Griffith's Valuation Help Administrative Land Divisions in Ireland County: this is the main land unit for local government and there are 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland, with a further 6 counties in Northern Ireland. Barony: there are 331 barony divisions in Ireland and this is thought be originally a Norman land unit. A county has on average between 7 and 10 baronies, though this may differ in a few cases. Baronies vary in size and may extend over more than one county on occasion. Baronies are no longer used as a unit for land government. Parish: This actually refers to civil parishes rather than church ones, but these were originally religious divisions. Most Church of Ireland parishes correspond to a civil parish, though Catholic parishes may extend over more than one civil parish. Civil parishes also vary in size and are grouped together to form a barony. Union: The Union was introduced as the most basic unit of administration under the Poor Law system in 1838 as the Barony and Parish units were felt to be unsatisfactory because of their unequal sizes. Initially the country was divided into 130 Unions and this was adjusted to create smaller unit sizes, so that by 1850 there were 163. Unions are no longer in use as an administrative unit. Townland: This is the smallest land division, but may vary widely in size. There are over 64,000 townlands in Ireland and this unit is still in administrative use today. It is the smallest land unit in Griffith's Valuation. A number of townlands, varying between 5 and 30, make up a civil parish. Many townlands from different areas share the same name.