Irish Geographic Descriptors

It helps to have an understanding of the Irish system of geographic descriptors: provinces, counties, parishes, and townlands. Ireland is made up of four provinces (Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster) and 32 counties. Of the nine counties that make up the province of Ulster, six are in Northern Ireland and three, Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan, are in the Irish Republic. A townland is the smallest unit of land area identified in records and named on maps. Its size can vary from less than ten acres to thousands of acres. There are about 64,000 townlands in Ireland. Civil parishes usually contain 25 to 30 townlands as well as towns and villages. There are church parishes as well as civil parishes. Boundaries for the Church of Ireland parishes are usually the same as civil parish boundaries. Catholic church parishes are usually larger and encompass parts of more than one civil parish. A Catholic parish may be divided into church areas.

For the Inver area, the parish boundaries are the same for the Church of Ireland and the Catholic church. The Catholic church parish of Inver is divided into four church-areas: Frosses, Drimarone, Mountcharles and Ardaghey. The Port is in the Ardaghey church-area. When performing Cassidy research in this area, one should look under the Diocese of Raphoe, Parish of Inver. Since a parish is a large area, it is best to narrow one’s search to the townland if possible.