Last Saturday I was lucky enough to attend a lecture of the Irish Genealogical Research Society in Dublin where Kerryman Micheál O’ Siochru, TCD Associate Professor of History gave us a very lively presentation on his work on the Down Survey of Ireland, which is now online. Taken in the years 1656-1658, the Down Survey of Ireland is the first ever detailed land survey on a national scale anywhere in the world. The survey sought to measure all the land to be forfeited by the Catholic Irish in order to facilitate its redistribution to Merchant Adventurers and English soldiers. All Catholics had to move to Connacht. Copies of these maps have survived in dozens of libraries and archives throughout Ireland and Britain, as well as in the National Library of France. This Project has brought together for the first time in over 300 years all the surviving maps, digitised them and made them available as a public online resource. You can also read the eBook from 1851 on ‘The History of the Survey of Ireland commonly called The Down Survey’
Where Kerry is concerned while all the Baronies are included, only some parishes are mapped.
William Petty (1623-1687) was an English economist, scientist and philosopher. At the time he was appointed to map the forfeited lands. He employed to lay chains down (thus the Down Survey) directly on the land for accurate measurement. Petty gained fame, and considerable personal wealth – including 30,000 acres near Kenmare, Co. Kerry, as payment for completing the Down Survey.
We will come back again to the Down Survey at a future date when readers have a chance to go through it.