Extract from “History of the City of Dublin from the earliest accounts to the present time” by the late J. Warburton (Deputy keeper of records in Birmingham tower) the late Rev. J. Whitelaw M.R.I.A., vicar of St. Catherine’s and the Rev. Robert Walsh M.R.I. – Volume 2, published London 1818 plus derived city map of the chapels
(Extract from pages 806 to 810 – chapter heading ‘Roman Catholic Schools’)
As these establishments [Schools] form a striking feature in the toleration of the present day , we shall premise a brief sketch of the divisions of the city for which these schools were established , and give a general view of the parochial distribution of the Roman Catholic population
While the penal laws were in force, the clergy of that persuasion were obliged to administer spiritual consolation to their flock rather according to their temporary convenience than any systematic plan. No places of public worship were permitted, and the clergyman moved his altar, books, and everything necessary for the celebration of his religious rites from house to house, among such of his flock as were enabled in this way to support an itinerant domestic chaplain ; while for the poorer part some waste house or stable, in a remote and retired situation, was selected, and here the service was silently and secretly performed, unobserved by the public eye. But the spirit of toleration had already gone abroad, and an incident furnished a pretext for allowing places of public worship, while yet the statutes proscribed them. The crowds of poor people who flocked to receive the consolations of their religion were too great for the crazy edifices to contain or support them, and serious accidents, attended with the loss of sundry lives, occasioned by the falling down of these places of resort, called for the interference of a humane government.
In the year 1745, Lord Chesterfield, then viceroy of Ireland, permitted these congregations to assemble in more safe and public places. The old edifices consecrated to public worship were re-opened, and new ones gradually built in the city. And a further toleration allowed their clergy unmolested to distribute their flocks into such parochial districts as might be convenient for their attendance. This distribution is as follows, designated from the street in which the chapel is situated.
Arran-Quay, comprehends St. Paul’s parish, and extends in that direction as far as the parish of Blanchardtown, including a portion of the Phoenix-Park as far as the Vice-regal lodge. On the east, it is bounded by a line along one side of Church-street, northward. Besides the parish chapel, there are in this district a friary in Church-street, and a nunnery in King street.
Mary’s-Lane, comprehends part of St. Michan’s and of St. George’s parishes: it extends from the Liffey to the Tolka rivers, and is included between Hues drawn from Old Church street to Glasnevin bridge, from thence down the right bank of the Tolka to Drumcondra bridge, and from thence through Arran-street to the Liffey. A new chapel is erected for this district in Arran-street. There is besides a nunnery on George’s-hill.
Liffey-Street, comprehends St. Mary’s, St. Thomas’s, and part of St. George’s parishes. It is bounded on the west, by the east side of Arran street, where it joins Ormond Quay, through Boot and Petticoat-lanes, Green street, Bolton-street, and Dorset-street, to Drumcondra bridge, thence down the river Tolka, by Ballybough bridge to the Liffey. It is for this extensive and populous district, the spacious metropolitical chapel is now erecting in Marlborough-street. There is also a friary in Denmark-street, a nunnery on Summer-hill, and a chapel in Hardwick-street, which belonged to a nunnery formerly in Dorset- street.
Townsend Street, comprehends St. Mark’s, St. Anne’s, St. Andrew’s, and part of St. Peter’s parish. There is a friary in Clarendon-street, and the friary of St. Patrick’s in French-street.
Rosemary-Lane, comprehends the parishes of St. Michael, St. John, St. Bride, and St. Nicholas within, including the Castle Circuit, and Christ Church. For the congregation of this district, a spacious and handsome chapel has been erected in Lower Exchange-street, on the site of the old theatre in Smock-alley, and opened for divine service in 1815.
Bridge-Street, comprehends only St. Audeon’s parish. In this district is the friary of Adam and Eve, in Cook-street.
Francis-Street, includes St. Luke’s, St. Nicholas without, the greater part of St. Peter’s parish, Harold’s Cross, and Rathmines, and extends as far as Miltown River. In this district are the nunneries of Ranelagh, Harold’s Cross, and Warren’s Mount.
Meath-Street, comprehends St. Catherine’s parish, with a rural district as far as the Canal. In this is the friary of St. John, for Augustinian friars, in Thomas-street.
James-Street, comprehends Kilmainham, Dolphin’s Barn, and extends as far as the Canal. It has a nunnery in James-street.
Approx locations for Dublin city Catholic Chapels as of 1818 (full source map available at this link) right click and open image in new tab for a larger version
1818 Chapels with Civil Parish overlay – map and parish boundaries from Openstreetmap / townlands.ie contributors (right click and open image in new tab for a larger version)
For the Roman Catholic population of Dublin, then, there are Nine Chapels, viz.
Townsend-street. Rosemary-lane. Bridge-street. Arran Quay. Mary’s-lane. Francis-street. Meath-street. James street. Liffey street Hardwick-street (* to be confirmed – sw).
Following on from a recent search for the 1901 census returns for Baldoyle county Dublin on the National Archives of Ireland website, and eventually tracing these on microfilms on the FamilySearch website. The films include not only Baldoyle town but also the four townlands in the civil parish of Baldoyle also missing from the NAI transcripts. See : 1901 Census of Ireland -missing Baldoyle
Further checks revealed the other townlands and streets included in this film also appear to be missing – further cross-checks are underway, but so far none of these can be located on the NAI site using a placename search, placename/ED browse, or by searching sample names and ages from the household forms. The Electoral Districts are Drumcondra, Drumcondra Rural, and Coolock, civil parishes Santry, Drumcondra, Glasnevin, St. George’s and Baldoyle.
A total of 51 locations (streets & townlands) are included – each has a set of enumerator forms (abstract and building) followed by the associated household forms. The film includes 1,014 images with a number of reference slides – the list below includes that starting image for each street or townland, this is the enumerator abstract form, the building return(s) and household forms follow this. The film viewer is at this link with the relevant census film selected (FamilySearch Account required)
Image no./Street or Townland / Electoral District
6 Lismore Terrace, Drumcondra 20 Lismore Villas (1-4), Drumcondra 28 Drumcondra Road, Drumcondra 30 Mabel N.[?], Drumcondra 45 Robert St.[?], Drumcondra 61 Robert Avenue, Drumcondra 76 Russell Avenue, Drumcondra 103 St. Alphonsus Avenue, Drumcondra 117 St. Alphonsus Convent, St. Alphonsus Rd., Drumcondra 123 St. Alphonsus Rd., Drumcondra 174 St. Anne’s Road, Drumcondra 196 St. Bridget’s Road Lower, Drumcondra 223 St. Bridget’s Road Upper, Drumcondra 253 St. Clements Road, Drumcondra 274 St. Columbas Road Lower, Drumcondra 290 St. Columbas Road Upper, Drumcondra 311 St. George’s Avenue, Drumcondra 322 St. George’s Burial Ground, Drumcondra 326 St. Joseph’s Avenue, Drumcondra 345 St. Patrick’s Road, Drumcondra 414 Tolka Cottages, Drumcondra 469 Whitworth Road, Drumcondra 483 Whitworth Place, Drumcondra 503 Whitworth Road[?], Drumcondra 557 Whitworth Terrace, Drumcondra 567 Baldoyle, Coolock 573 Grange 597 Maynetown 611 Stapolin 631 Baldoyle (town) 796 Clonmel, Drumcondra Rural 803 Hampstead North / Hampstead Hill, Drumcondra Rural 809 Hampstead South, Drumcondra Rural 825 Wad, Drumcondra Rural 834 Walnut Grove, Drumcondra Rural 837 Balbutcher, Drumcondra Rural (Santry Parish) 842 Balcurris, Drumcondra Rural 846 Ballymun, Drumcondra Rural 857 Ballystruan, Drumcondra Rural part of 864 Collinstown, Drumcondra Rural part of 875 Commons, Drumcondra Rural part of (Santry parish, Coolock barony) 881 Coultry, Drumcondra Rural part of 889 Dardistown, Drumcondra Rural part of 896 Huntstown, Drumcondra Rural part of 902 Rock, Drumcondra Rural part of 908 Santry, Drumcondra Rural part of 959 Santry Demesne, Drumcondra Rural part of 974 Sillogue, Drumcondra Rural part of 979 Stormanstown, Drumcondra Rural part of 994 Turnapin Great, Drumcondra Rural part of 1006 Turnapin Little, Drumcondra Rural part of6 Lismore Terrace, Drumcondra
Note – this is just one film, there are other streets and townlands missing, some of which were not filmed so not available for digitization. This particular example shows that in at least one case the relevant forms were filmed but not transcribed – or mis-indexed or not uploaded correctly to a database ?
The reference 832599 is noted at the start of this film, and date of 17th June 1970.
Sample ‘missing’ townland – Turnapin Little townland Santry (civil) parish
A number of locations are missing from the 1901 Census of Ireland on The National Archives of Ireland website – for a variety of reasons. Some seem to have missed filming so were not available for digitation, some were damaged or lost, also a few sections filmed but not transcribed and indexed. Baldoyle town and civil parish County Dublin falls into a slightly different category…
Baldoyle civil parish contains four townlands; Baldoyle, Grange, Maynetown and Stapolin, with the town located in the townland of the same name. All of these are missing for 1901 on the National Archives of Ireland website.
On the 1911 returns these 5 locations are listed under part of Coolock electoral district, and cross checking an earlier source, Handran’s “Townlands in Poor Law Unions” 1885, confirms that these were in the same electoral district at that time – so likely Coolock in 1901. There’s no sign of any of these locations in either the street/townland browse or the search function for 1901 on the National Archives of Ireland website.
Luckily there’s another source for the 1901 census online, the FamilySearch website which has both transcripts and images. To access the transcripts collection select search / records from the menu and pick Ireland from the map – a list of collections is displayed including the 1901 census.
This collection shows a transcripts of the household returns and for images links to the National Archives of Ireland website. The only mention found of Baldoyle in these records is as place of birth.
The second relevant collection is the ‘images’ or microfilms, to access this option select search / images on the menu.
Entering Baldoyle as search term shows several options, selecting the first option (Baldoyle… Catholic Parish) and then clicking the search option shows Baldoyle 1901 census as a result and the link leads to the standard FamilySearch film viewer.
The film includes just over 1,000 images with enumerator and household forms. The film starts with Lismore Terrace, St. George’s Civil Parish, Drumcondra electoral district, see the enumerator abstract at image 6, house and building returns image 7, followed by the first of the household returns at image 8. The household forms follow in the same sequence as the enumerator building return(s), so this can be used as a search.
Baldoyle town starts at image 631 (direct link – FamilySearch account required )
Update 29th March 2023 – further checks have shown that many other streets/townlands on this film are also missing from the NAI Census website, currently reviewing these … 51 streets and townlands found to be missing, see : Missing Streets and Townlands 1901 census
There are a number of complications to finding exactly where a particular place of interest is located, even when the name is known. The first is often the spelling which can vary greatly depending on the timeframe and source, and the second reason being the duplication of place names. This occurs not just among names of townlands or parishes, but also with different types of land division. For example, not only is Leitrim the name of a County, it’s the name of the County Town, it’s also used as the name for two different Baronies, one in Co. Leitrim the other in Co. Galway. Leitrim is also the name of three separate civil parish, none of which are in Co. Leitrim, and the name for over 30 townlands scattered all around Ireland, plus another 14 townlands starting with the name, e.g. Leitrim Beg.
Some of the many townlands named Leitrim..
The list of most frequently used place names is topped by Glebe, Newtown, Killeen and Deerpark, but following those are several others which might not be thought of as so common – e.g. Tully, Knockroe, Raheen, Corbally, Carrowmore and Ballynamona. (see. table 1 below)
Another complication relating to townlands and other land divisions is the overlap of different boundaries – for example there are quite a number of townlands which are split between two or more civil parishes, or between two baronies, or various combinations of these – e.g. the townland of Minmore in Co. Wicklow in divided between three civil parishes, Aghowle, Carnew and Moyacomb.
Entries for Minmore townland on the townland database
Extract from 1st Edition OS map showing Minmore townland – parish border in green, townland border in red (OSI/GeoHive map)
Number of Townlands Establishing an exact count of townlands is made complex due to this overlapping of townlands as the usual townland index has entries for each of the splits, e.g. Minmore has three entries, a townland split between two Baronies will have two entries. The database based on the 1851 data has just over 64,000 entries for townlands, the Placename database has allowed for these overlaps and shows corrected counts, and they give a the number of townlands at just under 61,100. There’s a similar issue with several of the other Land Divisions as they also can have divided portions – e.g. civil parish of Taney in mostly in Rathdown Barony but has small portion in Barony of Dublin (city), the civil parish of ‘Street’ is divided between counties Longford and Westmeath.
Duplicate Parishes Two separate civil parishes of the same name can also occur within the one county for example the case of Palmerstown (sometimes shown as Palmerston) in Co. Dublin, the first Palmerstown civil parish is located to the west of the city in Newcastle barony and close to the river Liffey, the other to the north west of the city in the barony of Bathrothery and near Ashbourne in Co. Meath. There are also two separate civil parishes in Co. Dublin named Clogher, both to the north of the city. There can be more than two civil parishes with the same name in the same county – e.g. three Civil parishes named Philipstown in Co. Louth, two seperate parishes named Inch in County Wexford, the three Kilmurray civil parishes in Co. Clare. To help distinguish between these duplicates parish names, the Barony is often added – e.g. Kilmurry (Bunratty), or Cloghran (Castleknock). (See examples in table 2 below)
Detached Parishes There are also cases of what are referred to as detached portions of civil parishes. These are separated sections of civil parishes, usually embedded within a neighbouring civil parish but close to their ‘parent’ parish. Sometimes there can be a number of detached portions. One example of this is Esker civil parish is located between Clondalkin and Lucan in west County Dublin, where there are two separate detached portions of this civil parish located close to the east – both containing just one townland, the closest containing Rowlagh townland, and the next Coldcut.
Coldcut townland split between two civil parishes, one a detached portion of Esker (OSI/GeoHive map)
One example of a detached portion with a greater separation distance is the civil parish of Fenagh in Co. Carlow where the bulk of the parish is located close to the town of Myshall with a detached portion located about 15 km to the north with a number a civil parishes between. The detached portion includes the western part of the town of Tullow. see part of Feneagh adjacent to Tullow and the section south west of Myshall
Civil parishes can extend into two or more adjacent Baronies e.g. the St. Margaret’s civil parish North East of Wexford town, is mainly in Shelmaliere East barony, but also includes a single townland in the neighbouring Barony of Ballaghkeen,
Split Counties There’s also at least one example of a detached portion of a County, up to the late 1830s there was a small part of Dublin located in what is now County Kildare, this was part of the Barony of Upper-cross located just south of Blessington and included the towns of Ballymore-Eustace, part of Dunlavin, and Timonlin. The detached section is shown on the 1837 Lewis maps – see Dublin map.
Detached portion of County Dublin (Lewis 1837)
Extract from 1838 SDUK Map showing detached portions of county Dublin and King’s Co.
Half Baronies Similarly, Baronies have some duplicates, e.g. there are separate baronies of Bantry in Co. Wexford and Cork, and baronies named Carbury in both Co. Kildare and Co. Sligo. In some cases, Barony names may appear to be duplicated but turn out that these extend into a neighbouring County – e.g. Rathdown in Dublin and Wicklow, Fore in Co. Meath and Westmeath, Ballymoe in Counties Roscommon and Galway etc. These sections in separate counties are often referred to as ‘Half-Baronies’.
Parishes and Diocese This replication of place names also occurs among both Church of Ireland and Catholic parishes – e.g. the Parishes for both denominations of Clogher Co. Louth, and Clogher in Co. Tyrone. To complicate further Clogher is also the name of both a Church of Ireland and Catholic Diocese, along with the name of towns in these two counties.
Next Steps Once this duplication of names is born in mind, there are several ways to try to establish which is the correct location – e.g. which of the places named Dumore, Newtown, Kilbride etc applies. The most useful clues often come from the source of the place name, including any dates and other location details that would usually be included. Once a detailed location has been established – e.g. Dunmore townland and town, Killea civil parish, Gaultiere barony, County Waterford , then establishing details, and locating this place on maps is straightforward.
1. A civil birth or death record should show a registration district and sub-district at the top of each page, the registration districts cover quite a wide area but give a starting point. The sub-district narrows the location further. Details of these are included in a Collection titled “Townlands in Poor Law Unions” by Archive CD Books, which was compiled from details originally published by the GRO in the mid 1880s, and compiled into a single volume by George A. Handran in 1997. For marriages the same technique should usually apply for the bride’s address since marriages generally took place in the parish where she currently lived. The groom may have lived outside the parish, so might require a wider search.
2. A Catholic or Church of Ireland parish record should include a reference to the name of the parish, or sometimes the church. The civil parishes associated can be established on the basis of this and used to focus the search (see the RC Parish <> Townland DB Tool). The Church of Ireland parishes were often the same boundaries as their corresponding civil parishes, but some were setup as parish unions covering several civil parishes. Catholic parishes were generally larger and covered a number of civil parishes. Later baptisms or marriages in the family can sometimes include references to the priest or parish where the person was born, and some parishes in Ireland noted details of marriage in the margins of a person’s baptism.
3. In the case where a place name reference originates from a 1901 or 1911 census return, one way to narrow the search area is to check the building returns for a house in the townland in question. The additional census forms, Form B or N, include details of the P.L.U. (Poor Law Union) Barony, Civil parish and townland. Note the place name in brackets on the census transcripts is the D.E.D. or electoral district.
4. Griffith’s Valuation uses townlands and civil parishes as per the 1851 townland Index, and the transcript should also include the name of the Barony, and the forms (accessible on the Valuation on the Library Ireland / AskAboutIreland website) can show further details – e.g. the name of a street when the area is within a town.
5. The Tithe Applotment Records were carried out before the full Ordnance Survey mapping, and land divisions can differ slightly when compared to later details in the 1851 Townland Index or Griffith’s Valuation. For example, some townlands appear in a neighbouring civil parish, e.g. several townlands appear in Powerscourt civil parish (Co. Wicklow) in the Tithe Applotment Books and later for Griffith’s Valuation in Bray civil parish, and others vanish, presumably being absorbed into a townland for the First OSI survey and 1851 Index. Other areas were not eligible for Tithe payments so were not included in the Tithes. Note that the transcripts of the Tithe records have many location errors – e.g. civil parishes joined together, lister uner the incorrect couty etc, the Tithe Location Reference Tool aims to resolve as many of these as possible.
6. Place names can be passed down through Family Stories, although like place names and personal names in general, spelling can be variable. Stories passed down can include other details which can help narrow the search area, e.g. the name of a town, or nearby geographic feature, or the name of a local person of standing or large estate. Place names passed down and given in immigration records etc are often to be the names of nearest towns or village, rather than a specific townland but sometimes the county, name of the parish, or name of the local church was used – e.g. St. Joseph’s chapel rather than Marshalstown parish. Baronies, Poor Law Unions and Electoral districts do not generally appear in these types of sources.
7. Old Letters or post cards can include names of locations or businesses, and if a return address is included, the post-town can be vital in narrowing down a location, especially where the townland name is common, or appears in a county more than once.
Locating Civil parish and Townlands Once a detailed placename has been established, e.g. the townland, civil parish, barony and county it’s possible to use several online sources to establish its precise location.
(a) The best way to identify an individual townlands is using the first edition 6 inch colour OSI maps. The townland borders are on these maps in red, so easier to locate than other black and white maps. The civil parish shown can be used to confirm the correct townland of a particular name has been located, as can the size of the townland size in acres, shown on the maps, which should match up with the details shown on the townland Index. The map cover all of the island of Ireland, but do not include the full level of detail for some areas for counties in Northern Ireland, also the layering options which highlights civil parish borders, various building types etc, does not function for counties in Northern Ireland – OSI/ArcGIS (the 6″ options are the 1st edition maps)
(b) Lewis Topographical Dictionary, which is available on the LibraryIreland website, includes descriptions of cities, towns, counties, and most civil parishes. The entries include directions from the nearest major town or city – libraryireland.com/topog
(c) Maps of civil parishes outlines, and matching Google map extract are available on John Grenham’s Website – JohnGrenham.com
(d) The Official placename database at Logainm.ie, gives details, and shows locations of place names including townlands. The system includes district and local names, along with alternate names for many and also covers Counties in Northern Ireland. Placename Database/Logainm is a good source for these overlapping land divisions – e.g. the entry for the previously mentioned Minmore townland showing the various parishes included – logainm.ie
Minmore townland split between 3 civil parishes (placename database logainm.ie)
(e) Northern Ireland Place names website includes place name searches, and links to a map showing civil parish and townland boundaries – PlaceNameNI (ArcGIS)
(f) PRONI & Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland website online version of the early maps for Northern Ireland Counties – apps.spatialni.gov.uk
(g) Google Maps is also useful, especially for travel directions and distances and a view of the locality on streetview, and the system can include local names which are not always shown on official maps. Google maps does not include civil parish, barony or in most cases townlands names. Take care re possible duplicate place names – the Dunmore it suggests in a search may not be the one required. One good tactic is to establish a large nearby town from other sources (e.g. Poor Law Union/Registration District) and use this as a starting point on a Google Map, then try directions from there to a townland. Switch to Loganim map to sure it’s the correct location – google.ie/maps
Table 1: Top 25 Place Names
Placename
# of Occurrences
Glebe
236
Newtown
173
Grange
88
Milltown
80
Killeen
75
Deerpark
71
Kilmore
71
Commons
70
Tully
65
Knockroe
64
Cartron
61
Raheen
61
Castletown
60
Gorteen
60
Cappagh
59
Annagh
57
Corbally
56
Dromore
53
Kilbride
51
Carrowmore
50
Cashel
50
Lisduff
50
Carrowkeel
49
Ballynamona
47
Curragh
47
Table 2 : Examples of Duplicate Civil Parishes within Counties.
Civil Parish Name
County
Kilcommon
Wicklow (2)
St. Margaret’s
Wexford (2)
Clogher
Dublin (2)
Palmerstown
Dublin (2)
Kilcavan
Wexford (2)
Inch
Wexford (2)
Kilmurry
Clare (3)
Kilcommon
Mayo (4)
Philipstown
Louth (3)
Ballynakill
Galway (4)
Table 3 : Examples of several Duplicate town or village names.
