Old Map of County Waterford in 1844 by Samuel Lewis - Dungarvan, Lismore, Tramore

This map of County Waterford was engraved in 1844 for the county atlas accompanying Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, first published in 1837. Lewis set out to document every county, barony and parish in the country, and the matching maps let readers of his dictionary locate the places it described. This sheet records County Waterford only a year before the onset of the Great Famine, capturing its towns, harbours and river valleys as they stood on the eve of a decade that would permanently reshape the county through starvation and mass emigration.

Waterford City, founded by Viking settlers around 914 and still carrying its medieval street plan, sits at the heart of the sheet. Along the coast, Dungarvan, dating from 1185, is shown with its historic castle and harbour, while further west Ardmore preserves its early Christian monastic ruins dating back to the fifth century. Lismore, recorded from 636, is marked beside Lismore Castle in its sheltered valley, and Cappoquin, established in 1665, sits on the banks of the River Blackwater a little upstream. On the coast, Tramore, established in 1823 as a seaside resort with its wide sandy beach, and Dunmore East, a fishing village dating from 1640, mark the county's Atlantic edge, with Kilmacthomas, founded in 1609 on the River Mahon, filling the ground between them near what later became the route of the Waterford Greenway. Inland, the map also takes in the grounds later developed as Mount Congreve Gardens.

For descendants of the many Waterford families who emigrated during the Great Famine of the 1840s, this map offers a direct link back to the county their ancestors left behind, showing Dungarvan, Lismore, Tramore and the surrounding parishes as they were recorded just before that upheaval began. It also makes a considered gift for anyone still living around Waterford or planning a first visit to trace their family's story. The print is available unframed and in a full range of sizes, suited to anything from a small keepsake to a larger display piece.