Tithe Books as Genealogy Tool


The Tithe Applotment Books were compiled in Ireland between 1823 and 1837. They were created in order to establish how much occupiers of land of over one acre should pay in taxes to the established church – the Church of Ireland. As most of the population were Catholic, it was a much-resented tax.

The Tithe Applotment records list only the head of household in each townland. As many of the townland and family names are misspelt (or spelt phonetically) they are not as accurate as other records. However, your ancestor may be listed as a small farmer with a plot of land in West Cork in the 1820s or 1830s. As such, these records are an important genealogy resource.

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LEARN ABOUT OUR GENEALOGY SERVICE

With the help of our data-inputter Deirdre, and volunteers Patricia, William and Barry, Skibbereen Heritage Centre has a database of over 350,000 local records. Many of these are available to search free of charge on the links below.