1901 Irish Census

On primary assessment of Ireland, Griffith was used to determine the amount of tax each person should pay to support the poor in their poor law Union. This determination of the value of all participating private land and buildings in rural and urban areas to figure the rate at which each unit of property could be rented year after year.

The survey was organized by barony and civil parish resulting with an index of the townlands appearing in each volume. Griffith's Valuation can be used as a substitute census excellent for years after the Great Famine as censuses prior to 1901 were destroyed in the fire records office in 1922. The document lists all landowners and households in 32 counties and is organized by county, barony, poor law Union, civil parish and townland.

The evaluation was never intended as a substitute for the census, and has limited value to genealogists. However, due to the destruction of many documents from other sources including the census of 1851, it remains the only detailed guide to where people lived in Ireland in the mid-19th century.

Griffith was essentially a type of census owners in Ireland 1848-1864. It has been used to determine which part of the tax the owner must pay to support the poor in their poor law Union. It was based not only on the value of the property, but also on how much rent could be obtained from it. It is therefore extremely valuable for Irish research, because it contains not only the owners - tenants, but also good. Although it will contain only heads of families, there is light here! Griffith's Valuation can also shed light on a profession people (all the dependencies have been described and are taxable and, if deemed appropriate) its financial situation, level of education and whether he can being of the family nearby. Look for brothers and sisters, parents and other relatives to determine if it is YOUR ancestor.

No discussion of Griffiths primary valuation of Ireland would not be complete with mention of the Ordnance Survey Maps. These maps are to 6 inches to 1 mile and aimed to complete the assessment. These are very detailed and you can see the outline of property lines and houses, outbuildings, roads and villages. These cards can be invaluable as a visual means of connecting adjacent properties and find relatives who lived nearby. In addition, as a complement to Ordnance Survey, a written description of several counties in Northern Ireland was published. These books written , known as the Ordnance Survey Memoirs are very detailed descriptions of people and customs, and geography of the local population mapped. A great historical record. Unfortunately, they were abandoned in the 1840s as too costly to continue .