The Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith's Valuation are nineteenth-century property valuation records which are much used by family history researchers providing, if only in part, a substitute for the loss of almost all nineteenth-century census records for Ireland .
The Tithe Applotment Books
The Tithe Applotment Books were compiled between 1823 and 1838 as a survey of titheable land in each parish. (They do not cover cities or towns). In general, the information contained in the Tithe Books is as follows: name of occupier; name of townland; acreage; classification of land; amount of tithe due.
The Tithe Applotment Books are available on microfilm in the National Library of Ireland. A guide to the Tithe Applotment Books on film is available in the Reading Room and in the Genealogy Room.
The originals of the Tithe Applotment Books are held at the National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8.
The Primary Valuation of Ireland (Griffith’s Valuation)
The Primary Valuation of Ireland or Griffith’s Valuation - carried out between 1848 and 1864 - is an important Census Substitute. It provides the only detailed guide to where people lived in mid-nineteenth century Ireland and to the property they possessed.
It is arranged by county and, within each county, by Poor Law Union. Each Poor Law Union is divided into electoral divisions, parishes (Civil Parishes) and townlands.
The Valuation contains the following information in respect of each townland or street: map reference number (location of the holding on the first edition six-inch Ordnance Survey maps); names of occupiers of holdings; names of immediate lessors (the person from whom the holding was leased); descriptions of tenements (holding) eg, “House, offices and land” ; area (in Acres, Roods and Perches) of each holding; valuation of buildings, land, etc. with Total Annual Valuation of each holding
Griffith’s Valuation is available to search online on the Ask About Ireland website.
Further information on both the Tithe Applotment Books and the Griffith's Valuation is available on hard copy information sheets throughout the Library and in downloadable pdf format here:
Family History - Valuation Records NLI_FamilyHistory_ValuationRecords.pdf (0.07 MB, Adobe PDF)