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Books of Survey and Distribution were compiled around 1680 as the result of the wars of the mid-seventeenth century after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, when the English government needed reliable information on land ownership throughout Ireland to carry out its policy of land confiscation.
The books were used to impose the acreable rent called the Quit Rent, which was payable yearly on lands granted under terms of the Acts of Settlement and Explanation. It is possible to discover to whom, if anyone, the confiscated lands were granted so that we have a record of landowners for 1641 and 1680. As a result, it is possible to determine the amount of lands lost by the 1641 owners after the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and to discover the names of the new proprietors.
The Books of Survey and Distribution form part of the Annesley Papers (ref D.1854). [1] They consist of 22 volumes and each volume includes an 'alphabet' which is an index of denominations. The text includes a physical description of each barony, with details of woods, bogs, rivers, soil, etc. The information is laid out in tabular form on a barony and parish basis. The details include: "Proprietors in 1641 by the Civil Survey", "Denominations of lands by the Downe Survey", "Number of acres distributed", "persons to whom distributed" and "Rent per annum payable to His Majesty".
The surviving Survey and Distribution volumes cover the following counties: Kilkenny, Waterford, Kerry, Kildare, Carlow, Wexford, Longford, Mayo, Tipperary, Monaghan, Armagh, Limerick, Westmeath, Clare, Roscommon, Galway, Cork, Down, Antrim, Leitrim, Sligo, Cavan, Fermanagh, Laois, Offaly, Wicklow, Donegal, Londonderry and Tyrone.
The Books for Clare, Galway, Mayo and Roscommon have been published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission. For other counties, manuscript copies are available at the National Library. [2] Those for co Clare were published in the nineteenth century as part of James Frost's The History and Topography of the County of Clare. A digital version has been put online by Clare County Library. [3]
In 2022 the manuscripts were digitized and published online as part of the "Virtual Treasury" project. [4]
The name McInerney is of noble Irish origin where it is found in the modern Irish form of Mac an Airchinnigh and in the old and literary forms of Mac an Oirchinnigh and Mac an Oirchindig. The pronunciation of Mac an Oirchinnigh led the name to be sometimes anglicised as McEnherheny in Irish documents from the 16th–19th centuries. The name translates to "son of the erenagh" in Irish, literally meaning "son of the Lord of church lands". Airchinneach may in turn derive from the twin components of air ("noble") and ceann ("head"), therefore meaning a 'noble-head' or 'Lord', denoting its aristocratic status in medieval Ireland. The coat of arms is three red lions passant, and the motto is Veritas, meaning "Truth". In some places, the motto can be found as Vincit Veritas, meaning "Truth Conquers", or "Truth Prevails".
The Down Survey was a cadastral survey of Ireland, carried out by English scientist, William Petty, in 1655 and 1656. It was created to provide for precise re-allocation of land confiscated from the Irish.
Folan, is an Irish family name. They were a Brehon family in County Galway. The Folan family are of Conmhaícne origin.
Costello is one of the ancient baronies of Ireland. Unusually for an Irish barony, it straddles two counties: County Mayo and County Roscommon. It comprises the modern day districts of Kilkelly, Kilmovee, Killeagh, Kilcolman, and Castlemore.
Island Eddy is a small, depopulated island at the inner, eastern end of Galway Bay, Ireland.
Servreagh O'Folan, Irish Brehon, fl. 1585.
Mullaghduff is a townland in the Parish of Tomregan, Barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland.
Drumcliff, or Drumcliffe, Dromcliffe is a civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. It includes the village of Inch and part of the town of Ennis.
Cross Tipperary, formally the County of the Cross of Tipperary, was an Irish county comprising those lands within County Tipperary which were excluded from the "County of the Liberty of Tipperary", the county palatine under the jurisdiction of the Earl of Ormond. Cross Tipperary existed from the granting of the liberty in 1328 until 1637, and was explicitly abolished along with the palatine jurisdiction in 1715.
Ballyhannon Castle is a medieval Irish castle dating back to the 15th century, located near the village of Quin in County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland. It is fully intact and in the Irish Governmental records it is registered as a National Monument and "Listed/Protected" structure, intended to protect its historic, architectural and aesthetic significance.
Newtown Castle is a 16th-century tower house, located close to the village of Ballyvaughan within the Burren area of County Clare, Ireland. Uniquely for a tower house of its type in Ireland, it is cylindrical in shape above a square pyramidal base. It is today part of the Burren College of Art.
Nehemias Folan (1555–?) Irish Brehon.
Gleninagh or Glaninagh is a civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. It lies in the extreme northwest of the Burren, on the south of the mouth of Galway Bay. It is known for the well-preserved L-plan Gleninagh Castle, a 16th-century tower house. The parish also contains the lighthouse on Black Head.
Drumcreehy or Dromcreehy is a civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. It contains the village of Ballyvaughan.
The Composition of Connacht, or Composition of Connaught and Thomond, was a 1585 agreement between, on the one hand, the Gaelic and Gaelicised chiefs of Connacht and Thomond and, on the other hand, the English Dublin Castle administration of the Kingdom of Ireland, which replaced the multiple existing levies with a single tax on land holdings. The Composition was a form of surrender and regrant, a part of the Tudor reconquest of Ireland. The English leaders were Sir John Perrot, as Lord Deputy of Ireland, and Sir Richard Bingham, as Governor of the Presidency of Connacht.
Cavanaquill is a townland in the civil parish of Templeport, County Cavan, Ireland. It lies in the Roman Catholic parish of Templeport and barony of Tullyhaw.
Derrymony is a townland in the civil parish of Templeport, County Cavan, Ireland. It lies in the Roman Catholic parish of Templeport and barony of Tullyhaw.
Aghnacally is a townland in the civil parish of Kinawley, barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland. A sub-division is called Carricknabrock. Another sub-division is called The Spinks. The 1938 Dúchas folklore collection states- The 'Spinks', in the townland of Aughnakelly in a hollow between Northern and Southern Ireland, is supposed to contain deposits of coal.
Athlone North, also called North Athlone, is a barony in County Roscommon, Ireland. Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.