In a message dated 8/5/03 6:12:55 PM Pacific Daylight Time, SJHATHAWAY@aol.com writes: > What is the Griffiths Valuation? This might be helpful info for all those researching Irish relatives in Christian County... In order to produce the accurate information necessary for local taxation, the Tenement Act of 1842 provided for a uniform valuation of all property in Ireland, to be based on the productive capacity of land and the potential rent of buildings. Griffith's Valuation, is arranged by counties and within counties by Poor Law Union Divisions and within Unions by parishes. It includes the following information: townland address; householder's name; name of the person from whom the property was leased; description of the property; acreage; valuation. There are no census for Ireland (well, very few). The best that can be done when starting your Irish roots is to look in the Griffith's to pinpoint an area. Now, if you have the genealogy.com subscription for (I think) immigration records the Griffith's are included for many if not all the counties. Galway was done in 1853/1854. If William Kerwin was the father, you would look for him. You would then find not only Parish but Townland. Then you start looking in church records. Anything before the 1850s is a gamble to find anything. This is why I said researching Ireland can be tough. Stay clear of the History Centers they are not that helpful and you don't get near what you pay for. Although with many Irish coming to the US you could get lucky finding info here. My Irish family immigrated to Australia making it tough for me and unfamiliar with Irish American history. Mum's family is from Oz and Dad's family is from Pana. Steph