Nature of Source
The Tithe Applotment Books were compiled throughout Ireland between 1823 and 1837 following the passing of the Tithe Composition Act 1823. The process reformed the tithe payment system which resulted in a complete valuation of tithable agricultural land in Ireland. The purpose of the Act was to determine the amount each landholder of over one acre of productive agricultural land should pay in tithes to the established Protestant Church of Ireland. The valuations replaced the former system of tithes paid in kind with cash payments.
Each book lists the head of household for every tithable holding, along with details such as the quality and size of the land, its valuation and the amount of tithe due. The valuation was organised by civil parish and subdivided by townland, although some parishes were amalgamated for administrative reasons. Because only arable land above one acre was included, the valuation did not cover cities and towns or rural dwellers such as landless labourers, weavers and other tradesmen. Certain land and property was exempt from tithes, including land held by the Church of Ireland itself and former monastic estates.
Tithe payments were deeply resented and unpopular at the time as the majority of the population, mainly Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters, were required to pay tithes to a church they did not belong to. This widespread resentment led to the Tithe War (1831-1838), a time of mass protest and resistance across the country. This period of mass unrest produced the Tithe Defaulters records.
The Tithe Applotment Books provide a useful snapshot of rural Ireland before the Great Famine, showing the structure of landholding in a largely rural society. Although the records only cover agricultural land of one acre or more and only list heads of households, the books remain an important census substitute for early 19th century Ireland, recording the names and locations of many rural families before large-scale emigration.
Where Found
National Archives of Ireland
The National Archives of Ireland holds the original Tithe Applotment Books for the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland. The books for the six counties of Northern Ireland are held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast, but microfilm copies are available at the NAI Reading Room. Copies of the Index to Surnames or Householders Index which includes data from both the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith’s Valuation is also available in the reading room.
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
PRONI, in Belfast holds the books for the six counties of Northern Ireland.
The National Library of Ireland
The Library holds the Index of Surnames or Householders Index, created in the 1960s by staff at the Library covering all 32 counties of Ireland. The resource is a comprehensive index of surnames found in both Griffith’s Valuation (1848-1864) and the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1837). The Library also holds microfilm copies of the Tithe Applotment Books.
Period Covered
1823 – 1838
Genealogical Value
Tithe Applotment Books
- Name of occupier usually the head of household
- Address (parish and townland).
- Description (quality and acreage) and valuation of property/land held.
- Amount of tithe due.
Tithe Defaulters Index
- Name, address and occupation of tithe defaulter.
Further References
Tithe Applotment Specific
- Clan, Flannery. Tithe Applotment Books (1824-1838): Irish Pre-famine Land Tax Records: Flannery Clan, 2002
- Rymsza, Guy A. County Longford Residents Prior to the Famine: A Transcription And Complete Index of the Tithe Applotment Books of County Longford, Ireland (1823-1835): Dome Shadow Press, 2004
Family History Guides
- Adolph, Anthony. Collins Tracing Your Irish Family History: HarperCollins, 2007
- Begley, Donal. Handbook on Irish Genealogy: How to Trace Your Ancestors and Relatives: Heraldic Artists, 1984
- Connell, Gretta. Tracing Your Westmeath Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2012
- Corrigan, Mario & Durney, James & Kiely, Karel. Tracing your Kildare Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2014
- Davis, Bill. Irish Ancestry – A Beginner’s Guide: FFHS, 2001
- Falley, Margaret Dickson. Irish and Scottish-Irish Ancestral Research: GPC, 1981 (1962)
- Franklin, Margaret. Tracing your Limerick Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2011
- Grenham, John. Irish Ancestors, A Pocket Guide to Your Family History: Gill & Macmillan, 2004
- Grenham, John. Tracing Your Irish Ancestors: Gill & Macmillan, 2011
- Hamrock, John. Tracing your Roscommon Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2007
- Kinealy, Christine. Tracing Your Irish Roots: Appletree Press, 2009
- McCarthy, Tony. The Irish Roots Guide. Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1991
- McCarthy, Tony & Cadogan, Tim. Tracing Your Cork Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2011
- Maxwell, Ian. Tracing Your Ancestors in Northern Ireland: A Guide to Ancestry Research in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland: Stationery Office, 1997
- Maxwell, Ian. Researching Armagh Ancestors: A Practical Guide for the Family and Local Historian: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2000
- Maxwell, Ian. Researching Down Ancestors: A Practical Guide for the Family and Local Historian: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2000
- Maxwell, Ian. How To Trace Your Irish Ancestors: How To Books, 2009
- Maxwell, Ian. Your Irish Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen and Sword, 2008
- Maxwell, Ian. Tracing Your Northern Irish Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen and Sword, 2010
- Meehan, Helen & Duffy, Godfrey. Tracing Your Donegal Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2008
- Mitchell, Brian. A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2009
- Mitchell, Brian. Basic Guide to Irish Records for Family History: Clearfield Company, 2009
- Mitchell, Brian. Tracing Derry-Londonderry Roots: Clearfield Company, 2014
- Mitchell, Brian. NEW Pocket Guide to Irish Genealogy Paperback: Clearfield, 2020
- O’Connor, Michael H. Tracing your Kerry Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 1994
- O’Dowd, Peadar. Tracing your Galway Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2010
- Ouimette, David. Finding Your Irish Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide: Ancestry.com, 2005
- Paton, Chris. Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet: A Guide For Family Historians: Pen & Sword Books, 2013
- Prochaska, Alice, Irish History from 1700: A Guide to Sources in the Public Record Office: British Records Association, 1986
- Raymond, Stuart. Irish Family History on the Web: The Family History Partnership, 2007
- Roulston, William. Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors: The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster, 1600-1800: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2005
- Ryan, James. Irish Records: Sources for Family & Local History: Flyleaf Press, 1997
- Ryan, James & Smith, Brian. Tracing Your Dublin Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2009
- Ryan, James. Tracing your Sligo Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2012
- Smith, Brian. Tracing your Mayo Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2010
- Smith, Brian & Kennedy, Gerry. Tracing Your Clare Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2013
- Stewart, Alan. My Ancestor Was Irish: A Guide to Sources for Family Historians: Society of Genealogists, 2012
Other
- Bradshaw’s Railway Map Great Britain and Ireland 1852: Mapseeker Publishing, 2013
- Connolly, S.J. The Oxford Companion to Irish History: Oxford University Press, 2007
- Coogan, Tim, Pat. The Famine Plot: England’s Role in Ireland’s Greatest Tragedy: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013
- Dickson, R.J. Ulster Emigration to Colonial America, 1718-1775: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1976
- Grenham, John. The Little Book of Irish Clans and Tartans: Book Sales, 1995
- Robinson, Philip. Plantation of Ulster: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2000
- Smith, Paul & Turner, Keith. Railway Atlas of Ireland Then & Now: Ian Allan Publishing, 2014
Websites
National Archives of Ireland
Researching family history: Tithe Applotment Records.
FamilySearch Research Wiki
Ireland Tithe Applotment Books.
Who Do You Think You Are Magazine
Tithe applotment books: Our guide to finding your Irish ancestors’ land. Tithe applotment books are one of the most important family history resources for 19th century Ireland.
Irish Genealogy Toolkit
Tithe Applotment Books.
John Grenham
Tithe Applotment Books.
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
Tithe records. The information leaflet below gives an overview of tithe applotment records.
Una Sinnott
Everything you need to know about the Tithe Applotment Books: A genealogical guide.
Timeline Research Ireland
Tithe Applotment Books Online.
Paul MacCotter
Tithe Applotment books.
Letter From Ireland
Using the Irish Tithe Applotment Books.
Townland Resources
Irish Genealogical Research Society
Index of Townlands, 1901. The site offers access to the Index of Townlands from 1901. The index, published in 1904 by the Commissioners of Census, was created as an aid in processing the returns for the 1901 census of Ireland. The index provides an alphabetical listing of townlands and towns in Ireland, along with various administrative divisions such as parishes and electoral divisions.
Irish Townland and Historical Map Viewer
Tailte Éireann (formerly Ordnance Survey Ireland). The service allows users to view historical and townland boundaries and features for the island of Ireland on interactive maps. Enables fast search and pinpointing of particular Irish townlands, names and boundary features.
The IreAtlas
Townland database. Search of the IreAtlas Townland database. The results of a county or townland search show all the townlands within the requested county together with the barony and parish.
nidirect
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. In this section you can access lists of townlands arranged in the following different ways by county, by parish, within the estates of major landowners and alphabetically.
Irish Homelands
The website offers a tool for exploring Irish townlands. Users can access a detailed list of townlands and search by parish or county if you’re unsure of the townland name.
John Grenham
Irish Placenames. 1851 General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, parishes and Baronies of Ireland. Search the entire Index, together with street listings from Dublin, Cork and Belfast cities, more than 65,000 entries in all.
Irish Genealogy
Family Research 2016: Placenames. This article explains and explores how townlands and parishes got their names with links to useful resources.
Online Databases
Findmypast
The 1831 Tithe Defaulters. The names in these records are of those who refused to pay the tithe and whom were recorded by the Church of Ireland clergy. For each defaulter expect to find Name, Occupation, Address, Parish, Barony, County. Compiled by Stephen McCormac.
National Archives of Ireland
The Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-1837. The books have been digitally imaged and are searchable by surname, forename, county, parish and townland. A browse facility allows users to survey entire parishes and townlands. The Books were transcribed and indexed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, who microfilmed the records many years ago.
Ancestry
Ireland, Tithe Applotment Books, 1805-1837. Information from the Tithe Books has been extracted and the names have been indexed in this data set.
FamilySearch
Ireland Tithe Applotment Books, 1824-1855. List occupiers of Irish land and church tithe owed to support the established church. Arranged by parish for the Republic of Ireland.
FamilySearch
Northern Ireland, Tithe Applotment Books, 1822-1840. Tithe Applotment books for Northern Ireland are something of land survey taken by Church of Ireland in order to determine the value of land and possible corresponding tithe. The records span 1822-1837 and were originally filmed at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast.
Fáilte Romhat
Tithe Defaulter Schedules for Cork 1831. These schedules are lists of the names of people who did not pay their tithes for some parishes in Cork in 1831. These files were scanned from microfiche and then converted using OCR software. Affidavits for each parish are included.
RootsIreland
Irish Family History Foundation. The site offers a unique database of more than 23 million Irish records from 34 county genealogy centres on the island of Ireland. The main sources are Irish Catholic and other church records of baptisms, marriages and deaths. The site also features Civil Birth & Marriage Records, Census Records, Gravestone Inscriptions, Griffith’s Valuation for Ireland, Irish Ship Passenger Lists and Census Substitutes for Ireland.
Ulster Historical Foundation
Distribution of Surnames/Householders Report. Ulster, mid-19th century. This resource provides an indication as to the parishes and counties in the province of Ulster where a surname is most concentrated. It covers the surnames of farmers (usually leaseholders) in the tithe applotment books compiled 1823-1838 and also all names of property occupiers in the printed version of the tenement valuation, known as ‘Griffith Valuation’, covering all properties in Ulster 1857-1864.
Ancestry
Irish Records Index, 1500-1920. This database is an index containing a wide range of Irish historical records held at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The index includes details such as name, date, residence and item numbers drawn from histories, pedigrees, parish registers, probates, and orphan’s court records.
Data Tree Publishing
Ireland. A listing of Land Tax or Tithe Defaulters 1831.
Clare County Library
County Clare Tithe Applotment Books, 1820s-1840s: Surname Index.
Bill Macafee
Family and Local History. Tithe Records: 1820s/30s Tithe Applotment Books. The database contains an index of names for the parishes and townlands in the Baronies of Cary, Lower Dunluce, Upper Dunluce and Kilconway; plus the parishes and townlands in the Barony of N. E. Liberties of Coleraine in Co. Londonderry (a total of 8709 entries.
