Old Map of Ulster in 1665 by Joan Blaeu - Belfast, Derry, Armagh

Created by the celebrated Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu, this exceptionally rare, hand-coloured map of Ulster was produced at his workshop in Amsterdam and first published in the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Sive Atlas Novus of 1665. It captures the ancient Irish province at a pivotal moment in its history, charting the nine historic counties that make up Ulster in fine engraved detail. Belfast appears as a growing settlement on the River Lagan, while the walled city of Derry, one of the last walled cities built in Europe, is shown guarding the banks of the River Foyle. Armagh, long regarded as the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland, is marked with the same care as the coastal stronghold of Carrickfergus, whose Norman castle had already stood for centuries by the time this map was drawn. Market towns across County Antrim and County Down are laid out with the elegant cartouches and decorative borders typical of Blaeu's workshop, reflecting the Dutch Golden Age fascination with combining scientific surveying with genuine artistic flourish. For anyone tracing family history back to this corner of Ireland, the map offers a rare and beautifully preserved window into a landscape still being reshaped by plantation settlement in the mid-seventeenth century.

Look closer and the map reveals the natural features that have always defined Ulster's geography. The great sweep of Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles, dominates the centre of the map, fed and drained by rivers including the Bann, which winds north past Coleraine towards the Atlantic coast. Further place names emerge across the six modern counties and beyond: Newry sits in the south near the border with County Louth, Enniskillen rises among the interlinked loughs of County Fermanagh, and Dungannon and Strabane appear across County Tyrone. To the south, Monaghan and Cavan complete the historic nine counties of Ulster, each shown with its own market town and surrounding parish detail. Every settlement is rendered with the careful ornamentation for which Blaeu's atlases remain celebrated among collectors and historians alike, from finely engraved compass roses to Latin place names drawn from the best surveys available at the time. Taken together, the map is a genuine artefact of how Europe's finest cartographers understood and depicted Ireland during a century of enormous change, giving modern viewers a richly detailed connection to a landscape since transformed almost beyond recognition.

Reproduced from this exceptional original, the print brings genuine antiquarian character to any wall, whether hung above a fireplace, along a staircase or in a study. For anyone with family roots in Belfast, Derry, Armagh, Antrim or the wider province, it makes a thoughtful birthday present, a considered retirement gift for someone finally free to travel back and explore their ancestral counties, or a warm housewarming gift for a new home that deserves a distinctive piece of history on its walls. It is equally fitting as a Christmas surprise for a parent or grandparent who still calls Ulster home, or as a meaningful gift for a friend who has always been curious about the towns their family came from. Its rich hand-applied colour and dense historical detail give it a presence that no modern print can match, rewarding close inspection every time it catches the eye. Displayed in a hallway, living room or office, it becomes as much a conversation piece as it is a beautiful piece of wall art.