parish

parish, a territorial subdivision with both ecclesiastical and civil significance. An ecclesiastical parish structure came relatively late to Ireland, following the creation of a diocesan structure as part of the 12th‐century reform. The first parishes were probably conterminous with the lands of Gaelic family groups. English settlement began before the pattern was complete, and in colonized areas parishes became coincident with the new feudal tenureships. A divergence in the Catholic and Church of Ireland parish structures may have begun from the 16th century. The established church took over the medieval pattern, while the Catholic church created its own network, only partially based on the pre‐Reformation predecessor. Both systems were then modified in response to social and demographic change. Civil parishes were originally coincident with the medieval parishes, which in turn became those of the established church, but they did not change along with their religious counterparts. Civil parish divisions served as bases for surveys, and in later years for censuses, but for little else. They frequently transgressed county and barony borders, and by the 19th century were essentially irrelevant to settlement patterns. There are 2,445 civil parishes in Ireland.

Neal Garnham