Hi everyone Just lately I have had a lot of questions asking me what is the Griffiths Valuation. I hope I am able to answer all those questions by printing the following explanation below which is courtesy of the Index to Griffith's Valuation of Ireland, 1848-1864 CD-ROM. I hope this will be of some help to you all. Please note: (The information on this CD-ROM is Copyright 1997 Broderbund Software Inc. All rights reserved). If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact me and don't forget to check out my web site (address below) where you will find more info on researching our Irish ancestors. The results of a Look-Up will give the following information: Abben, William County : Carlow Parish : Carlow Location : T/Carlow Tullow St. (Please remember this is not a Census as we know it). The Griffith's Valuation, or Primary Valuation of Ireland, was executed under the direction of Sir Richard Griffith to determine the amount of tax each person should pay towards the support of the poor within their poor law union. This involved determining the value of all privately held lands and buildings in rural as well as urban areas to figure the rate at which each unit of property could be rented year after year. The resulting survey was arranged by barony and civil parish with an index to the townlands appearing in each volume. The original volumes of the survey are held in the National Archives, Dublin and Public Record Office, Belfast. Griffith's Valuation is an invaluable reference for family historians with ancestors in Ireland. It is a record of extreme importance since no census material of the nineteenth century has survived. In effect, Griffith's Valuation can be used as a census substitute for the years before, during, and after the Great Famine. While it represents an impressive undertaking in terms of property survey, Griffith's Valuation is also an important record of valuable social and economic data. For those seeking information on their Irish ancestors, it provides more than just names and locations of residences. Griffith's Valuation is, effectively, the only detailed guide to where in Ireland people lived in the mid-nineteenth century and what property they possessed. In addition to providing the name of the householder, Griffith's Valuation provides a map reference number to help you identify and perhaps locate property. Few other records can be used to identify an immigrant ancestor's exact place of origin, and only Griffith's Valuation links an individual to a specific townland and civil parish. This information is of extreme importance since the first step in Irish genealogical research is to identify an ancestor's townland and civil parish. This information can lead you to ecclesiastical parish records of births and marriages. Regards and good luck with your research Michael Brennan Kent England Home: michael@janbren.freeserve.co.uk Also researching the KELLY's of Co.Laois Ireland. Check out "Starting out" page on my web site. (There is new info on what records are available in Ireland on my web site) My BRENNAN/MORAN Family: http://www.brennanfamilyhistory.com