Hello Julie Anne, Ireland and it's counties are sub-divided in a unique way. The smallest and most significant division is what is known as the "Townland" Counties are divided into Parishes and Parishes further divided into townlands. This ancient method of land measurement is found only in Ireland and is very important in genealogical research. These small areas of land can vary in size from a few acres upwards and are the basis of the most important of all Irish Genealogical Records , Sir Richard Griffith's Valuation of 1848-1865. There are approximately 62,000 townlands in Ireland and anything from perhaps five to thirty can be grouped together to form a Parish. Griffiths Valuation was taken not by Parish but by Poor Law Union. Poor Law Unions (or Superintendant Registrar's Districts) were the areas of administration for poor relief established under the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act, 1838. Because these areas centered on large market towns to a radius of approx.10 miles,(where they built the Workhouse) they often tended to cross County boundaries. They became Superintendant Registrars' Districts at the end of the 19th Century. Waringstown therefore is a town (not a townland) in the County of Down, in the Parish of Donaghcloney, in the Poor Law Union of Lurgan. best regards Robert www.ulsterancestry.com >From: JParks1393@aol.com >To: Scotch-Irish-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [Sc-Ir] Thanks Robert and Alan >Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 14:57:29 EDT > >So Waringstown straddles both Down and Armagh, eh? Is that a result of >changing boundaries over the years? Does that mean I have to check church >and >civil records for both counties? Or do the civil parishes take precedence? > >I'm having a terrible time getting a grip on poor law unions, civil >parishes, >townlands, etc., and Waringstown being in both Down and Armagh isn't >helping >any! > >Regards, >Julie Anne Parks > >Searching: Parks, Finley, Doherty, Donnelly, Flynn, Mahoney, McAvoy >Hettrick, Cassidy, Donahoe, Donahue, Timmons, Winrow > _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN Search Toolbar now includes Desktop search! http://toolbar.msn.co.uk/