Along with Griffith's Primary Valuation of Ireland, compiled between 1848 and
1864, the most important body of Irish land records are the Tithe Applotment
Books of 1823-1838, preceding Griffith's Valuation by a full generation and
naming hundreds of thousands of Irish landholders--owners and tenants alike.
Both surveys pre-date the official registration of births, marriages, and
deaths, which didn't commence until 1864, and therefore are immensely important
in terms of constructing not just an image of a particular family line but of
wider social conditions in Ireland. Together they are the greatest of all Irish
genealogical resources.
Tithe surveys were undertaken in order to calculate the amount of tax payable
by the landholders of Ireland for the upkeep of the Church of Ireland. Following
the Composition Act of 1823, which decreed that tithes be paid in money rather
than in kind, a valuation survey was carried out in every civil parish in
Ireland to determine how much each landholder should pay. Over the ensuing
fifteen years this survey listed all landholders in a given parish.
The applotment surveys identified every landholder with details such as name
of townland, size of holding, land quality, and types of crops, all laid out in
large volumes known as Tithe Applotment Books. In the absence of census data for
this period of time, these particular records constitute the nearest to a census
of pre-Famine Ireland that exists.
This CD, based on data compiled by Heritage World Family History Services of
County Tyrone and licensed by the Genealogical Publishing Company, contains an
electronic index to the Tithe Applotment Books for the six counties that
constitute present-day Northern Ireland--Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh,
and Tyrone. Encompassing something in the region of 200,000 entries, data
provided includes the landholder's surname and forename as well as his townland,
parish, and county of residence (all critical geographical entry points for
further genealogical research). In all, 233 parishes are covered.
For its subject matter, ease of use, speed, and accessibility, this CD is an
immensely important breakthrough in Irish genealogical research. No reference
tool in existence contains such extensive data on the pre-Famine Irish.
