1783 Dublin, Swords & Donaghadee Ireland Road Map | Taylor & Skinner

1783 Taylor & Skinner Dublin, Swords and Donaghadee Ireland Road Map This hand-coloured antique Irish road map, published in 1783, is Map 1 from the second revised edition of Taylor & Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland. Surveyed in 1777 and corrected down to 1783, it records Dublin, Drumcondra, Swords and the historic road forming part of the route to Donaghadee. A particularly detailed plan of Dublin shows Dublin Harbour, the Grand Canal and the network of roads connecting the city with Blackrock, Howth, Navan and Leixlip. The principal road continues through Drumcondra, passing Belvidere, Santry and Cloghran before reaching Swords. Around Swords, the engraving records numerous estates, houses and local landmarks, including Drynam, Fosterstown, Feltrim Hill, Malahide, Lissenhall and Santry, together with churches, turnpikes, side roads and the residences of contemporary landowners. The distance tables across the top of the engraving record stages and mileages connecting Dublin with Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry, Banbridge, Hillsborough, Lisburn, Belfast and Donaghadee, providing a fascinating record of late-18th-century travel in Ireland. The map is especially detailed around Dublin and Swords, recording roads, waterways, settlements, country estates, churches and individual properties, all enhanced with careful hand colouring. Although this map comes from the 1783 revised second edition, the engraved plate retains its original publication inscription at the lower edge: “Published as the Act directs, 28 July 1778.” This reflects the original issue of the plate before its inclusion in the corrected 1783 edition. Identified as Map 1 in Taylor & Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland, it forms the opening section of their extensive late-18th-century survey of Ireland’s principal roads.