Tathe

A tathe or tate is a unit of area which was used in Fermanagh and Monaghan, equivalent to 60 Irish acres.^[1]

Four tathes make a quarter of land, four quarters make a ballibetagh and, in Fermanagh, seven ballibetaghs make a barony, of which there were seven.^[2] However, the measure of a ballybetagh is far larger in Fermanagh than in Monaghan.^[2] In total at this period in time (1609), it was estimated that Fermanagh which had 51 ballibetaghs and a half of "chargeable lands" contained the same area as Monaghan which had 100 ballibetaghs.^[2]

A quick survey of 1608 found the Tathe to be only half the extent assigned to it by the Irish which was 60 native Irish acres.^[3]

References

1. Joyce, Patrick Weston (2007-08-10) [1898]. The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places. Digitized. Longmans, Green and Co. p. 246.
2. Morley, Henry (1890). Ireland under Elizabeth and James I (Ireland -- History 1595-1612). G. Routledge (London). p. 363.
3. George Hill (2004). The Fall of Irish Chiefs and Clans and the Plantation of Ulster: Including the Names of Irish Catholics, and Protestant Settlers (illustrated ed.). Irish Roots Cafe. p. 276. ISBN 0-940134-42-X.