Richard Griffith (1784-1878)

Richard Griffith was responsible for the Primary Valuation of ] Tenements which was carried out in the 1850's and 1860's, and also the earlier Townland Valuation begun in 1830.

He was born in Hume Street, Dublin in September 1784. He trained as an engineer and his first assignment was to report on the reclamation of Irish bogs.

Later he was appointed Mining Engineer of the Royal Dublin Society. During his time in that post he conducted surveys of all the Irish Coalfields. He was also responsible for the making of the first geological map of Ireland.

In the 1820's he worked on the building of roads and bridges. In 1825, Griffith was responsible for the tracing of the boundaries of all the townlands of Ireland for plotting on the new Ordnance Survey Map.

Richard Griffith is best remembered to-day for his work as Commissioner of Valuation.


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