Old Map of Ireland by Robert Morden, 1695
Price range: £35.55 through £59.95
Ireland by Robert Morden, first published 1695
Unlike the English county plates, Morden’s map of Ireland takes in a whole island. Its wide reach makes the relation between coast, rivers, counties and the four old provinces particularly clear. This museum-quality giclée reproduction retains the antique map’s original lettering and ornament. Produced on textured fine-art paper with archival pigment inks; supplied unframed.
Size
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Unlike most online offerings, our maps are produced entirely in-house, not outsourced to print-on-demand or drop-shipping services. This allows complete control over quality while offering better value. Each map begins with a high-resolution original, carefully enhanced and printed to order using archival papers and pigment inks for exceptional clarity, depth, and longevity. Every piece is personally overseen — no map leaves our workshop unless it is of a quality we would be proud to display ourselves.
Authentic Old Map Paper & Accurate Colour Reproduction
Paper choice is essential to the authenticity of our maps. We use specially sourced 190gsm paper made in the UK from pure materials and traditionally pressed with natural woollen felts. This process creates a subtle, randomly textured surface that closely resembles an original antique document. Likewise the use of premium quality ink fully saturates the paper, producing remarkable clarity, depth, and historical character. Colour fastness and sharpness will remain good for in excess of 100 years!
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About the map
Unlike the English county plates, Morden’s map of Ireland takes in a whole island. Its wide reach makes the relation between coast, rivers, counties and the four old provinces particularly clear.
Map Details
- Original title: The Kingdom of Ireland
- Cartographer: Robert Morden (c.1650–1703)
- First published: 1695, in Edmund Gibson’s edition of William Camden’s Britannia
- Area: Ireland
- Places to locate: Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and the River Shannon
What makes this engraving distinctive?
- The decorative title cartouche announces The Kingdom of Ireland and credits Robert Morden.
- County and provincial divisions organise the island, with the historic provinces of Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster readily identifiable.
- The map has distinct scales for Irish and English miles, a revealing detail of the period’s approaches to measuring distance.
History
The Atlantic shore and the much shorter eastern crossings towards Britain create very different geographical prospects. Morden’s close attention to counties and ports reflects the needs of readers who relied on maps for political and commercial understanding. The river systems, especially the Shannon, help connect the interior with the coast. This is a map produced in the politically fraught decade following the Williamite War; the engraving should be understood as a contemporary geographical document rather than an impartial account of Irish society.
Around the area
The two mile scales are worth studying in their own right: the accompanying distinction between Irish and English miles is a practical warning against assuming that every historical ‘mile’ means the same thing. Follow the western coastline with its long peninsulas and estuaries, then compare the distribution of settlements on the eastern side. The named counties fit within Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster, but their period spelling and presentation can differ from a modern atlas. The titlepiece provides an ornamented focus in a sheet otherwise occupied by a great volume of detail. The result is especially appealing to those tracing Irish place names or interested in the island before the mapping conventions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Made as a fine-art print: Archival pigment inks on subtly textured paper; supplied unframed and carefully packed. The historic boundaries and spellings reflect the cartographer’s era, not present-day administrative geography.
For the cartographer’s own descriptions of Britain, read our article Robert Morden’s Britain in 1693: The Mapmaker’s Own Words.