Valuation Revision Books
Compiled by Paul Greaney
Griffith’s Valuation, the first systematic survey of land in Ireland, was conducted between 1848 and 1864, and lists heads of households with acreage, land and building valuation. Revisions to the records were carried out at regular intervals over subsequent decades. These records are known as valuation revision books or cancelled land books.
Revisions were recorded in preprinted booklets, with the original valuation copied and revised in coloured ink with the year noted. A different colour is used for each revision, which helps to distinguish multiple revisions on the same page. Details recorded include changes in occupancy, either through death/inheritance, emigration, or eviction, as well as changes in land quantity, the erection of new houses and other buildings, as well as their demolition or dereliction. The booklets for each District Electoral Division (DED) were bound into larger volumes, which are now held at the Valuation Office, located at the Irish Life Centre on Lower Abbey Street in Dublin 1 (a short distance from O’Connell Street). The revision records for domestic property cover the period from Griffith’s Valuation up to 1977, when rates for private residences were abolished. The Valuation Office remains responsible for revising commercial valuations.
An example of a typical valuation revision page is shown above. Note that two revisions have been written over the original records here: the first, in red ink, occurred in 1906, and the second, coloured in purple, was conducted in 1913. It should be noted that the immediate lessor was not necessarily the ultimate owner of the land – a sublet holding would record the sublessor, making no mention of the landowner.
The revision books can be viewed at the Valuation Office, either in the original handwritten form or digitally on computer in the Valuation Office Reading Room. The records digitised so far cover the counties of Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork City & County, Donegal, Dublin City & County, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Limerick City & County, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary and Wexford. A postal service is also available – see the Valuation Office website for current details. Note that uncertified copies suffice for genealogical research.