A New Map of the Kingdom of Ireland

Large and detailed map of Ireland divided into provinces. Based on the 'Down Survey' of Sir William Petty from 1655-6.

Bayly's map of Ireland was originally included in the "Large English Atlas", one of the most significant contributions to domestic geography in the 18th century. It was issued by Emanuel Bowen together with his apprentice and then partner Thomas Kitchin. Due to the lack of information about the country, Bowen only included one map dedicated to Ireland within his work. That map was engraved by J. Bayly and the information, as stated on the cartouche, was still based on the survey of Sir William Petty, now almost one hundred years old. The map shows some improvements, not least the introduction of the road network drawn on the map.

Stylistically, the map corresponds very much to the Georgian period, with a clear scientific portrayal of the geography which is complimented by an understated cartouche on the upper left. The hand colour, applied at the time of publishing, separates the provinces by colour and divides the counties in each one.

As traced in the bibliographies, this is state 2 of this map with the imprints of John Bowles, Carington Bowles and Robert Sayer on the lower centre margin, with a publication date of 1764-5.

Original colour. [IRE2021]