Raising the Money

The Poor Law Union drew its finance from a tax on the landholders and occupiers of the Carlow Union. The amount due from each occupier was calculated on the basis of the valuation of their land or holding. A valuation is a survey of land carried out to establish the level of rates or local tax each landholder or occupier should pay.

Two attempts were necessary before people were satisfied that the system of valuation was fair. The two published valuations were: The Townland Valuation for County Carlow which was printed at the Sentinel and County Printing Office in 1844 and the Primary Valuation of Tenements, a much more detailed work, for County Carlow which was completed in 1853 and published in Dublin. Examples of both surveys can examined in the pages that follow.

Some properties were exempt from the valuation or tax.