How do I plan a roots trip around a specific townland?
Do the paper work before the plane ticket. Confirm the townland's parish and county, and pin it on a modern map: Tailte Éireann, the state mapping body, holds the historic Ordnance Survey and valuation maps that show the townland's boundaries and the houses on it in your ancestor's time. Print the Griffith's Valuation page and map for the townland and bring them. On the ground, work the triangle: the parish church and its graveyard, the nearest local studies library or genealogy centre, and the townland itself. Contact the parish or centre before you travel; graveyards are usually open, but records and local knowledge are not always on tap. Give the townland a full day, not an hour between stops. It is the one place on the trip that is only yours.
Useful pages: Irish in USA · The Irish surnames map · Trace your Irish roots · Coming home · Irish around the world
Sources
- Tailte Eireann: historic mapping and valuation maps, tailte.ie
- AskAboutIreland: Griffith's Valuation and its valuation maps, askaboutireland.ie
More in Irish in USA and the diaspora
- What is the Foreign Births Registration, and who qualifies?
- What documents do I need for a Foreign Births Registration application?
- Does my child qualify if I register my own foreign birth after they are born?
- What is the difference between citizenship by descent and the Foreign Births Register?
- Can I claim Irish citizenship through a great-grandparent?