certainly better than nothing and even better because they are free!
Once you've got your bearings and know the townland you're interested in, you can search for it via Name Search on Ask About Ireland's Griffith's Valuations site and then choose one of the map views. You will be able to zoom in on historical maps that have the townlands outlined in thick red lines. The picture will flicker between this version and a modern version as you zoom in and I believe you can use the slider to choose the composite view of old and new that suits your purpose. Unfortunately on the historical maps, you'll have to squint a bit at the underlying faint text to make sure you're looking at the right townland and the maps are littered with parish names writ large across many townlands in bigger fonts too. However, you will be able to see the detail of buildings, field boundaries, roads etc.
Note, that although they accompany the Griffith's Valuation which was published between 1847 and 1864, these maps are believed to be a bit older, but they are certainly better than nothing and even better because they are free!
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2020
