Place:Northern Ireland

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

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

Northern Ireland (Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann or Norlin Airlan) is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province or region of the UK, amongst other terms. Northern Ireland shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west. As of 2011, its population was 1,810,863,^[1] constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the population of the United Kingdom. Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland is largely self-governing. According to the agreement, Northern Ireland co-operates with the rest of Ireland – from which it was partitioned in 1921 – on some policy areas, while other areas are reserved for the Government of the United Kingdom, though the Republic of Ireland "may put forward views and proposals".

Northern Ireland was for many years the site of a violent and bitter inter-communal conflict – the Troubles – which was caused by divisions between nationalists, who see themselves as Irish and are predominantly Roman Catholic, and unionists, who see themselves as British and are predominantly Protestant. (Additionally, people from both sides of the community may describe themselves as Northern Irish.) Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain as a part of the United Kingdom, while nationalists want reunification with the rest of Ireland, independent of British rule. Since 1998, most of the paramilitary groups involved in the Troubles have ceased their armed campaigns.

Northern Ireland has traditionally been the most industrialised region of the island. After declining as a result of political and social turmoil in the second half of the 20th century, it has grown significantly since the 1990s. This is in part due to a "peace dividend" and in part due to links and increased trade with the Republic of Ireland.

Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy and George Best. Others from that part of the island prefer to define themselves as Irish, e.g. Seamus Heaney and Liam Neeson. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland and the rest of the UK are complex, with Northern Ireland sharing both the culture of Ireland and the culture of the United Kingdom. In most sports the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games and athletes from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games.

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