Tithe Applotment: Evaluating and monetising the productive potential of Irish land resources in the 1820s/30s

Abstract

The contents of approximately 20% of Ireland’s 2,500 Tithe Applotment Books, were investigated to establish the ways and means by which the agricultural potential of land was assessed for tax/tithe purposes. Based on the 1823 Tithe Act, tithe payment was to be made in money terms rather than by the conventional in-kind system. Most emphasis was placed on interrogating the ‘Quality’ and other sections of these books for indicators of soil productivity/crop suitability, and hence income. The results show that, in general but with exceptions and overlap, Tithe Commissioners employed seven systems to record and present their data. These are, in brief: Undefined terms; Numerals; Prescribed classes; Letter codes; Land uses; Monetary lump sums, entire holdings; Lump sums, within holdings. Based on the sample studied, there were no geographically recognisable distribution pattern to the systems adopted. Random, supplementary land–use data from some books are collated and the contexts with other systems of land quality assessments are noted.