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Townland

December 14, 2023

A townland (Irish: baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: toonlann[1]) is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering 100–500 acres (40–202 ha).[2] The townland system is of Gaelic origin, antedating the Norman invasion,[3][4][5][6] and most have names of Irish origin.[4] However, some townland names and boundaries come from Norman manors, plantation divisions, or later creations of the Ordnance Survey.[7][8] The total number of inhabited townlands in Ireland was 60,679 in 1911.[9] The total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61,098, including uninhabited townlands, mainly small islands.[10]

Background edit

 
Map showing the townlands of the Thurles civil parish, Barony of Eliogarty, County Tipperary: The townlands of Thurles are typical, being of widely varying shapes and sizes with irregular borders, and forming a patchwork over the countryside. The townlands have a mean area of 64 hectares (160 acres).
 
Map of Rathlin Island with townlands

In Ireland, a townland is generally the smallest administrative division of land, though a few large townlands are further divided into hundreds.[11] The concept of townlands is based on the Gaelic system of land division, and the first official evidence of the existence of this Gaelic land division system can be found in church records from before the 12th century,[12] it was in the 1600s that they began to be mapped and defined by the English administration for the purpose of confiscating land and apportioning it to investors or planters from Britain.[11]

Etymology edit

The term "townland" in English is derived from the Old English word tūn, denoting an enclosure.[13] The term describes the smallest unit of land division in Ireland, based on various forms of Gaelic land division, many of which had their own names.

The term baile, anglicised as "bally", is the most dominant element used in Irish townland names.[14] Today, the term "bally" denotes an urban settlement, but its precise meaning in ancient Ireland is unclear, as towns had no place in Gaelic social organisation.[14] The modern Irish term for a townland is baile fearainn (plural: bailte fearainn). The term fearann means "land, territory, quarter".

The Normans left no major traces in townland names, but they adapted some of them for their own use, possibly seeing a similarity between the Gaelic baile and the Norman bailey, both of which meant a settlement.[15]

Historical land divisions and etymology edit

 
A road sign in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, notes that this part of the road lies within Teeshan townland.
 
A (rare) townland boundary marker in Inishowen, County Donegal
 
Townland sign in Irish for Baile na Coirce (Ballycuirke), Moycullen, County Galway, a Gaeltacht townland

Throughout most of Ulster, townlands were known as "ballyboes" (Irish: baile bó, meaning "cow land"),[16][17] and represented an area of pastoral economic value.[16] In County Cavan similar units were called "polls", and in Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan, they were known as tates or taths.[14][16][17] These names appear to be of English origin, but had become naturalised long before 1600.[16] Modern townlands with the prefix tat- are confined almost exclusively to the diocese of Clogher, which covers Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan, and the barony of Clogher in County Tyrone),[16] and cannot be confused with any other Irish word.[16] The use of the term can also be seen in the diocese of Clogher parish of Inniskeen area within Louth where the townlands of Edenagrena, Drumsinnot, Killaconner and Torpass were referred to collectively as "the four tates of Ballyfoylan."[citation needed] In modern townland names the prefix pol- is widely found throughout western Ireland, its accepted meaning being "hole" or "hollow".[16] In County Cavan, which contains over half of all townlands in Ulster with the prefix pol-, some should probably be better translated as "the poll of ...".[16]

In County Tyrone, the following hierarchy of land divisions was used: "ballybetagh" (Irish: baile beithigh, meaning "cattle place"), "ballyboe", "sessiagh" (Irish: séú cuid, meaning sixth part of a quarter), "gort" and "quarter" (Irish: ceathrú).[14] In County Fermanagh the divisions were "ballybetagh", "quarter" and "tate".[14] Further subdivisions in Fermanagh appear to be related to liquid or grain measures such as "gallons", "pottles" and "pints".[18]

In Ulster, the ballybetagh was the territorial unit controlled by an Irish sept, typically containing around 16 townlands. Fragmentation of ballybetaghs resulted in units consisting of four, eight, and twelve townlands. One of these fragmented units, the "quarter", representing a quarter of a ballybetagh, was the universal land denomination recorded in the survey of County Donegal conducted in 1608.[19] In the early 17th century 20 per cent of the total area of western Ulster was under the control of the church. These "termonn" lands consisted likewise of ballybetaghs and ballyboes, but were held by erenaghs instead of sept leaders.[19]

Other units of land division used throughout Ireland include:

  • In County Tipperary, "capell lands" and "quatermeers". A "capell land" consisted of around 20 great acres (one great acre equalled 20 English acres).[14]
  • In the province of Connacht, "quarters" and "cartrons" (Irish: ceathrú mír, also anglicised as "carrowmeer"), a quarter being reckoned as four cartrons, and each cartron being 30 acres.[14] The quarter has also been anglicised as "carrow", "carhoo" or "caracute" (Irish: ceathrú cuid).[14]
  • In County Clare, as in Connacht, "quarters", "half-quarters" (Irish: leath-ceathrú), "cartrons" and "sessiagh". Here a "half-quarter" equated to around 60 acres, a "cartron" equated to around 30 acres and a "sessiagh" was around 20 acres.[14]

"Cartrons" were also sometimes called "ploughlands" or "seisreagh" (Irish: seisreach, meaning a team of horses yoked to a plough).[14]

Thomas Larcom, the first Director of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, made a study of the ancient land divisions of Ireland and summarised the traditional hierarchy of land divisions thus:[11][14]

10 acres – 1 Gneeve; 2 Gneeves – 1 Sessiagh; 3 Sessiaghs – 1 Tate or Ballyboe; 2 Ballyboes – 1 Ploughland, Seisreagh or Carrow; 4 Ploughlands – 1 Ballybetagh, or Townland; 30 Ballybetaghs – Triocha Céad or Barony.

This hierarchy was not applied uniformly across Ireland. For example, a ballybetagh or townland could contain more or less than four ploughlands.[11] Further confusion arises when it is taken into account that, while Larcom used the general term "acres" in his summary, terms such as "great acres", "large acres" and "small acres" were also used in records.[11] Writing in 1846, Larcom remarked that the "large" and "small" acres had no fixed ratio between them, and that there were various other kinds of acre in use in Ireland, including the Irish acre, the English acre, the Cunningham acre, the plantation acre and the statute acre.[11][14] The Ordnance Survey maps used the statute acre measurement.[11] The quality and situation of the land affected the size of these acres.[14] The Cunningham acre is given as intermediate between the Irish and English acres.[14]

Many of these land division terms have been preserved in the names of modern townlands. For example, the term "cartron" in both its English and Irish forms has been preserved in the townland names of Carrowmeer, Cartron and Carrowvere, while the term "sessiagh" survives in the names Shesia, Sheshodonell, Sheshymore and Shessiv.[14] The terms "ballyboe" and "ballybetagh" tend to be preserved in the truncated form of "bally" as a prefix for some townland names, such as Ballymacarattybeg near Poyntzpass, County Down. Less well-known land division terms may be found in other townland names such as Coogulla (Irish: Cuige Uladh, "the Ulster fifth"), Treanmanagh (Irish: an train meánach, "the third middle") and Dehomade (Irish: an deichiú méid, "the tenth part").[14]

A problem with the term "bally" in some townland names is that it can be difficult to distinguish between the Irish terms baile meaning "townland" and béal átha meaning "approach to a ford". An example of the latter is Ballyshannon, County Donegal, which is derived from Béal Átha Seanaidh.[20]

"Sub-townlands" (Irish: fo-bhaile) are also recorded in some areas, smaller divisions of a townland with their own traditional names.[21][22][23]

Size and value edit

The average area of a townland is about 325 acres (1.32 km2; 132 ha),[24] but they vary widely in size. William Reeves's 1861 survey states that the smallest was Old Church Yard, near Carrickmore, in the parish of Termonmagurk, County Tyrone, at 0.625 acres (0.253 ha)[nb 1][25] and the largest, at 7,555 acres (30.57 km2; 11.805 sq mi), was and is Fionnán (also called Finnaun) in the parish of Killanin, County Galway.[26][27][28] In fact, the townland of Clonskeagh in the barony of Uppercross (abutting the main Clonskeagh townland in the barony of Dublin) was only 0.3 acres (1,200 m2)[nb 2][29] although the area is now urbanised, so that the townlands are unused and their boundaries are uncertain.[30]

The ballyboe, a townland unit used in Ulster, was described in 1608 as containing 60 acres of arable land, meadow, and pasture. However, this was misleading, as the size of townlands under the Gaelic system varied depending upon their quality, situation and economic potential.[14][17] This economic potential varied from the extent of land required to graze cattle to the land required to support several families.[17] The highest density of townland units recorded in Ulster in 1609 corresponds to the areas with the highest land valuations in the 1860s.[17]

It seems that many moorland areas were not divided into townlands until fairly recently. These areas were "formerly shared as a common summer pasturage by the people of a whole parish or barony".[31]

Historical use edit

Until the 19th century most townlands were owned by single landlords and occupied by multiple tenants. The cess, used to fund roadworks and other local expenses, was charged at the same rate on each townland in a barony, regardless of its size and productive capacity. Thus, occupiers in a small or poor townland suffered in comparison to those of larger or more fertile townlands. This was reformed by Griffith's Valuation.[32]

Irish Ordnance Survey and standardisation edit

During the 19th century an extensive series of maps of Ireland was created by the Irish division of the Ordnance Survey for taxation purposes. These maps both documented and standardised the boundaries of the more than 60,000 townlands in Ireland. The process often involved dividing or amalgamating existing townlands, and defining townland boundaries in areas such as mountain or bog that had previously been outside the townland system.[12] Slight adjustments are still made. There were 60,679 in 1911, compared to 60,462 townlands in 1901.[9]

Current use edit

 
A typical road-sign in County Tyrone, noting that this part of the road passes through the townland of Cavanreagh

Townlands form the building blocks for higher-level administrative units such as parishes and district electoral divisions (in the Republic of Ireland) or wards (in Northern Ireland).[citation needed]

Before 1972 townlands were included on all rural postal addresses throughout the island, but in that year the Royal Mail decided that the townland element of the address was obsolete in Northern Ireland.[12] Townland names were not banned, but they were deemed "superfluous information" and people were asked not to include them on addresses.[12] They were to be replaced by house numbers, road names and postcodes.[12] In response the Townlands Campaign emerged to protest against the changes. It was described as a "ground-level community effort". Taking place in the midst of The Troubles, the campaign was a rare example of unity between Catholics and Protestants, nationalists and unionists.[12] Townlands and their names "seem to have been considered as a shared resource and heritage".[12] Those involved in the campaign argued that, in many areas, people still strongly identified with their townlands and that this gave them a sense of belonging. The Royal Mail's changes were seen as a severing of this link.[12]

At the time the county councils were the government bodies responsible for validating the change. However, as local government itself was undergoing changes, the Royal Mail's decision was "allowed ... to become law almost by default".[12] County Fermanagh is the only county in Northern Ireland that managed to resist the change completely.[12] Nevertheless, many newer road signs in parts of Northern Ireland now show townland names (see picture). In 2001 the Northern Ireland Assembly passed a motion requesting government departments to make use of townland addresses in correspondence and publications.

In the Republic of Ireland townlands continue to be used on addresses. In 2005 the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources announced that a postcode system was to be introduced (see Republic of Ireland postal addresses). The system, known as Eircode, was introduced in 2014, but although more widely used by 2021, townlands remain predominant address identifiers in rural areas.[citation needed]

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ 2 roods, 10 perches
  2. ^ 1 rood, 8 perches

Sources edit

  • Barry, Terry, ed. (12 November 2012). A History of Settlement in Ireland. Routledge. ISBN 9781134674633.
  • Muhr, Kay (1999–2001). . Ulster Placename Society. Archived from the original on 19 October 2006.
  • Reeves, W. (22 April 1861). "On the Townland Distribution of Ireland". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 7: 473–490. JSTOR 20489906.
  • Robinson, Philip (2000). The Plantation of Ulster. Ulster Historical Foundation. ISBN 978-1-903688-00-7.
  • "General alphabetical index to the townlands and towns, parishes and baronies of Ireland, 1861". Census > 1861 > Ireland. HISTPOP.ORG. p. 258. Retrieved 20 May 2014.

References edit

  1. ^ "Rules o Richt Hannlin fur Uisin Ulstèr-Scotch as Pairt o Wark" (PDF). Norlin Airlann Coort Sarvice. Retrieved 4 May 2017.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Carmichael, Alexander (1884). Grazing and agrestic customs of the Outer Hebrides. Edinburgh: Neill and Company. OL 22881363M. Retrieved 23 July 2019. Reprinted from the Report of the Crofter Royal Commission.
    Further reprinted in Carmicheal, Alexander (December 1914). "Grazing and Agrestic Customs of the Outer Hebrides". The Celtic Review. 10 (37): 40–54. doi:10.2307/30070316. JSTOR 30070316.
  3. ^ Barry, Terry (2000). "Rural Settlement in Medieval Ireland". A History of Settlement in Ireland. Routledge. p. 114. She argued that Ireland's townland system, which pre-dated the Anglo-Norman conquest, worked against the creation of sizeable nucleated settlements.
  4. ^ a b Colfer, Billy (2004). "Prehistoric and Early Christian Landscapes". The Hook Peninsula. Cork University Press. p. 29. The townland network provides the most pervasive landscape survival from the Gaelic era. Most townlands, many retaining their Gaelic names, are believed to pre-date the arrival of the Anglo-Normans.
  5. ^ Graham, Brian (2003). "Ireland: Economy and Society". A companion to Britain in the later Middle Ages. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 149. The manor was the basic unit of settlement throughout the Anglo-Norman colony. Anngret Simms and others have argued that the constraint of the pre-existing Gaelic-Irish network of townlands (the basic subdivision of land in Ireland, a townland was originally the holding of an extended family) pre-empted the formation of large villages on the Anglo-Norman manors of Ireland.
  6. ^ Clarke, Howard; Prunty, Jacinta; Hennessy, Mark (2004). Surveying Ireland's Past. Geography Publications. p. 113. It is clear that the Gaelic townland system of territorial organisation exerted a powerful centripetal force on the evolving settlement pattern.
  7. ^ Connolly, S. J., The Oxford Companion to Irish History, page 577. Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-19-923483-7
  8. ^ Maxwell, Ian, How to Trace Your Irish Ancestors, page 16. howtobooks, 2009. ISBN 978-1-84528-375-9
  9. ^ a b "Digitization of Irish 1901 and 1911 Census Records". Census of Ireland 1901/1911 and Census Fragments and Substitutes, 1821-51. National Archives of Ireland. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Logainm.ie The Irish Placenames Database". The Irish Placenames Committee/Fiontar. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Fossa Historical Society. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Reid, Bryonie (2005). "Identity, Locality and the Townland in Northern Ireland". Senses of Place: Senses of Time. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 47–60. The first official evidence of their existence occurs in church records from before the twelfth century.
  13. ^ Ballymun, A History: Volumes 1 & 2, c. 1600–1997 19 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine by Dr. Robert Somerville-Woodward, BRL 2002.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Mac Mahon, Michael. "Townlands". Old Territorial Divisions and Land Measures. Clare County Library.
  15. ^ Canavan, Tony (1991). Every Stoney Acre Has a Name: A Celebration of the Townland in Ulster. Federation for Ulster Local Studies. ISBN 9780951827901.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h Robinson 2000, p.25
  17. ^ a b c d e Robinson 2000, pp. 13–14
  18. ^ Robinson 2000, p.26
  19. ^ a b Robinson 2000, pp.22-23
  20. ^ Toner, Gregory: Place-Names of Northern Ireland, page 120. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996, ISBN 0-85389-613-5
  21. ^ "Irish Place names". www.johngrenham.com.
  22. ^ "Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): sub-townland". www.teanglann.ie.
  23. ^ "Townlands and Sub-Townlands". dúchas.ie.
  24. ^ Adams, G. Brendan (1978). "Prolegomena to the Study of Irish Place-Names". Nomina. 2: 49–50.; cited in Dolan, Terence Patrick (2006). "townland". A Dictionary of Hiberno-English: The Irish Use of English (2nd ed.). Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.
  25. ^ Reeves 1861, p.476
  26. ^ "Fionnán Townland, Co. Galway". www.townlands.ie.
  27. ^ 1861 townland index, p.462
  28. ^ "Galway" (XLS). Categories of Disadvantaged Areas. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  29. ^ 1861 townland index, p.258
  30. ^ "Written Answers, Q.424: County Dublin Townland Populations". Dáil Éireann debates. Oireachtas. 20 February 1980. pp. Vol. 318 No.1 p.41. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  31. ^ Evans, E Estyn (2000). "Bally and Booley". Irish Folk Ways. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 28–29. Their size varies considerably, since they were based on the fertility of the land rather than its acreage, and it seems that many moorland tracts were not divided until fairly recent times, for they were formerly shared as a common summer pasturage by the people of a whole parish or barony.
  32. ^ Meghen, P. J. (Autumn 1958). "The Administrative Work of the Grand Jury" (PDF). Administration. Institute of Public Administration. 6 (3).[permanent dead link]

Further reading edit

  • Crawford, W. H.; Foy, R. H. (1 January 1998). Townlands in Ulster: Local History Studies. Ulster Historical Foundation. ISBN 9780901905840.
  • McErlean, Tom (October 1983). "The Irish townland system of landscape organisation". In Reeves-Smyth, Terence; Hamond, Fred (eds.). Landscape Archaeology in Ireland. British Archaeological Reports British Series. Vol. 116. pp. 315–39. doi:10.30861/9780860542162. ISBN 0860542165.

External links edit

 
Look up townland in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
All island
  • GeoHive Mapviewer 6 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine: select Data Catalogue>Base Information and Mapping>Historic Map [25 inch (1888-1913) / 6 inch (1837-1842)] for old Ordnance Survey of Ireland maps
  • Logainm.ie (Placenames Database of Ireland) search/browse by parish/barony/county, English and Irish names
  • Goblet, Yann M., ed. (1932). Topographical index of the parishes and townlands of Ireland in Sir William Petty's MSS barony maps (c. 1655-9) and Hiberniae Delineatio (c. 1672). Irish Manuscripts Commission. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  • IreAtlas townland database (John Broderick) searchable database derived from the Index to the 1851 Census
  • Townland indexes to pre-1921 censuses, digitised from command papers: 1861 index (to 1841/1851 censuses); 1871 index, 1881 supplement, 1891 supplement 1901 index, 1911 supplement
  • 1911 Census details (National Archives of Ireland) Arranged by County>DED>Townland>Household
  • Townland data from OpenStreetMap Townlands, Baronies and Civil Parishes are being added to OpenStreetMap, making them available as a modern geo format. This is a list of the townlands mapped in OpenStreetMap
Republic
Northern Ireland
  • Northern Ireland Place-Name Project Searchable using both maps and lists, with information about placename origins
  • Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland:
    • Mapviewer (includes layers with current and historical townland borders and names)
  • Townland indexes to censuses: 1926 index; 1937 supplement
By county
  • (Mayo County Library) list of townlands by parish, with maps and other data
  • Index of Townlands of County Kildare (Kildare Council Library's local studies department) IreAtlas data updated to 1911

December 14, 2023
townland, townland, irish, baile, fearainn, ulster, scots, toonlann, small, geographical, division, land, historically, currently, used, ireland, western, isles, scotland, typically, covering, acres, townland, system, gaelic, origin, antedating, norman, invasi. A townland Irish baile fearainn Ulster Scots toonlann 1 is a small geographical division of land historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland typically covering 100 500 acres 40 202 ha 2 The townland system is of Gaelic origin antedating the Norman invasion 3 4 5 6 and most have names of Irish origin 4 However some townland names and boundaries come from Norman manors plantation divisions or later creations of the Ordnance Survey 7 8 The total number of inhabited townlands in Ireland was 60 679 in 1911 9 The total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61 098 including uninhabited townlands mainly small islands 10 Contents 1 Background 1 1 Etymology 1 2 Historical land divisions and etymology 1 3 Size and value 1 4 Historical use 1 5 Irish Ordnance Survey and standardisation 1 6 Current use 2 See also 3 Footnotes 4 Sources 4 1 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksBackground edit nbsp Map showing the townlands of the Thurles civil parish Barony of Eliogarty County Tipperary The townlands of Thurles are typical being of widely varying shapes and sizes with irregular borders and forming a patchwork over the countryside The townlands have a mean area of 64 hectares 160 acres nbsp Map of Rathlin Island with townlandsIn Ireland a townland is generally the smallest administrative division of land though a few large townlands are further divided into hundreds 11 The concept of townlands is based on the Gaelic system of land division and the first official evidence of the existence of this Gaelic land division system can be found in church records from before the 12th century 12 it was in the 1600s that they began to be mapped and defined by the English administration for the purpose of confiscating land and apportioning it to investors or planters from Britain 11 Etymology edit The term townland in English is derived from the Old English word tun denoting an enclosure 13 The term describes the smallest unit of land division in Ireland based on various forms of Gaelic land division many of which had their own names The term baile anglicised as bally is the most dominant element used in Irish townland names 14 Today the term bally denotes an urban settlement but its precise meaning in ancient Ireland is unclear as towns had no place in Gaelic social organisation 14 The modern Irish term for a townland is baile fearainn plural bailte fearainn The term fearann means land territory quarter The Normans left no major traces in townland names but they adapted some of them for their own use possibly seeing a similarity between the Gaelic baile and the Norman bailey both of which meant a settlement 15 Historical land divisions and etymology edit nbsp A road sign in County Antrim Northern Ireland notes that this part of the road lies within Teeshan townland nbsp A rare townland boundary marker in Inishowen County Donegal nbsp Townland sign in Irish for Baile na Coirce Ballycuirke Moycullen County Galway a Gaeltacht townlandThroughout most of Ulster townlands were known as ballyboes Irish baile bo meaning cow land 16 17 and represented an area of pastoral economic value 16 In County Cavan similar units were called polls and in Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan they were known as tates or taths 14 16 17 These names appear to be of English origin but had become naturalised long before 1600 16 Modern townlands with the prefix tat are confined almost exclusively to the diocese of Clogher which covers Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan and the barony of Clogher in County Tyrone 16 and cannot be confused with any other Irish word 16 The use of the term can also be seen in the diocese of Clogher parish of Inniskeen area within Louth where the townlands of Edenagrena Drumsinnot Killaconner and Torpass were referred to collectively as the four tates of Ballyfoylan citation needed In modern townland names the prefix pol is widely found throughout western Ireland its accepted meaning being hole or hollow 16 In County Cavan which contains over half of all townlands in Ulster with the prefix pol some should probably be better translated as the poll of 16 In County Tyrone the following hierarchy of land divisions was used ballybetagh Irish baile beithigh meaning cattle place ballyboe sessiagh Irish seu cuid meaning sixth part of a quarter gort and quarter Irish ceathru 14 In County Fermanagh the divisions were ballybetagh quarter and tate 14 Further subdivisions in Fermanagh appear to be related to liquid or grain measures such as gallons pottles and pints 18 In Ulster the ballybetagh was the territorial unit controlled by an Irish sept typically containing around 16 townlands Fragmentation of ballybetaghs resulted in units consisting of four eight and twelve townlands One of these fragmented units the quarter representing a quarter of a ballybetagh was the universal land denomination recorded in the survey of County Donegal conducted in 1608 19 In the early 17th century 20 per cent of the total area of western Ulster was under the control of the church These termonn lands consisted likewise of ballybetaghs and ballyboes but were held by erenaghs instead of sept leaders 19 Other units of land division used throughout Ireland include In County Tipperary capell lands and quatermeers A capell land consisted of around 20 great acres one great acre equalled 20 English acres 14 In the province of Connacht quarters and cartrons Irish ceathru mir also anglicised as carrowmeer a quarter being reckoned as four cartrons and each cartron being 30 acres 14 The quarter has also been anglicised as carrow carhoo or caracute Irish ceathru cuid 14 In County Clare as in Connacht quarters half quarters Irish leath ceathru cartrons and sessiagh Here a half quarter equated to around 60 acres a cartron equated to around 30 acres and a sessiagh was around 20 acres 14 Cartrons were also sometimes called ploughlands or seisreagh Irish seisreach meaning a team of horses yoked to a plough 14 Thomas Larcom the first Director of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland made a study of the ancient land divisions of Ireland and summarised the traditional hierarchy of land divisions thus 11 14 10 acres 1 Gneeve 2 Gneeves 1 Sessiagh 3 Sessiaghs 1 Tate or Ballyboe 2 Ballyboes 1 Ploughland Seisreagh or Carrow 4 Ploughlands 1 Ballybetagh or Townland 30 Ballybetaghs Triocha Cead or Barony This hierarchy was not applied uniformly across Ireland For example a ballybetagh or townland could contain more or less than four ploughlands 11 Further confusion arises when it is taken into account that while Larcom used the general term acres in his summary terms such as great acres large acres and small acres were also used in records 11 Writing in 1846 Larcom remarked that the large and small acres had no fixed ratio between them and that there were various other kinds of acre in use in Ireland including the Irish acre the English acre the Cunningham acre the plantation acre and the statute acre 11 14 The Ordnance Survey maps used the statute acre measurement 11 The quality and situation of the land affected the size of these acres 14 The Cunningham acre is given as intermediate between the Irish and English acres 14 Many of these land division terms have been preserved in the names of modern townlands For example the term cartron in both its English and Irish forms has been preserved in the townland names of Carrowmeer Cartron and Carrowvere while the term sessiagh survives in the names Shesia Sheshodonell Sheshymore and Shessiv 14 The terms ballyboe and ballybetagh tend to be preserved in the truncated form of bally as a prefix for some townland names such as Ballymacarattybeg near Poyntzpass County Down Less well known land division terms may be found in other townland names such as Coogulla Irish Cuige Uladh the Ulster fifth Treanmanagh Irish an train meanach the third middle and Dehomade Irish an deichiu meid the tenth part 14 A problem with the term bally in some townland names is that it can be difficult to distinguish between the Irish terms baile meaning townland and beal atha meaning approach to a ford An example of the latter is Ballyshannon County Donegal which is derived from Beal Atha Seanaidh 20 Sub townlands Irish fo bhaile are also recorded in some areas smaller divisions of a townland with their own traditional names 21 22 23 Size and value edit The average area of a townland is about 325 acres 1 32 km2 132 ha 24 but they vary widely in size William Reeves s 1861 survey states that the smallest was Old Church Yard near Carrickmore in the parish of Termonmagurk County Tyrone at 0 625 acres 0 253 ha nb 1 25 and the largest at 7 555 acres 30 57 km2 11 805 sq mi was and is Fionnan also called Finnaun in the parish of Killanin County Galway 26 27 28 In fact the townland of Clonskeagh in the barony of Uppercross abutting the main Clonskeagh townland in the barony of Dublin was only 0 3 acres 1 200 m2 nb 2 29 although the area is now urbanised so that the townlands are unused and their boundaries are uncertain 30 The ballyboe a townland unit used in Ulster was described in 1608 as containing 60 acres of arable land meadow and pasture However this was misleading as the size of townlands under the Gaelic system varied depending upon their quality situation and economic potential 14 17 This economic potential varied from the extent of land required to graze cattle to the land required to support several families 17 The highest density of townland units recorded in Ulster in 1609 corresponds to the areas with the highest land valuations in the 1860s 17 It seems that many moorland areas were not divided into townlands until fairly recently These areas were formerly shared as a common summer pasturage by the people of a whole parish or barony 31 Historical use edit Until the 19th century most townlands were owned by single landlords and occupied by multiple tenants The cess used to fund roadworks and other local expenses was charged at the same rate on each townland in a barony regardless of its size and productive capacity Thus occupiers in a small or poor townland suffered in comparison to those of larger or more fertile townlands This was reformed by Griffith s Valuation 32 Irish Ordnance Survey and standardisation edit During the 19th century an extensive series of maps of Ireland was created by the Irish division of the Ordnance Survey for taxation purposes These maps both documented and standardised the boundaries of the more than 60 000 townlands in Ireland The process often involved dividing or amalgamating existing townlands and defining townland boundaries in areas such as mountain or bog that had previously been outside the townland system 12 Slight adjustments are still made There were 60 679 in 1911 compared to 60 462 townlands in 1901 9 Current use edit nbsp A typical road sign in County Tyrone noting that this part of the road passes through the townland of CavanreaghTownlands form the building blocks for higher level administrative units such as parishes and district electoral divisions in the Republic of Ireland or wards in Northern Ireland citation needed Before 1972 townlands were included on all rural postal addresses throughout the island but in that year the Royal Mail decided that the townland element of the address was obsolete in Northern Ireland 12 Townland names were not banned but they were deemed superfluous information and people were asked not to include them on addresses 12 They were to be replaced by house numbers road names and postcodes 12 In response the Townlands Campaign emerged to protest against the changes It was described as a ground level community effort Taking place in the midst of The Troubles the campaign was a rare example of unity between Catholics and Protestants nationalists and unionists 12 Townlands and their names seem to have been considered as a shared resource and heritage 12 Those involved in the campaign argued that in many areas people still strongly identified with their townlands and that this gave them a sense of belonging The Royal Mail s changes were seen as a severing of this link 12 At the time the county councils were the government bodies responsible for validating the change However as local government itself was undergoing changes the Royal Mail s decision was allowed to become law almost by default 12 County Fermanagh is the only county in Northern Ireland that managed to resist the change completely 12 Nevertheless many newer road signs in parts of Northern Ireland now show townland names see picture In 2001 the Northern Ireland Assembly passed a motion requesting government departments to make use of townland addresses in correspondence and publications In the Republic of Ireland townlands continue to be used on addresses In 2005 the Department of Communications Energy and Natural Resources announced that a postcode system was to be introduced see Republic of Ireland postal addresses The system known as Eircode was introduced in 2014 but although more widely used by 2021 townlands remain predominant address identifiers in rural areas citation needed See also editLists of townlands in Ireland by countyFootnotes edit 2 roods 10 perches 1 rood 8 perchesSources editBarry Terry ed 12 November 2012 A History of Settlement in Ireland Routledge ISBN 9781134674633 Muhr Kay 1999 2001 Celebrating Ulster s Townlands Ulster Placename Society Archived from the original on 19 October 2006 Reeves W 22 April 1861 On the Townland Distribution of Ireland Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 7 473 490 JSTOR 20489906 Robinson Philip 2000 The Plantation of Ulster Ulster Historical Foundation ISBN 978 1 903688 00 7 General alphabetical index to the townlands and towns parishes and baronies of Ireland 1861 Census gt 1861 gt Ireland HISTPOP ORG p 258 Retrieved 20 May 2014 References edit Rules o Richt Hannlin fur Uisin Ulster Scotch as Pairt o Wark PDF Norlin Airlann Coort Sarvice Retrieved 4 May 2017 permanent dead link Carmichael Alexander 1884 Grazing and agrestic customs of the Outer Hebrides Edinburgh Neill and Company OL 22881363M Retrieved 23 July 2019 Reprinted from the Report of the Crofter Royal Commission Further reprinted in Carmicheal Alexander December 1914 Grazing and Agrestic Customs of the Outer Hebrides The Celtic Review 10 37 40 54 doi 10 2307 30070316 JSTOR 30070316 Barry Terry 2000 Rural Settlement in Medieval Ireland A History of Settlement in Ireland Routledge p 114 She argued that Ireland s townland system which pre dated the Anglo Norman conquest worked against the creation of sizeable nucleated settlements a b Colfer Billy 2004 Prehistoric and Early Christian Landscapes The Hook Peninsula Cork University Press p 29 The townland network provides the most pervasive landscape survival from the Gaelic era Most townlands many retaining their Gaelic names are believed to pre date the arrival of the Anglo Normans Graham Brian 2003 Ireland Economy and Society A companion to Britain in the later Middle Ages Wiley Blackwell p 149 The manor was the basic unit of settlement throughout the Anglo Norman colony Anngret Simms and others have argued that the constraint of the pre existing Gaelic Irish network of townlands the basic subdivision of land in Ireland a townland was originally the holding of an extended family pre empted the formation of large villages on the Anglo Norman manors of Ireland Clarke Howard Prunty Jacinta Hennessy Mark 2004 Surveying Ireland s Past Geography Publications p 113 It is clear that the Gaelic townland system of territorial organisation exerted a powerful centripetal force on the evolving settlement pattern Connolly S J The Oxford Companion to Irish History page 577 Oxford University Press 2002 ISBN 978 0 19 923483 7 Maxwell Ian How to Trace Your Irish Ancestors page 16 howtobooks 2009 ISBN 978 1 84528 375 9 a b Digitization of Irish 1901 and 1911 Census Records Census of Ireland 1901 1911 and Census Fragments and Substitutes 1821 51 National Archives of Ireland Retrieved 22 May 2014 Logainm ie The Irish Placenames Database The Irish Placenames Committee Fiontar Retrieved 19 September 2014 a b c d e f g Fossa Historical Society Chapter 23 Of Gneeves PDF Archived from the original PDF on 3 October 2016 Retrieved 19 July 2019 a b c d e f g h i j Reid Bryonie 2005 Identity Locality and the Townland in Northern Ireland Senses of Place Senses of Time Ashgate Publishing pp 47 60 The first official evidence of their existence occurs in church records from before the twelfth century Ballymun A History Volumes 1 amp 2 c 1600 1997 Archived 19 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine by Dr Robert Somerville Woodward BRL 2002 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Mac Mahon Michael Townlands Old Territorial Divisions and Land Measures Clare County Library Canavan Tony 1991 Every Stoney Acre Has a Name A Celebration of the Townland in Ulster Federation for Ulster Local Studies ISBN 9780951827901 a b c d e f g h Robinson 2000 p 25 a b c d e Robinson 2000 pp 13 14 Robinson 2000 p 26 a b Robinson 2000 pp 22 23 Toner Gregory Place Names of Northern Ireland page 120 Queen s University of Belfast 1996 ISBN 0 85389 613 5 Irish Place names www johngrenham com Focloir Gaeilge Bearla o Donaill sub townland www teanglann ie Townlands and Sub Townlands duchas ie Adams G Brendan 1978 Prolegomena to the Study of Irish Place Names Nomina 2 49 50 cited in Dolan Terence Patrick 2006 townland A Dictionary of Hiberno English The Irish Use of English 2nd ed Dublin Gill amp Macmillan Reeves 1861 p 476 Fionnan Townland Co Galway www townlands ie 1861 townland index p 462 Galway XLS Categories of Disadvantaged Areas Department of Agriculture Retrieved 21 May 2014 1861 townland index p 258 Written Answers Q 424 County Dublin Townland Populations Dail Eireann debates Oireachtas 20 February 1980 pp Vol 318 No 1 p 41 Retrieved 21 May 2014 Evans E Estyn 2000 Bally and Booley Irish Folk Ways Courier Dover Publications pp 28 29 Their size varies considerably since they were based on the fertility of the land rather than its acreage and it seems that many moorland tracts were not divided until fairly recent times for they were formerly shared as a common summer pasturage by the people of a whole parish or barony Meghen P J Autumn 1958 The Administrative Work of the Grand Jury PDF Administration Institute of Public Administration 6 3 permanent dead link Further reading editCrawford W H Foy R H 1 January 1998 Townlands in Ulster Local History Studies Ulster Historical Foundation ISBN 9780901905840 McErlean Tom October 1983 The Irish townland system of landscape organisation In Reeves Smyth Terence Hamond Fred eds Landscape Archaeology in Ireland British Archaeological Reports British Series Vol 116 pp 315 39 doi 10 30861 9780860542162 ISBN 0860542165 External links edit nbsp Look up townland in Wiktionary the free dictionary All islandGeoHive Mapviewer Archived 6 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine select Data Catalogue gt Base Information and Mapping gt Historic Map 25 inch 1888 1913 6 inch 1837 1842 for old Ordnance Survey of Ireland maps Logainm ie Placenames Database of Ireland search browse by parish barony county English and Irish names Goblet Yann M ed 1932 Topographical index of the parishes and townlands of Ireland in Sir William Petty s MSS barony maps c 1655 9 and Hiberniae Delineatio c 1672 Irish Manuscripts Commission Retrieved 19 October 2020 IreAtlas townland database John Broderick searchable database derived from the Index to the 1851 Census Townland indexes to pre 1921 censuses digitised from command papers 1861 index to 1841 1851 censuses 1871 index 1881 supplement 1891 supplement 1901 index 1911 supplement 1911 Census details National Archives of Ireland Arranged by County gt DED gt Townland gt Household Townland data from OpenStreetMap Townlands Baronies and Civil Parishes are being added to OpenStreetMap making them available as a modern geo format This is a list of the townlands mapped in OpenStreetMapRepublicGeoHive Mapviewer Archived 6 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine select Data Catalogue gt Population and Economy gt Townlands Categories of Disadvantaged Areas Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine Excel spreadsheet per county giving area in hectares electoral division and agricultural category of each townlandNorthern IrelandNorthern Ireland Place Name Project Searchable using both maps and lists with information about placename origins Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland Mapviewer includes layers with current and historical townland borders and names Townland indexes to censuses 1926 index 1937 supplementBy countyParishes of County Mayo Mayo County Library list of townlands by parish with maps and other data Index of Townlands of County Kildare Kildare Council Library s local studies department IreAtlas data updated to 1911 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Townland amp oldid 1183940087, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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