1783 Taylor & Skinner Drogheda, Ardee, Collon, Monasterboice, Louth Ireland Road Map
Published in 1783, this antique road map is Map 33 from the second revised edition of Taylor & Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland, surveyed in 1777 and corrected down to 1783. The engraving records the historic road network around Drogheda, Collon and Ardee in County Louth, forming the opening stages of the long route towards Londonderry and Letterkenny.
The original heading, “ROAD from DUBLIN to L. DERRY & Letterkenny,” identifies the wider journey represented by the route. Extensive mileage tables record stages through Drogheda, Collon, Ardee, Castleblayney, Monaghan, Omagh, Strabane and Lifford towards Londonderry, together with the continuation from Lifford through Raphoe to Letterkenny.
Alternative routes are also listed in the mileage tables, including the road towards Londonderry by Slane and a route through Ballygawley, Aughnacloy and Omagh. These tables make the sheet particularly informative as a record of the wider late-18th-century road system beyond the area shown in detail below.
The map itself is arranged as two adjoining strip sections. The first records the roads around Drogheda and Collon, while the second continues through the County Louth countryside around Ardee, allowing several stages of the principal route to be represented on a single engraved page.
Drogheda is prominently shown beside the River Boyne, with numerous roads converging around the town. Roads towards Dublin, Navan, Slane, Duleek and Bannow are identified, illustrating Drogheda’s importance as a major road junction.
Beyond Drogheda, the engraving records Monasterboice Church and Tower Ruins, one of the most distinctive historic landmarks on the sheet. Nearby estates and residences include Townley Hall and other named properties scattered through the surrounding countryside.
Collon forms another important junction, with several roads branching through the neighbouring landscape. Roads towards Slane and Kells are shown, together with estates, wooded ground and smaller local routes.
The adjoining section centres on Ardee, where a dense group of roads converge around the town. Connections towards Dundalk, Kells, Slane, Carrickmacross and other neighbouring districts are clearly marked, demonstrating Ardee’s importance within the County Louth road network.
The River Dee is shown passing beside Ardee, while nearby properties and landmarks include Louth Hall, Charlestown Church and a number of named estates and residences. These details provide considerable local information beyond the principal road itself.
The engraving also records numerous churches, country houses, turnpikes, minor roads and contemporary landowners throughout the surrounding countryside, giving a detailed picture of settlement and travel in County Louth during the late 18th century.
The combination of Drogheda, Ardee, Collon and Monasterboice makes this map an especially useful record of historic road connections in County Louth, while the extensive mileage tables place the sheet within the much longer journey towards Londonderry and Letterkenny.
The lower margin retains the engraved publication line dated 29 July 1778, reflecting the original history of the plate before its appearance in Taylor & Skinner’s revised 1783 edition.
Identified as Map 33 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.