Townland: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Small land division in Ireland (and Outer Hebrides)}}

:Further reprinted in {{cite journal |last1=Carmicheal |first1=Alexander |title=Grazing and Agrestic Customs of the Outer Hebrides |journal=The Celtic Review |date=December 1914 |volume=10 |issue=37 |pages=40–54 |doi=10.2307/30070316 |jstor=30070316 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/2370291 }}</ref> The townland system is of [[Gaelic Ireland|Gaelic]] origin, pre-datingantedating the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman invasion]],<ref name="Barry114">{{cite book |title=A History of Settlement in Ireland |last=Barry |first=Terry |year=2000 |publisher=Routledge |page=114 |chapter=Rural Settlement in Medieval Ireland |quote=She argued that Ireland's townland system, which pre-dated the Anglo-Norman conquest, worked against the creation of sizeable nucleated settlements.}}</ref><ref name="Colfer29">{{cite book |title=The Hook Peninsula |last=Colfer |first=Billy |year=2004 |publisher=Cork University Press |page=29 |chapter=Prehistoric and Early Christian Landscapes |quote=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.}}</ref><ref name="Graham149">{{cite book |title=A companion to Britain in the later Middle Ages |last=Graham |first=Brian |year=2003 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |page=149 |chapter=Ireland: Economy and Society |quote=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.}}</ref><ref name="Surveying">{{cite book |title=Surveying Ireland's Past |first1=Howard |last1=Clarke |first2=Jacinta |last2=Prunty |first3=Mark |last3=Hennessy |year=2004 |publisher=Geography Publications |page=113 |quote=It is clear that the Gaelic townland system of territorial organisation exerted a powerful centripetal force on the evolving settlement pattern.}}</ref> and most have names of [[Irish language|Irish]] origin.<ref name="Colfer29"/> However, some townland names and boundaries come from [[Hiberno-Norman|Norman]] [[Manorialism|manor]]s, [[Plantations of Ireland|plantation]] divisions, or later creations of the [[Ordnance Survey Ireland|Ordnance Survey]].<ref name="Connolly2002p577">Connolly, S. J., ''The Oxford Companion to Irish History, page 577. Oxford University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-19-923483-7}}''</ref><ref name="Maxwell2009pg16">Maxwell, Ian, ''How to Trace Your Irish Ancestors'', page 16. howtobooks, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-84528-375-9}}</ref> The total number of inhabited townlands in Ireland was 60,679 in 1911.<ref name="census1911">{{cite web |url=http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/about/ |title=Digitization of Irish 1901 and 1911 Census Records |work=Census of Ireland 1901/1911 and Census Fragments and Substitutes, 1821-51 |publisher=[[National Archives of Ireland]] |access-date=22 May 2014}}</ref> The total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61,098, including uninhabited townlands, mainly small islands.<ref name="Logainm Count of Townlands.">{{cite web|title=Logainm.ie The Irish Placenames Database|url=http://www.logainm.ie/en/|publisher=The Irish Placenames Committee/Fiontar|access-date=19 September 2014}}</ref>

[[File:ImprovedTownlandsWithLegendInThurlesCivilParish.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|Map showing the townlands of the [[Thurles (civil parish)|Thurles]] [[Civil parishes in Ireland|civil parish]], [[Barony (Ireland)|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 {{Convert|64|ha|acre}}.]]

In Ireland, a townland is generally the smallest administrative division of land, though a few large townlands are further divided into [[Hundred (county division)|hundreds]].<ref name="Fossa"/> 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,<ref name="Senses">{{cite book |title=Senses of Place: Senses of Time |last=Reid |first=Bryonie |year=2005 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |pages=47–60 |chapter=Identity, Locality and the Townland in Northern Ireland |quote=The first official evidence of their existence occurs in church records from before the twelfth century.}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Fossa"/>

The term "townland" in English is derived from the [[Old English]] word ''tuntūn'', denoting an enclosure.<ref>[http://www.brl.ie/pdf/Ballymun_A_History_1600_1997_Synopsis.pdf Ballymun, A History: Volumes 1 & 2, c. 1600–1997] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019192953/http://www.brl.ie/pdf/Ballymun_A_History_1600_1997_Synopsis.pdf |date=19 October 2013 }} by Dr. Robert Somerville-Woodward, BRL 2002.</ref> 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.<ref name="Clare"/> 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.<ref name="Clare"/> The modern Irish term for a townland is ''baile fearainn'' (plural: ''bailte fearainn''). The term ''fearann'' means "land, territory, quarter".

[[File:Teeshanrd.jpg|thumb|A road sign in [[County Antrim]], [[Northern Ireland]], notingnotes that this part of the road lies within Teeshan townland.]]

[[File:Townland boundary marker - geograph.org.uk - 108106.jpg|thumb|A (rare) townland boundary marker in [[Inishowen]], [[County Donegal]].]]

[[File:Ballycuirke townland sign 2010.jpg|thumb|Townland sign in [[Irish language|Irish]] for Baile na Coirce (Ballycuirke), [[Moycullen]], [[County Galway]], a [[Gaeltacht]] townland.]]

Throughout most of [[Ulster]], townlands were known as "ballyboes" ({{lang-ga|baile bó}}, meaning "cow land"),<ref name="PoUpg25">Robinson 2000, p.25</ref><ref name="PoUpg13-14">Robinson 2000, pp. 13–14</ref> and represented an area of [[pasture|pastoral]] economic value.<ref name="PoUpg25"/> In [[County Cavan]] similar units were called "polls", and in Counties [[County Fermanagh|Fermanagh]] and [[County Monaghan|Monaghan]], they were known as "''tates"'' or "''taths"''.<ref name="Clare"/><ref name="PoUpg25"/><ref name="PoUpg13-14"/> These names appear to be of English origin, but had become naturalised long before 1600.<ref name="PoUpg25"/> 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]]),<ref name="PoUpg25"/> and cannot be confused with any other Irish word.<ref name="PoUpg25"/> 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"the four tates of Ballyfoylan.”"{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} In modern townland names the prefix ''pol-'' is widely found throughout western Ireland, its accepted meaning being "hole" or "hollow".<ref name="PoUpg25"/> 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 ...".<ref name="PoUpg25"/>

In [[County Tyrone]], the following hierarchy of land divisions was used: "ballybetagh" ({{lang-ga|baile beithigh}}, meaning "cattle place"), "ballyboe", "sessiagh" ({{lang-ga|séú cuid}}, meaning sixth part of a quarter), "gort" and "quarter" ({{lang-ga|ceathrú}}).<ref name="Clare"/> In [[County Fermanagh]] the divisions were "ballybetagh", "quarter" and "tate".<ref name="Clare"/> Further subdivisions in Fermanagh appear to be related to liquid or grain measures such as "gallons", "pottles" and "pints".<ref name="PoUpg26">Robinson 2000, p.26</ref>

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.<ref name="PoUpg22-23">Robinson 2000, pp.22-23</ref> 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 [[erenagh]]s instead of sept leaders.<ref name="PoUpg22-23"/>

The average area of a townland is about {{convert|325|acre|km2 ha}},<ref>{{cite journal |last=Adams |first=G. Brendan |year=1978 |title=Prolegomena to the Study of Irish Place-Names |journal=Nomina |volume=2 |pages=49–50}}; cited in {{cite book|last=Dolan|first=Terence Patrick|title=A Dictionary of Hiberno-English: The Irish Use of English |edition=2nd |year=2006|publisher=Gill & Macmillan|location=Dublin|chapter=townland}}</ref> but they vary widely in size. [[William Reeves (bishop)|William Reeves]]'s 1861 survey states that the smallest was Old Church Yard, near [[Carrickmore]], in the parish of [[Termonmagurk]], [[County Tyrone]], at {{convert|0.625|acre|ha}}<ref group="nb">2 [[rood (unit)|rood]]s, 10 [[square perch|perch]]es</ref><ref>Reeves 1861, p.476</ref> and the largest, at {{convert|7555|acre|km2 sqmi}}, was and is Fionnán (also called Finnaun) in the parish of [[Killanin]], [[County Galway]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.townlands.ie/galway/moycullen/killanincill-aithnin/cill-ainnin/fionnan/|title=Fionnán Townland, Co. Galway|website=www.townlands.ie}}</ref><ref>1861 townland index, [http://www.histpop.org/ohpr/servlet/PageBrowser?path=Browse/Census%20%28by%20date%29/1861/Ireland&active=yes&mno=411&tocstate=expandnew&display=sections&display=tables&display=pagetitles&pageseq=462 p.462]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/farmingschemesandpayments/singlepaymentsscheme/singlepaymentscheme/categoriesofdisadvantagedareas/GALWAY.xls|work=Categories of Disadvantaged Areas |publisher=Department of Agriculture |format=XLS |title=Galway |access-date=21 May 2014}}</ref> In fact, the townland of Clonskeagh in the barony of [[Uppercross]] (abutting the main [[Clonskeagh]] townland in the [[Dublin (barony)|barony of Dublin]]) was only {{convert|0.3|acre|m2}}<ref group="nb">1 rood, 8 perches</ref><ref>1861 townland index, [http://www.histpop.org/ohpr/servlet/PageBrowser?path=Browse/Census%20%28by%20date%29/1861/Ireland&active=yes&mno=411&tocstate=expandnew&display=sections&display=tables&display=pagetitles&pageseq=270&zoom=5 p.258]</ref> although the area is now urbanised, so that the townlands are unused and their boundaries are uncertain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/dail1980022000041|title=Written Answers, Q.424: County Dublin Townland Populations|date=20 February 1980|work=Dáil Éireann debates|publisher=Oireachtas|pages=Vol. 318 No.1 p.41|access-date=21 May 2014}}</ref>

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==Sources References ==

===References Citations ===

* {{cite book |first=Tom |last=McErlean |chapter=The Irish townland system of landscape organisation |editor1-first=Terence |editor1-last=Reeves-Smyth |editor2-first=Fred |editor2-last=Hamond |title=Landscape Archaeology in Ireland |pages=315–39 |series=BAR[[British Archaeological Reports]] British Series |volume=116 |isbn=0860542165 |yeardoi=10.30861/9780860542162 |date=October 1983 }}

*[http://map.geohive.ie/mapviewer.html GeoHive Mapviewer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706032538/http://map.geohive.ie/mapviewer.html |date=6 July 2020 }}: select Data Catalogue>Base Information and Mapping>Historic Map [25 inch (1888-19131888–1913) / 6 inch (1837-18421837–1842)] for old [[Ordnance Survey of Ireland]] maps

*[http://map.geohive.ie/mapviewer.html GeoHive Mapviewer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706032538/http://map.geohive.ie/mapviewer.html |date=6 July 2020 }}: select Data Catalogue>Population and Economy>Townlands