40-553: Ranaghan is a townland and archaeological site in County Westmeath , Ireland . It is south-west of Lough Lene on high ground where there are a multitude of ringforts . Randoon (Randún), possibly the most famous fort of the area, is between Castlepollard and Collinstown . Turgesius the Viking is believed to have governed and sojourned in this area. Ringforts are fortified settlements, generally agreed to be from
80-465: A common summer pasturage by the people of a whole parish or barony". Until the 19th century most townlands were owned by single landlords and occupied by multiple tenants. The cess , used to fund roadworks and other local expenses, was charged at the same rate on each townland in a barony , regardless of its size and productive capacity. Thus, occupiers in a small or poor townland suffered in comparison to those of larger or more fertile townlands. This
120-667: A local chieftain or ruler; the term is also applied to promontory forts. No historical or archaeological maps, surveys, nor records of the Early Medieval Period in Ireland approach the dates of the Irish ringforts. The areas surrounding Lough Lene (meaning "fertile soil") of Collinstown , Glenidan, Comerstown, Ranaghan, are dotted with ringforts, testifying to the land of fertile soil. Townland A townland ( Irish : baile fearainn ; Ulster-Scots : toonlann )
160-414: A majority of the population from a Catholic community background, according to the 2021 census . In 1900 County Tyrone had a population of 197,719, while in 2021 it was 188,383. At the time of the 2021 census, 66.49% were from a Catholic background, 28.88% were from a Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related), 0.66% were from other religions, and 3.97% had no religious background. In
200-439: A population of 188,383 as of the 2021 census , Tyrone is the 5th most populous county in both Northern Ireland and Ulster, and the 11th most populous county on the island of Ireland. The county derives its name and general geographic location from Tír Eoghain , a Gaelic kingdom under the O'Neill dynasty which existed until the 17th century. The name Tyrone is derived from Irish Tír Eoghain 'land of Eoghan ',
240-400: A postcode system was to be introduced (see Republic of Ireland postal addresses ). The system, known as Eircode , was introduced in 2014, but although more widely used by 2021, townlands remain predominant address identifiers in rural areas. County Tyrone County Tyrone ( / t ɪ ˈ r oʊ n / ; from Irish Tír Eoghain , meaning 'land of Eoghan' [tʲiːɾʲ ˈɔːn] )
280-572: A quarter), "gort" and "quarter" ( Irish : ceathrú ). In County Fermanagh the divisions were "ballybetagh", "quarter" and "tate". Further subdivisions in Fermanagh appear to be related to liquid or grain measures such as "gallons", "pottles" and "pints". In Ulster, the ballybetagh was the territorial unit controlled by an Irish sept, typically containing around 16 townlands. Fragmentation of ballybetaghs resulted in units consisting of four, eight, and twelve townlands. One of these fragmented units,
320-530: A sense of belonging. The Royal Mail's changes were seen as a severing of this link. At the time the county councils were the government bodies responsible for validating the change. However, as local government itself was undergoing changes, the Royal Mail's decision was "allowed ... to become law almost by default". County Fermanagh is the only county in Northern Ireland that managed to resist
360-501: A settlement. Throughout most of Ulster, townlands were known as "ballyboes" ( Irish : baile bó , meaning "cow land"), and represented an area of pastoral economic value. In County Cavan similar units were called "polls", and in Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan , they were known as tates or taths . These names appear to be of English origin, but had become naturalised long before 1600. Modern townlands with
400-535: A team of horses yoked to a plough). Thomas Larcom , the first Director of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland , made a study of the ancient land divisions of Ireland and summarised the traditional hierarchy of land divisions thus: 10 acres – 1 Gneeve; 2 Gneeves – 1 Sessiagh; 3 Sessiaghs – 1 Tate or Ballyboe; 2 Ballyboes – 1 Ploughland, Seisreagh or Carrow; 4 Ploughlands – 1 Ballybetagh, or Townland; 30 Ballybetaghs – Triocha Céad or Barony . This hierarchy
440-443: A townland is about 325 acres (1.32 km ; 132 ha), but they vary widely in size. William Reeves 's 1861 survey states that the smallest was Old Church Yard, near Carrickmore , in the parish of Termonmagurk , County Tyrone , at 0.625 acres (0.253 ha) and the largest, at 7,555 acres (30.57 km ; 11.805 sq mi), was and is Fionnán (also called Finnaun) in the parish of Killanin , County Galway . In fact,
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#1732772603998480-411: Is 37.5 miles (60.4 km); giving an area of 1,261 sq mi (3,270 km ). Annaghone lays claim to be the geographical centre of Northern Ireland. Tyrone is connected by land to the counties of Fermanagh to the southwest; Monaghan to the south; Armagh to the southeast; Londonderry to the north; and Donegal to the west. Across Lough Neagh to the east, it borders County Antrim . It
520-643: Is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering 100–500 acres (40–202 ha). The townland system is of Gaelic origin, antedating the Norman invasion , and most have names of Irish origin. However, some townland names and boundaries come from Norman manors , plantation divisions, or later creations of
560-524: Is based on the Gaelic system of land division, and the first official evidence of the existence of this Gaelic land division system can be found in church records from before the 12th century, it was in the 1600s that they began to be mapped and defined by the English administration for the purpose of confiscating land and apportioning it to investors or planters from Britain. The term "townland" in English
600-476: Is derived from the Old English word tūn , denoting an enclosure. The term describes the smallest unit of land division in Ireland, based on various forms of Gaelic land division, many of which had their own names. The term baile , anglicised as "bally", is the most dominant element used in Irish townland names. Today, the term "bally" denotes an urban settlement, but its precise meaning in ancient Ireland
640-480: Is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland , one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland . Its county town is Omagh . Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh , the county covers an area of 1,261 square miles (3,266 km ), making it the largest of Northern Ireland's six counties by size, and the second largest county in Ulster after Donegal . With
680-409: Is the eighth largest of Ireland's thirty-two counties by area and tenth largest by population. It is the second largest of Ulster's nine traditional counties by area and fourth largest by population. The county was administered by Tyrone County Council from 1899 until the abolition of county councils in Northern Ireland in 1973. It is one of four counties in Northern Ireland which currently has
720-461: Is unclear, as towns had no place in Gaelic social organisation. The modern Irish term for a townland is baile fearainn (plural: bailte fearainn ). The term fearann means "land, territory, quarter". The Normans left no major traces in townland names, but they adapted some of them for their own use, possibly seeing a similarity between the Gaelic baile and the Norman bailey , both of which meant
760-481: The Ordnance Survey . The total number of inhabited townlands in Ireland was 60,679 in 1911. The total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61,098, including uninhabited townlands, mainly small islands. In Ireland, a townland is generally the smallest administrative division of land, though a few large townlands are further divided into hundreds . The concept of townlands
800-559: The "quarter", representing a quarter of a ballybetagh, was the universal land denomination recorded in the survey of County Donegal conducted in 1608. In the early 17th century 20 per cent of the total area of western Ulster was under the control of the church. These " termonn " lands consisted likewise of ballybetaghs and ballyboes, but were held by erenaghs instead of sept leaders. Other units of land division used throughout Ireland include: "Cartrons" were also sometimes called "ploughlands" or "seisreagh" ( Irish : seisreach , meaning
840-522: The 2021 UK census in County Tyrone: (population of 18,000 or more and under 75,000 at 2021 Census) (population of 10,000 or more and under 18,000 at 2021 Census) (population of 4,500 or more and under 10,000 at 2021 Census) (population of 2,250 or more and under 4,500 at 2021 Census) (population of 1,000 or more and under 2,250 at 2001 Census) (population of less than 1,000 at 2001 Census) Baronies Parishes Townlands There
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#1732772603998880-584: The Early Medieval Period in Northern Europe, especially Ireland. They are also known as ráth (as in Ranaghan) caiseal , cathair and dún (as in Randoon/Randún ) in the early Irish sources. A ráth (anglicised rath) was made of earth; caiseal (northwestern Ireland, anglicised cashel) and cathair (southwestern Ireland) were built of stone. A dún is a more prestigious site, the seat of
920-477: The Irish acre, the English acre, the Cunningham acre, the plantation acre and the statute acre. The Ordnance Survey maps used the statute acre measurement. The quality and situation of the land affected the size of these acres. The Cunningham acre is given as intermediate between the Irish and English acres. Many of these land division terms have been preserved in the names of modern townlands. For example,
960-462: The O'Neills, included the whole of the present counties of Tyrone and Londonderry, and the four baronies of West Inishowen , East Inishowen , Raphoe North and Raphoe South in County Donegal . In 1608 during O'Doherty's Rebellion areas of the country were plundered and burnt by the forces of Sir Cahir O'Doherty following his destruction of Derry . However, O'Doherty's men avoided
1000-640: The change completely. Nevertheless, many newer road signs in parts of Northern Ireland now show townland names (see picture). In 2001 the Northern Ireland Assembly passed a motion requesting government departments to make use of townland addresses in correspondence and publications. In the Republic of Ireland townlands continue to be used on addresses. In 2005 the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources announced that
1040-455: The changes. It was described as a "ground-level community effort". Taking place in the midst of The Troubles , the campaign was a rare example of unity between Catholics and Protestants , nationalists and unionists . Townlands and their names "seem to have been considered as a shared resource and heritage". Those involved in the campaign argued that, in many areas, people still strongly identified with their townlands and that this gave them
1080-463: The estates of the recently fled Earl of Tyrone around Dungannon , fearing Tyrone's anger if he returned from his exile. With an area of 1,261 square miles (3,266 km ), Tyrone is the largest county in Northern Ireland. The flat peatlands of East Tyrone border the shoreline of the largest lake in the British Isles, Lough Neagh , rising gradually across to the more mountainous terrain in
1120-526: The island, but in that year the Royal Mail decided that the townland element of the address was obsolete in Northern Ireland. Townland names were not banned, but they were deemed "superfluous information" and people were asked not to include them on addresses. They were to be replaced by house numbers, road names and postcodes . In response the Townlands Campaign emerged to protest against
1160-556: The name given to the conquests made by the Cenél nEógain from the provinces of Airgíalla and Ulaid . Historically, it was anglicised as Tirowen or Tyrowen , which are closer to the Irish pronunciation. Historically Tyrone (then Tír Eoghain or Tirowen) was much larger in size, stretching as far north as Lough Foyle , and comprised part of modern-day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle . The majority of County Londonderry
1200-477: The prefix pol- is widely found throughout western Ireland, its accepted meaning being "hole" or "hollow". In County Cavan, which contains over half of all townlands in Ulster with the prefix pol- , some should probably be better translated as "the poll of ...". In County Tyrone, the following hierarchy of land divisions was used: "ballybetagh" ( Irish : baile beithigh , meaning "cattle place"), "ballyboe", "sessiagh" ( Irish : séú cuid , meaning sixth part of
1240-599: The prefix tat- are confined almost exclusively to the diocese of Clogher, which covers Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan, and the barony of Clogher in County Tyrone ), and cannot be confused with any other Irish word. The use of the term can also be seen in the diocese of Clogher parish of Inniskeen area within Louth where the townlands of Edenagrena, Drumsinnot, Killaconner and Torpass were referred to collectively as "the four tates of Ballyfoylan." In modern townland names
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1280-453: The term "bally" in some townland names is that it can be difficult to distinguish between the Irish terms baile meaning "townland" and béal átha meaning "approach to a ford". An example of the latter is Ballyshannon , County Donegal , which is derived from Béal Átha Seanaidh . "Sub-townlands" ( Irish : fo-bhaile ) are also recorded in some areas, smaller divisions of a townland with their own traditional names. The average area of
1320-700: The term "cartron" in both its English and Irish forms has been preserved in the townland names of Carrowmeer, Cartron and Carrowvere, while the term "sessiagh" survives in the names Shesia, Sheshodonell, Sheshymore and Shessiv. The terms "ballyboe" and "ballybetagh" tend to be preserved in the truncated form of "bally" as a prefix for some townland names, such as Ballymacarattybeg near Poyntzpass , County Down. Less well-known land division terms may be found in other townland names such as Coogulla ( Irish : Cuige Uladh , "the Ulster fifth"), Treanmanagh ( Irish : an train meánach , "the third middle") and Dehomade ( Irish : an deichiú méid , "the tenth part"). A problem with
1360-469: The townland of Clonskeagh in the barony of Uppercross (abutting the main Clonskeagh townland in the barony of Dublin ) was only 0.3 acres (1,200 m ) although the area is now urbanised, so that the townlands are unused and their boundaries are uncertain. The ballyboe, a townland unit used in Ulster, was described in 1608 as containing 60 acres of arable land, meadow, and pasture. However, this
1400-520: The townland system. Slight adjustments are still made. There were 60,679 in 1911, compared to 60,462 townlands in 1901. Townlands form the building blocks for higher-level administrative units such as parishes and district electoral divisions (in the Republic of Ireland ) or wards (in Northern Ireland ). Before 1972 townlands were included on all rural postal addresses throughout
1440-555: The west of the county, the area surrounding the Sperrin Mountains , the highest point being Sawel Mountain at a height of 678 metres (2,224 ft). The length of the county, from the mouth of the River Blackwater at Lough Neagh to the western point near Carrickaduff hill is 55 miles (89 km). The breadth, from the southern corner, southeast of Fivemiletown , to the northeastern corner near Meenard Mountain
1480-567: Was carved out of Tyrone between 1610 and 1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on natural resources located there. Tyrone was the traditional stronghold of the various O'Neill clans and families, the strongest of the Gaelic Irish families in Ulster , surviving into the seventeenth century. The ancient principality of Tír Eoghain, the inheritance of
1520-536: Was misleading, as the size of townlands under the Gaelic system varied depending upon their quality, situation and economic potential. This economic potential varied from the extent of land required to graze cattle to the land required to support several families. The highest density of townland units recorded in Ulster in 1609 corresponds to the areas with the highest land valuations in the 1860s. It seems that many moorland areas were not divided into townlands until fairly recently. These areas were "formerly shared as
1560-518: Was not applied uniformly across Ireland. For example, a ballybetagh or townland could contain more or less than four ploughlands. Further confusion arises when it is taken into account that, while Larcom used the general term "acres" in his summary, terms such as "great acres", "large acres" and "small acres" were also used in records. Writing in 1846, Larcom remarked that the "large" and "small" acres had no fixed ratio between them, and that there were various other kinds of acre in use in Ireland, including
1600-463: Was reformed by Griffith's Valuation . During the 19th century an extensive series of maps of Ireland was created by the Irish division of the Ordnance Survey for taxation purposes. These maps both documented and standardised the boundaries of the more than 60,000 townlands in Ireland. The process often involved dividing or amalgamating existing townlands, and defining townland boundaries in areas such as mountain or bog that had previously been outside
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