In recent years more Irish researchers than before have achieved a passing familiarity with Griffith's valuations. This is due in part to the publication of the valuations on microfilm and the more recent release on CD-ROM of a name index to the same (see our CD #7188, An Index to Griffith's Valuation
). Very few people, however, know much about Griffith the man, the methodology behind the records, or, most important, how to make the best possible genealogical use of these sources. Thanks to the efforts of James Reilly, the author of the new book Richard Griffith and His Valuations of Ireland, this need not be the case any longer.
The content of Richard Griffith and His Valuations of Ireland can be said to be divided into two parts. The first half of the volume treats the history and method used by Griffith and his colleagues in producing the valuations. Here Reilly explains how the surveys were conducted, how standard Irish forms of townland names were assigned, how the descriptive Ordnance Survey Memoirs were compiled, and what one can expect to find within their rich contents. In the second half of the work, Mr. Reilly burrows into the intricacies of the valuations, showing how an understanding of the abbreviations and shorthand used by the valuators can lead the researcher from the valuation to other Irish records and additional discoveries concerning one's ancestors. The rich appendices that follow include a glossary of key terms appearing in the valuations, dates of publication of the Ordnance Survey Memoirs, county-by-county commencement and completion dates of the tenement valuations conducted from 1846 to 1864, and an extensive inventory of the Books of Sir Richard Griffith's General Valuation of Rateable Property in Ireland.