The General Valuation of Rateable Property in Ireland, or the Griffith's Valuation as it is popularly known, is a complete record of all the occupiers of houses and land in Ireland around the middle of the nineteenth century. Within the printed valuation books the information is recorded in the following manner on each page.

The first column on the left hand side of the page No. and Letters of Reference to Maps records the number of the property which is used to locate it on the Valuation Map. If the property is broken up into a number of separate pieces then the letters A, B, C, etc. are used to denote these sections on the map. In addition lower case letters a, b, c, etc. are included. These lower case letters refer to the individual locations of houses on the map. Unfortunately, the letters referring to houses are not always visible on the maps and this is particularly the case with clachans which contain so many houses close together.

The next column entitled Townlands and Occupier gives the name of the townland and the name of the occupier of the property. This is normally the head of the household. In virtually all cases it can be assumed the occupier does literally occupy that particular house and land. However, there appear to be some instances where it is clear that the same person is listed as being the occupier of two houses in a townland. This is particularly true in instances where the house is listed as being a herd's house.

The next column entitled Immediate Lessor indicates the name of the person or persons from whom the occupier has leased the property. In many cases this would be the head landlord.  However, if a landlord has sublet his estate then the immediate lessor will be the person to whom he has sublet his entire estate. Furthermore tenant farmer are given as immediate lessors where they have sublet houses to labourers and cottiers.

The next column Description of Tenement describes the property that is being valued. It will state whether it is a house, industrial establishment, etc. and whether there are any offices, i.e. outbuildings such as byres, barns, etc. and whether there is any land attached. In many cases houses valued at ten shillings or less will have no land attached or at best a small garden. Churches, schools, dispensaries, and other public buildings, although exempt from taxation, were also listed. Indeed, sections of railways passing through individual townlands are recorded.

The next column Area gives details of the size of the property in imperial acres, roods and perches - there being 4840 square yards in an acre, 4 roods in an acre and 40 perches in a rood.

The final three columns on the right hand side of the page give separate valuations in pounds, shillings and pence for land and buildings and a total of both. For younger readers there are 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound.