http://scripts.ireland.com/ancestor/placenames/index.cfm - use wildcard % and _ for letters you are unsure of...also try their "advanced search"
IreAtlas Database http://www.seanruad.com/
Ordinance Surveys
http://www.ordsvy.gov.uk/
http://www.nationalarchives.ie/cgi-in/naigenform02?index=OS
http://www.nationalarchives.ie you might need to use the search function on
the National Archives page to find the link above.
GEOGRAPHY
Map
of Counties of Ireland
(The Ordnance Survey Mapping Specialist)
http://www.rallymap.demon.co.uk/
Places Names of Ireland
http://www.irishplacenames.com/irishrecords/SilverStream/Pages/ircs.html
Interactive Maps of Ireland - Great for current address too!
http://interactive2.iol.ie/MAPS/iolmap.asp
Great List:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/guide/maps.html
Ancestry.com's Map Center - Click on "British Isles" for drop down
list of maps for Ireland:
http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/reference/maps/main.asp
Maps on Local Ireland:
http://www.local.ie/general/map/
Photos for each County:
http://www.irishcorner.com/counties/counties.htm
Ancestry.com - page to enter KEYWORD for search:
http://www.ancestry.com/search/main.htm
Maps are helpful in locating the places where
your ancestor lived. They help you identify neighboring towns, parishes, and
geographic features. They can help you locate parish churches. They can show the
transportation routes that your ancestor could have used in moving.
Maps may be published separately or in bound
collections called
atlases. Maps may also be found in gazetteers, guidebooks,
local histories, directories, and history texts.
Different types of maps provide different types
of information. Historical maps describe economic growth and development,
boundary changes, migration and settlement patterns, military campaigns,
transportation developments, effects of plagues, and other historical
information. Road maps provide information on highways, rivers, and town sizes.
Other types of maps include parish, county, topographical, enclosure, civil
district, church diocesan, and many more highly specialized maps.
City and street maps are extremely useful when
researching in the records of large cities. Locating an ancestor's address on a
city or street map may help you determine which parish to search.
The major source of Irish topographical maps
since 1800 is the Ordnance Survey, which covered all of England, Scotland,
Wales, and Ireland. Maps were produced from the survey in series of 1 inch, 6
inches, and 25 inches to the mile. Series have been revised and published at
different times. Ordnance Survey maps of greater detail (up to 10 feet to the
mile) have been produced for most Irish cities. The following work explains the
history of and details on the Ordnance Survey maps:
Harley, J. B. Ordnance
Survey Maps: A Descriptive Manual. Southampton: Ordnance Survey,
1975. (FHL book 942 E3osa; computer number 172505.)
Using Maps
Maps must be used carefully because:
Finding the Specific Place on the Map
To be most effective in researching your Irish
ancestor, you must identify the place in Ireland where your ancestor lived.
Search gazetteers, histories, family records, and other sources to learn all you
can about the place where your ancestor lived, including:
This information will help you distinguish the
place you are searching from other places of the same name.
See the “Gazetteers” section of this outline
for additional information on locating places.
Finding Maps and Atlases
Collections of maps and atlases are available at
numerous historical societies, county record offices, and public and university
libraries. Major map collections in Ireland are housed at the Ordinance Survey
Office.
Publications that can help you locate maps
include:
Rural and City Maps.
Typescript. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Department, The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985. (FHL book Reg 942 E73c; computer number
0357032.) This source lists British city maps not cited separately in the
catalog.
Watt, Ian, comp. A
Directory of U. K. Map Collections. 2d ed. London: McCarta,
[1985?]. (FHL book Ref 942 E74w; computer number 0452346.) This source briefly
describes the various British map repositories (including county record
offices), their holdings, hours, and copying facilities.
You may purchase maps of Ireland through your
local bookstore or from the following offices:
Ordnance
Survey Office
Phoenix Park
Dublin 8
IRELAND (EIRE)
Ordnance
Survey Office
Colby House
Stranmillis
Belfast BT9 5BJ
NORTHERN IRELAND
John Bartholomew & Sons,
Ltd.
12 Duncan Street
Edinburgh EH9 1TA
SCOTLAND
The Family History Library has
a growing collection of Irish maps and atlases. The library's Irish map
collection includes:
Gardner, David E., Derek
Harland, and Frank Smith, comps. A Genealogical Atlas of Ireland,
Scale 1:300,000. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Company, 1964. (FHL book Ref
941.5 E3g; film 1,696,522 item 5; computer number 0048002.) This atlas includes
an index to the places shown on its maps.
Ireland, Ordnance Survey.
Irish
Townland Survey, Scale 1:10,560. Ottawa: Ottawa Public Archives
of Canada, 198-. (FHL fiche 6341635-66; computer number 0394562.) These maps are
divided by county and include a grid map for each county and are not available
for circulation.
Irish
Townland Maps. Londonderry: Inner City Trust, 1989. (FHL fiche
6342438-53, 6343060-70; computer number 0511249.) Arranged by county, these maps
show all Irish townlands within their respective parishes.
Irish County Maps
Showing the Location of Churches. 4 vols. (One for each of the
provinces of Munster, Leinster, Connaught, and Ulster.) Salt Lake City, Utah:
Genealogical Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
1976-77. (FHL book Ref 929.1 G286gs ser. A no. 54-57 1976-77; fiche 6020286,
6020301-3; computer number 0025342.) This set of county maps marks the locations
of churches in Ireland.
Mitchell, Brian.
A
New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland. Baltimore: Genealogical
Publishing Co., 1986. (FHL book Ref 941.5 E7m; computer number 0421741.) This
book contains maps for each Irish county. The maps show civil parishes,
baronies, and poor law unions.
Other map collections available at the Family
History Library are listed in the Locality Section of the catalog under the
following headings:
GREAT BRITAIN - MAPS
IRELAND - MAPS
IRELAND, [COUNTY] - MAPS
IRELAND, [COUNTY], [CITY] –
MAPS
As far as geography is concerned, one example is the modern discoverer/discovery series of maps—1:50,000 sheets issued by the Ordnance Survey offices of Ireland and Northern Ireland; these include townland names. For records, the Registry of Deeds is an example. It has an index to grantors and a place index based on townlands that allows searching by region, whether or not your ancestor was a likely grantor.