The study of family history revolves around places, which seems even more important for Irish genealogy.

Finding the townland where ancestors originated is our Holy Grail. Consequently we've blogged regularly over the years about researching Irish places. The topic is so critical, it's always worthy of review..

Sheilagh Doerfler recently posted in Vita Brevis--A Resource for family history from AmericanAncestors.org, about two valuable websites: The Placenames Database of Ireland (Logainm.ie) and Townlands.ie. She describes the many ways these sources can be helpful. 

Brush up by reading Ms. Doerfler's excellent explanation here.