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{{short description|Small
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}
A '''townland''' ({{lang-ga|baile fearainn}}; [[Ulster Scots dialects|Ulster-Scots]]: ''toonlann''<ref>{{cite web|title=Rules o Richt Hannlin fur Uisin Ulstèr-Scotch as Pairt o Wark|url=http://217.35.77.12/CB/nireland/papers/pdfs/2004/p_ucs_UlsterScots_CodeofCourtesyfortheuseofUlsterScots.pdf|publisher=Norlin Airlann Coort Sarvice|
: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,
==Background==
[[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]]
[[File:Rathlin_Island_townlands.svg|thumb|upright=1.7|Map of [[Rathlin Island]] with townlands]]
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"/>
===Etymology===
The term "townland" in English is derived from the [[Old English]] word ''
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".
The Normans left no major traces in townland names, but they adapted some of them for their own use, possibly seeing a similarity between the Gaelic ''baile'' and the Norman ''bailey'', both of which meant a settlement.<ref name="ULS"/>
===Historical land divisions and etymology===
[[File:Teeshanrd.jpg|thumb
[[File:Townland boundary marker - geograph.org.uk - 108106.jpg|thumb
[[File:Ballycuirke townland sign 2010.jpg|thumb
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
In
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 "
Other units of land division used throughout Ireland include:
*In [[County Tipperary]], "capell lands" and "quatermeers". A "capell land" consisted of around 20 great acres (one great acre equalled 20 English
*In the province of [[Connacht]], "quarters" and "cartrons" ({{lang-ga|ceathrú mír}}, also anglicised as "carrowmeer"), a quarter being reckoned as four cartrons, and each cartron being 30 acres.<ref name="Clare"/> The quarter has also been anglicised as "carrow", "carhoo" or "caracute" ({{lang-ga|ceathrú cuid}}).<ref name="Clare"/>
*In [[County Clare]], as in Connacht, "quarters", "half-quarters" ({{lang-ga|leath-ceathrú}}), "cartrons" and "sessiagh". Here a "half-quarter" equated to around 60 acres, a "cartron" equated to around 30 acres and a "sessiagh" was around 20 acres.<ref name="Clare"/>
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"Cartrons" were also sometimes called "ploughlands" or "seisreagh" ({{lang-ga|seisreach}}, meaning a team of horses yoked to a plough).<ref name="Clare"/>
[[Thomas Larcom]], the first Director of the [[Ordnance Survey of Ireland]], made a study of the ancient land divisions of Ireland and summarised the traditional hierarchy of land divisions thus:<ref name="Fossa">{{Cite web |url=http://www.fossahistoricalsociety.com/downloads/25%20Of%20Gneeves.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003134227fw_/http://www.fossahistoricalsociety.com/downloads/25%20Of%20Gneeves.pdf |
<blockquote>''10 acres – 1 Gneeve; 2 Gneeves – 1 Sessiagh; 3 Sessiaghs – 1 Tate or Ballyboe; 2 Ballyboes – 1 Ploughland, Seisreagh or Carrow; 4 Ploughlands – 1 Ballybetagh, or Townland; 30 Ballybetaghs – [[Trícha cét|Triocha Céad]] or [[Barony (Ireland)|Barony]].''</blockquote>
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A problem with the term "bally" in some townland names is that it can be difficult to distinguish between the Irish terms ''baile'' meaning "townland" and ''béal átha'' meaning "approach to a ford". An example of the latter is [[Ballyshannon]], [[County Donegal]], which is derived from ''Béal Átha Seanaidh''.<ref name="IPA">Toner, Gregory: ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland'', page 120. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996, {{ISBN|0-85389-613-5}}</ref>
"Sub-townlands" ({{Lang-ga|fo-bhaile}}) are also recorded in some areas, smaller divisions of a townland with their own traditional names.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.johngrenham.com/browse/retrieve_text.php?text_contentid=521|title=Irish Place names|website=www.johngrenham.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/sub-townland|title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): sub-townland|website=www.teanglann.ie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5215809/5213975/5221641|title=Townlands and Sub-Townlands|website=dúchas.ie}}</ref>
===Size and value===
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/
The ballyboe, a townland unit used in Ulster, was described in 1608 as containing 60 acres of arable land, meadow, and pasture. However, this was misleading, as the size of townlands under the Gaelic system varied depending upon their quality, situation and economic potential.<ref name="Clare"/><ref name="PoUpg13-14"/> This economic potential varied from the extent of land required to graze cattle to the land required to support several families.<ref name="PoUpg13-14"/> The highest density of townland units recorded in Ulster in 1609 corresponds to the areas with the highest land valuations in the 1860s.<ref name="PoUpg13-14"/>
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===Current use===
[[File:Finmill Road, Sixmilecross - geograph.org.uk - 133750.jpg|thumb
Before 1972 townlands were included on all rural postal addresses throughout the island, but in that year the [[Royal Mail]] decided that the townland element of the address was obsolete in Northern Ireland.<ref name="Senses"/> Townland names were not banned, but they were deemed "superfluous information" and people were asked not to include them on addresses.<ref name="Senses"/> They were to be replaced by house numbers, road names and [[postcode]]s.<ref name="Senses"/> In response the Townlands Campaign emerged to protest against the changes. It was described as a "ground-level community effort". Taking place in the midst of [[The Troubles]], the campaign was a rare example of unity between [[Irish Catholic|Catholics]] and [[Protestants]], [[Irish nationalism|nationalists]] and [[Unionism in Ireland|unionists]].<ref name="Senses"/> Townlands and their names "seem to have been considered as a shared resource and heritage".<ref name="Senses"/> Those involved in the campaign argued that, in many areas, people still strongly identified with their townlands and that this gave them a sense of belonging. The Royal Mail's changes were seen as a severing of this link.<ref name="Senses"/>
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At the time the county councils were the government bodies responsible for validating the change. However, as local government itself was undergoing changes, the Royal Mail's decision was "allowed ... to become law almost by default".<ref name="Senses"/> [[County Fermanagh]] is the only county in Northern Ireland that managed to resist the change completely.<ref name="Senses"/> Nevertheless, many newer road signs in parts of Northern Ireland now show townland names (see picture). In 2001 the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]] passed a motion requesting government departments to make use of townland addresses in correspondence and publications.
In the Republic of Ireland townlands continue to be used on addresses. In 2005 the [[Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources]] announced that a postcode system was to be introduced (see [[Republic of Ireland postal addresses]]). The system, known as [[Eircode]], was introduced in 2014, but
==See also==
*[[:Category:Townlands of Ireland by county|Lists of townlands in Ireland by county]]
== Explanatory footnotes ==
{{
==
=== General and cited references ===
* {{cite book|editor-last=Barry|editor-first=Terry|title=A History of Settlement in Ireland|date=2012-11-12|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134674633}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.ulsterplacenames.org/celebrating_ulster's_townlands_exhibition.htm |title=Celebrating Ulster's Townlands |publisher=Ulster Placename Society |first=Kay |last=Muhr |date=1999–2001 |url-status=dead |
* {{cite journal |jstor=20489906 |title=On the Townland Distribution of Ireland |first=W. |last=Reeves |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy |volume=7 |date=22 April 1861 |pages=473–490}}
* {{cite book |first=Philip |last=Robinson |title=The Plantation of Ulster |publisher=Ulster Historical Foundation |date=2000 |isbn=978-1-903688-00-7}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.histpop.org/ohpr/servlet/TOC?path=Browse/Census%20%28by%20date%29/1861/Ireland&active=yes&mno=411&tocstate=expandall&tocseq=600&display=sections&display=tables&display=pagetitles&c=73142#600 |title=General alphabetical index to the townlands and towns, parishes and baronies of Ireland, 1861 |work=Census > 1861 > Ireland |publisher=HISTPOP.ORG |page=258 |
===
{{reflist|
refs=
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==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Crawford|first1=W. H.|last2=Foy|first2=R. H.|title=Townlands in Ulster: Local History Studies|date=1998-01-01|publisher=Ulster Historical Foundation|isbn=9780901905840}}
* {{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=
==External links==
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;All island:
*[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 (1888–1913) / 6 inch (1837–1842)] for old [[Ordnance Survey of Ireland]] maps
*[http://logainm.ie/?uiLang=en Logainm.ie] ([[Placenames Database of Ireland]]) search/browse by parish/barony/county, English and Irish names
*{{cite book |title=Topographical index of the parishes and townlands of Ireland in Sir William Petty's MSS barony maps (c. 1655-9) and Hiberniae Delineatio (c. 1672) |url=
*[http://www.thecore.com/seanruad/ IreAtlas townland database] (John Broderick) searchable database derived from the Index to the 1851 Census
*Townland indexes to pre-1921 censuses, digitised from [[command paper]]s: [
*[http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911 1911 Census details] ([[National Archives of Ireland]]) Arranged by County>DED>Townland>Household
*[http://www.townlands.ie Townland data from OpenStreetMap] Townlands, Baronies and Civil Parishes are being added to [[OpenStreetMap]], making them available as a modern geo format. This is a list of the townlands mapped in OpenStreetMap
;Republic:
*[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
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130511194451/http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/farmerschemespayments/singlepaymentschemedisadvantagedareasschemebeefdataprogrammebdp/categoriesofdisadvantagedareas/ Categories of Disadvantaged Areas] [[Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine]] Excel spreadsheet (per county) giving area in hectares, electoral division, and agricultural category of each townland
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*[http://www.placenamesni.org/ Northern Ireland Place-Name Project] Searchable using both maps and lists, with information about placename origins
*[[Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland]]:
**[https://apps.spatialni.gov.uk/PRONIApplication/ Mapviewer] (includes layers with current and historical townland borders and names)
*Townland indexes to censuses: [https://www.nisra.gov.uk/sites/nisra.gov.uk/files/publications/1937-census-topographical-index.PDF 1926 index]; [https://www.nisra.gov.uk/sites/nisra.gov.uk/files/publications/1937-census-topographical-index.PDF 1937 supplement]
;By county:
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{{Types of administrative country subdivision}}
{{County Cork}}
[[Category:Townlands in Northern Ireland| ]]
[[Category:Townlands of Ireland| ]]
[[Category:Townlands of the Republic of Ireland| ]]
[[Category:Types of
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