Antique Map of Ireland, 1759

The story of this map

Thomas Jefferys was one of the busiest map publishers in mid-eighteenth-century London, and Geographer to the Prince of Wales when this map appeared in 1759. His Ireland is a working map rather than a showpiece, which is exactly what makes it so satisfying to look at: every county is drawn, and within the counties the old baronies too, each with its name lettered in.

The colouring is what catches the eye from across a room. The four provinces of Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connaught are washed in different tones, so the island reads as a patchwork, and because the map is almost square it sits comfortably on a wall where a long landscape sheet would not. Step closer and the detail rewards you, with rivers, loughs and market towns running right out to the Atlantic coast.

For anyone with Irish roots this is the kind of map that starts conversations. It is easy to find the county a family came from, and the barony beneath it, on a map that is old enough to predate most of the records they will have searched. It belongs to our Antique Maps of Europe collection and sits naturally beside our Hondius map of Great Britain and Ireland or the Mercator map of Scotland.

We think it looks best in a natural oak frame in a hallway or study. Each print is made to order on archival matte paper from the Leventhal scan and framed in the country of delivery.

Before and after

Left: the archive scan exactly as published. Right: the file that goes to the printer.

Archive scanRestored

Restoration notes

Restoration plan: crop scan margins, balance colour cast and levels while keeping the paper tone, remove library stamps and scanner artefacts if present, gentle sharpening. No repainting of original content.

Every print carries its archive credit on the packing slip. Paper tone and small imperfections of the original are kept on purpose; nothing is redrawn.