In the 1740s the Physico Historical Society of Ireland expressed an ambitious
plan to publish a survey of each county in Ireland, although only four surveys
(Down, Kerry, Cork and Waterford) ultimately appeared in print. Decades later,
the Dublin Society, established in the 1730s, and becoming the Royal Dublin
Society in 1820, launched a similar project, which proved considerably more
successful. Under this initiative, the first county surveys appeared in 1801,
and between that year and 1832, twenty three county surveys were completed. No
surveys were completed for Fermanagh, Louth, Longford, Westmeath, Limerick,
Kerry and Waterford.
Each county was surveyed with the aim of determining the 'actual state,
capabilities and defects of agriculture, manufactures and rural economy', and
most follow a similar structural layout. In practice the surveys contained a
vast quantity of local information on almost every aspect of the county
surveyed. Because these studies were carried out under central direction the
quality of the information provided is good, and given their early date, they
remain an invaluable source for the study of each county. They record many
details about conditions in pre-Famine Ireland, including social and economic
conditions, the growth of population and poverty, education, religion, history,
the state of the Irish and English languages and local customs.
Many of the authors of the surveys were responsible for more than one county,
but none were as prolific as Sir Charles Coote, who, in the space of three years
published surveys of Armagh (1804), Monaghan (1801) and Cavan (1802) in Ulster,
and Queen's (1801) and King's (1801) Counties, in Leinster. Coote's 300 page
Cavan survey follows a familiar layout, with agricultural issues receiving
prominent attention. Five chapters in the book focus on the individual baronies,
highlighting local methods of cultivation, agricultural practices and industrial
production. Linen, the chief domestic industry, also receives due attention. The
quality of roads - 'injudiciously made and worse kept' - and economic structures
are also detailed. Coote's conclusions are stark, and he is highly critical of
county's landlord class, whom should, he asserts, be leading by example.
This CD is fully searchable, and will prove an invaluable source for
researchers interested in County Cavan, the south Ulster region or in social
developments in early nineteenth century Ireland.
High quality scanned images of the whole of the original book. This CD has
been bookmarked for easy navigation, and pages can be searched, browsed,
enlarged and printed out if required.
