- A "townland" was originally part of a Gaelic hierarchical system. It evolved to be the smallest administrative unit, averaging 325 acres. (For Americans outside the original 13 states, think of the "township" or 640 acres as a parallel.) "Until the 19th century most townlands were owned by single landlords and occupied by multiple tenants." A rough guess is a townland might support 80 people.
- A "parish" was comprised of many townlands. Originally there were only church or ecclesiastical parishes of the Catholic Church but with Henry VIII they became Church of Ireland/Anglican parishes. On the church side, several parishes made up a diocese (sometimes a subdivision of a diocese was headed by a dean. In the 19th century civil parishes were created as units of local administration and their boundaries might differ from the church parishes.
In the case of DD, Ringbane and Loughorne are frequently mentioned townlands, though the name often serves to designate the homes of James Harshaw and John Martin (before exile). Donaghmore is the parish which includes them.
Note that the Presbyterian church has "presbyteries", not parishes.
From wikipedia: "the Down Survey was conducted, using physical measurements to make as accurate a map as was possible at the time of townlands, parishes and baronies. This became the basis for all future land claims.[4] Parishes are an intermediate subdivision, with multiple townlands per parish and multiple parishes per barony. A civil parish is typically made up of 25–30 townlands. It may include urban areas such as villages. A parish may cross the boundaries of both baronies and counties; in some cases it may be in several geographically separate parts.[5]"
WDH
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