The Primary Valuation of Ireland, or Griffith’s Valuation, is a commonly used census substitute for the mid-1800s in Ireland. Richard Griffith was the Commissioner of Valuation, and it was under his watch that a comprehensive survey of Irish property was taken.
What is Griffith’s Valuation?
The Tenement Act of 1842 called for a survey of all property in Ireland, both buildings and land. The resulting valuation was to determine land production capacity and potential building rent, to create a standard for assessing taxes.
The survey was complicated and immense, and the results were published between 1848 and 1864. The earliest published reports are for Counties Dublin and Waterford, and the last are for Counties Armagh and Down. Most were published in the 1850s.
Information in Griffith’s Valuation
Within each county, the results are organized by barony, poor law union, civil parish, and townland. There are eight columns of information, which detail:
- Location reference on the Ordnance Survey.
- Name of person leasing the property.
- Name of person from whom they leased the property.
- Description of property - house, land or offices (offices included factories and farmer's outbuildings).
- Acreage of property.
- Taxable valuation, with amounts for land, buildings, and overall total.
This is enough to place an ancestor in a specific location at a specific time, leading to further research in parish and land records. But occasionally genealogists will find more.
In townlands where a particular surname was common, the surveyors needed to differentiate between people with the same name. To do so, they often included other information in parentheses:
- Junior/Senior: Generally denotes father and son, but not guaranteed. Could also be used for women, but could be daughter-in-law as well as daughter.
- A father’s name: Thomas Murphy (James) vs. Thomas Murphy (Joseph).
- A maiden name: Mary Griffin (Coghlan)
- An occupation: Michael Kelly (farmer) vs. Michael Kelly (clerk).
Where to find Griffith’s Valuation
Griffith’s Valuation was well-published, and bound volumes are held in many genealogical libraries and archives, and many local Irish libraries. With the advent of modern technology, however, access is more readily available.
At Ask About Ireland, genealogists can search for a surname in a particular county, or more specifically in a particular parish or townland, with a results page that links to a scanned image of the original page. They can also search by place name, giving a list of everyone in that location.
IrishOrigins.com, a fee-based website, has a searchable database and digitized original pages for Griffith’s Valuation. Done in conjunction with the National Library of Ireland, it includes not only the final published version of Griffith's, but the appeals to the original valuation.
Various genealogy websites have local extracts of Griffith’s Valuation, some with only indexes and some with links to digitized originals. An online search for “Griffith’s Valuation” and a place name may bring helpful results.
Most other genealogy websites, including Ancestry.com, have only indexes to Griffith’s, and researchers must use microfilm/microfiche at libraries or by loan through the Family History Library to see the complete information.
Griffith’s Valuation can be used to begin research on relationships of people listed, and to trace other occupiers of the same land or descendents of the listed occupiers through other land records. In the absence of census records, it is a valuable genealogical tool.
Read How to Use Griffith's Valuation to Trace Irish Ancestors for more detailed tips.
Sources:
- AskAboutIreland website
- Grenham, John. Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, Gill & Macmillan, 2006.
- IrishOrigins website
- National Archives of Ireland
Jennifer Jensen - Jennifer Jensen is an Indiana writer just returned from a lovely few years in County Cork, Ireland. She has been the Feature Writer for ...
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