The island of Ireland is divided into a number of political subdivisions. The first and largest are the four provinces -- Connaught (made up of 5 counties), Leinster (12 counties), Munster (6 counties), and Ulster (9 counties). These were the traditional ancient kingdoms. Within the provinces are counties, totalling 32 for the whole island. These include Tiperary, Donegal, Galway, Antrim, etc. Most of those names have remained the same over time, with a couple of notable exceptions: Queen's County became County Leix (or Laois), and King's Co. became County Offaly, after the division of Ireland in 1921. The counties are made up of numerous civil parishes, which are the primary administrative and taxation subdivisions. These usually have the name of the principal town or city of the parish. For example, County Derry/Londonderry has 31 civil parishes. There are also ecclesiastical (church) parishes, which often bear the same name as the civil parish. These are associated with the Chuch of Ireland or Catholic Church and may or may not exactly correspond geographically to the civil parish (more often not). Groups of ecclesiastical parishes are called dioceses. Within the civil parishes are townlands. These are the smallest recognized political subdivisions in rural Ireland. There are over 62,000 on the island, some bearing the same name (in different counties). These vary in size from a few acres to a few thousand. The names, originating in the mists of time, have largely remained the same or similar, but there are many exceptions. Some names (and townlands) have disappeared completely over time, some names have been Anglicized (especially in Nothern Ireland), etc. A great website to search is http://www.seanruad.com/ To further complicate the matter, when Ireland was divided in 1921, Northern Ireland became part of the United Kingdom/Great Britain. This new political subdivision included six of the nine traditional counties of Ulster, the name by which some people still (incorrectly) refer to it. The other three counties remained in the Republic of (Southern) Ireland. There are also ancient Baronies throughout Ireland. They often included many parishes or parts of parishes, and cross county lines. They are largely in disuse now, but cannot be disregarded as many land deed and tax records are still listed and recorded by Barony. Finally, there are Poor Law Unions, as a result of an 1838 law requiring groups of townlands to be responsible for the destitute within their boundaries. They have taxation powers, and kept records of workhouse and hospital inmates. Today they are sub-divided into electoral districts. Good luck in your search, Tim Kane Seattle At 11:00 PM 2/6/2007 -0700, you wrote: >Today's Topics: > > 1. Definition of the word 'townland' (Jenni Gibson) > 2. Re: Definition of the word 'townland' - When established > (Mike Boyd)