Historic map illustration of Carrickfergus, featuring detailed drawings of a castle, town walls, and a ship on the sea. The map is labeled with landmarks

Happy #MapMonday !
This drawing of Carrickfergus town is an annotated plan showing town walls, dwellings, church, and monuments. Deposited in the DRI by the Royal Irish Academy as part of the 'OS200: Digitally Re-mapping Ireland’s Ordnance Survey Heritage' project: doi.org/10.7486/DRI....

Map of Ireland showing the towns in the IHTA series that have been published in red and in progress in green

Access #IHTA no. 15 Derry~Londonderry by Avril Thomas for free here:
www.ria.ie/irish-histor...
#MapMonday
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Digital Atlas of Derry~Londonderry - Royal Irish Academy The City of Derry was ‘UK City of Culture’ in 2013. To mark this the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, Royal Irish Academy have collaborated with Derry City Council and the School of Geography,

Digital Atlas of Derry~Londonderry
It was the first #IHTA atlas to be converted to a Geographical Information System (GIS) with over 30 sites and map layers included.
Read more and explore the map layers: www.ria.ie/research-pro...
@qubelfastofficial.bsky.social

#MapMonday #GIS

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Using The Atlas: Workshop 6 – Digital Mapping YouTube video by Royal Irish Academy

You can watch Brian Lambkin speaking about ‘Mapping migration with IHTA no. 15, Derry~Londonderry' at the Using the Atlas workshops from 2022.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY1H...

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Extract of text from the topographical information on the Foyle Factory, earlier Tillie and Henderson

Black and white text map showing the locations of shirt manufactories from 1831 to 1900

Image of Tillie and Henderson's shirt factory in 1891 taking from Industries of Ireland, p. 152

Derry~Londonderry was also well-known for the shirt manufactories. Tillie and Henderson being the largest in the 19th cent.

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Map 2 A reconstruction of the c. 1831 Ordnance Survey manuscript town plan at a scale of 1:2500. Individual plots and showing public buildings and defences as red, houses pink, arable areas as green and water as blue

Carlisle Bridge, 1860 (Derry City Council) Black and white image showing the double decked bridge with people in the foreground pushing barrels

The River Foyle was 300 metres wide at parts and so much communication was made via ferry until a wooden bridge was built 1789–91, with 16 piers before it was replaced by the Craigavon Bridge, doubled decked for the railway in 1859.

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Plate 2. Londonderry, c. 1730 by William van der Hagen, oil on canvas (formerly Guildhall, Derry) Colour painting showing the buildings of the town, with ships and hills in the distance

Londonderry, 1793, by Sandby Black and white etching of Derry from the riverside with ships and a slip in front of buildings

Fig. 3 House types in Stewart's survey, 1738 Black and white text map showing the different types of house by symbol within the town walls

Map 14. 'Plan of the city lots of Londonderry', surveyed by Archibald Stewart in 1738, copied by Stewart Gordon in 1857 (Corporation of London Record Office). Black and white plan of Derry with individual plots named, streets and walls.

Strategically located on the N.W. coast on the Atlantic, but as close to Glasgow as Belfast ports by sea. The increased Atlantic trade in the 18th cent. augmented Derry~Londonderry as a major in Ireland and with industrialisation ranked as the 4th or 5th largest city in the 19th cent.
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Map 8. 'London-Derry', 1618-19, by Nicholas Pynnar (Trinity College Dublin, MS 1209 (22*) Colour map showing the street layout, defences and port area of Derry~Londonderry

The town was burnt in 1608 by Sir Cahir Doherty & rebuilt in 1610, which is a recurring theme.
To ensure commercial success the city of London was involved and the name was changed to Londonderry in 1613. The walls, still intact today, enclosed an area of c. 13 hectares, built between 1613–18.

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Map 5. 'The island and fort of the Derry', 1600 (The National Archives, Public Record Office, SP 63/207, pt vi, no. 84 (1) A sepia map with the fortress of Derry shown surrounded by water with ships and a round tower

The relatively remote location meant that there was little long-lasting impact from either the Viking or Anglo-Norman invasions, until a military base was founded there in 1566. Derry’s revival as a strategic fortress in the Ulster Plantation came in 1600 under Henry Dowcra.

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Map 21. A growth map of Derry~Londonderry on an OS base with different colours representing different stages of urban development. The green indicating probable medieval sites.

Essay head of Derry~Londonderry with an image of the the city from a distance in 1689

Fundamentally a plantation town, with an earlier Christian settlement, founded by either St Columba in AD 563 or his relative Fiachrach in c. AD 590. Both of the Cenél Conaill clan from the fort of Grianán Aileach, 8km to the north on the Inishowen Peninsula.

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Cover of IHTA, no. 15 Derry~Londonderry by Avril Thomas. An inset of a view of Derry City with bridge over the River Foyle and mountains in the background

We move North-West to Derry~Londonderry for our next #MapMonday. Irish Historic Towns Atlas no. 15, Derry~Londonderry by Avril Thomas was published by the @ria.ie in 2005
As a plantation town, much of the town's development and redevelopment can be traced through the rich map collection.
#IHTA
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Don't miss our Curator's Talk & Tour on 28 April, which is part of a programme of events to mark our new exhibition Ink & Innovation: the earliest printed books of the Royal Irish Academy. We're sharing a taster here and you can book your free place at the event now: www.ria.ie/events/ink-i...

Ink & Innovation is an exhibition of the earliest printed books in the Royal Irish Academy Library running from April to December 2026. Come and learn about early printing technology, the development of the printing trade and the varied interests of Renaissance readers: www.ria.ie/library/libr...

Intro to Researching at the National Library of Ireland

Intro to Researching at the National Library of Ireland

📅 Thursday, 23 April at 1pm:
www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/intro...

Join us for this free talk in the NLI's Joly Theatre introducing the National Library as a source for research.

Map of Ireland showing the IHTA towns published (in red) and those in progress (in green)

Access IHTA no. 17, Belfast, part II, 1840 to 1900 by Stephen A. Royle as open access

www.ria.ie/irish-histor...

#MapMonday #IHTA #Belfast
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Text from the topographical information showing the entry for Harland and Wolff

Plan of Harland and Wolff Ltd in beige, yellow and blue showing the different components of the yard Insurance map of Belfast, 1898, by Charles Goad (British Library); original size 45 x 35.5 cm.

Black and white photo of Queen's Bridge with industrial buildings, chimney smoke and people crossing the bridge, including a double decker tram. Queen’s Bridge, looking west, c. 1906 (Lawrence Collection, National Library of Ireland).

Aerial photo of Belfast looking out over the city and lough Belfast from the air, looking north-west, 2006 (Esler Crawford Photography, Belfast).

The most famous ship yard of them all was Harland and Wolff, occupying Queen's Island that had increased from 3 to 40 acres by 1880 and 135 acres by 1914 and still dominates Belfast's landscape today.
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Essay header showing Queen's Bridge and first paragraph of the essay on the topographical development of Belfast

Map 5 in the IHTA. An historical compilation map showing sites of buildings, street layouts and reclaimed land

Extract from Map 5 in the IHTA. An historical compilation map showing sites of buildings, street layouts and reclaimed land focusing on Harland and Wolff

Black and white image showing Belfast, looking north-west, c. 1860, by Marcus Ward and Company (Trustees of the National Museums Northern Ireland, Ulster Museum)

The industrial boom Belfast was fueled by cotton, linen and ship building:
‘Belfast had no coal or iron but it did possess areas of flat, easily worked land close to sheltered deep water. [Queen's Island] arose from dredging for the cuts put through the final bend of the River Lagan’
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Map 2 in IHTA Belfast which is a reconstruction of the manuscript town plan in c. 1830. Public buildings in red, other plots in pink. Arable land in green and water as blue

Ordnance Survey map of Belfast in black and white in c. 1900 at a scale of 25 inches to 1 mile

Population figures of Belfast from 1841 to 2001 from 71,5447 in 1841 to 443,671 in 1951 and 232,319 in 2001

Black and white text map of the built-up area and municipal boundaries, 1840-1901

One of the most striking changes in Belfast during this period is the sheer growth of the city, both in terms of population, urban and suburban morphology.
#MapMonday
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Cover of IHTA Belfast part II, 1840 to 1900 by Stephen A. Royle, showing engraving of Beflast in the 19th century, bridge to the fore, ships, industry and a mountain in the distance

This #MapMonday we’re back in #Belfast in the second half of the 19th century
Irish Historic Towns Atlas no. 17 Belfast part II 1840 to 1900 by Stephen A. Royle was published by the @ria.ie in 2007
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📢 Call for speakers: All About That Place

#GenHour -join us and share your expertise on the role of place in family history research.

Submit your proposal:
sog.org.uk/all-about-th...

#genealogy #familyhistory #AATP

This is a fascinating exhibition! Looking forward to the lunchtime talk too! All free to attend

The in-person places are now fully booked, but you can either request a 'recording only' option or join the waiting list here: buytickets.at/royalirishac...
#IHTA2026

Not sure how we would have captured those in the atlas!

Seminar programme on a cream background. Heading illustration is a painting of Youghal with town walls and buildings and ships in the harbour

'Water, Towns and Topography II', the #IHTA 2026 seminar is convened with the Irish Walled Towns Network, an initiative of @heritagecouncil.ie

Free to attend, booking essential
📆20 May 2026
📍Royal Irish Academy, Dublin @ria.ie
🎟️ www.ria.ie/2026/03/30/i...

Ink & Innovation: the earliest printed books of the Royal Irish Academy Library! Find out more about our exciting new exhibition by reading our latest blog, written by the curator, Dr Alison Ray @liber-ray.bsky.social (Collections & Archives Manager). www.ria.ie/blog/ink-inn...

Colourful map of the province of Munster in Ireland with colorful borders, depicting regions and towns. Includes ornate compass rose, ships, coats of arms, and detailed handwritten notes.

For this week's #MapMonday we're delving back into the colourful Hardiman Atlas collection with this map of the province of Munster. The map is inscribed to Lord Burleigh by Francis Jobson on 30 May 1589.
Deposited by Trinity College Dublin.

Explore the collection: doi.org/10.7486/DRI....

Map of Ireland showing the IHTA towns published (in red) and those in progress (in green)

Access IHTA no 12, Belfast, part I to 1840 by Raymond Gillespie and Stephen A. Royle as open access
www.ria.ie/irish-histor...
Image credit (non-IHTA)
1. Belfast, 1685, by Thomas Phillips (British Library, K Top 51 39) Map 3 in the atlas.

#MapMonday #IHTA #Belfast
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Growth map of Belfast to 1833 with each era of expansion depicted by different colours from 1685

List of the population figures from various records from 1659 to 1841

The rate of growth is seen in land reclamation and population. It doubled from 1780s (13k) to 1811 (29k) and to 70k by 1841 making it the 3rd largest settlement on the island.

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Text map showing the development of the harbour and land reclamation

Image of Mulholland's Mill c. 1840 with people standing outside the walls

Image of the White Linen Hall in 1823with people walking in front of it

Image of the Brown Linen Hall in 1831 with people, horses and carts on the street out side

The arrival of merchant families in the late 17th century developed the commerce and by the late 18th century, industries were flourishing, most famously in the textile and ship-building areas aided by fast flowing rivers and a deep port.
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