The truly remarkable history behind our unique townlands

Why is the Border so ‘squiggly’? It’s because townland boundaries are squiggly and the counties are made up of townlands.

Townlands are peculiar to Ireland with approximately 62,000 throughout the island, ranging in size from 5 to 2000 acres.

Every one of them is an ancient estate in no way regulated in shape or form other than that their expanse is generally greater in the uplands than the plains.

‘Up the road for buttermilk, down the road for brandy: Drumreagh is a shoddy place, Knockbarragh is the dandy.’

We rural children shouted at each other drawing strength and patriotism from the names and legends of our little kingdoms that stretched back in the mists of time.

We never used the word ‘townland’ or thought of them as pieces in a jigsaw to us they were an entity in themselves.

These realms however were a problem for the House of Commons in the early nineteenth century because although their names and outlines were claimed to be known their acreage and rateability were doubtful causing agitation over local taxes known as the ‘County cess.’

This running sore in Ireland was not helped by a perfusion of piecemeal surveys varying in accuracy and scale, Heated Government debate culminated in the setting up of a Government committee under Thomas Spring Rice, and the upshot was that on 22 June1824 the British parliament allocated the sum of £300,000 for the survey of the entire island and charged Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Colby with the job.

Ably assisted by men like Lieutenant Thomas Drummond, and Lieutenant Thomas Lorcom they had the foresight to recruit George Petrie' a member of the Royal Irish Academy (an inspired antiquarian), his protégé George Du Noyer, and the celebrated John O’Donovan one of the greatest Irish scholars of all time. But it didn’t start smoothly. Colby understood the importance of Irish involvement, but the tirade by the imperious Duke of Wellington -

‘The Irish map cannot be executed by Irish engineers or agents. Neither science nor skill, nor diligence nor discipline nor integrity sufficient for such a work can be found in Ireland’ - influenced the training of low grade army personnel that devastated Ireland’s own map makers, putting them out of work. And on top of that, there was the matter of hostility to men dressed in military uniform – unmistakable emblems of British occupation.

It was only when the British sappers’ widespread drunken illiteracy had begun to get on officers’ nerves that Irish ‘country labourers’ were employed. And in a short time were to outnumber the British Sappers by four to one.

A German visitor to the Ordnance Surveys headquarters noted that the maps which had only been made by ‘common workmen’ ranked amongst the best in the world. But it was at a price and by 1832 the initial £300,000 had been used up.

Colby blamed the boundary measurement for much of the expense, arguing that he could not have known how many townlands Ireland possessed or the complexity of their borders and he argued forcefully for more money that the survey may be continued accurately and right. Establishing the ground position of the boundaries was anything but straightforward. Information had to be obtained from numerous sources, amongst them local demesne maps and county grand jury records. The assistance of knowledgeable local people was also sought. These locals –known as ‘mearsmen’—pointed out on the ground the precise position of the boundaries.

Walking my own townland boundary I am constantly baffled by its twists and turns. From ‘The centre of the steam, up a bit of a ditch, down the loanin and away up a hedge. I can only conclude its because these are ancient divisions that existed under other names prior to the introduction of Christianity. Here is a table showing these divisions.

I’m often bemused when I read or hear that townlands are being lost. There are textural descriptions in the copperplate handwriting of the original surveyors detailing the features to which every townland is meared.

Here is a snippet. ‘Levellyclonone : From its function with Ballymoney and Kilbroney the mearing takes south along the centre of a thorn hedge until it strikes Park Lane, crossing the road mearing becomes the centre of a small stream for five chains …..’.

There is a book of boundary mearings (The Mustard Book) with extensive lists of acronyms – RH: Root of Hedge; CR: Centre of Road; FW: face of Wall; to cover every eventuality from turf cuttings to high tides.

In short Ireland’s Townlands and in turn its border between Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland are the most intensively surveyed and texturally described entities on Gods earth. It’s all a far cry from the hundreds of miles of straight boundaries between other countries.

Jonathan Swift in his very long rhyme ‘On Poetry: A Rhapsody’ wrote, ‘So geographers, in afric maps; With savage pictures fill their gaps: And o’er unhabitable downs; place elephants for want of towns.’