eighteenth century Ireland, towns, cartography, urban property, Irish landlords, south Ulster
This article provides an introduction to a late eighteenth century manuscript map of Cavan town now held by the National Archives of Ireland. To date, this is the most important pre- Ordnance Survey map of the eighteenth century town that has been identified by this author, providing a unique and rich cartographic source in reconstructing the anatomy of the town at this time. It will form a key component in the Cavan fascicle of the Royal Irish Academy published Irish Historic Towns Atlas series which this author and Dr Brendan Scott are presently compiling. This article briefly traces the acquisition of property in Cavan town by the Maxwell family of Farnham – for whom the map was made – before outlining what is known of the maps creator. The focus of the article then shifts to detailing the street and road networks that connected the town, while a detailed analysis of the condition of buildings in the town is made possible through a large corpus of tabulated information which is also included on the map. The article concludes by looking at specific buildings and spaces including those with legal, military and administrative functions in addition to those with an ecclesiastical, educational and economic and healthcare focus, in illustrating the town’s anatomy at this time.