Land Registry Map for Registered Land in County Donegal

A Land Registry Map shows the registered extent of a property in County Donegal as the register records it, for information. It does not certify the plan under seal, which needs the Certified Map; fix the exact boundary line, which the general boundaries rule places outside the register; show who owns the land or the terms of a burden, which need the folio and the instrument; or cover land that has never been registered. The extent of a commonage share, whether unregistered ground has any plan, and the foreshore beyond the high water mark all fall outside what the map records.

One Donegal caveat in particular: commonage and turbary rights across mountain and bog, registered as undivided shares. That is established by inspection, survey or the registered instruments, not from the record you are ordering here.

Donegal presents two record problems that barely arise elsewhere. The first is scale of commonage: mountain and bog across the county is held in undivided shares, so a folio can convey a meaningful interest in ground that is never drawn as a parcel belonging to anyone in particular. The second is language. Large parts of the west of the county are Gaeltacht, and townlands are recorded in Irish-language forms that differ from the anglicised spelling on the postal address – Gaoth Dobhair rather than Gweedore, Na Cealla Beaga rather than Killybegs.

That second point defeats more searches than any other single factor here. A search run against the postal spelling can return nothing while the folio sits under the Irish form, and the two are not always obviously related to a reader who does not have the Irish. Supplying the townland in both forms, where you have them, removes the problem entirely.

The peninsular geography adds a third layer. Inishowen, Fanad, Rosguill and the western headlands carry holdings that reach the shore, and a registered boundary drawn against an Atlantic tide line records where that line sat at survey. On this coast it has moved since.

Running through all of it is the general boundaries rule. However closely the plan appears to be drawn, the register is not conclusive as to where a boundary legally falls, and the title map shows approximately where a division runs rather than fixing it. A Land Registry Map for County Donegal is authoritative as to the registered extent, and it is the right document for seeing and understanding that extent – but where the same plan has to be produced under seal to a planning authority, a lender or a court, the Certified Map is what carries that weight. The ordinary map is for information; the certified one is for proof, and knowing which a given situation needs is frequently the most useful thing the map settles. Ordering the ordinary map first, rather than a certified plan by default, keeps the cost proportionate to the question – and where the certified plan does turn out to be needed, the map has already shown exactly what it will contain. Ordered from an address and delivered electronically, it is the quickest and cheapest way to see the registered extent before deciding anything further.

delivered electronically within 24 hours

The Land Registry Map is supplied as an electronic copy, sent to the email address you provide, so nothing waits on the post. Each map is checked against the property you described before it is sent out.

Where a property in County Donegal cannot be identified from the details supplied, or the land proves to be unregistered so that no title plan exists, we contact you rather than sending something that does not answer your question.