Townlands In The Parish Of Clonduff

Townland names probably came into use in connection with the periodic distribution of tribe lands under the Brehon laws, as the laws of ancient Ireland were called. The habits of the people were at that time mainly pastoral, and settled individual possession of land was not the rule. All the lands belonged to the tribe and to its subdivisions called clans and septs.

The rougher portions of the lands, swamps and woods, were held as common property to which each individual was entitled to send his beasts to graze. The arable lands were shared in allotments among the adult tribesmen for tillage purposes. But by a practice known as Gavelkind, the tribal lands were liable to distribution every second or third year. To subserve this system, townland names came into use; boundaries, as we understand them, came later.

The study of these names is interesting and instructive if we consider their origin. Physical features, strongholds, local events, all helped to swell the list, and happily, the old Gaelic names still survive, although it is sometimes difficult to recognise them in their anglicised forms.

There are twenty-one townlands in the parish. The following are their names in alphabetical order: