Townland, Parish, Barony, County? What's it all mean?- completed

[jmannus]

This is probably a newbie question, but I am somewhat new to Irish ancestry research! 

Can anyone tell me or point me to a resource explaining the differences/hierarchy between an Irish Townland, Parish, Barony and County?  Being from the USA, I'm trying to learn how they correspond to a US State, County, City (if at all). My guess is that a county is somewhat equivalent to a US State, but that's about where it ends.

Thanks!

[Leofric]

jmannus,

I have been similarly bewildered in the past! I scoured maps looking for Townlands, until I was told that they don't appear on ordinary roadmaps.

Here are two sites that explain in detail the definitions of the various divisions:-

http://www.proni.gov.uk/geogindx/geoghelp.htm

(look at the glossary)

and

www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/2435.asp

Have fun
Leofric

[jmannus]

Leofrick,
Thanks for the links. I'll definitely check them out. A short while ago, luimneach also gave me a helpful overview which I'm reposting below for everyone's benefit:
--
"ireland as you know is quite small-32,000 sq miles-about the size of one of your states.the country is divided into 32 counties-the average size about that of... limerick-1,000 sq miles-size of rhode island. in the past each county was subdivided into smaller areas known as baronies. for administrative purposes such as taxes these were subdivided into civil parishes-these were not the same as church parishes. the final subdivision was into townlands-small rural districts which in many cases did not even contain a village-a typical townland would be say a couple of hundred acres-less than a sq mile. if you look at the land occupation records compiled by griffith in the 1850's individual holdings are located for tax purposes by: townland-civil parish-barony-county."
--
Unfortunately, this seems to mean that things like the 1901 Leitrim-Roscommon census, while otherwise very useful, still might not indicate the village of an ancestor, since it stops at the townland! Oh, well, it's a start.

Regards,
Joe

I have been similarly bewildered in the past! I scoured maps looking for Townlands, until I was told that they don't appear on ordinary roadmaps.

Here are two sites that explain in detail the definitions of the various divisions:-

http://www.proni.gov.uk/geogindx/geoghelp.htm

(look at the glossary)

and

www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/2435.asp

Have fun
Leofric

[Padhraicin]

Don't despair.   Townlands are, as you found out, areas of land within a parish.
However, they are commonly referred to as "villages", although they are not villages in the sense of having a church, school, shop, etc.
They are still referred to, today, as villages, but legally and on census records etc they are called townlands.   (I know, I was born in one, and we only referred to it as a townland on official documentation, we would still refer to theses areas as villages).

[jmannus]

Thanks for the additional insight! Perhaps you could clear up some related confusion I've found when I reviewed two passenger manifests for my Mayo Kearns ancestors?

In one case, the ship's manifest listed the relative's last residence simply as "Ballyhaunis, Mayo." Another ancestor had the more detailed "Kilgarriff, Corgue ['C' may also be an 'S'], Ballyhaunis, Mayo." Not knowing Irish geography very well, is Ballyhaunis a townland (village), parish or barony? Looking at the second example and comparing to the layout of the 1901 Leitrim-Roscommon Census, I would have to guess Kilgarriff [townland], Corgue [parish], Ballyhaunis [barony], Mayo [obviously county]. But I also suspect that regular people leaving for America probably wouldn't write it down in the same formal order it appears on a census!

Much thanks,
Joe

Don't despair.   Townlands are, as you found out, areas of land within a parish.
However, they are commonly referred to as "villages", although they are not villages in the sense of having a church, school, shop, etc.
They are still referred to, today, as villages, but legally and on census records etc they are called townlands.   (I know, I was born in one, and we only referred to it as a townland on official documentation, we would still refer to theses areas as villages).

[Padhraicin]

Mayo is a county.   Ballyhaunis, Kilgariff, and Charlestown are in North Mayo and close to the County Sligo border.

Ballyhaunis is a town, and it is also a parish. (catholic church parish).

Kilgariff is a townland.

Kilgariff is close to Charlestown, Co. Mayo, and I would guess is part of the parish of Charlestown.   (note the parish of Charlestown is known as the parish of Kilbeagh in old records).

However,  Charlestown and Ballyhaunis are quite close.

I have noticed on shipping lists of my own relatives they usually put down the nearest town and, even where two have come from the same townland they may have put down a different local town.