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Irish
Family Archive Review
International
Records: Index to Griffith's Valuation of Ireland, 1848-1864
(CD 188)
Reviewed by Marthe Arends
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Genealogists recognize the value of census records when researching
a family: a census entry can indicate members of the household,
a location, and sometimes even give an idea of property holdings.
But genealogists who research in Ireland face a daunting problem
— the the censuses for the nineteenth century were destroyed
in 1922!
Fortunately, a source exists to help researchers overcome the loss
of the census, thanks to Richard Griffith, a geologist from Dublin.
We have taxation to thank for the existance of Griffith's Valuation;
between the years of 1848 and 1864, Griffith conducted a survey of landowners
and tenants in order to calculate how much each each person should pay
in tax for the local poor. The amount of tax depended on the value of
land and buildings each person owned or occupied (leased). The survey
resulted in a list of approximately one million individuals, arranged
by barony and civil parish.
Unlike the census, Griffith's Valuation does not list every inhabitant,
instead they list only landowners and occupiers, as well as a
brief description and value of the property. However, the list
is an excellent reference in locating surnames (and sometimes
specific families). Given the difficulty of nineteenth century
research, it is vital that you know an ancestor's townland and
civil parish in order to locate birth and marriage records —
thus the importance of Griffith's Valuation List.
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March
11, 1998
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Once you've found your ancestor within the CD, you may be able
to obtain additional information from the original copy of Griffith's
Valuation (available on microfilm and microfiche at Irish Archives,
many genealogy libraries, and the Family History Library).
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The Griffith's Valuation CD is comprised of an index which
can be searched by name or location. Clicking on the More
About button will display specific information about the
selected individual (the county, parish, and location where
the individual lived); some entries may also contain information
in the Comments field such as occupation, religion, and
name of the family residence.
The Introduction contains a very helpful article by William
O'Kane, an Irish research specialist. O'Kane's article gives
background on the dearth of information available to nineteenth
century researchers, the importance of Griffith's Valuation,
and information about territorial designations. Detailed
instructions for searching and printing items are included.
While it isn't easy locating an ancestor unless you know
which townland and parish the individual lived, Griffith's
Valuation List offers a much needed silver lining to Irish
researchers.
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Marthe Arends has
been involved in genealogy for 18 years. She has lectured on computers and genealogy
to many groups, has been the SysOp of a Fidonet genealogy BBS, has written articles
for a variety of genealogy publications, and currently writes fiction. Marthe has also written Genealogy
Software Guide and Genealogy
on CD-ROM, both published by the Genealogical
Publishing Company.
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