SIMINGTON, Robert C. Books of Survey and Distribution, County of Roscommon. Being Abstracts of Various Surveys and Instruments of Title, 1636-1703. With maps.

Dublin: Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1949. Oblong quarto. pp. lix, 181. Red cloth, titled in gilt. A fine copy.

The Books of Survey and Distribution were compiled around 1680 as the result of the wars of the mid-seventeenth century after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, when the English government needed reliable information on land ownership throughout Ireland to carry out its policy of land confiscation and ethnic cleansing. The books were used to impose the acreable rent called the Quit Rent, which was payable yearly on lands granted under terms of the Acts of Settlement and Explanation. It is possible to discover to whom, if anyone, the confiscated lands were granted so that we have a record of landowners for 1641 and 1680. As a result, it is possible to determine the amount of lands lost by the 1641 owners after the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and to discover the names of the new proprietors. The Books of Survey and Distribution for the following counties are a most descriptive and valuable record of placenames and landowners in mid-seventeenth century Ireland. They cover every townland, parish and barony with the name and residence of the owner, the homes of the people, valuation, areas in tillage, pastures, mills, antiquities, etc.

[L3 OA]