1783 Taylor & Skinner Newtownards, Donaghadee, Greyabbey, Kircubbin & Mount Stewart, Ireland Road Map
This hand-coloured antique Irish road map, published in 1783, is Map 10 from the second revised edition of Taylor & Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland. Surveyed in 1777 and corrected down to 1783, it records the historic road network around Kircubbin, Greyabbey, Mount Stewart, Newtownards and Donaghadee, together with numerous estates, country houses and connecting roads in County Down.
The original heading “From Portaferry to Newtown-Ardes & Donaghadee” identifies the wider route represented by the sheet. The road follows the shoreline of Strangford Lough, passing through settlements and estates associated with the Ards Peninsula before reaching Newtownards, while another route continues eastwards towards Donaghadee.
Kircubbin is clearly marked beside Strangford Lough, with the road continuing through the surrounding countryside towards Greyabbey. Nearby estates and properties include Inishargy, Echlinville and Ardkeen, together with the names of contemporary landowners.
Greyabbey appears prominently on the route, accompanied by Rosemount and other nearby estates. The road also passes the grounds associated with Mount Stewart, one of the notable named properties shown on the engraving.
Newtownards is shown as an important road junction, with several routes converging around the town, including roads towards Belfast and Comber. Another road links the wider route with Donaghadee, which is clearly shown beside the coast at the opposite side of the sheet.
The map also records roads towards Ballywalter, together with wooded estates, waterways, churches, mills and numerous individual properties. Strangford Lough forms one of the most distinctive geographical features of the engraving and provides a strong visual link between the settlements shown.
The engraving preserves the historical form “Newtown-Ardes” for modern Newtownards, while Greyabbey appears as “Grey Abbey.” Modern spellings are used throughout this product description to make the locations easier to identify, while the original 18th-century forms remain visible on the antique map itself.
As throughout Taylor & Skinner’s survey, the many named estates, country houses and contemporary landowners give the map additional interest for Irish local history, genealogy and family-history research.
Identified as Map 10 in Taylor & Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland, it forms part of their extensive late-18th-century survey of Ireland’s principal roads.