Most people meet Griffith's Valuation first. But there's an older list that can carry a farming family a full generation further back — into the 1820s and 1830s, before the Famine and before civil registration. The Tithe Applotment Books are less complete and harder to use than Griffith's, but when they name your family, they're often the earliest record that does.
What the tithe books were for
Between roughly 1823 and 1837, a survey was made across Ireland to work out how much each occupier of agricultural land owed in tithes — a tax paid for the support of the established Church of Ireland. The resulting Tithe Applotment Books list the people holding farmland, parish by parish and townland by townland.
That tax was deeply resented, especially by the Catholic majority who were paying to support a church not their own, and the records it produced have outlived the grievance. Today they're one of the most valuable surviving sources for the pre-Famine generation.
Who they include — and who they miss
The tithe books record occupiers of agricultural land, which makes them excellent for farming families. But they deliberately leave out those who held no tithable land: many town dwellers, labourers without a holding, and the landless poor simply don't appear.
So a name's absence from the tithe books doesn't mean the family wasn't there — it may only mean they held no land that was tithed. Read alongside Griffith's Valuation a generation later, the two together give a fuller picture of who was on the ground and how holdings changed hands.
How to search them free
The Tithe Applotment Books for the Republic of Ireland are digitised and free to search at the National Archives of Ireland, by surname and by place. Records for the six counties of Northern Ireland are held separately by PRONI.
Because the surveys were made parish by parish over a span of years, the format and detail vary from one book to the next. Fixing the parish first — usually from Griffith's or a family story — makes the search far quicker than hunting a surname blind across a county.
What a match really gives you
A name in the Tithe Applotment Books places your family on a specific townland in the 1820s or 1830s — often the earliest documentary proof of where they were before they emigrated or before the Famine reshaped everything.
On its own it's a single line in a tax survey. Tied to a parish register, an estate record and Griffith's Valuation, it becomes the deep anchor of a proven line — the kind of foundation a homecoming can be built on.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the Tithe Applotment Books?
- A survey made roughly between 1823 and 1837 to assess how much each occupier of farmland owed in tithes, listing landholders parish by parish and townland by townland — often the earliest record naming a pre-Famine farming family.
- Who is missing from the Tithe Applotment Books?
- Anyone who held no tithable land — many town dwellers, labourers without a holding, and the landless poor. A name's absence doesn't prove the family wasn't there, only that they held no tithed land.
- Are the Tithe Applotment Books free to search?
- Yes, the Republic of Ireland's books are free at the National Archives of Ireland by surname and place; records for the six counties of Northern Ireland are held by PRONI.