Note: Between 1848 and 1864 all land in Ireland was surveyed to establish local tax rates. Griffith's Valuation of Tenements lists the assessment for every piece of land and the names of landholders and leaseholder in the entire country. Since many civil and church records for the years prior to 1901 were destroyed, Griffith's Valuation of Tenements serves as a census substitute. Undertaken at a time when many Irish left their homeland, these lists sometimes enable researchers to link local information about the origins of an emigrant ancestor to Irish records.

Those who have come to a dead end in researching their Irish ancestors may find a technique explained by Donn Devine, Certified Genealogist SM, Certified Genealogical Instructor SM, and the archivist for the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, helpful. As he explains:

What makes Griffith's particularly useful is the surname index prepared by the National Library of Ireland, sometimes called the Householder Index.... If you have the family names of a couple married in Ireland and at least one of them is not one of the more frequently occurring surnames, you can use the Householder Index to zero in on a few localities where both names are found, so you can make a detailed search in the parish registers for those places. [Donn Devine]. The Irish Edition, "Family History," (Philadelphia: October 1991).

Note: The records for some parishes listed here contain the map reference number of the Ordnance Survey Map for each townland as well as page numbers and property numbers for each holding; individual survey maps or detailed maps of the area can be ordered directly from the Ordinance Survey Office, Phoenix Park, Dublin 8, Ireland.

Researchers are very much encouraged to verify data by checking original sources or microfilm copies. Please send comments or errors detected to Mike Carroll