The townland is a unique feature of the Irish landscape and is one of the most ancient divisions in the country. Townlands predate the Norman invasion of the 12th century and the source of many of our placenames lies in our Gaelic past. The townlands are a historical source that encompass the mythology of Ireland – the Cattle raid of Cooley, Cú Chulainn, Fionn Mac Cumhail – as well as the early Christian period. They also act as a repository of the Irish language which was spoken widely in Dromintee, Killeavy and Mullaghbane up until the 1920s. There are over 60,000 townlands in Ireland, South Armagh has about 200, and these are grouped together to form parishes. Click on your townland below (please wait for our map to load, there are so many townlands it takes a minute.)
PRONI have also produced a great resource for townland researchers. This map allows users to search for their townland in order to locate it – click here to open external link.