First townland valuation of the 1830s

Though often dismissed as being of fairly limited genealogical value, the townland valuation carried out in the 1830s can be an important source for those searching for their ancestors, particularly if those ancestors were urban dwellers. The bound manuscript returns are arranged by barony and parish and those for County Tyrone are available at PRONI under the reference VAL/1B; the accompanying annotated maps are listed under VAL/1A and VAL/1D. Although the townland valuation was primarily concerned with the agricultural value of land, it also included details on houses valued at £3 or over (in 1838 this was raised to £5 or over). In the rural areas the names of only a few householders were given, and these tended to be of the gentry or the better class of tenant farmers. In towns, however, many more houses were substantial enough to reach the valuation, with the result that a large number of householders are recorded.

In order to locate the appropriate volume for the major towns and villages it is necessary to find out which parish they are listed under. This can be done by consulting the Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland, which is available on the shelves of the Public Search Room at PRONI. It is simply a matter of locating the relevant town and then running a finger along the columns listing the barony, parish, and Poor Law Union.

These records reproduced with kind permission of Deputy Keeper of Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.