Place:Northern Ireland

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, and covers 5,459 square miles (14,139 km²) in the northeast of the island of Ireland, about a sixth of the total area of the island. It has a population of 1,685,000 (April 2001) — between a quarter and a third of the island's total population. Northern Ireland consists of six of the nine counties of the province of Ulster. In the UK it is generally known as one of its four Home Nations, forming a constituent part of the United Kingdom. Some of these terms have controversial implications in relation to political ideologies concerning the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. The remainder of the island of Ireland is a sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland.

As an administrative division of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland was defined by the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, and has had its own form of devolved government in a similar manner to Scotland and Wales. The Northern Ireland Assembly is, however, currently suspended. Northern Ireland's legal system descends from the pre-1920 Irish legal system (as does the legal system of the Republic of Ireland), and is therefore based on common law. It is separate from the jurisdictions of England and Wales or Scotland.

Northern Ireland has been for many years the site of a violent and bitter ethno-political conflict between those claiming to represent Nationalists, who are predominantly Catholic, and those claiming to represent Unionists, who are predominantly Protestant. In general, Nationalists want Northern Ireland to be unified with the Republic of Ireland, and Unionists want it to remain part of the United Kingdom. Unionists are in the majority in Northern Ireland, though Nationalists represent a significant minority. In general, Protestants consider themselves British and Catholics see themselves as Irish (see Nationality and Identity below). The campaigns of violence have become known popularly as The Troubles. The majority of both sides of the community have had no direct involvement in the violent campaigns waged. Since the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998, many of the major paramilitary campaigns have either been on ceasefire or have declared their war to be over.

How places in Northern Ireland are organized

Northern Ireland was divided into six counties until 1973, when the counties were replaced by districts. The standard at WeRelate is to title Irish place pages according to their county, which is then broken down into parishes and then into townlands. When a townland is not known, villages, hamlets, cities and towns will be placed directly under the county they are located in. Pages for the modern districts have not yet been created.

In many cases, the hierarchy of places in Northern Ireland, as it appears here, does not represent the modern or current place names. The townlands that have been added, for instance, come from the names and locations that were in place according to when the 1851 census was taken. The IreAtlas Townland database has been used as a reference.

Explanation of divisions

The following terms are used to describe the type of settlement the particular place is. The NINIS defines terms based on statistical analysis. This is used merely as a guide as words such as "hamlet," "village," and "town" are used on WeRelate to give a general idea of the type of location without being exact as to population:

• Hamlet: Settlements of less than 1,000 people and having open countryside. See Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service (NINIS)

• Village: Described by NINIS as having more than 1,000 people but less than 2,500.

• Settlement: An area having more than 2,500 people, but less than 4,500.

• Town: More than 4,500 people.

• Townland: Do not think of townlands as towns. "A townland is one of the smallest land divisions in Ireland. There are over 60,000 of them and they range in size from an acre or two up to many thousands of acres. The majority are in the hundreds of acres. Townlands have various origins, some bearing ancient Irish names while others were created after the coming of the Normans in 1169. The Gaelic names of the majority of these divisions would seem to indicate a pre-Norman date for their creation. In rural Ireland in particular, the townland names are of great importance, still forming the basis for administrative purposes. Given the common use of some surnames, families are often identified by the townland they live in." [Source: Guide To Irish Land Division]

• Parish: There are several different types of parishes in Ireland -- Catholic Parishes, Protestant parishes, Church of Ireland parishes and civil parishes. Since Griffith's Valuation used the civil parish, that is how the places have been arranged here.

• County: Northern Ireland is broken down into six counties that are all located in the Ulster Province and are part of the United Kingdom. They no longer serve any local administrative role in government.

• Province: "The oldest and largest land unit in Ireland is the Province, dating back into pre-history and early historic times. There were originally five Provinces in Ireland, with provincial ‘overkings’ who were supported by the kings of the smaller local kingdoms within. By the 17th century, the number of Provinces was reduced to four – Ulster in the north, Leinster in the east, Connaught in the west and Munster in the south." [See Main Administrative Land Divisions]

All places in Northern Ireland

• All places organized hierarchically
• All places organized alphabetically

Further information on historical place organization in Northern Ireland

• Statoids.com
• Wikipedia article on the counties of Ireland
• Guide To Irish Land Division
• Irish Townlands: Beyond the Definition
• Land units in Ireland
• Main Administrative Land Divisions

Maps

• Administrative Divisions of Ireland - Interactive Google map

Research Tips

• A quick guide to tracing your Ancestors in Northern Ireland