Chapter 2: Finding the Listons in Ireland

Introduction

     In the previous post, I tried to bring my readers along with me on the journey to find my 2nd great grandfather Thomas Liston and establish certain facts that had come to light about his origins and relations. There were two main facts: 1) Thomas Liston had two brothers who immigrated to Litchfield, Connecticut, by 1850, and 2) they all came from Ireland. I was able to find Thomas's brothers, and every piece of evidence in census and vital records confirmed that they were from Ireland, and to be more specific, from County Limerick. Ultimately, Y-DNA testing of living descendants confirmed that they were very tightly related and there is no reason to think they were not brothers.

     In this second blog post, I would like again to take readers with me on a leg of the journey to discover where my Liston ancestors were born and lived before leaving for North America. This story involves more than a year of study in Irish records and the help of a new friend and cousin whom I met because of DNA testing. This friend, John Melia, discovered that we share a small segment of DNA on chromosome 5, and that this segment is shared in some degree or other by all my Liston relatives who have had autosomal DNA testing. It turns out that John's family comes from an area of County Limerick just outside and to south of Limerick city. It was with this DNA connection and John's interest in who my family might have been that my foray into Irish genealogical research began in earnest.

Irish Records

When researching in Ireland, one is immediately confronted with the sad destruction of many important genealogical records. Documentation of those that were lost, mainly in fires, can be found elsewhere. Here I would rather focus on my research experience with the records that survive.

Among the records that survive for the early nineteenth century, when my Liston ancestors were born and eventually departed for America, are Catholic parish registers for baptisms and marriages, which begin at various times for different parishes; the Tithe Applotment Books, which cover a period from 1823 to 1837; Griffith’s Valuation records, which cover the period from 1847 to 1864 with cancellation books for subsequent years; and Poverty Relief Loan records, which span the entire period covered by the Tithe records and Griffith’s Valuation. In addition, there are prison records and a miscellany of records that I have not yet found useful in my own family research.

The Liston Surname

In my early attempts to zero in on my own Listons, I needed to consider the surname Liston and its origin and where in Ireland it predominated. I learned that Liston was a name connected with the Norman invasion of England, that it has always been associated with Limerick in Ireland, and that Listons were staunch supporters of Irish independence. Ancestry.com provides a little information about surnames, and its entry for Liston is as follows:

Liston Name Meaning

English: habitational name from a place in Essex, so named from the Old English personal name Lissa (probably a pet form of Leofsige; see Livesay 2) + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’. Scottish: habitational name from places in West Lothian and Midlothian, which probably have the same origin as in 1. This surname is also found in Ireland. Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press

Another source explains the origin related to Lissa a little differently, claiming that the full original name derived from Lissa + ing ‘people’ + ton ‘settlement’ or ‘town,’ resulting in Lissington, which may have Lexington as a variant. Liston would be a reduction of these names. The information at Ancestry matches part of the following information gathered by a company that sells surname-related artwork. While the source is suspect, the information is probably an accurate summary of what can be known about the surname and some early figures of the name. According to The Internet Surname Database:

This name is of locational origin either from Liston in Essex or from the old barony of Liston, now included in the parish of Kirkliston, Scotland. The former, recorded as Lissington in Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, dated 995, and as Listuna in the Domesday Book of 1086, is so called from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name Lissa, itself a pet form of Leofsige, plus "ing", people of, and "tun", a farm or settlement, hence, "the settlement of Lissa's people". The Scottish Liston probably has the same origin and the surname from this source has [sic], in fact, an earlier recording than the English one, (see below). Around 1260 a Robert de Liston was chaplain to William, Bishop of St. Andrew's. One, Godfrey de Liston of Essex was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of that county, dated 1272, and a Johannes de Liston in "The Calendarium Genealogicum of Essex", dated 1303. Robert Liston (1794 - 1847), educated at Edinburgh University was a skilful surgeon, best known in connection with the "Liston splint". His chief work "practical surgery" appeared in 1837. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger de Liston who witnessed a charter by Richard, bishop of St. Andrew's, which was dated 1163, in the "Chartulary of the priory of St. Andrew's", during the reign of King Malcolm IV of Scotland, 1153 - 1165. © Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2017

Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Liston#ixzz4dqqMrQxn

John Grenham’s website, which I cite later related to Limerick parishes has a page for the surname Liston with some interesting data. The URL is https://www.johngrenham.com/findasurname.php?surname=Liston. The website http://www.irishidentity.com/lists/l.htm claims that Liston derives from de Lexinton and that settlement was in Limerick and North Kerry, but it provides no sources. Lexin[g]ton and Lissington probably have the same origin.

     Figure 1 provides a map showing the distribution of the surname Liston in Ireland, at some undisclosed time, along with some additional data from Tyrone Bowes’ Irish Origenes:

Figure 1. The Surname Liston in Ireland, Source: http://www.irishorigenes.com/liston

                  

How Did the Listons Get to Ireland?

In the 12^th century, there was an Anglo-Norman (sometimes referred to as Welsh-Norman or Cambro-Norman) invasion of Ireland, and County Limerick was one area settled by the invaders, along with the South Riding of Tipperary and the county of Meath, among others. The year given is 1169. In 1170, Richard fitz Gilbert de Clar, the second earl of Pembroke, called Strongbow, led another invasion to support the aims of the 1169 effort. Henry II, great grandson of William the Conqueror, was king of England and ruler of the Angevin Empire, which included all of England, Wales, and vast territories in France. The invaders of Ireland intended to establish their own realm there, but Henry personally invaded the country with a large army in 1171 and exerted lordship over them and the Irish kings. In 1175, the treaty of Windsor secured Ireland to its high king, except for Leinster and Waterford, in exchange for an oath of fealty to Henry. Limerick was formed into a county as early as the reign of King John, A.D. 1210. Despite the treaty, the Anglo-Normans continued to acquire lands appropriated from the Irish, and the Listons presumably obtained some of this land (Your Irish). In fact, Rev. Patrick Woulfe (1923) indicates that the “family settled in the 13th century at Kilscannell (92 in Figure 3) in Co. Limerick, which they held down to the year 1595 [37 Elizabeth I] when it was confiscated and granted to Captain Robert Collum. The Listons are still numerous in Co. Limerick” (Woulfe). This dispossession probably reduced the Listons’ circumstances. 

In the 13^th century, the Fitzgeralds of Offaly were established in Shanid, Croom, and Pallas Grean. Maurice Fitzgerald (Orpen, p. 164) had three sons, Thomas, progenitor of the house of Desmond, who was settled with the cantred of Shanid; Gerald, who married a daughter of Hamo de Valognes, ancestor of the earls of Kildare, and obtained Croom in the valley of the Maigue; and William of Naas, who was granted the castle of Karrickittle in Kilteely (Table 3: 93 west) (Orpen, p. 164). Thus, the ruling Fitzgerald family held lands in the east, center, and west of Limerick, where we find three distinct clusters of Listons in the early 19^th century. The history of the granting of land to Anglo-Norman knights by kings Henry II and John in the late 12^th and early 13^th centuries is complex, and the Listons did not have the same stature as the ruling families of Fitzgerald, de Burgh (Burke), de Valognes, de Lacy, and de Braose, so it is not easy to find records pertaining to the Listons in Ireland at that time. I would like to study the period more and see what might be available in its records, but I am satisfied for the moment that the Listons in Limerick County, once part of the kingdom of Thomond, ruled by the O’Briens, did come and settle there in conjunction with the Anglo-Norman conquest (Orpen).

The Listons in 19th-Century Ireland

Where were the Listons in nineteenth-century Ireland? The Tithe Applotment records include forty-five Liston land holders in Limerick, one in Clare, and two in Tipperary. By the time of Griffith’s Valuation, there was not only an increase in the number of land holders with the name Liston, but also a dispersion to or emergence in other counties. The numbers were as follows:

Figure 2. Liston land holders in Ireland (1847-1850) < http://www.spirited-ireland.net/map/_counties/> (not used    by permission)

                  
In some cases, one land holder might have land in more than one location, so these numbers may not reflect 132 different Liston family heads. The numbers do, however, give an idea of the distribution of Listons in Ireland at the time. The increase and spread of Liston holdings between about 1830 and 1847 is impressive, from 48 to 132, almost two-thirds more. It may be useful to do some further calculations. If we estimate five children per family as a reasonable average and add a spouse, then the Liston population in the 1820s might have been 288, and by 1850, 792. Clare, Kerry, and Tipperary are neighboring counties in the province of Munster, and it is interesting that the population of Listons in Tipperary grew seven-fold compared to the nearly three-fold growth in Limerick. This may be due to out-migration from Limerick to Tipperary in addition to the maturation of children born from 1810-1830. It is possible that the Listons found in the province of Ulster at this time were from Scotland where, as already seen, another Liston family were established in the Lothians.

Clearly, Limerick can be considered the ancestral homeland of the Listons in Ireland and a good starting place to find my own family. I located a map of Limerick, and its parishes online and shaded the parishes where Listons were living at the time of the Tithe Applotments and at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. In the not-very-attractive map which is Figure 1, the blue shading indicates the Listons at the time of the Tithe Applotments, and the greenish shading indicates the additional parishes housing Listons at the time of Griffith’s Valuation.

Figure 3. Distribution of Listons in Limerick 1823-1850. 

See <https://www.johngrenham.com/browse/county_civil.php?county=Limerick> and   < https://www.johngrenham.com/browse/ counties/rcmaps/limerickerc.php#maps/>.

                 

What immediately stood out to me as I squinted at the map, were three areas of “settlement,” east, central, and west. It seems that the eastern cluster of Listons centers on the parish of Grean, and this may be the source of the Tipperary Listons, who understand that their family was originally from Limerick. The central cluster occupies an area from Mungret, just outside the city of Limerick, southward to Croom. The western cluster radiates from Newcastle West, and represents the largest population of Listons in Limerick County. Farm laborers traveled to find work, and it is possible that their seasonal migrations account for the spread of Listons during the 1840s, but at least some of their distribution probably represents movement of maturing sons into parishes adjacent to those where they were born and raised to set up their own households.

            If readers are researching their Liston ancestry in Limerick, they will want to know the names of the (mostly) men who held land and houses in the period from about 1820 to 1850 and where they were living and working. Using a couple of websites, one can easily do this, so I will provide a breakdown of the numbers by parish and the names of the landholders as found in the records.

The Tithe Applotments

            In the Tithe Applotment records (1823-1837), as indicated on the map in Figure 3, the Listons indexed can be found in the townlands and parishes of Limerick as shown in Table 1. I have arranged the parishes according to the clusters I have identified (east, central, and west) and alphabetically within those designations (the numbers in parentheses refer to the map in Figure 3):
     

Parish	Number of Holdings	Townland	Coordinates	Date (if any)	Forenames
EAST	4
Grean (61)	2	Kilduff Kilduff	52° 33' 32" N, 8° 20' 10" W	1834	Catherine James
Kilcullane* (73)	2	Herbertstown O’Grady Herbertstown Powell	52° 31' 5" N, 8° 28' 29" W 52° 30' 42" N, 8° 28' 19" W	1833	John John
CENTRAL	29
Cahernarry (Mungret) (28, 111) This has to be an error.	8	Castlemungret Castlemungret Castlemungret Cunnigar Cunnigar Cunnigar Cunnigar Loughane	52° 38' 32" N, 8° 41' 15" W 52° 38' 47" N, 8° 41' 55" W 52° 38' 16" N, 8° 42' 32" W	1825	Patrick Michael Michael Michael John Michael John Thomas
Crecora (41)	1	Logavinshire	52° 35' 5" N, 8° 40' 58" W	1827	John
Croom (43)	2	Toryhill and Honeypound Dollas Lower	52° 32' 15" N, 8° 41' 37" W 52° 31' 58" N, 8° 42' 26" W 52° 29' 56" N, 8° 45' 51" W	1826-1833	Thomas James
Donaghmore* (46)	1	Borheen	52° 38' 11" N, 8° 35' 22" W	1825	Widow
Drehidtarsna (49)	4	Drehidtarsna Drehidtarsna Drehidtarsna Drehidtarsna	52° 32' 24" N, 8° 47' 53" W	1826	James William James James
Limerick (Mungret) (111)	3	Cameheen Cameheen Cunnigar	52° 37' 39" N, 8° 42' 30" W 52° 38' 47" N, 8° 41' 55" W	1824	Patrick John Patrick
Mungret (111)	10	Ballydwane Camheen Loughane Loughane Cameen Cunnigar Cunnigar Castlemungret Mungrett Mungrett	52° 37' 56" N, 8° 42' 59" W 52° 38' 7" N, 8° 41' 27" W	n.d.	Michael Patt John John Patrick John Michael Michael Michael Michael
WEST	15
Clonelty (36)	3	Lissaniska West Kilgullibon Kilgullibon	52° 27' 14" N, 8° 59' 45" W 52° 27' 0" N, 8° 56' 35" W	1833	James N Terence John
Cloncagh (34)	1	Gortnacrehy	52° 26' 14" N, 8° 55' 38" W	1833	Michael
Grange (60)	4	Ardrine Ardrine Evegallyhow Grange Lower	52° 26' 54" N, 9° 0' 37" W 52° 28' 31" N, 8° 59' 50" W 52° 28' 3" N, 9° 0' 34" W	1830	Michael Maurice Terence Edm[und]
Kilmoylan (88)	1	Clounlehard	52° 31' 33" N, 9° 13' 18" W	1833	James
Mahoonagh (107)	4	Ballinakilmore Cloundiheeny Curragh Mahoonagh Beg	52° 26' 24" N, 8° 59' 0" W 52° 25' 16" N, 8° 59' 8" W 52° 25' 55" N, 8° 59' 46" W	1833	James James James James
Newcastle (113)	1	Dromin Basom	52° 27' 35" N, 9° 6' 21" W	1829	Garret
Rathronan (118)	1	Dromadda	52° 26' 59" N, 9° 10' 3" W	1833	Edmond

Table 1. Listons holding land and houses in Limerick County according to the Tithe Applotments 1824-1833.

See < http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp>

Some explanation is needed here. The parishes marked with an asterisk seem to lie between clusters, and I have arbitrarily inserted them where I have in the list. The Mungret townlands have been separated into three “parishes,” Cahernarry, Limerick, and Mungret, in the Tithe Applotment books. It is clear from the repetition of townlands in each of these “parishes” that all of them should be designated Mungret. Until I understand why this was done this way, I wanted to show them as they appear in the indexes. Again, it is quite possible that some of this land was held by one person. For example, five Michaels in the same parish might actually be the same man with five different holdings. We look through a glass darkly, and it is difficult to discern. An excellent website that allows exploration of the Catholic and Civil parishes is John Grenham’s https://www.johngrenham.com/browse/counties/rcmaps/limerickerc.php#maps/. This address is a direct link to eastern Limerick County. I see no overlap of Catholic and Civil parishes to account for the confusion over Mungret townlands in the Tithe Applotment book indexes.

            The data in Table 1 is interesting because it shows that there was a greater concentration of Listons in the central cluster, holding land in a greater number of townlands than in either the east or the west of the county. Based on the Tithes data alone, this could indicate that the Listons started in the central parishes, possibly Mungret, which has the largest number of households, and spread from there. It is interesting that in the western cluster the forenames Terence, Maurice, Edmond / Edmund, and Garret appear. Since these names are a departure from the usual Michaels, Jameses, Patricks, and Johns that predominate everywhere and particularly in the central cluster, they might be helpful for identifying the origins of later Liston families in Ireland and abroad. The name William appears as an outlier in the central cluster in Drehidtarsna. Women also appear as land holders, and whenever a woman’s name appears, she is likely to be a widow, which is also helpful information for the researcher.

            In addition to the Listons in the Tithe Applotment books cataloged so far, there were also landholders by the name Lyston (probably just a spelling variation). Their information follows in Table 2. Spelling variations are common for the name Liston. Very early records have de Liostún, Listoun and Listun. Modern records include variants like Lyston, Listen, Listin, Listan, and occasionally Lister. The <i> in the first syllable may also be spelled <e>. When searching in handwritten records, the similarity between capital L and capital S, as noted earlier, has to be considered. In some records, the name Sexton can give the Liston researcher pause, but the <x> generally stands out as very different from <s>. Nonetheless, Syston, Sisten, Siston, Sistin, and the like should be checked when they are found in transcriptions and indexes, just in case. The spelling Lyston made it across the Atlantic to the United States, and a small number of families using the spelling can be found in American records. Some of the other variants are just choices made by clerks, clergymen, and census takers, but do include them in your searches or use wildcards when possible (*, ?: L?st*) in search engines or databases.

Parish	Number of Holdings	Townland	Coordinates	Date (if any)	Names
EAST	4
Ballynaclogh (19)	3	Kilduff Ballyhust Lackanascarry	52° 33' 13" N, 8° 19' 30" W 52° 33' 48" N, 8° 22' 0" W	1832	Edmond James Edmond
Caherconlish (25)	1	Skehil	52°35′37″N 8°28′13″W	n.d.	Michael
CENTRAL	4
Ballingarry (14)	3	Ballinlyny Ballinlyny Lisduff	52° 29' 39" N, 8° 46' 42" W	1830	Patrick Patrick Richard
Kilfinny (77)	1	BallyMackeymore	52° 30' 25" N, 8° 46' 21" W	1834	James
WEST	3
Cloncrew (35)	1	Cloonlara	52° 22' 14" N, 8° 52' 51" W	1833	Nicholas
Kilbradran (68)	2	Cooltomin Cooltomin	52° 33' 2" N, 9° 1' 0" W	1833	Michael John

Table 2. Lyston in Tithe Applotment Books, Limerick County 1830-1834

            There are also some listings in the Tithe Applotment books under several other spelling variants, including Listin, Lysten, and Leston, and they are shown in Table 3:

Parish	Number of Holdings	Townland	Coordinates	Date (if any)	Names
WEST	4
Dunmoylan (53)	2	Knockdromoroon Knockdromoroon	?	1833	Michael Listin John Listin
Kilfergus (75)	2	Ballydonohoe Ballygiltenan Lower	52° 34' 4" N, 9° 20' 51" W 52° 33' 19" N, 9° 16' 25" W	1830	? Listin David Listin
CENTRAL	3
Dysert	2	Carrigeen	52° 31' 8" N, 8° 44' 43" W	1833	James Lysten James Lysten
Croom	1	Dunnaman	52° 31' 35" N, 8° 46' 2" W	1826-1833	John Leston

Table 3. Listin in Tithe Applotment Books, Limerick County 1826-1833

With the spelling variants represented in Tables 2 and 3 added to those in Table 1, the total number of landholders of the name is sixty-six, which changes the estimate of all Listons living in the county, but since we do not know that each entry represents a unique person, the estimate is only interesting and not entirely useful. If they were unique, then an estimate of the number of Listons in Limerick County between 1823 and 1837 might be 462. Thus, descendants of the Listons of Limerick today trying to trace their family history only have about that number of potential ancestors among whom to search, primarily in three distinct areas of the county.  Since about half of the Listons were women, the number can be reduced to 231 men who passed along the surname and their Y-DNA. Again, this is only an estimate. A further complication is that the records only include the name of the holder of the land, not the members of his or her household, and it is possible that some Listons were laboring on the land for other families and living with them. These records are not censuses; they are lists of tithables, a fraction of the population. “[S]ince the commissioners were concerned only with those occupiers liable for the payment of the tithe, they would not generally have included cottiers, laborers holding conacre land, or landless people such as weavers, farm servants and vagrants” (http://www.deliapublications.com/SacredTenth.htm). Figure 4 shows the townlands where there were tithable Liston households from 1823 to 1837.

 Figure 4. Limerick Townlands where Listons (and Variants) Lived per the Tithe Records (1823-1837), Plotted with 
 Geographical Coördinates

   

Griffith’s Valuation

            By 1847, Griffith’s Valuation showed an increase in the number of Listons in Limerick County in a somewhat different configuration from that in the Tithe Applotment Books, reflecting perhaps expansion of some kind in the west and some shrinkage or redistribution in the center and east of Limerick County. We have already seen that there was a significant cluster of Listons in the North Riding of Tipperary, but the extreme southeast and southwest of the county of Limerick have no Listons, and from the Shannon in the north to the Cork border in the south, there is a corridor of parishes in which no Listons are recorded. The index of Griffith’s Valuation for Limerick at Ask About Ireland (http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch) has the following Listons as land holders, including Listen, Listin, and Lyston, distributed as shown in Table 4:

Occupier Surname	Occupier Forename	Parish	Map Number	Cluster	Townland	Landlord	Coordinates
LYSTON	JANE	ADARE	3	Central	Blackabbey, Main Street	Michael Sullivan	52° 33' 57" N, 8° 47' 31" W
LISTON	WILLIAM	ANHID	5	Central	Anhid West	Anne Lee	52° 30' 6" N, 8° 43' 19" W
LISTON	JOHN	ATHLACCA	10	Central	Rathcannon	Rev. Carew Smith O'Grady	52° 27' 38" N, 8° 37' 20" W
LISTON	JOHN	CROOM	43	Central	BallinFreera	James D. Lyons	52° 28' 36" N, 8° 41' 34" W
LISTON	WILLIAM	CROOM	43	Central	Croom	John Croker	52° 30' 48" N, 8° 43' 51" W
LISTON	JAMES	CROOM	43	Central	Dollas Lower	John Piggott	52° 29' 56" N, 8° 45' 51" W
LISTON	JAMES	CROOM	43	Central	Dollas Lower	James Liston
LISTON	JAMES	CROOM	43	Central	Dunnaman	James D. Lyons	52° 31' 35" N, 8° 46' 2" W
LISTON	JAMES	CROOM	43	Central	Dunnaman	James D. Lyons
LISTON	JOHN	CROOM	43	Central	Dunnaman	Earl of Dunraven
LISTIN	THOMAS	CROOM	43	Central	Toryhill	Court of Chancery	52° 32' 15" N, 8° 41' 37" W
LISTON	JOHN	DYSERT	54	Central	Carrigeen	Earl of Dunraven	52° 31' 8" N, 8° 44' 43" W
LISTIN	JOHN	MUNGRET	111	Central	Ballymacashel	R.W. Studdart	52° 38' 20" N, 8° 43' 14" W
LISTIN	MICHAEL	MUNGRET	111	Central	Castlemungret	Robert W. Studdert	52° 38' 32" N, 8° 41' 15" W
LISTIN	PATRICK	MUNGRET	111	Central	Castlemungret	Robert W. Studdert
LISTIN	JOHN	MUNGRET	111	Central	Castlemungret	Robert W. Studdert
LISTIN	MARGARET	MUNGRET	111	Central	Castlemungret	Robert W. Studdert
LISTIN	MICHAEL	MUNGRET	111	Central	Castlemungret	Robert W. Studdert
LISTIN	PATRICK	MUNGRET	111	Central	Castlemungret	Robert W. Studdert
LISTIN	JOHN	MUNGRET	111	Central	Castlemungret	Robert W. Studdert
LISTIN	MARGARET	MUNGRET	111	Central	Castlemungret	Robert W. Studdert
LISTIN	MICHAEL	MUNGRET	111	Central	Castlemungret	Robert W. Studdert
LISTIN	HONORIA	MUNGRET	111	Central	Loughanleagh	Robert W. Studdert	52° 38' 16" N, 8° 42' 32" W
LISTIN	HONORIA	MUNGRET	111	Central	Loughanleagh	Robert W. Studdert
LISTIN	PATRICK	MUNGRET	111	Central	Loughanleagh	Robert W. Studdert
LISTIN	JOHN	MUNGRET	111	Central	Loughanleagh	Robert W. Studdert
LISTON	PATRICK	ST LAWRENCE	98	Central	Spital Land	Bridget Donahoe	52° 39' 14" N, 8° 36' 18" W
LISTON	JAMES	ST LAWRENCE	98	Central	Spiital Land	William Halliday
LISTON	BRIDGET	ST MICHAEL	100	Central	Prior's Land	Zacharia Myles	52° 40' 23" N, 8° 38' 1" W
LYSTON	BRIDGET	ST MICHAEL	100	Central	Prior's Land	Geo. Wm. Pinchin
LYSTON	CATHERINE	ABINGTON	2	East	Cloghnadromin	George Westropp	52° 37' 28" N, 8° 29' 23" W
LISTON	JOHN	BALLYNACLOGH	19	East	Tullabeg	Trus. E. Smith's Charities	52° 33' 29" N, 8° 19' 25" W
LISTON	JAMES	GREAN	61	East	Kilduff	Michael Cronin	52° 33' 32" N, 8° 20' 10" W
LISTON	BARTHW.	BALLINGARRY	14	West	Common	In Fee	52° 28' 14" N, 8° 49' 20" W
LISTEN	JOHN	BALLINGARRY	14	West	Common	David Dove
LISTON	PATRICK	CHAPELRUSSELL	32	West	Pallas	Thos. McNamara	52° 38' 40" N, 8° 51' 39" W
LISTON	JAMES	CLONELTY	36	West	Ballynoe	Reps. Garret Maum	52° 26' 32" N, 8° 57' 5" W
LISTON	TERENCE	CLONELTY	36	West	Ballynoe	Reps. Garret Maum
LISTON	NICHOLAS	CLONELTY	36	West	Kilgolban	Bernard Sheehy	52° 27' 0" N, 8° 56' 35" W
LISTON	NICHOLAS	CLONELTY	36	West	Kilgolban	Brian Sheehy
LISTON	JAMES	CLONELTY	36	West	Knockaderry	Maurice Quaide	52° 28' 3" N, 8° 58' 43" W
LISTON	HONORIA	CLONELTY	36	West	Lissaniska West	John C. Locke	52° 27' 14" N, 8° 59' 45" W
LISTON	JOHN	CLONELTY	36	West	Lissaniska West	John C. Locke
LISTON	JAMES	CLONELTY	36	West	Lissaniska West	John C. Locke
LISTON	HONORIA	CLONELTY	36	West	Lissaniska West	John C. Locke
LISTON	JOHN	CLONELTY	36	West	Lissaniska West	John C. Locke
LISTON	JAMES	CLONELTY	36	West	Lissaniska West	John C. Locke
LISTON	JOHN	DUNMOYLAN	53	West	Gortadroma	Henry Roslime	52° 32' 17" N, 9° 9' 2" W
LISTON	JOHN	DUNMOYLAN	53	West	Gortadroma	George Hodges
LISTON	JOHN	DUNMOYLAN	53	West	Gortadroma	Captain Dickson
LISTON	JAMES	DUNMOYLAN	53	West	Knockfinnisk	Richard M. Yeilding	52° 29' 25" N, 9° 11' 19" W
LISTON	THOMAS	DUNMOYLAN	53	West	Park	George Crow Hodges	52° 31' 38" N, 9° 9' 27" W
LISTON	MICHAEL	DUNMOYLAN	53	West	Park	Thomas Liston
LISTON	JOHN	DUNMOYLAN	53	West	Park	George Crow Hodges
LISTON	MICHAEL	DUNMOYLAN	53	West	Park	John Liston
LISTON	JOHN	GRANGE	60	West	Arddrine	Reps. Viscount Guillamore	52° 26' 54" N, 9° 0' 37" W
LISTON	TERENCE	GRANGE	60	West	Evegallahoo	Thomas Evans	52° 28' 31" N, 8° 59' 50" W
LISTON	TERENCE	GRANGE	60	West	Grange Lower	William H. Franks	52° 28' 3" N, 9° 0' 34" W
LISTON	JOHN	KILBRADRAN	68	West	Ballylin	Mary Gorman	52° 32' 36" N, 9° 2' 6" W
LISTON	DENIS	KILBRADRAN	68	West	Ballyneety	Charles P. Roche	52° 32' 4" N, 9° 3' 17" W
LISTON	THOMAS	KILBRADRAN	68	West	Ballyneety	Charles P. Roche
LISTON	DANIEL	KILBRADRAN	68	West	Cooltomin	Standish O'Grady	52° 33' 2" N, 9° 1' 0" W
LISTON	JAMES	KILBRADRAN	68	West	Cooltomin	Standish O'Grady
LISTON	CORNELIUS	KILBRADRAN	68	West	Cooltomin	Standish O'Grady
LISTON	ELLEN	KILCOLMAN	71	West	Glensharrold	Richard M. Yeilding	52° 30' 40" N, 9° 8' 15" W
LISTAN	PATRICK	KILCORNAN	72	West	Summerville	Thos. McNamara	52° 38' 45" N, 8° 52' 40" W
LISTON	JOHN	KILFERGUS	75	West	Ballydonohoe	Thomas Fitzgerald	52° 34' 4" N, 9° 20' 51" W
LISTON	EDMUND	KILFERGUS	75	West	Ballygiltenan North	Knight of Glin	52° 33' 54" N, 9° 16' 41" W
LISTON	EDMUND	KILFERGUS	75	West	Ballygiltenan North	Geo. M. Goggin
LISTON	JAMES	KILFERGUS	75	West	Ballygiltenan Upper	Edmund Liston	52° 32' 2" N, 9° 16' 36" W
LISTON	JAMES	KILFERGUS	75	West	Tooraree Upper	Patrick Normoyle	52° 31' 21" N, 9° 14' 58" W
LYSTON	THOMAS	KILFERGUS	75	West	Killacolla (Barker), Main Street	Denis McElligott	52° 34' 17" N, 9° 16' 48" W
LISTON	BRIDGET	KILKEEDY	82	West	Ballyanrahan West	George Tuthill	52° 35' 45" N, 8° 43' 47" W
LISTON	THOMAS	KILMOYLAN	88	West	Knocknagornagh	Edward L. Masey	52° 29' 25" N, 9° 15' 46" W
LISTON	THOMAS	KILMOYLAN	88	West	Knocknagornagh	Trustees Earl of Carrick
LISTON	ELLEN	KILMOYLAN	88	West	Knocknagornagh	Edward L. Masey
LISTON	ELLEN	KILMOYLAN	88	West	Knocknagornagh	Trustees Earl of Carrick
LISTON	THOMAS	KILMOYLAN	88	West	Tooreendonnell	Samuel A. Dixon	52° 29' 49" N, 9° 13' 9" W
LISTON	MICHAEL	KILSCANNELL	92	West	Coolybrown	George M. Maunsell	52° 30' 33" N, 9° 1' 10" W
LISTON	MICHAEL	LOGHILL	105	West	Carrowbanebeg, village of Loghill	Thomas Shaughnessy	52° 35' 29" N, 9° 11' 46" W
LISTON	JOHN	LOGHILL	105	West	Knocknabooly West	Thomas Royce	52° 34' 51" N, 9° 9' 41" W
LISTON	NICHOLAS	LOGHILL	105	West	Derreen (cannot find it) Coordinates are for Loghill.	Edward L. Masey	52° 35' 39" N, 9° 10' 57" W
LISTON	NICHOLAS	LOGHILL	105	West	Derreen	Trustees Earl of Carrick
LISTON	DANIEL	LOGHILL	105	West	Derreen	Trustees Earl of Carrick
LISTON	JAMES	MAHOONAGH	107	West	Curragh	John Meagher	52° 25' 16" N, 8° 59' 8" W
LISTON	JAMES	MAHOONAGH	107	West	Curragh	John Meagher
LISTON	JAMES	MAHOONAGH	107	West	Curragh	John Meagher
LISTON	JOHN	MAHOONAGH	107	West	Mahoonaghbeg	John Meagher	52° 25' 55" N, 8° 59' 46" W
LISTON	DANIEL	MAHOONAGH	107	West	Mahoonaghbeg	John Liston
LISTON	NICHOLAS	MAHOONAGH	107	West	Shanrath	William ? Holland	52° 24' 57" N, 9° 0' 40" W
LISTON	MICHAEL	MONAGAY	108	West	Garryduff	Reps. William Leake	52° 26' 14" N, 9° 8' 20" W
LISTON	EDWARD	MONAGAY	108	West	Knockane	Trustees Earl of Devon	52° 26' 33" N, 9° 3' 56" W
LISTON	EDMOND	MONAGAY	108	West	Rathnaneane	Trustees Earl of Devon	52° 26' 45" N, 9° 3' 11" W
LISTON	JOHN	NEWCASTLE	113	West	Churchtown	Trustees Earl of Devon	52° 27' 44" N, 9° 4' 4" W
LISTON	PATRICK	RATHRONAN	118	West	Athea Upper	Wyndham Goold	52° 27' 9" N, 9° 18' 41" W
LISTON	MICHAEL	RATHRONAN	118	West	Ballyegny	James Moylan	52° 31' 46" N, 9° 4' 21" W
LISTON	PATRICK	RATHRONAN	118	West	Clash North	Wyndham Goold	52° 27' 19" N, 9° 13' 55" W
LISTON	EDMUND	RATHRONAN	118	West	Cool West	Wyndham Goold	52° 26' 44" N, 9° 15' 28" W
LISTON	THOMAS	RATHRONAN	118	West	Crataloe West	James Richard Woulfe	52° 25' 41" N, 9° 15' 45" W
LISTON	PATRICK	RATHRONAN	118	West	Gortnagross, Village of Athea	Honoria Roche	52° 26' 59" N, 9° 16' 54" W
LISTON	MICHAEL	RATHRONAN	118	West	Gortnagross, Village of Athea	Honoria Roche
LISTON	PATRICK	RATHRONAN	118	West	Gortnagross, Village of Athea	Honoria Roche
LISTON	JUDITH	SHANAGOLDEN	122	West	Ballycormick	William Hishon	52° 34' 24" N, 9° 6' 42" W
LISTON	EDMUND	SHANAGOLDEN	122	West	Shanagolden	Arthur Vincent	52° 34' 21" N, 9° 5' 47" W
LISTON	EDMUND	SHANAGOLDEN	122	West	Shanagolden	Arthur Vincent

            Table 4. Liston and Variants in Griffith's Valuation, Limerick (1847-1851)

The index has a total of 102 Listons (and variants: in the parish of Mungret, all were recorded with the spelling Listin). Of those, 29 are in the central cluster, 3 in the eastern cluster, and 70 in the western cluster. Were the Listons in the west more prolific than those in the center and east of the county? Was there migration from the east and center, and was some of that migration to the west? These were my initial questions about the data. As noted earlier, the Anglo-Norman Listons settled in Kilscannell (Table 3: 92), which is at the heart of the western cluster of Listons (Woulfe). Most of my early queries about the surname Liston resulted in answers that pointed me to Newcastle West and vicinity, so the name has become associated with that city and the western part of Limerick County. Most of the Listons in America I have corresponded with have traced their families to the parishes of Rathronan and Shanagolden in the west of Limerick or to Grean Parish in the east.

When analyzing the data in the two record sets, another factor to consider is that the compositions of those documented for the Tithes and those in Griffith’s valuation were different. As James R. Reilly points out,

It is certain that the farm servant and the cottier will not appear in the Tithe Books, for they were not subject to the tax because of their work relationship to their employer; the landlord, the middleman, the small and the large farmer, and the wage laborer generally have their names listed in this record. However, one can expect to find all occupiers of land, whether wage laborer, cottier, small and large farmer, listed along with landlord, landlord [sic] and the middleman in Richard Griffith's General Valuation of Ratable Property. (http://www.deliapublications.com/SacredTenth.htm)

 If all occupiers of land had been recorded in the Tithe books, then the number of Listons might have been much larger than reported, and the numbers reflected in Griffith’s Valuation, instead of indicating an increase in the number or redistribution of Listons in the county over the intervening decade, may simply be more accurate. Based on Reilly’s observations, could it be that the Listons recorded in the central cluster at the time of the Tithe Applotments were not more numerous but more prosperous than the Listons in the western parishes?

            Working with Griffith’s Valuation, I learned that there were many records involved during several years. Over about four years, the “valuators” revisited townlands and revised the entries in their books, crossing out tenants who had vacated and adding names of new tenants. The index that produced Table 4 reflects a snapshot of landholders at the end of the valuation. If you think your ancestor was in a townland that is not listed or one in which your ancestor does not appear, you should look at the land and tenure books for the townland of interest, and you may find the person you are looking for. Do not give up if you do not find the townland you seek immediately. The spelling of townland names have changed over the years, so search the Internet with your spelling, and you may find the townland you are looking for. There are many websites that can help with this search. The time of the valuation coincides precisely with the potato famine, so the population was undergoing much change, including mass migration out of Ireland, and the various valuation books provide relevant clues. Discovering the right townland is an important step in the research process. Figure 5 shows the townlands where Listons resided at the time of Griffith’s Valuation.

Figure 5. Townlands in Limerick where Listons (all variants) Lived per Griffith's Valuation (1847-1851), Plotted with   Geographical Coördinates

    

            Outside Limerick, there were several occupiers of land with the surname Liston (and variants) at the time of the Tithe Applotments. A broad search which included many spelling variants yielded the following results:

Surname	Forename	Townland	Coordinates	Parish	County	Year
Liston	Tobin	Cormackstown	52° 40' 6" N, -7° 52' 43" W	Holycross	Tipperary	1834
Liston	Tobin A	Cormackstown		Holycross	Tipperary	1834
Liston	Richard	Derryfadda	52° 44' 4" N, -7° 39' 32" W	Moyne	Tipperary	1827
Leston	Michl	Gurtussa	52° 34' 1" N, -8° 4' 7" W	Kilpatrick	Tipperary	1833
Leston	Michl	Gurtussa		Kilpatrick	Tipperary	1833
Lesten	William	Corrogheen	52° 36' 14" N, -7° 45' 57" W	Ballymurreen	Tipperary	1827
Liston	John	Ballyhee	52° 53' 12" N, -8° 59' 15" W	Templemaley	Clare
Liston	David	Poulavollen / Poulawillin	52° 50' 47" N, -9° 23' 48" W	Kilfane / Kilfarboy	Clare
Listin	Widow	Lacken	52° 27' 16" N, -8° 7' 11" W	Cordangan	Tipperary	1830
Listin	Pattk	Lacken		Cordangan	Tipperary	1830
Listin	Thomas	Lacken		Cordangan	Tipperary	1830
Listin	Joseph	Coolfadda	51° 44' 53" N, -8° 45' 15" W	Kilbrogan	Cork	1827
Lyston	Wm	Ardkeenan	53° 23' 6" N, -8° 3' 3" W	Drum	Roscommon	1833
Listen	Thomas	Carhniarhagh and Keelagurteen	52° 27' 27" N, -9° 23' 48" W	Knockanure	Kerry	1824
Leston	Tim	Lusk	53° 31' 24" N, -6° 10' 5" W	Lusk	Dublin	1833

                 Table 5. Listons outside Limerick’s Borders in the Tithe Books (1823-1834) with various spellings

Using the coordinates for each townland from the Tithe books, the distribution of Listons in the counties of Clare, Cork, Dublin, Kerry, and Roscommon has been plotted on the map in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Listons (and Variants) outside Limerick's Borders in the Tithe Books (1823-1834), plotted with Geographical Coordinates

    

The Listons outside Limerick’s borders at the time of Griffith’s Valuation (1847-1851) are listed in Table 7:

SURNAME	FORNAME	COUNTY	PARISH	TOWNLAND	LANDLORD	Coordinates
LISTON	PATRICK	CLARE	KILFARBOY	Breaffy North	Burdett Morony	52° 51' 25" N, -9° 24' 52" W
LISTON	DAVID	CLARE	KILFARBOY	Breaffy North	Patrick Liston
LISTON	WILLIAM	DOWN	GARVAGHY	Castlevennon	William Waugh	54° 20' 11" N, -6° 10' 25" W
LISTON	NICHOLAS	KERRY	LISTOWEL	Listowel	Earl of Listowel	52° 26' 52" N, -9° 29' 0" W
LISTON	JOHN	KERRY	MURHER	Toberatooreen	William Sandes	52° 30' 1" N, -9° 18' 58" W
LISTON	PATRICK	MONAGHAN	CLONTIBRET	Doohamlat	John Waters	54° 7' 39" N, -6° 49' 18" W
LISTON	MICHAEL	TIPPERARY, NORTH RIDING	KILCOOLY	Longford Pass North	Mary Hackett	52° 42' 4" N, -7° 39' 7" W
LISTON	JOHN	TIPPERARY, NORTH RIDING	MOYNE	Derryfadda	John Maher	52° 44' 4" N, -7° 39' 32" W
LISTON	PATRICK	TIPPERARY, NORTH RIDING	BURGESBEG	Carriggal	?	52° 49' 25" N, -8° 19' 8" W
LISTON	PATRICK	TIPPERARY, NORTH RIDING	BURGESBEG	Carriggal	?
LISTON	BRIDGET	TIPPERARY, NORTH RIDING	BURGESBEG	Dromin	?	52° 49' 5" N, -8° 17' 6" W
LISTON	BRIDGET	TIPPERARY, NORTH RIDING	BURGESBEG	Dromin	?
LISTON	BRIDGET	TIPPERARY, NORTH RIDING	BURGESBEG	Dromin	?
LISTON	BRIDGET	TIPPERARY, SOUTH RIDING	RATHCOOL	Coolanure	Mrs. Grace Heffernan	52° 30' 26" N, -7° 42' 1" W
LISTON	JAMES	TIPPERARY, SOUTH RIDING	ST JOHN BAPTIST	Green	Cashel Commissioners	52° 30' 50" N, -7° 53' 9" W
LISTON	PATRICK	TIPPERARY, NORTH RIDING	BURGESBEG	Carriggal	Patrick Finn
LISTON	BRIDGET	TIPPERARY, NORTH RIDING	BURGESBEG	Dromin	William Finch
LISTON	BRIDGET	TIPPERARY, NORTH RIDING	BURGESBEG	Dromin	William Finch
LISTON	BRIDGET	TIPPERARY, NORTH RIDING	BURGESBEG	Dromin	William Finch
LESTON	LAWRENCE	TIPPERARY, SOUTH RIDING	RATHKENNAN	Rathkennan Wood	Joseph Jones	52° 36' 46" N, -7° 55' 27" W
LESTON	LAWRENCE	TIPPERARY, SOUTH RIDING	RATHKENNAN	Rathkennan Wood	Joseph Jones
LISTIN	JOHN	CLARE	KILMANAHEEN	Ennistimon	Denis Rowan	52° 56' 22" N, -9° 17' 25" W
LISTEN	ALEXANDER	DONEGAL	RAPHOE	Lismontigley	John Alexander	54° 51' 14" N, -7° 34' 36" W
LISTEN	ALEXANDER	DONEGAL	RAPHOE	Cottown	William S. Alexander	54° 50' 18" N, -7° 35' 49" W
LYSTON	JOHN	WEXFORD	FETHARD	Winningstown	Charles Cody	52° 13' 50" N, -6° 51' 39" W

       Table 6. Listons (and Variants) outside Limerick, Griffith’s Valuation (1847-1851)

The map in Figure 7 shows the locations of Listons in townlands outside Limerick at the time of Griffith’s Valuation:

Figure 7. Listons (and Variants) outside Limerick at the time of Griffith's Valuation (1847-1851)

           

Conclusion

            The paucity of Irish records presents some problems for genealogists searching for Irish ancestry; however, there are some important surviving records, such as the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith’s Valuation, which can shed light on family origins in the early nineteenth century, specifically from 1824 to 1851. Liston, found with various spellings, is a name most common in the county of Limerick. The name is associated with the period immediately following the Norman Conquest and may have belonged to someone who accompanied William I from Normandy in 1066. Early Listons held lands in Essex, England, and the Lothians in Scotland. It is also possible that its early owners were English and took their name from the locality where they lived. The Listons apparently accompanied or followed the Cambro-Norman invasion of Ireland in the late twelfth century and settled in the western part of Limerick, a county with which they have always been associated. It has been possible to identify specific households through the Tithe records and Griffith’s Valuation, which show that the Listons lived in three distinct areas of the county, the majority in the west, fewer in the center and east. Demographics imply that the Listons in the center of Limerick were more prosperous than those in the west while those in the east were less numerous. Some Listons can be found outside Limerick, scattered over a few nearby counties, with a small number in the north of Ireland who may be of Scottish origin. I hope this chapter will prove helpful to others researching the Listons in Ireland. The next chapter will revisit DNA as a tool in genealogical research and examine another set of records from the early nineteenth century that helped the author discover the hometown of his Liston ancestors.

Bibliography

Bowes, Tyrone. "Liston | Irish Origenes: Use Family Tree DNA to Discover Your Genetic Origins | Clans of Ireland | Irish Surnames Map." Irish-Origenes. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.irishorigenes.com/liston.

Clemmensen, Steen. "William Jenyns’ Ordinary An Ordinary of Arms Collated during the Reign of Edward III." Jenyn's Ordinary: College of Arms, London, 2008. Accessed 2017. http://www.armorial.dk/english/WJO_PreEd.pdf.

"Dictionary of American Family Names  ." Dictionary of American Family Names - Oxford Reference. July 12, 2016. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195081374.001.0001/acref-9780195081374.

Find My Past. "Griffith’s Valuation." Griffith's Valuation - Explanation of Terms. 2017. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.findmypast.com/articles/griffiths-valuation---explanation-of-terms.

Grenham, John. "Irish Ancestors: East Limerick Roman Catholic Records." East Limerick Catholic Records. Accessed May 06, 2017. https://www.johngrenham.com/browse/counties/rcmaps/limerickerc.php#maps/.

Grenham, John. "Liston." Liston in Ireland. Accessed May 06, 2017. https://www.johngrenham.com/findasurname.php?surname=Liston.

Grenham, John. Limerick Civil Parishes. Accessed May 06, 2017. https://www.johngrenham.com/browse/county_civil.php?county=Limerick.

"Griffith's Valuation." Ask about Ireland. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch.

"Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward III, File 138." British History Online. Accessed May 06, 2017. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/vol10/pp320-331.

"Invasion of Ireland by Anglo-Normans - Irish History of Ireland." YourIrish.com. March 19, 2017. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.yourirish.com/history/medieval/norman-invasion.

"Irish Genealogy (Irish Studies): Places & Place Names." Boston College: Libraries. January 11, 2017. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://libguides.bc.edu/c.php?g=44002&p=279497.

Irish Identity. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.irishidentity.com/lists/l.htm.

"Irish Townlands." Townlands in Ireland. Accessed May 06, 2017. https://www.townlands.ie/.

"Last Name: Liston." The Internet Surname Database. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Liston#ixzz4dqqMrQxn.

Liston, Nate. Liston Family Tree. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.nateliston.com/familytree/.

"Map of Irish Counties." Spirited Ireland - Map of Irish Counties - Irish Music and Images of Ireland. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.spirited-ireland.net/map/_counties/.

Maxwell, Ian. Everyday Life in 19th-Century Ireland. The History Press Ireland: Dublin, 2012. Print.

McCall, Hardy Bertram. "Memoirs of My Ancestors; a Collection of Genealogical Memoranda Respecting Several Old Scottish Families; with an App. ... Genealogy of the McCall Family Online." Memoirs of My Ancestors; a Collection of Genealogical Memoranda Respecting Several Old Scottish Families; with an App. ... Genealogy of the McCall Family (page 2 of 9). 2010. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/hardy-bertram-mccall/memoirs-of-my-ancestors-a-span-classsearchtermspan-classsearchtermcol-acc/page-2-memoirs-of-my-ancestors-a-span-classsearchtermspan-classsearchtermcol-acc.shtml.

O'Cearbhaill, Padraig. "The Placenames Database of Ireland and Its Local and Family History Benefits." October 2008. Accessed May 6, 2017.

O'Driscoll, Alan, and Brian Hodkinson. "Who Was Who in Early Modern Limerick." Limerick.ie. 2012. Accessed April 2017. https://www.limerick.ie/sites/default/files/atoms/files/who_was_who_in_early_modern_limerick_1.pdf.

O'Hart, John. "Irish Pedigrees; Or, The Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation : O'Hart, John : Free Download & Streaming." Internet Archive. Accessed May 06, 2017. https://archive.org/details/irishpedigreesor_01ohar.

Orpen, Goddard Henry. "Ireland under the Normans: 1169-1216." Internet Archive. Accessed May 06, 2017. https://archive.org/details/irelandundernorm01orpeuoft.

Reilly, James R., CGRS. "The Sacred Tenth: The Tithe Composition Applotment Books." Delia Publications & Genealogical Services LLC. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.deliapublications.com/SacredTenth.htm.

Seoighe, Mainchin. Portrait of Limerick. St. Edmundsbury Press: London, 1985. Print.

Slater, Sharon. "Little Book of Limerick." Google Books. 2013. Accessed May 06, 2017. https://tinyurl.com/k6awa2f

Stones, Allison. "Medieval Pilgrimage Writing and Its Manuscript Sources." Encyclopedia of Medieval Pilgrimage, ed. L. J. Taylor et al. Leiden: Brill, 395-413. Accessed May 6, 2017. doi:10.1163/9789004181298_emp_sim_000120."The Tithe Applotment Books." The Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-37. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp.

Wilson, Shane. Townland Index and Database - 1851. May 7, 2015. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.swilson.info/townlands.php.

Woulfe, Patrick. "De LIOSTÚN." De Liostún. January 01, 1970. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.libraryireland.com/names/d/de-liostun.php.

Wright, Thomas, Esq. "The History of the County of Essex: Book II. — Chapter V."  The history and topography of the county of Essex, comprising its ancient and modern history. A general view of its physical character, productions, agricultural condition, statistics &c. &c. 1831. https://archive.org/details/historytopograph02wrig. November 3, 2008. Accessed May 06, 2017. https://archive.org/details/historytopograph02wrig.