What can land records tell us--Part I Griffiths Valuation

Although nearly all of the census records prior to 1901 were destroyed in the 1922 fire, we do have land records (The Tithe Applotment Records and Griffith's Valuation) which can sometimes be helpful in finding information about particular families.

The map above is the town plan for Gortnahoe. This map and all of the information below from the Griffiths Valuation can be found at http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/   If you look closely at this map, you'll note that Gortnahoe is in the Parish of Buolick. In the lower right is Kilcooly, and just under that label is the area Ballynunty. It would appear then that records for Ballynunty would be located in the Parish of Kilcooly. Griffiths Valuations were done using Civil Parishes as opposed to Catholic Parishes and this is often why it is difficult to reconcile the records with church records.

The area we need to search for records in is call Tipperary South Riding. The township of Gortnahoe is listed in the Parish of Buolik, in Tipperary South Riding, so let's look at records for Buolick. The recordings for Gortnahoe separate the town itself from the surrounding area and the records are listed on two pages of book. Let's take a look at that list:

There are several Mahers listed here as tenants: John, James and Thomas, but no Patrick.

More Mahers here. Although it isn't clear, you'll note that there is a section in the lower part of this page that says "Village of Gortnahoe", which indicates that the previous listings for Gortnahoe were outside the village itself. Neither Ballynastick nor Ballynunty are part of the Gortnahoe records here.

Ballynastick has its own listing as a township in Griffiths in the Parish of Buolick:

And there is a Patrick Maher listed here at lot #28, which is shared with another tenant and is leased from Edward Cormick (sp).

So, we can pretty much safely assume that this is the Patrick Maher that was married to Bridget Mullally. Note that the printing date is 1850. Ellen 1847 would've been 3 years old at the time of the survey. 

What about Ballynunty? Ballynunty is in the Parish of Kilcooly in Tipperary South Riding.

There is a Patrick Maher living in Ballinunty at the time of Griffiths Valuation survey, and Patrick Maher is a landowner here, leasing land to Patrick Russell. Is this the Patrick married to Bridget Mulhall? Again, note that the printing date is 1850. 

Well, one thing we've learned for certain from this: Ballinunty and Ballinastick, as recorded in the Baptismal records, are two different places.