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HomepageCullen in Griffith's Valuation
Introduction & Index
from the research notes of Louis Hoffman, Jim Cullen

Griffith's Valuation is a set of documents that lists the landowners and principal occupants of lands, tenements and houses in Ireland. Also known as the Primary Valuation of Ireland, the work of surveying landowners and tenants throughout Ireland for taxation purposes was carried out between the years of 1848 and 1864. Commissioned to oversee the task was Dublin geologist Richard Griffith - thus the name Griffith's Valuation.

The Valuation Lists are arranged by County and within Counties by Poor Law Union. The Unions were further subdivided into Parishes and there could be several townlands within each parish. Information included in the survey were the address and householder's name, description, acreage, and worth or valuation of the property. It's important to note that not every person was listed on the valuation lists - only the principal occupants or landowners.

In the 1960's the National Library in Ireland created an index of surnames, also called the Householder's Index, from the information gathered during the original survey. Arranged by County, these Index volumes and the maps that accompany them allow us to detail the locations where any particular surname may be found. In certain instances, a specific family may be located. This is especially useful since the time period covered, 1848-1864, partially compensates for the records which were lost in the Four Corner's fire in Dublin in 1922.

The original manuscripts for Griffith's Valuation are held by the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland. The printed and bound indexes may be found also in the National Archives, the Genealogy Office, The National Library and elsewhere.

Many thanks go out to Louis Hoffman for forwarding the Griffith's material and making it available to the rest of us.

Table of Frequency of the name Cullen in Griffith's Valuation by County
CountyFrequencyCountyFrequency
Wexford293Longford25
Wicklow238Tipperary21
Dublin206Antrim18
Leitrim145Londonderry16
Kilkenny93Donegal15
Armagh88Clare15
Kildare87Galway15
Tyrone82Mayo14
Cavan78Offaly13
Laois54Louth12
Meath47Monaghan11
Sligo45Fermanagh10
Roscommon37Cork6
Carlow29Limerick6
Waterford28Down4
Westmeath27Total1778



There are nearly 1800 occurances of the name Cullen or variations of the name in Griffith's Valuation. The information is arranged alphabetically by County on seven pages. Within each County I've arranged first by surname variations; you will find first the Cullans, then the Cullens, followed by the Cullins and so on. Each surname variant is alphabetized by christian name. The information given here does not include the description and valuation of the lands.


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