Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of 1837 describes townlands. parishes and other divisions in Ireland at that time. He tells us about each area, the physical description, who the landowners were - that is those whose houses are named, he tells us what employment was in an area, how many schools there were, most importantly he tells us how many churches there were or religious parishes and which was united with which - he points us to religious records for that area at that time. In time - the parishes may have split up again or united with another and today - while we are told for example that there are x number of catholic parishes in this diocese or that one, this is not the picture as it was 150 years ago. On my web site, I have lists of RC parishes, priests and the closest post town in 1836. I compare the spellings or the changes in parish numbers between that and 1931. The parishes in 1931 are probably pretty much as they were today. I also have some exerpts of the Topographical Dictionary...............and some references from Irish birth mariage and death indexes. These are divided into separate pages for each of the registration districts associated with a county. WHile people don't realise it - if their ancestors lived close to a county border in any area covererd by the Poor Law Union of another county - then their civil registration was with that other county. This is the link to my Roscommon page. http://www.from-ireland.net/contents/roscommconts.htm Jane