Old Map of Ireland by Frederik de Wit, c.1680

Frederik de Wit’s Old Map of Ireland

Frederik de Wit published this impressive map of Ireland in Amsterdam during the late seventeenth century. Its Latin title, Regnum Hiberniae, identifies Ireland as a kingdom divided into four principal parts: Ultonia, Conachia, Lagenia and Momonia—the provinces now known as Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster.

The plate first appeared in de Wit’s atlases around 1680. It was subsequently included in later Dutch atlases, which explains why surviving impressions are sometimes dated 1680, 1682, 1688 or 1690.

Unlike maps that treat Ireland as a small component of the British Isles, de Wit devotes the entire plate to the island. This larger format allowed him to include an extensive network of settlements, roads, waterways and coastal features.

Map Details

• Original title: Regnum Hiberniae
• Full title: Regnum Hiberniae divisum in Quatuor Partes quae sunt Ultonia, Conachia, Lagenia et Momonia quae et sunt Divisae in Omnes Suos Comitatus
• Cartographer and publisher: Frederik de Wit
• Published: Amsterdam, c.1680
• Approximate scale: 1:870,000
• Original map size: Approximately 59 × 50 cm
• Historic provinces: Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster
• Format: Hand-coloured copperplate engraving
• Relief: Mountains represented pictorially
• Other features: Counties, cities, towns, roads, rivers, lakes, ports, islands, administrative boundaries, scale bars, decorative cartouches and the Irish coat of arms

Ireland’s Four Provinces

Colour is used to distinguish Ireland’s historic provincial and county divisions. Ulster occupies the north, Connacht the west, Leinster the east and Munster the south.

Their Latin names—Ultonia, Conachia, Lagenia and Momonia—appear prominently on the map. County boundaries are traced within the provinces, creating an administrative framework that remains immediately recognisable despite the map’s seventeenth-century spelling and geography.

The division of Ireland into four provinces was already ancient when de Wit produced his map. His engraving combines this inherited regional structure with the county system that had developed under English administration.

Roads, Towns and Ports

De Wit distinguishes between different classes of road, including principal routes and lesser connections. These lines reveal how journeys were organised before canals and railways transformed travel across Ireland.

The network links inland settlements with Dublin and other coastal towns. Numerous smaller places are included, making the map particularly rewarding for anyone researching Irish counties, local history or family connections.

Ports, bays, islands and river mouths are carefully delineated around the coast. These details reflect the importance of maritime travel and trade at a time when movement by sea could be faster and more reliable than travelling overland.

Rivers, Lakes and Mountains

Ireland’s rivers and lakes form one of the map’s clearest geographical structures. The Shannon crosses the interior, while Lough Neagh, the lakes of the west and numerous smaller waterways are prominently represented.

Mountains are shown pictorially as groups of individually engraved hills. They do not provide the measured elevation found on modern maps, but they convey the broad distinction between Ireland’s upland regions and its more open central country.

Forests, boggy ground, river crossings and coastal inlets add further texture to the landscape. Together, these features show how a seventeenth-century European mapmaker understood the physical character of Ireland.

Decorative Dutch Cartography

Frederik de Wit belonged to the celebrated Amsterdam map trade of the Dutch Golden Age. His maps combined detailed geographical information with engraving intended to make each sheet an attractive work of art.

Two decorative cartouches balance the composition of this Ireland map. The Irish coat of arms, represented by a harp, is held aloft by cherubs, while the title and scales are enclosed within further ornamental engraving.

Original colour emphasises the provincial and county boundaries without overwhelming the finely engraved place names, roads and topographical symbols.

Ireland Before Modern Surveying

This map was produced long before the Ordnance Survey began its systematic mapping of Ireland in the nineteenth century. Distances, coastlines and mountain ranges should therefore be understood as seventeenth-century representations rather than modern survey measurements.

That difference is part of the map’s historical importance. It records how Ireland was described and visualised more than three centuries ago, preserving older spellings, settlement patterns, transport routes and administrative divisions.

For anyone connected with Ireland or its four historic provinces, de Wit’s map offers both an attractive decorative print and a fascinating portrait of the island during the late seventeenth century.