               IRELAND GRIFFITH'S VALUATION


Griffith, Richard John Sir
General valuation of rateable property in Ireland----Film F G8532

Located in Green Binder in Microfiche Cabinets     Index: 2v
Metropolitan Reference Library, History Section, Fourth Floor.  


GRIFFITH'S VALUATION

What is it? Sir Richard Griffith's  "Primary Valuation of
Tenements, 1848-1864" was undertaken to assess property and to
assign tax.  Since the destruction of the Public Recordd Office
in 1922, the 'Valuation' is an important source for tracing
families living in Ireland about the middle of the nineteenth
century,
.  In addition to giving the name of each occupier or tenant, it
gives the name of his townland or city location, the area and
value of his landholdings.

TERMS USED: *Parish* : The civil parish is a state unit of
territorial division for census and valuation purposes. The
ecclesiastical parish is a unit of church administration and
generally includes a number of civil parishes.
*Barony*: Over 300 in all, representiong land divisions of great
antiquity based on the Gaelic clan and family holdings.
*Townland*: This is the smallest administrative division of land
in Ireland, with an average area of 350 acres.
*Union*:This refers to the Poor Law Union, constitutted undert
the Poor Law Act of 1838, dividing the country up into districts
in which those local people who paid tax were responsible for the
upkeep of the poor.

HOW TO USE IT:
In order to use the index, the searcher MUST KNOW the COUNTY from
which his ancestor originated. If the place name, but not
thercounty name, is known, check Samuel Lews" TOPOGRAPHICAL
DICTIONARY OF iRELAND (fo914.25 L266). This will identify the
status of the place and its location by BARONY, UNIONM, PARISH,
AND PROVINCE.  Having established the county--for example we are
lookinmg for someone with the surname 'Heather' in the county of
Antrim-- begin by checking the index to surnames by county. This
follows the "Introduction" on the fiche. Here, you find the
surname followed by the baony. e.g. Heather  Up. Massereens.
This will be followed  by a "g" and/or "T".  "G" shows that the
name occurs 5 times within the barony. A "T" refers to the TITHE
APPLOTMENT BOOKS, the manuscripts for which are kept at the PRO
in Dublin. If a "T" is shown without a "G", then the name given
will NOT appear in the VALUATION.






                                2.

Having established the name of the barony in which your
ancestor's surname appears, go back to the "Contents" page which
follows the map and the index to the map on the fiche. From this
you can get the page numbers for the barony where your ancestor's
name occurs. eg. Up. Massereene p. 269-293. Now you are ready for
step 2. Move ahead to the end of the surname index for the
county. This is an index of surnames by parish under barony. The
pages are numbered on the top right hand side The parishes are in
alphabetical order after the name of the barony. Make note of the
parish or parishes in which your ancestor's name appears. The
name 'Heather' appears in Blaris parish. Now go back to the page
on which the index of surnames for Blaris parish begins. At the
heading you will find the following information. Blaris parish
(part of) Upper Massereene Barony, Lisburn Union. Co. Antrim
Fiche 13 D 6. Now go to Vol.1 of the VALUATION looking for 
County Antrim.  Pull out the fiche 13 as shown on the top border.
Using the left hand margin as  a guide, move down to D and then
count across 6 single pages. Here you have the valuation for
Blaris Parish, and are ready to start looking for the name
'Heasther'. If you alreadyknow the townland, village or city
where he lived within the parish, you can find the name quickly.
If not, you must go through each division within the parish.

G= name in Griffith's Valuation
T= name in Tithe Applotment Books, MS of which are in the PRO in
Dublin, Ireland. The index (microfilm) available from LDS.
For more information in searching Irish ancestors, see Margaret
Dickson Falley's 2 v. work: Irish andd Scotch-Irish Ancestral
Research.  020.3  F1l2 (open history shelves) 
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