Creating Location Categories For Ireland

Surnames/tags: IRISH_ROOTS CATEGORIZATION

If you are not sure how 'places' in Ireland work take a look at Understanding Irish Places and Regions first, but the graphic below has the basics.

Contents 1 Hierarchy of Places 2 Introduction 3 The 32 Counties 3.1 County Categories 3.2 Civil Parishes 3.3 Townlands and CIB text 3.3.1 Adding the CIB Text - Method 1 3.3.2 Adding the CIB Text - Method 2 3.3.3 Completing the CIB 3.3.4 What to do if the Parish Information Page does not exist in this format 3.3.5 Still confused? 3.4 Towns 4 Summary of Category Formats 4.1 Here Be Dragons 4.2 Other tips to remember 5 Sources

Hierarchy of Places

Irish Categories (WikiTree)

Is it a parish, barony, town or townland? Need help categorising place names> Logainm.ie should be able to assist!

Wherever possible, we create categories to the lowest or most specific level possible. The Irish locations that we use under counties for categorisation purposes are:

• Townlands
• Towns
• Civil parishes
• Baronies
• Superintendent registrar districts (AKA Poor Law Unions)
• Registry Districts (aka Dispensary Districts)
• Electoral districts (Not shown above)

In particular, be aware that townlands are not the same thing as towns and may be smaller or larger than towns, although in rural Ireland towns and villages are generally found in one townland. They are basically land divisions of the counties. Similarly, Roman Catholic Parishes, Church of Ireland parishes and Civil Parishes are all different too, however Church of Ireland parishes mostly mirror the Civil parishes - try to ensure that if you are creating new categories for these places that you categorise as accurately as possible.

Introduction

Location categories for Irish Locations have been, or are in the process of being, made very simple to do. However, if you are in any doubt do not hesitate to ask if you are stuck and do not be afraid of making an error. If you do not feel confident about deleting or renaming categories pass this task on to another team member, a member of the Categorization Project, or the Ireland Counties Coordinator. If you are in the Ireland Project and have joined our Discord server then go to #location-categories-team and ask for some assistance.

First I should explain the agreed structure for location categories in Ireland, which may differ from category structures elsewhere on WikiTree.

The top level category for most Irish places is Category: Counties in Ireland which comes under the Category: Ireland, Places. There is one exception to this which I will cover later.

Irish Counties CIB

The 32 Counties

In the Counties in Ireland you will find category links to the 32 counties, and hopefully nothing else! You will also find a link in the CIB (Category Information Box) to the information page for the Counties of Ireland. This page is the hub of the information pages and the category is the hub for the Irish location categories.

The main top level category for each county is of course the County category which is [[:Category:County 'county name']]. In the CIB (Category Information Box) of each county category you will find a link to the information page for that County.

So the structure is basically that each category be it Ireland, a County in Ireland or a Civil Parish in Ireland has a category with a matching 'Parish Information Page'.

County Categories

You should never need to create one of these as they are all created and will remain so.

Each County category contains links to various categories, not all of which are location categories and not all of which will necessarily remain in their current position.

The only categories we are interested in for Irish locations are:

• Civil Parishes
• Townlands
• Towns.

Civil Parishes

It is important to understand that Roman Catholic Parishes, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian or other ecclesiastical parishes are not the same as Civil Parishes. Generally speaking Civil Parishes follow the Church of Ireland Parishes as they were in the 19th century but are not necessarily identical either then or now.

We, in the Ireland Project, are trying to ensure that every Civil Parish category has been created and therefore I will not dwell on how to create Civil Parish categories except to say that the format is nameOfCivilParish Parish, County nameOfCounty. Yes we DO use County in the category name for locations.

Some civil parishes may cross county boundaries and where that happens you should find a category for that civil parish in each County. Some parishes of the same name may exist in different baronies in a County. IF they have a common border they are considered to be one parish. If they do not have common borders they are considered to be distinct civil parishes and the format of naming is: nameOfCivilParish(nameOfBarony) Parish, County nameOfCounty.

If you find that you need a civil parish category that has not been created please ask for it to be created for you and preferably do NOT attempt to do it yourself as the matching 'Parish Information Page' needs to be created and have the navigation menus installed. Not, if I may say, a job for the faint-hearted so ask a member of the Categorization Project, or the Ireland Counties Coordinator.

Townlands and CIB text

In a departure from what has previously been the case on WikiTree Townlands are NOT categorised under a parish, barony or any other unit.

While the system is being changed over, for the present tense has read future tense will have etc

If you find you need to create a category for a townland FIRST go to the 'Parish Information Page' for the civil parish in which the townland is found. There you will find a list of the townlands in the civil parish.

The best bit is that although you cannot see it the page contains all the properly formatted lines and CIB texts that enable you to create a townland category. Click in the edit tab. At the very end of the page, after the <references /> section, you will find a table of townlands, which for this civil parish begins (showing just a few):

Working through an example: Bellanira or Iceland Townland, Castleconor Parish, County Mayo.

First we go to the 'Parish Information Page' for the Civil Parish which can be reached from from the category for the parish or from the main Mayo County space then click on Civil Parishes of County Mayo then click on Castleconor Civil Parish, County Mayo.

Townlands of Castleconor Parish

Use these pre-formatted lines in the hidden area, accessible in edit mode, to replace the ones above to create the red category link.

Find the first block of hidden text at the end of the 'Parish Information Page'. The easiest method is to use the search function of your browser which will be Find, or Find on page or similar and most often on a Windows machine accessed with Ctrl+F.

===== Bellanira or Iceford Townland =====

----- This line below replaces the one above -----

|'''Bellanira or Iceford'''||''Béal Átha an Oidhre''||[[:Category:Bellanira or Iceford Townland, Castleconor Parish, County Mayo]]||[http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=1901&county19011911=Mayo&townland=Bellanira+or+Iceford&search=Search&sort=&pageSize=100 1901 Census], [http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=1911&county19011911=Mayo&townland=Bellanira+or+Iceford&search=Search&sort=&pageSize=100 1911 Census]

----- Cut and paste the info below into the CIB -----

{{CategoryInfoBox Location

|name= Bellanira or Iceford Townland, Castleconor Parish, County Mayo

|parent= Townlands, County Mayo

|project= Irish Roots

|team=Connacht

|spacepage= Castleconor Civil Parish, County Mayo

|startdate=

|enddate=

|webpage= https://www.logainm.ie/en/34124

|webpagetext= Bellanira or Iceford Townland in Castleconor Parish on Logainm.ie

|coordinate= 54.1525, -9.1270

|profiles= yes

|imageleft= Photos-234.png

|imageright= photos-806.jpg

}}

::'''Irish or Alternate Name:''' Béal Átha an Oidhre.

::'''Civil Parish:''' [[:Category:Castleconor Parish, County Mayo|Castleconor]]

::'''County:''' [[:Category:County Mayo|County Mayo]]

::'''Electoral Division:''' Ardnaree North

::'''Barony:''' Tireragh

::'''Province Category:''' [[:Category:Connacht Province of Ireland|Connacht]]

:This category [v3.6], which is maintained by the Connacht Team (see the link above for more info), lists people with connections to Bellanira or Iceford. Additional information about the townland may be found using the links and table above.

Cut the line for for Bellanira where it says this line replaces the one above.

|'''Bellanira or Iceford'''||''Béal Átha an Oidhre''||[[:Category:Bellanira or Iceford Townland, Castleconor Parish, County Mayo]]||[http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=1901&county19011911=Mayo&townland=Bellanira+or+Iceford&search=Search&sort=&pageSize=100 1901 Census], [http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=1911&county19011911=Mayo&townland=Bellanira+or+Iceford&search=Search&sort=&pageSize=100 1911 Census]

Still in edit mode find the line referring to Bellanira or Iceford further up the page.

|Bellanira or Iceford||''Béal Átha an Oidhre''|| ||[http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=1901&county19011911=Mayo&townland=Bellanira+or+Iceford&search=Search&sort=&pageSize=100 1901 Census], [http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=1911&county19011911=Mayo&townland=Bellanira+or+Iceford&search=Search&sort=&pageSize=100 1911 Census]

Paste this line over the existing line either by highlighting or first removing the old line.

Adding the CIB Text - Method 1

Cut ALL the information below

----- Cut and paste the info below into the CIB -----

Up to BUT NOT INCLUDING (obviously) the next block start

===== Castleconor Townland =====

and paste it into a text editor somewhere to use shortly. (DO NOT USE A WORD PROCESSOR FOR THIS)

Remove the lines from this block that remain:

===== Bellanira or Iceford Townland =====

----- Cut and paste the info below into the CIB -----

Save the Save the edit and go to the public view and you will see the red category link for a category that does not exist.

Clicking on the red category link will bring you to a page for creating the category. See below for the completion of the step

Adding the CIB Text - Method 2

Click on Preview at the bottom. RIGHT click on the red category line that you will see to open it in a new tab.

Cut ALL the information below

----- Cut and paste the info below into the CIB -----

Up to BUT NOT INCLUDING (obviously) the next block start

===== Castleconor Townland =====

and paste it into the CIB edit area (see below). DON'T FORGET TO SAVE THE PAGE.

Completing the CIB

Create Category page

So, what goes in the box?

All of the information below

----- Cut and paste the info below into the CIB -----

either from the clipboard or copied again from the text editor where you saved it

It may take a number of minutes before the new category that you have created auto-completes when you start typing it in the category box for an individual profile.

What to do if the Parish Information Page does not exist in this format

If there is no CIB available please create a basic CIB for the townland using the format below and please notify the Ireland Counties Coordinator.

In order to create the temporary CIB you need to first create the category. There are two ways to do this. The first and simplest method is to create the category link in the profile by adding [[Category:name of towland, name of parish Parish , County name of county]] above the ==Biography== line. When you save that profile there will be a red category link. Click on that link.

The alternative method is to use a text editor, or type in directly, this line https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Category:name of towland, name of parish Parish , County name of county

IMPORTANT: Please be absolutely sure that the Townland category you are creating has the correct official name. If in any doubt please search on Logainm to determine to official name. Getting the official name right will reduce work for others later. See the Summary of Category Formats below.

Which ever method you used you will now be in the Category editing page. Paste the lines below into the box and make sure the County name have been changed to the correct one. Save that and if possible please notify me that the temporary category has been created.

{{CategoryInfoBox Location

|parent=Townlands, County countyName

|project=Irish Roots

|imageright= photos-806.jpg

|profiles =yes

}}

Awaiting full CIB and data

Still confused?

Still confused? Try the video on You Tube and see if that clarifies it.

Towns

A Town is any population centre regardless of whether it is a Town, Village or Hamlet. Discussion may be required where a Town and a Townland occupy the same or part of the same physical location; however, generally where a town has the same name as a townland we will create the category for the Town first and then wait to see if a category for the townland is required.

Cities buck the system here and have their own category format, Cities in Ireland under Ireland, Places alongside Counties in Ireland.

Generally Towns use the format townName, County countyName. If this is likely to be ambiguous because of a townland, civil parish, ecclesiastical parish or even county of the same name then you may use the word town or village as disambiguation.

An example of a CIB for a town would be

{{CategoryInfoBox Location

|parent=Towns, County Galway

|project=Irish_Roots

|team=Connacht

|spacepage=Ballynakill Parish, Leitrim, County Galway

|wikidataID=

|coordinate=

|startdate=

|enddate=

|webpage=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodford,_County_Galway

|webpagetext=Woodford, County Galway (Wikipedia)

|searchwebpage=

|profiles =yes

}}

:'''This category, maintained by the Connacht team, is used to collate people with connections to Woodford in County Galway.'''

Note the parish is one that uses the barony name.

Summary of Category Formats

Location categories should be:

Level	Style
Town	nameOfTown, County nameOfCounty
	You may use nameOfTown Town (or Village), County nameOfCounty if disambiguation is needed. Please discuss first.
Townland	name OfTownland Townland, nameOfCivilParish Parish, County nameOfCounty
	The only permitted variation from this is where the Electoral District or Barony is required because two or more townlands of the same name exist in the same parish in the same county. In this case the format is: name OfTownland (E.D. or nameOfBarony if E.D. not available ) Townland, nameOfCivilParish Parish, County nameOfCounty i.e. the E.D. or Barony qualifies the townland name.
Civil Parish	nameOfCivilParish Parish, County nameOfCounty
	The only permitted variation from this is where the Barony is required because two or more parishes of the same name exist in the same county. In this case the format is: nameOfCivilParish (nameOfBarony) Parish, County nameOfCounty

Please be aware that a County may have parishes that use the Barony Name. See Civil Parishes that use the Barony name to check if this is the case.

Here Be Dragons

Well not really, but only venture down this paragraph if you are brave of heart and not easily confused.

Two names the same is not a problem. We have a system for dealing with that. It is set out in the page about creating location categories for Ireland. What is not mentioned above there is that this is extended so it we had a Parish, Townland, Village, Electoral District and Registration District all called Ballywonderful then these would be:

Ballywonderful Village, County Clare

Ballywonderful Townland, Ballywonderful Parish, County Clare

Ballywonderful Parish, County Clare

Ballywonderful Electoral District, County Clare

And though the jury is out just at the moment

Ballywonderful Registration District, County Clare (if it is a DD or registration district)

Or

Ballywonderful Superintendent Registration District, County Clare (if it is an SRD [approximates a PLU])

If Ballywonderful appeared in two different baronies in County Clare and for example Bunratty Lower and Ibrickan then the relevant barony is added

Ballywonderful (Bunratty Lower) Village, County Clare

Ballywonderful Townland, Ballywonderful (Bunratty Lower) Parish, County Clare

Ballywonderful (Bunratty Lower) Parish, County Clare

Ballywonderful (Bunratty Lower) Electoral District, County Clare [unlikely ever to happen]

And

Ballywonderful (Ibrickan) Village, County Clare

Ballywonderful Townland, Ballywonderful (Ibrickan) Parish, County Clare

Ballywonderful (Ibrickan) Parish, County Clare

Ballywonderful (Ibrickan) Electoral District, County Clare [unlikely ever to happen]

If two townlands have the same name and are not extents of each other, i.e. 'part of' then, if they are in different electoral districts but the parish is a singular parish, the townland takes the electoral district name and the name comes immediately after the townland name not after the parish name.

Ballywonderful (Drumcliff) Townland, Ballywonderful Parish, County Clare

Ballywonderful (Kilmacduane) Townland, Ballywonderful Parish, County Clare

Should there be are other townlands of the same names as the electoral districts then E.D. is added for disambiguation.

Ballywonderful (Drumcilff E.D.) Townland, Ballywonderful Parish, County Clare

Ballywonderful (Kilmacduane E.D.) Townland, Ballywonderful Parish, County Clare

If there is any other combination that causes problems with naming please seek advice before creating the category.

Basically the qualifier is the smallest administrative unit that is not identical between the two townlands.

Other tips to remember

• Towns, Townlands and Civil Parishes are all children of their parent County.
• Townlands are NOT linked to Civil Parishes other than to the 'Parish Information Page' for the Parish which is linked in the CIB (Category Information Box).
• Towns are NOT linked to Civil Parishes any longer.
• Ecclesiastical parishes now come under a different hierarchy to civil parishes and are handled by a different Project. The road map for these has not yet been determined and there is a moratorium on creating religious categories at this time.
• Wherever possible, please create categories to the lowest or most specific level possible. In particular, be aware that townlands are smaller units of land than towns and are not the same thing. Similarly, Roman Catholic Parishes, Church of Ireland parishes and Civil Parishes are all different too - try to ensure that if you are creating new categories for these places that you categorise as accurately as possible. Non location categories come under other top-level structures.

Sources

• Emerald Ancestors
• NI Placenames Database
• Townlands.ie
• Logainm.ie