A townland ( ga, baile fearainn;
Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and in the
Western Isles
The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...
in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
origin, pre-dating the
Norman invasion
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
,
and most have names of
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
origin.
However, some townland names and boundaries come from
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
manors,
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
divisions, or later creations of the
Ordnance Survey
, nativename_a =
, nativename_r =
, logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg
, logo_width = 240px
, logo_caption =
, seal =
, seal_width =
, seal_caption =
, picture =
, picture_width =
, picture_caption =
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, di ...
.
[Connolly, S. J., ''The Oxford Companion to Irish History, page 577. Oxford University Press, 2002. ''][Maxwell, Ian, ''How to Trace Your Irish Ancestors'', page 16. howtobooks, 2009. ] The total number of inhabited townlands in Ireland was 60,679 in 1911.
The total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61,098, including uninhabited townlands, mainly small islands.
Background
![ImprovedTownlandsWithLegendInThurlesCivilParish](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/ImprovedTownlandsWithLegendInThurlesCivilParish.jpg)
In Ireland a townland is generally the smallest administrative division of land, though a few large townlands are further divided into
hundreds.
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,
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.
Etymology
The term "townland" in English is derived from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
word ''tun'', denoting an enclosure. 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.
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.
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.
Historical land divisions and etymology
![Ballycuirke townland sign 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Ballycuirke_townland_sign_2010.jpg)
Throughout most of
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
, townlands were known as "ballyboes" ( ga, baile bó, meaning "cow land"),
[Robinson 2000, p.25][Robinson 2000, pp. 13–14] and represented an area of
pastoral
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
economic value.
In
County Cavan
County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...
similar units were called "polls", and in Counties
Fermanagh
Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of a ...
and
Monaghan
Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony.
The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Lette ...
they were known as "tates" or "taths".
These names appear to be of English origin, but had become naturalised long before 1600.
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
County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...
),
and cannot be confused with any other Irish word.
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 four tates of Ballyfoylan.” In modern townland names the prefix ''pol-'' is widely found throughout western Ireland, its accepted meaning being "hole" or "hollow".
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 ...".
In
County Tyrone
County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...
the following hierarchy of land divisions was used: "ballybetagh" ( ga, baile beithigh, meaning "cattle place"), "ballyboe", "sessiagh" ( ga, séú cuid, meaning sixth part of a quarter), "gort" and "quarter" ( ga, ceathrú).
In
County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland.
The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...
the divisions were "ballybetagh", "quarter" and "tate".
Further subdivisions in Fermanagh appear to be related to liquid or grain measures such as "gallons", "pottles" and "pints".
[Robinson 2000, p.26]
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
County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
conducted in 1608.
[Robinson 2000, pp.22-23] In the early 17th century 20 per cent of the total area of western Ulster was under the control of the church. These "
termonn
is an Gaelic (Irish) word meaning 'sanctuary, boundary'. Other spellings include '','' and . It denotes land belonging to Irish early Christian monasteries and churches on which right of sanctuary prevailed.
The word is common in many place ...
" lands consisted likewise of ballybetaghs and ballyboes, but were held by
erenagh
The medieval Irish office of erenagh (Old Irish: ''airchinnech'', Modern Irish: ''airchinneach'', Latin: ''princeps'') was responsible for receiving parish revenue from tithes and rents, building and maintaining church property and overseeing the ...
s instead of sept leaders.
Other units of land division used throughout Ireland include:
*In
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...
, "capell lands" and "quatermeers". A "capell land" consisted of around 20 great acres (one great acre equalled 20 English
acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
s).
*In the province of
Connacht
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...
, "quarters" and "cartrons" ( ga, ceathrú mír, also anglicised as "carrowmeer"), a quarter being reckoned as four cartrons, and each cartron being 30 acres.
The quarter has also been anglicised as "carrow", "carhoo" or "caracute" ( ga, ceathrú cuid).
*In
County Clare
County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...
, as in Connacht, "quarters", "half-quarters" ( 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.
"Cartrons" were also sometimes called "ploughlands" or "seisreagh" ( ga, seisreach, meaning a team of horses yoked to a plough).
Thomas Larcom
Major-General Sir Thomas Aiskew Larcom, Bart, PC FRS (22 April 1801 – 15 June 1879) was a leading official in the early Irish Ordnance Survey. He later became a poor law commissioner, census commissioner and finally executive head of the B ...
, the first Director of the
Ordnance Survey of Ireland
Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI; ga, Suirbhéireacht Ordanáis Éireann) is the national mapping agency of Ireland. It was established on 4 March 2002 as a body corporate. It is the successor to the former Ordnance Survey of Ireland. It and th ...
, made a study of the ancient land divisions of Ireland and summarised the traditional hierarchy of land divisions thus:
''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 – Triocha Céad or Barony Barony may refer to:
* Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron
* Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron
* Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
.''
This hierarchy was not applied uniformly across Ireland. For example, a ballybetagh or townland could contain more or less than four ploughlands.
Further confusion arises when it is taken into account that, while Larcom used the general term "acres" in his summary, terms such as "great acres", "large acres" and "small acres" were also used in records.
Writing in 1846, Larcom remarked that the "large" and "small" acres had no fixed ratio between them, and that there were various other kinds of acre in use in Ireland, including the Irish acre, the English acre, the Cunningham acre, the plantation acre and the statute acre.
The Ordnance Survey maps used the statute acre measurement.
The quality and situation of the land affected the size of these acres.
The Cunningham acre is given as intermediate between the Irish and English acres.
Many of these land division terms have been preserved in the names of modern townlands. For example, the term "cartron" in both its English and Irish forms has been preserved in the townland names of Carrowmeer, Cartron and Carrowvere, while the term "sessiagh" survives in the names Shesia, Sheshodonell, Sheshymore and Shessiv.
The terms "ballyboe" and "ballybetagh" tend to be preserved in the truncated form of "bally" as a prefix for some townland names, such as Ballymacarattybeg near
Poyntzpass
Poyntzpass ( Irish: ''Pas Phoyntz'' or ''Pas an Phointe'') is a small village on the border between southern County Armagh and County Down in Northern Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Ballymore and the historic barony of Orior Low ...
, County Down. Less well-known land division terms may be found in other townland names such as Coogulla ( ga, Cuige Uladh, "the Ulster fifth"), Treanmanagh ( ga, an train meánach, "the third middle") and Dehomade ( ga, an deichiú méid, "the tenth part").
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
Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland.
Location
B ...
,
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
, which is derived from ''Béal Átha Seanaidh''.
[Toner, Gregory: ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland'', page 120. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996, ]
Size and value
The average area of a townland is about , but they vary widely in size.
William Reeves's 1861 survey states that the smallest was Old Church Yard, near
Carrickmore
Carrickmore () is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Omagh East, the civil parish of Termonmaguirk and the Roman Catholic Parish of Termonmaguirc between Cookstown, Dungannon and Omagh. ...
, in the parish of
Termonmagurk,
County Tyrone
County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...
, at
[2 ]rood
A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church.
Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixion ...
s, 10 perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...
es and the largest, at , was and is Fionnán (also called Finnaun) in the parish of
Killanin,
County Galway. In fact, the townland of Clonskeagh in the barony of
Uppercross (abutting the main
Clonskeagh
Clonskeagh or Clonskea (, meaning "meadow of the Whitethorn"; pronounced ), is a small southern suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district straddles the River Dodder.
Location and access
Clonskeagh is a townland in the civil parish of Donnybro ...
townland in the
barony of Dublin) was only
[1 rood, 8 perches] although the area is now urbanised, so that the townlands are unused and their boundaries are uncertain.
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.
This economic potential varied from the extent of land required to graze cattle to the land required to support several families.
The highest density of townland units recorded in Ulster in 1609 corresponds to the areas with the highest land valuations in the 1860s.
It seems that many
moorland areas were not divided into townlands until fairly recently. These areas were "formerly shared as a
common summer pasturage by the people of a whole parish or barony".
Historical use
Until the 19th century most townlands were owned by single landlords and occupied by multiple tenants. The
cess
Cess is a tax that is generally levied for promoting services like health and education. Governments often charge cess for the purpose of development in social sectors. The word is a shortened form of "assess". The spelling is due to a mistaken ...
, used to fund roadworks and other local expenses, was charged at the same rate on each townland in a
barony Barony may refer to:
* Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron
* Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron
* Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
, regardless of its size and productive capacity. Thus, occupiers in a small or poor townland suffered in comparison to those of larger or more fertile townlands. This was reformed by
Griffith's Valuation.
Irish Ordnance Survey and standardisation
During the 19th century an extensive series of maps of Ireland was created by the Irish division of the
Ordnance Survey
, nativename_a =
, nativename_r =
, logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg
, logo_width = 240px
, logo_caption =
, seal =
, seal_width =
, seal_caption =
, picture =
, picture_width =
, picture_caption =
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, di ...
for taxation purposes. These maps both documented and standardised the boundaries of the more than 60,000 townlands in Ireland. The process often involved dividing or amalgamating existing townlands, and defining townland boundaries in areas such as mountain or bog that had previously been outside the townland system.
Slight adjustments are still made. There were 60,679 in 1911, compared to 60,462 townlands in 1901.
Current use
![Finmill Road, Sixmilecross - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Finmill_Road%2C_Sixmilecross_-_geograph.org.uk_-_133750.jpg)
Townlands form the building blocks for higher-level administrative units such as
parishes and
district electoral division
An electoral division (ED, ) is a legally defined administrative area in the Republic of Ireland, generally comprising multiple townlands, and formerly a subdivision of urban and rural districts. Until 1996, EDs were known as district electora ...
s (in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
) or
wards (in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
).
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.
Townland names were not banned, but they were deemed "superfluous information" and people were asked not to include them on addresses.
They were to be replaced by house numbers, road names and
postcodes.
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 Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...
, the campaign was a rare example of unity between
Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
,
nationalists
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
and
unionists.
Townlands and their names "seem to have been considered as a shared resource and heritage".
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.
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".
County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland.
The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...
is the only county in Northern Ireland that managed to resist the change completely.
Nevertheless, many newer road signs in parts of Northern Ireland now show townland names (see picture). In 2001 the
Northern Ireland Assembly
sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie
, legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly
, coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg
, coa_res = 250px
, house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral
, hou ...
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
The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications ( ga, An Roinn Comhshaoil, Aeráide agus Cumarsáide) is a department of the Government of Ireland that is responsible for the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors and regula ...
announced that a postcode system was to be introduced (see
Republic of Ireland postal addresses
A "postal address" in Ireland is a place of delivery defined by Irish Standard (IS) EN 14142-1:2011 ("Postal services. Address databases") and serviced by the universal service provider, ''An Post''. Its addressing guides comply with the ...
). The system, known as
Eircode
A "postal address" in Ireland is a place of delivery defined by Irish Standard (IS) EN 14142-1:2011 ("Postal services. Address databases") and serviced by the universal service provider, '' An Post''. Its addressing guides comply with the ...
, was introduced in 2014, but although more widely used by 2021, townlands remain predominant address identifiers in rural areas.
See also
*
Lists of townlands in Ireland by county
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
;All island:
GeoHive Mapviewer select Data Catalogue>Base Information and Mapping>Historic Map
5 inch (1888-1913) / 6 inch (1837-1842)for old
Ordnance Survey of Ireland
Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI; ga, Suirbhéireacht Ordanáis Éireann) is the national mapping agency of Ireland. It was established on 4 March 2002 as a body corporate. It is the successor to the former Ordnance Survey of Ireland. It and th ...
maps
Logainm.ie(
Placenames Database of Ireland
The Placenames Database of Ireland ( ga, Bunachar Logainmneacha na hÉireann), also known as , is a database and archive of place names in Ireland. It was created by Fiontar, Dublin City University in collaboration with the Placenames Branch of t ...
) search/browse by parish/barony/county, English and Irish names
*
IreAtlas townland database(John Broderick) searchable database derived from the Index to the 1851 Census
*Townland indexes to pre-1921 censuses, digitised from
command papers
1861 index (to 1841/1851 censuses)1871 index1881 supplement1891 supplement1901 index
1911 supplement
1911 Census details
(National Archives of Ireland
The National Archives of Ireland ( ga, Cartlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the official repository for the state records of Ireland. Established by the National Archives Act 1986, taking over the functions of the State Paper Office (founded 17 ...
) Arranged by County>DED>Townland>Household
Townland data from OpenStreetMap
Townlands, Baronies and Civil Parishes are being added to OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed g ...
, making them available as a modern geo format. This is a list of the townlands mapped in OpenStreetMap
;Republic:
GeoHive Mapviewer
select Data Catalogue>Population and Economy>Townlands
Categories of Disadvantaged Areas
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine ( ga, An Roinn Talmhaíochta, Bia agus Mara) is a department of the Government of Ireland. According to the department, its mission is to "lead the sustainable development of a competitive, con ...
Excel spreadsheet (per county) giving area in hectares, electoral division, and agricultural category of each townland
;Northern Ireland:
Northern Ireland Place-Name Project
Searchable using both maps and lists, with information about placename origins
*Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland
{{Unreferenced, date=April 2021
Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI) was the official mapping agency of Northern Ireland. The agency ceased to exist separately on 1 April 2008 when it became part of Land and Property Services, an executiv ...
:
Mapviewer
(includes layers with current and historical townland borders and names)
*Townland indexes to censuses
1926 index
1937 supplement
;By county:
(Mayo County Library) list of townlands by parish, with maps and other data
Index of Townlands of County Kildare
(Kildare Council Library's local studies department) IreAtlas data updated to 1911
{{Types of administrative country subdivision
Types of administrative division