IRELAND GRIFFITH'S VALUATION Griffith, Richard John Sir General valuation of rateable property in Ireland----Film F G8532 Located in Green Binder in Microfiche Cabinets Index: 2v Metropolitan Reference Library, History Section, Fourth Floor. GRIFFITH'S VALUATION What is it? Sir Richard Griffith's "Primary Valuation of Tenements, 1848-1864" was undertaken to assess property and to assign tax. Since the destruction of the Public Recordd Office in 1922, the 'Valuation' is an important source for tracing families living in Ireland about the middle of the nineteenth century, . In addition to giving the name of each occupier or tenant, it gives the name of his townland or city location, the area and value of his landholdings. TERMS USED: *Parish* : The civil parish is a state unit of territorial division for census and valuation purposes. The ecclesiastical parish is a unit of church administration and generally includes a number of civil parishes. *Barony*: Over 300 in all, representiong land divisions of great antiquity based on the Gaelic clan and family holdings. *Townland*: This is the smallest administrative division of land in Ireland, with an average area of 350 acres. *Union*:This refers to the Poor Law Union, constitutted undert the Poor Law Act of 1838, dividing the country up into districts in which those local people who paid tax were responsible for the upkeep of the poor. HOW TO USE IT: In order to use the index, the searcher MUST KNOW the COUNTY from which his ancestor originated. If the place name, but not thercounty name, is known, check Samuel Lews" TOPOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF iRELAND (fo914.25 L266). This will identify the status of the place and its location by BARONY, UNIONM, PARISH, AND PROVINCE. Having established the county--for example we are lookinmg for someone with the surname 'Heather' in the county of Antrim-- begin by checking the index to surnames by county. This follows the "Introduction" on the fiche. Here, you find the surname followed by the baony. e.g. Heather Up. Massereens. This will be followed by a "g" and/or "T". "G" shows that the name occurs 5 times within the barony. A "T" refers to the TITHE APPLOTMENT BOOKS, the manuscripts for which are kept at the PRO in Dublin. If a "T" is shown without a "G", then the name given will NOT appear in the VALUATION. 2. Having established the name of the barony in which your ancestor's surname appears, go back to the "Contents" page which follows the map and the index to the map on the fiche. From this you can get the page numbers for the barony where your ancestor's name occurs. eg. Up. Massereene p. 269-293. Now you are ready for step 2. Move ahead to the end of the surname index for the county. This is an index of surnames by parish under barony. The pages are numbered on the top right hand side The parishes are in alphabetical order after the name of the barony. Make note of the parish or parishes in which your ancestor's name appears. The name 'Heather' appears in Blaris parish. Now go back to the page on which the index of surnames for Blaris parish begins. At the heading you will find the following information. Blaris parish (part of) Upper Massereene Barony, Lisburn Union. Co. Antrim Fiche 13 D 6. Now go to Vol.1 of the VALUATION looking for County Antrim. Pull out the fiche 13 as shown on the top border. Using the left hand margin as a guide, move down to D and then count across 6 single pages. Here you have the valuation for Blaris Parish, and are ready to start looking for the name 'Heasther'. If you alreadyknow the townland, village or city where he lived within the parish, you can find the name quickly. If not, you must go through each division within the parish. G= name in Griffith's Valuation T= name in Tithe Applotment Books, MS of which are in the PRO in Dublin, Ireland. The index (microfilm) available from LDS. For more information in searching Irish ancestors, see Margaret Dickson Falley's 2 v. work: Irish andd Scotch-Irish Ancestral Research. 020.3 F1l2 (open history shelves)