One of the hardest things to do when we find an ancestor in an unfamiliar state, county or country is to get an idea of how the physical locations relate to each other – or it is for me, but then I could get lost in my own back garden!
Online and paper-based modern maps can help, but we really need maps of the area in our ancestors’ time.
Ordnance Survey Ireland (the national mapping agency for the Republic of Ireland) has historic maps for both Northern Ireland and the Republic online. The series available are
- 6 inch mapping series (1:10,560) colour 1837-1842
- 6 inch mapping series (1:10,560) greyscale 1837-1842
- 25 inch mapping series (1:2,500) greyscale 1888-1913
In addition there’s also a pdf version of Samuel Lewis’ 1837 Topographical Directory of Ireland to download.
Check it out at http://shop.osi.ie/Shop/Products/Default.aspx#historic
(with thanks to John D Reid over at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com)