This database, an index to one of Ireland's premier genealogical resources, Griffith's Valuation, references approximately one million individuals who occupied property in Ireland between 1848 and 1864. The Griffith's Valuation, or Primary Valuation of Ireland, was executed under the direction of Sir Richard Griffith to determine the amount of tax each person should pay towards the support of the poor within their poor law union. This involved determining the value of all privately held lands and buildings in rural as well as urban areas to figure the rate at which each unit of property could be rented year after year. The resulting survey was arranged by barony and civil parish with an index to the townlands appearing in each volume. The original volumes of the survey are held in the National Archives, Dublin and Public Record Office, Belfast.

Griffith's Valuation is an invaluable reference for family historians with ancestors in Ireland. It is a record of extreme importance since no census material of the nineteenth century has survived. In effect, Griffith's Valuation can be used as a census substitute for the years before, during, and after the Great Famine. While it represents an impressive undertaking in terms of property survey, Griffith's Valuation is also an important record of valuable social and economic data. For those seeking information on their Irish ancestors, it provides more than just names and locations of residences. Griffith's Valuation is, effectively, the only detailed guide to where in Ireland people lived in the mid-nineteenth century and what property they possessed. In addition to providing the name of the householder, Griffith's Valuation provides a map reference number to help you identify and perhaps locate property.

Few other records can be used to identify an immigrant ancestor's exact place of origin, and only Griffith's Valuation links an individual to a specific townland and civil parish. This information is of extreme importance since the first step in Irish genealogical research is to identify an ancestor's townland and civil parish. This information can lead you to ecclesiastical parish records of births and marriages.

A map plotted with the location of the dwellings listed on the Griffith's Valuation is on the link below.

GPS Coordinates for Griffith's Valuation Maps