THE TOWNLAND
This is as a division of land is the smallest and most ancient in Ireland. The 1901 census recorded some 60,462 townlands in all of Ireland and about 9,700 in Ulster. These townland names were derived from the Gaelic descriptions of the area including things like prominent topographical features, history, Churches or even a family name. Lists of thers can be found on the internet but the more common ones are - achadh (agha) = field, ard = hill or height, áth = ford, baile (bally) = town, townland or settlement, carn (cairn) = heap of stones, carraig (carrick) = a rock, cill (kill) = church, cluain (clon) = meadow, cnoc (knock) = hill, doire (derry) = oak wood or grove, domhnach (donagh) = Sunday, a church, droim (drum) = ridge, hillock, dún = fort, palace, fionn (fin) = clear or white, glaise (glas) = small river, glaisín (glash) = stream, gleann (glen) = valley, gort = tilled field, lios (lis) = ring fort, loch (lough) = a lake, lorga (lurg) = shin-shaped, má (moy) = a plain, machaire (magher) = a plain, muileann (mull) = a mill, mullach = a summit, port = bank of a river or landing place, ráth = circular fort or earth mound, sean (shan) = old, so Shan-Kill comes from Old Church, sliabh (slem or Slieve) = mountain.
THE PARISH
Ireland has both Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic parishes which overlap and many are the same. They comprise of anything between 5 and 30 townlands and were used extensively as territorial divisions. The Church of Ireland (Established Church) parishes were also know as civil parishes and since the 17th century they have been used as a major administrative and surveying sub-division. There are some 2445 civil parishes in Ireland of various sizes, the boundaries of these parishes are usually defined by imoveable topographical features like escarpments, rivers, gorges and sometimes roads which although they can and have moved through time, the lie of the land has already dictated their construction.
THE BARONY
The larger Barony of which their were about 300 in Ireland, is essentially an English unit of administration. By the 16th century the barony was on the map, being included in all the state surveys and maps of land along with the county and townland. Baronies are usually contained within county boundaries although in rare instances they can straddle two counties, this is referred to as a half-barony in each.