Old Map of County Clare in 1685 by Petty - Bunratty Castle, Cliffs of Moher, The Burren

This detailed political and physical map of County Clare was produced in 1685 by Sir William Petty, drawing on his Down Survey of Ireland, the first detailed land survey carried out on a national scale anywhere in the world, completed between 1656 and 1658. Petty himself was a remarkable figure, a surgeon, professor, inventor and economist whose survey work followed the upheaval of the Cromwellian confiscations and preceded the later Williamite War in Ireland.

The map records Clare's rugged landscape in fine detail, from Bunratty Castle guarding the Shannon estuary and the tower house of Knappogue Castle to the ancient ring fort of Craggaunowen and the prehistoric Poulnabrone Dolmen. The limestone plateau of the Burren, the towering Cliffs of Moher, and the remote peninsula of Loop Head are all shown, alongside the harbour town of Kilrush and smaller settlements such as Ennistymon, Kilfenora, Corofin and Ballyvaughan, with hills, loughs and rivers rendered pictorially across the county.

This map makes a fitting housewarming, wedding, retirement or Christmas gift for anyone with County Clare roots or an interest in Irish history and cartography, and it also suits a distinctive corporate gift. The fine engraved detail of Petty's 1685 survey has been carefully restored for a crisp, richly detailed print.