Digital Townland Atlas

In December 2024, Andrew Kane's magnificent Townland Atlas of Ulster was published by the Foundation. This incredible publication mapped all 16,000+ townlands in the nine counties of Ulster and identified each of them by parish (Catholic, Church of Ireland and civil) and landed estate.

The response to the book has been hugely positive, with appreciative messages pouring in from all over the world, and it has quickly been recognised as an essential reference guide for both the genealogical newcomer and the serious researcher.

We now have a new, exciting and ambitious project – to turn the Townland Atlas into a online, digital resource. This will take time and significant investment, but we believe it will be worth it for the end result will be something truly wonderful for researchers who are pursing ancestors in the nine counties of Ulster.

We would like to invite you to support this project financially through a ‘crowdfunding’ campaign. We are calling the campaign 'Make their mark' for in supporting this venture, you can remember the townlands, parishes and counties in which your Ulster ancestors lived.

"As soon as the Townland Atlas was published, it became an essential part of my work, helping clients find out more about their ancestors. I am excited about our plans for a digital Townland Atlas and know how useful it will be to those researching their family – we hope you will help us make this project happen"
Gillian Hunt, Research Officer, Ulster Historical Foundation

Why are townlands so important?

As family historians are well aware, it is important to know not only the names of your ancestors, but also the places they lived. The ideal is to know the townland. The townland system has been in existence for hundreds of years and continues to be important for local identity, especially in rural areas.

In church registers, civil records, census returns, estate papers, newspaper advertisements and gravestone inscriptions, to name a few, the address given for a particular individual or family will usually be the name of a townland. This explains why knowing the townland in which your ancestors lived is so important in genealogical research.

"My biggest problem in compiling the Atlas was deciding what to leave out! The digital version will allow a fuller range of sources to be referenced to townland level and give us the exciting opportunity to link into our existing and future databases. This will give crucial context to records in terms of time and place all with the convenience of simple online searchability."
Andrew Kane, author of the Townland Atlas of Ulster