Townland

A townland (Irish: baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: toonlann[1]) is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering 100–500 acres (40–202 ha).[2] The townland system is of Gaelic origin, antedating the Norman invasion,[3][4][5][6] and most have names of Irish origin.[4] However, some townland names and boundaries come from Norman manors, plantation divisions, or later creations of the Ordnance Survey.[7][8] The total number of inhabited townlands in Ireland was 60,679 in 1911.[9] The total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61,098, including uninhabited townlands, mainly small islands.[10]

  1. ^ "Rules o Richt Hannlin fur Uisin Ulstèr-Scotch as Pairt o Wark" (PDF). Norlin Airlann Coort Sarvice. Retrieved 4 May 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ Carmichael, Alexander (1884). Grazing and agrestic customs of the Outer Hebrides. Edinburgh: Neill and Company. OL 22881363M. Retrieved 23 July 2019. Reprinted from the Report of the Crofter Royal Commission.
    Further reprinted in Carmicheal, Alexander (December 1914). "Grazing and Agrestic Customs of the Outer Hebrides". The Celtic Review. 10 (37): 40–54. doi:10.2307/30070316. JSTOR 30070316.
  3. ^ Barry, Terry (2000). "Rural Settlement in Medieval Ireland". A History of Settlement in Ireland. Routledge. p. 114. She argued that Ireland's townland system, which pre-dated the Anglo-Norman conquest, worked against the creation of sizeable nucleated settlements.
  4. ^ a b Colfer, Billy (2004). "Prehistoric and Early Christian Landscapes". The Hook Peninsula. Cork University Press. p. 29. The townland network provides the most pervasive landscape survival from the Gaelic era. Most townlands, many retaining their Gaelic names, are believed to pre-date the arrival of the Anglo-Normans.
  5. ^ Graham, Brian (2003). "Ireland: Economy and Society". A companion to Britain in the later Middle Ages. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 149. The manor was the basic unit of settlement throughout the Anglo-Norman colony. Anngret Simms and others have argued that the constraint of the pre-existing Gaelic-Irish network of townlands (the basic subdivision of land in Ireland, a townland was originally the holding of an extended family) pre-empted the formation of large villages on the Anglo-Norman manors of Ireland.
  6. ^ Clarke, Howard; Prunty, Jacinta; Hennessy, Mark (2004). Surveying Ireland's Past. Geography Publications. p. 113. It is clear that the Gaelic townland system of territorial organisation exerted a powerful centripetal force on the evolving settlement pattern.
  7. ^ Connolly, S. J., The Oxford Companion to Irish History, page 577. Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-19-923483-7
  8. ^ Maxwell, Ian, How to Trace Your Irish Ancestors, page 16. howtobooks, 2009. ISBN 978-1-84528-375-9
  9. ^ "Digitization of Irish 1901 and 1911 Census Records". Census of Ireland 1901/1911 and Census Fragments and Substitutes, 1821-51. National Archives of Ireland. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Logainm.ie The Irish Placenames Database". The Irish Placenames Committee/Fiontar. Retrieved 19 September 2014.