Tithe Applotment Books - 1825

Tithe was a tax on all agricultural land except church land, woodland and urban areas. The tax originally required the occupier to pay one tenth of the produce of the land to the clergy of the Church of Ireland, no matter what their religion. Over a period of time, this money devolved to the Crown. In turn, the Crown sold or granted the rights to the tithes to laymen or Bishops. The tithes became identified with property rights, and were deeply unpopular. Eventually, they became uncollectable, especially as most Irish people followed the Catholic faith.

Until 1823, the tithe was paid in kind by the occupier of the land. A series of Tithe Composition Acts (between 1823 and 1838) replaced payment in kind with payment in cash. Local surveyors and assessors had to value all the land. The results, arranged by civil parish and townland, were collected in volumes known as Tithe Applotment Books.
(most information taken from the PRONI website)

Moville Lower (valued in 1825)

" .... We Roger Murray and John Anderson Commissioners duly appointed and sworn under and by virtue of an Act made in the fourth year of the Reign of George the fourth intitled "An act to provide for the Establishment of Compositions for Tythes in Ireland for a limited time" to ascertain and find a true and just Composition for all Tythes arising, growing, yielded or payable within the parish of Lower Moville in the County of Donegall do hereby Certify that the true and just Amount of Composition for all Tythes whatever within the said Parish is six hundred pounds* by Agreement by the year to continue for the Term of Twenty one years from the first of November inst. which sum is due and payable annually to the Reverend Samuel Law Montgomery and his Successor Rectors of said Parish for the Space of Twenty one years, the said Samuel Law Montgomery being the only Claimant of Tythes in said Parish. Given under our hands this seventeenth day of September 1825 ......."
* Irish pounds - the equivalent in British currency was 553 pounds 16 shillings and 11 pence

How to use these records

Click on the townland (see below) for the names of the occupiers of land listed in the Tithe Applotment Books, or on the buttons for an alphabetical listing of the entire records for Moville Lower.

Please note:

I've left the spelling used by the Commissioners, even when a modern alternative suggests itself, so that you can interpret it for yourself. But .. be warned! .. for example "Camble" is probably what we would now spell as "Campbell" and "Lackrey" is probably Loughrey. Spellings appear to be phonetic. The lower case letters "o" and "a" are very similar, and are probably transposed in a number of cases (i.e "Daugherty" could be "Dougherty" etc.).

The Applotment Books list all joint occupiers of lands - not just the head of the household. The records may show fathers and sons, brothers etc, although there are few females listed, apart from widows.

There are no more family details available. I have copies of the entries for townlands marked with an asterisk (*). These records show the acreage and quality of the land occupied, and the individual tithes payable. The information for the remaining townlands was transcribed by hand (names only).

Some people occupied farmland in more than one townland. An entry against a particular townland does not always mean that they lived there, although it usually does. (And remember, many different people had similar names!)

Inevitably, there will be errors in the interpretation of the handwriting. These records are posted in good faith to help you with your research and I take no responsibility for any errors or omissions.

Click on the townland name for a listing by townland

* I have photocopies of the records for these townlands. The remaining records were transcribed by hand (name only).

Click these links for an alphabetical listing by surname: