Lena Quinlan looking for more info

Lorna, 

It’s not possible to check land and house ownership in the way that you would like. In Northern Ireland it’s only been compulsory to register ownership since about 1990.  Such records are held by the Land Registry in Belfast. If the property has changed hands since around 1990 they would be able to tell you who owns it now. (For a fee of course). However if you are looking to see who owned land 100 years ago, then there is no comprehensive central register of those transactions.

When a property was sold, a deed was drawn up and signed by buyer and seller.  It would normally then be held by the buyer (together with any previous deeds for the property) and that was his/her only proof of ownership. If the deeds were lost or destroyed it could create problems for the owner. A small percentage of deeds were registered with the Register of Deeds in Dublin for a fee. (Their records are on-line on the LDS site).  It was optional and most people didn't register these transactions. 

The address 25 Clabby Rd is a modern invention. Until the 1950s in rural areas normally your townland was sufficient to identify you and any deeds will describe the property by its dimensions, general location and the townland. So if searching in the Register of Deeds you need to know the correct townland.

What does Griffiths say for this property? Is there an “immediate lessor” listed? If so, the property was rented. If the family did own it, it will normally say: “In fee.” So that may give you a clue. Outright ownership was fairly rare until the early 1900s. Most people rented.

You can follow the occupancy records up to 1929 on the PRONI Valuation Revision site. There are records after that in PRONI in the VAL 3 series that take that information forward to the 1970s, but they are not accessible on-line, and PRONI is shut indefinitely, so you can’t get access at all at the moment.

Wyndham’s Land Act in 1903 finally enabled most farmers to buy their land, if they wished. This was done by means of a Government mortgage over 25 years. The Valuation Revision records note those purchases by a purple stamp saying “L.A.P.” meaning Land Act purchase. And thereafter instead of a lessor, the records will show “In Fee” instead. The year of purchase will normally be indicated in the extreme right hand column on the page. A different coloured ink was used for each year.