First published in London and Belfast in 1877 and republished here on full-searchable CD-Rom is George Benn's A History of the Town of Belfast from the Earliest times to the Close of the Eighteenth Century. With Maps & Illustrations. Containing some 778 printed pages, Benn's History of the Town of Belfast, written almost exclusively with the use of primary sources, is still regarded as one of the most authoritative works on Belfast down to the period of its publication.
Benn (1801-1882) was born in Armagh in 1801 on the day that the Act of Union came into being, which he credited his Unionist sympathies too; the son of a brewer, he was educated at the then recently established Belfast Academical Institution, winning several Gold Medals, one of which was for his essay on the Parish of Belfast, which was published in 1819. Residing for most of his life at Glenravel, the estate purchased and built by his father, John, George began his career by establishing a distilling concern with his elder brother Edward. However, while residing at Glenravel, Benn began corresponding with a number of noted antiquaries such as William Reeves, Bishop of Down & Connor and Classon Porter of Larne, which led him to pursue his interests in the history of county Antrim. Benn's initial interest in the history of Belfast exhibited in his 1819 essay was continued in the 1850s by a number of noteworthy contributions to the Ulster Journal of Archaeology. In 1862 one of Benn's friends and colleagues, William Pinkerton, had been asked by the publisher Marcus Ward to write a history of Belfast. Pinkerton, unfortunately fell ill and in 1868 his research papers were handed over to Benn to complete the publication. It soon became apparent to Benn that Pinkerton's research was not particularly well-advanced and Pinkerton's residence in London meant that few of the most important sources had been consulted, not least the Belfast Corporation Book, which Benn had himself rediscovered in 1864. This was to form the basis for several chapter of the History of Belfast, without which these could not have been written.
Writing began in 1871 and with the aid of his friends Reeves and Porter, Benn also enlisted the aid of the historian George Hill and the recently appointed Keeper of Public Records in Dublin, William Hennessey. With the additional aid of Hans Hamilton who was at that time preparing the Calendars of Irish State Papers at the London Public Records Office, Benn brought to fruition one of the most exacting histories of Belfast published to date, which also met with much critical acclaim. Immediately began collecting material for a subsequent volume that would take the history to 1870. This was very different and concentrated on on local reminisces and accounts of the leading Belfast families often from material supplied by the family's living representatives. The enlarged History was published in 1880 shortly before George Benn's death at Belfast in 1882.
For those interest in Belfast and its history, George Benn's authoritative and thoroughly readable historical account of City is a must.
Bassett's Book of Antrim is both a directory and a guide to the entire county in 1888. It is one of the most important sources published for late nineteenth century Antrim, recording details (addresses and occupations) for over 5,000 people in the county. It contains 414 pages of detailed information, as well as an excellent full colour map.
The book begins with the history, economy, geology and social life of the county. This is followed by a full directory for every town and village, giving the names and details for all office-holders, professionals, merchants and tradesmen, as well as a full alphabetical directory of farmers and other residents not listed by trade. There is a detailed introduction to each town and village, with information about the economy, history, religion, railways, post, and general character of the place. It includes an extended treatment for Belfast, and the towns of Lisburn, Ballymena and the Coleraine district. The book finishes with an index of places, a list of fairs and markets, and includes many commercial advertisements.
The Royal Commission on Labour commissioned the reports into the conditions of the Agricultural Labourer in the Poor Law Unions of Ireland, which were carried out primarily in the 1890s. The reports mirrored a survey that was carried out in England previous to the Irish reports. The results, particularly for many of the Poor Law Unions in the West of Ireland were shocking. They painted a picture that had changed little since the famine for the agricultural labourer. The report covered the issues of Supply of Labour, the Conditions of Engagement, Wages and Earning, Cottage Accommodation, Gardens, Benefit Societies, Trade Unions, General Relations and General Conditions.
The areas covered in this particular report are the Poor Law Unions of Cookstown (Co. Tyrone), Ballyshannon (Counties Donegal, Fermanagh and Leitrim), Ardee (Counties Louth and Meath), Downpatrick (Co. Down), Clones (Counties Monaghan and Fermanagh), Letterkenny (Co. Donegal), Limavady (Co. Derry), Ballymena (Co. Antrim), Castleblayney (Counties Armagh and Monaghan), Dromore West (Co. Donegal) and Ballymahon (Counties Longford and Westmeath). Because of the geographical spread covered the results vary with Limavady, Downpatrick, Ballymeena and Cookstown classed as good; Ballymahon, Ballyshannon and Dromore West as poor. In some cases the cottages were little more than mud cabins, which may have had up to 8 people living in them. However, this can be contrasted with areas that give very "favourable accounts". Each report is accompanied by detailed statistical returns as well as comments by several of the leading gentlemen of the area. Information was also collected from the labourers themselves, and often their condition is described in some detail, giving their name, address and other personal details. Common themes throughout the reports are the decreasing number of labourers owing to emigration and the lack of winter work. In cases where the conditions were poor much of the blame was placed on the laziness and lack of thrift of the labourers.
This report is fascinating insight into a class of Irish life that was slowly disappearing which is already evident from the evidence supplied. The large area covered makes it particularly interesting, as the differing standards are all too easy to observe. This report offers a vital insight into the social and economic conditions of the country as it approached the 20th century.
This is one of earliest full commercial directories of Ireland, and includes over 220 urban centres throughout the island. Organised by Province, and then town, it lists all the principal office holders, gentry, professionals, tradesmen, hotels, schools, public institutions, churches, and even pubs for each town in Ireland. There is a description of each Province and town as well. This was Pigot's much-expanded second edition (the previous version dated 1820) and is now extremely rare.
This title includes the Introductory sections, and the Ulster section only.
This book is the first Directory of Belfast published by William Matier, at a time when Belfast city was growing very quickly as a consequence of industrialisation. This directory covers the city of Belfast and Ballymacarrett. It gives a full trades directory, and alphabetical lists of all professions, noblemen, gentry, merchants, traders residing in the city and its neighbourhood. This is followed by a full and detailed breakdown of all the public institutions in the city, including their principal staff members, and a full list of all churches. The book also contains many advertisements by traders and merchants.
Lewis gives details about every parish, town and village in Ireland, including numbers of inhabitants, the economy, history, topography, religion and parish structures, administration and courts, schools, and much more. He also gives the names of the principal inhabitants (generally landlords, merchants and professionals).
This Dictionary is in four parts:
· Preface & Subscribers
· Volume 1: A-G
· Volume 2: H-Z
· Volume 3: Maps
The Maps are in full colour, making this source one of the most important for research on Ireland.
This superb book includes a full commercial directory for the entire country. Organised by Province, and then town, it lists all the principal office holders, gentry, professionals, trades, hotels, schools, public institutions, churches, and even pubs for each town in Ireland. Slater took over Pigot's important publication of commercial directories of Ireland, and this was the first instalment. It has almost twice as much detail as its predecessor (published in 1824), and is now an extremely rare item.
This title includes the Introductory sections, and the Ulster and Belfast sections only.
John Henderson's Belfast Directory of 1850 focuses on the actual city of Belfast, unlike the later version of 1856, which covers all of Ulster. Spread over four hundred pages Henderson provides a street directory, alphabetical list of the inhabitants and a trade directory of the city, amounting to approximately 16,000 names. There are also details on some of the surrounding villages. Henderson also provided detailed information on the post service, as well as information on County Antrim.
Also included is an advertisement section providing further details on the businesses and individuals of the city. For anyone with an interest in mid-nineteenth century Belfast City this is a must have publication.
This book is an excellent commercial directory for the Province of Ulster. It is the third edition in a series published in various years between 1852 and 1900. The book contains a wealth of information about Belfast, and every county and town in Ulster. It includes a full street directory of Belfast and Ballymacarrett, an alphabetical list of inhabitants and a trades directory for Belfast, a detailed breakdown of public & private institutions and societies in Belfast and Ulster, a full list of all administrative offices and military positions for every county throughout the province, as well as an introduction to all nine counties, and a detailed trades directory for every town and village throughout Ulster.
There is also a large number of illustrated advertisements which are included.
For those familiar with the study of Irish history and in particular Irish genealogy, directories such as Slater's are a vital research tool. Each town and village contained in the Directory is introduced by its geographical location in relation to its nearest railway station together with population statistics derived from the 1861 Census of Ireland as well as a brief geographical and topographical description. The Directory provides the names and addresses of the principal private residents, together with those engaged in commercial and agricultural activity as well as the presence and location of religious, commercial and public institutions.
This publication reproduces just the Province of Ulster and cities of Belfast sections of Slater's 1870 Royal National Directory of Ireland. This directory is one of only nine national directories for Ireland published prior to 1900 and an essential research tool for the study of Irish genealogy and history.
This superb book includes a full commercial directory for the entire country. Organised by Province, and then town, it lists all the principal office holders, gentry, professionals, trades, hotels, schools, public institutions, churches, and even pubs for each town in Ireland.
This is the third edition of Slaters, for the year 1881, and contains 1,580 pages of information including a large-scale map of Ireland.
This title includes the Introductory sections, and the Ulster & Belfast sections only.
This publication reproduces just the Province of Ulster & Belfast city sections of Slater's 1894 Royal National Directory of Ireland. This directory is one of only nine national directories for Ireland published prior to 1900. Apart from the fulsome coverage given-over to Ireland's major cities, Slater's also provides information on the principal private and commercial residents (including farmers) of the larger towns and villages. As a fully searchable CD-Rom, the publication of Slater's Royal National Directory of Ireland is an essential research aid that must grace the shelves of anybody interested in the people and institutions of Ireland.
Originally published in London 1899 by MacMillan & Co., Ltd., this first edition of the Highways and Byways in Donegal and Antrim, is republished here on fully-searchable CD-Rom. Macmillan began publishing the Highways and Byways series in 1899, this being one of the earliest in the series, and by 1909 had completed nineteen publications in the series, which extended across the length and breadth of England, Scotland and Wales, with one publication on France (on Normandy) and this the only one in the series on Ireland. This highly popular series continued until the beginning of the Second World War. In May 2009 Pan Macmillan reissued a one-volume collection of the best of the Highways and Byways series offering a glimpse of the very best of Britain.
The original publication contains more than three-hundred printed pages and a colour map of the route taken by its author, Stephen Gwynn and illustrator, Hugh Thomson. The Donegal Tourist Agency stated of the Highways and Byways in Donegal and Antrim that that it was a wonderful mix of topography, local history and folklore and Gwynn's late nineteenth century tour, most of which he undertook on foot or by bicycle, allows a modern readership to rediscover Donegal and Antrim through this travelogue. Containing twenty chapters detailing a dozen or more tours, Gwynn begins his tour with advice to the reader on both the Ulster dialect and to the cyclist, both of which could prove tricky, before commencing at Enniskillen and Lough Erne and taking a roughly circular route along the coasts of Donegal and Antrim before finishing his journey in Belfast.
Tours covered by Gwynn and Thomson include: Enniskillen - Lough Erne; Ballyshannon - Donegal; Killybegs; Carrick - Slieve League - Glencolumkille; Glenties - Ardara; Burton Port - Dungloe - Glenveagh; Gartan - Doon Well; Glenveagh - Gweedore; Dunfanaghy - Horn Head - Tory Island; Rosapenna - Mulroy Bay - Port Salon; Rathmullen; Gap of Mamore - Malin Head - Moville; Derry; Coleraine - Portstewart - Portrush - The Causeway. Ballycastle - Carrick-A-Rede; Rathlin - Fair Head - Glendun; Glenariff - Larne - Carrickfergus - Belfast.
Much of the charm and vigour of the Highways and Byways series which has stood the test of time is down to the travellers and in the case of Donegal and Antrim this is no exception. Stephen Gwynn (1864-1950) was an Irish journalist, biographer, author, poet and politician and member of a prodigious family and his tour of Highways and Byways of Donegal and Antrim truly records the love he had for his native Ireland, which was also the case of his lesser-known, but perhaps as illustrious illustrator, Hugh Thomson. The Highways and Byways of Donegal and Antrim are replete with more than eighty pen and ink sketches by Thomson. Born in Coleraine in 1860, by 1883 Thomson had moved to London and had begun working as the illustrator for Macmillan. Amongst his many credits are the illustrations for more than 70 novels, including those of Jane Austen and by the time he drew the illustrations for the Highways and Byways of Donegal and Antrim Thomson was the most popular and successful illustrator of his time. Much of Thomson's work was purchased by Derry City Council and when originals of his pen and ink sketches come up for sale they command high prices and for this reason alone the many books in the Highways and Byways series illustrated by Thomson - which are the majority - are well worth purchasing and this edition for Donegal and Antrim is no exception.
First published in 1939 and republished here on fully-searchable CD-Rom is Ulster: The Official Publication of the Ulster Tourist Development Association, Ltd. Containing some 286 printed pages, this publication was the complete tourist guide to the Province of Northern Ireland in the year that it was issued.
The forward to Ulster was written by The Right Hon. Viscount Craigavon, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, and in this he stated that he was confident that the entire world had heard of Ulster's shipyards, linen industry, thread and rope work factories, but remained largely ignorant of the many 'restful beauties' that the Province had to offer. The Province as a whole offered the prospective tourist and infinite variety and in its history and myths and legends many of which were still kept alive in the countryside, Ulster could offer every potential visitor something of interest.
The Tourist Guide to Ulster is introduced by a short general history of the Province together with the modes of transport available to the prospective visitor both to get to Northern Ireland and once arrived to travel around the province. All possible means of travel are included here from rail to car to ferry to motor cycle and by foot. At each junction the price and availability of travel options is given and this section is replete with advertisements that may be of interest to many readers.
From this point onward the Ulster Tourist Guide presents a plethora of facts, topographic, historical and archaeological facts on each of the six counties of the Province, making this something more than your average tourist guide. Beginning with Belfast, written by Alfred S. Moore, a picture of Belfast's origins and history is painted for the reader intended to both excite and to leave one in no doubt that this was a capital of considerable note. Accompanied by a large fold-out street map with sketches of some of the most notable sites in Belfast such as the Botanic Gardens and the Harland and Wolff ship and engine works, this chapter as all the others includes dozens of black and white photographs.
Chapter two, Antrim, was written by Alexander Riddell and is introduced by a brief historical sketch of the county before the reader is availed of the history and attractions of the county's chief resorts - both seaside and historical - of interest. Beginning with Carrickfergus, the Guide then travels around and across the county visiting such places of interest as Carrickfergus, Kilroot and Swift, Whitehead and Islandmagee, Larne, Ballygally, Glenarm, Carnlough, Cushendal, Cushendun, Ballycastle, Bushmills, The Giant's Causeway, Portballintrae, Dunluce Castle, Portrush - a child's paradise - Ballymoney, Ballymena, Antrim and Lisburn. The chapter is packed full of photographs of each destination and is once again jammed full of advertisements, poetry, historical interests and descriptions. This level of detail is present in the Guide for the remaining counties of the Province.
Ulster: A Tourist Guide is concluded with sections on the Province's archaeology and ancient monuments, and index to the numerous advertisements carried throughout the Guide as well as a detailed tourist map of the Province that illustrates and accompanies the text. At the time of publication this was the guide to Ulster and is now a rare and sort-after collectors item.
Republished here on fully-searchable CD-Rom is the 2nd edition of Ward Lock & Co's Illustrated Guide to Northern Ireland the complete title of which is Guide to Northern Ireland, Belfast, the Mourne Mountains, Carlingford Lough, The Antrim Coast, Armagh, Londonderry, and the Erne Lakes.
In 1854, Ebenezer Ward and George Lock starting a publishing concern and the partnership, not surprisingly, was called Ward and Lock. The business was originally based in Fleet Street, London but, by the 1870s, it had outgrown its premises and so in 1878 the business moved to Warwick House in Salisbury Square, London. In the early 1880s, the company became the proprietors of Shaw's widely-known and well-established series of tourist guides. In 1882, an office was opened in New York, America, and in 1884 a further office was opened in Melbourne, Australia. In the mid-1890s, the company opened an office in Toronto, Canada; however, this was closed in 1919. Ward Lock & Co., is now part of the Penguin Group
In a promotional statement from 1924 Ward Lock stated that 'The use of a reliable guide book doubles the pleasure and interest of a holiday. These well-known books are not dull, dry-as-dust compilations. but pleasant travelling companions, readable from cover to cover. Each volume contains the latest Maps and Plans and is lavishly illustrated. In all cases a much wider area is included than the title indicates, and it will be found that nearly every holiday and health resort of importance is described in one or more of the volumes'. This was no idle boast. By the 1950s Ward & Lock had published some 160 titles in their Illustrated Guides Series covering almost every holiday district and seaside resort of consequence in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Adopting their familiar red cloth covers in 1892, Ward & Lock employed a special staff of qualified editors and correspondents continually toured the land, compiling and revising material on all places and matters of interest to the holidaymaker and on such subjects as the local history, geology, botany and zoology of the areas concerned. The level of detail provided for the independent tourist in the so-called 'Red guides' was unsurpassed.
Containing some 266 printed pages Ward & Lock's Guide to Northern Ireland contains a number of fold-out district maps, a detailed street plan of Belfast City and a further thirty-six illustrations, mostly photographs of the places illustrated in the guide. Starting with tours and descriptions in and around the environs of Belfast City, the Guide takes the independent traveller from here to Hollywood, Bangor, Donaghadee before moving on to the Ards Peninsula, Downpatrick, the Mourne Mountains, Armagh, Antrim and other destinations before terminating at Derry, Enniskillen and Lough Erne.
Illustrated throughout with wonderful photographs, detailed maps, many hundreds of contemporary advertisements and wonderful descriptions of the places visited, the quality of Ward & Lock's Red Guides has meant that they have endured the test of time and have already become eminently collectable titles.
This important book is well known to Irish genealogists. It contains an index to over 40,000 Irish wills, most of which were destroyed in the 1922 explosion at the Public Record Office in Dublin. As a consequence this book is especially important as the only surviving evidence of what did exist at one time. This index gives the name of every person who left a will, their address, rank or occupation and the date of probate. Vicars' based his work on the abstracts to the original wills compiled by Sir William Betham, and is the only index to his voluminous collections of abstracts and extracts in existence.
However, this edition is doubly important because we have included the never-before-published supplement compiled in 1914 to correct errors and omissions in Vicars' work.
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