Reminder to email Members
King's County Atlas 1809 Launch on Friday 1 December 8.00pm

Dr. Horner's work on the Atlas of King's County of 1809 is to be launched by the County Manager at the OHAS centre at Bury Quay on 1 December at 8pm. It will be followed by a short illustrated overview of the new book by its author, Dr Arnold Horner and is being published by Wordwell with support from the Society, Offaly County Council and the Heritage Council.

Christmas Draw 2006
A card of tickets for our Christmas draw is enclosed with local newsletters. We would be grateful if everyone could contribute to the draw as generously as possible. It has been a great success every year.

Caimin O' Brien on Offaly Monastic history - the guest speaker at our Christmas lunch, Bridge House, Tullamore 1.00 pm 3 December.

Prices and booking The price of the lunch is €26.50 and booking with the Society in advance is recommended. Phone 057 9321421.

Books as Christmas presents. Why not support the Society and give an intelligent present without the tinsel this Christmas. Attached is a list of material available and we have lots more too numerous to list here. Call 05793 21421 or email your order.

New books on CD inc the rare Coote, Statistical survey of the King's County in 1801. This very rare and valuable book (limited in 1801 to 150 copies with only 2 known to be sold in the last 30 years is now available from the Society in electronic format and fully seachable at a sum of €25. we enclose details of this and other valuable books for research below. All can be ordered through the Society.

Welcome to the Archive CD Books Ireland newsletter. We are delighted to announce the latest releases. We are publishing eight titles this month.
These include three very different topographical studies of Ireland. We have published Wilson's first Post-Chaise Companion (1786), The Frenchman's Tour through Ireland in 1796-7, and the Pictorial Guide to Connemara (c.1890). We continue our publication of local histories with Simpson's Annals of Derry (1847), and our republication of the Statistical Surveys, this time for King's County (Offaly). We are particularly delighted to finally republish Ball's mammoth two volume Judges of Ireland charting the personnel and judicial institutions in Ireland from 1221 to 1921. Other titles include Dalton's Irish Army Lists 1661-85, and the Jail Journals of the Irish radical John Mitchel which we hope initiates a series devoted to key works relating to Irish political revolutionaries. Further details about both titles are given below, with more details on our web site.


Statistical Survey of the King's County, 1801
Ref: IET0052 ISBN: 1-84630-070-3
Price: EURO 20.58 (ex VAT)
Description: The Irish Statistical Survey was carried out under the direction of the Royal Dublin Society. Each county was surveyed with the aim of determining the 'actual state, capabilities and defects of agriculture, manufactures and rural economy'. In practice the surveys contained a vast quantity of local information on almost every aspect of the county surveyed. Because these studies were carried out under central direction the quality of the information provided is good, and given their early date, they remain an invaluable source for the study of each county. They record many details about conditions in pre-Famine Ireland, including social and economic conditions, the growth of population and poverty, education, religion, history, the Irish language and local customs. Coote's publication was intended to be the first of two editions for Offaly for this series. The second edition was expected to include the submissions made arising from the first edition as well as correcting the mistakes. The conclusions reached by Coote suggest that more could be done in relation to draining the bogs and reclaiming land, improving farmyards and that a serious effort was required to alleviate the suffering of the poor.

A Frenchman's Walk through Ireland 1796-1797
Ref: IET0061 ISBN: 1-84630-077-0
Price: EURO 16.45 (ex VAT)
Description: Originally published in French in Brunswick as Promenade d'un Français dans l'Irlande, A Frenchman's Walk Through Ireland is an important source for researchers, interested in Irish society at the close of the eighteenth century. This fascinating travelogue, which took place during 1796-7 is packed full of witty and keen observations on all levels of Irish Society on the eve of the 1798 Rebellion. At ease when receiving hospitality from the elite of Irish society, the author can also be found mixing with the peasantry, taking shelter with a beggar woman and her family and watching the conduct of hedge schools, turf cutting and potato planting. This is a fascinating and very readable social commentary, and is recommended for anyone interested in societal organisation at this crucial period in Irish history.

Dalton's Irish Army Lists, 1661-1685
Ref: IET0060 ISBN: 1-84630-076-2
Price: EURO 16.45 (ex VAT)
Description: Much of the information contained in the Irish Army Lists,
1661-1685 was taken from the Calendars and Reports of the Marquis of Ormond MSS, but it also draws a plethora of information from the Irish State Papers, as well as the King's Letter and Entry Books. It is, therefore, a more comprehensive account than that published in the 1890s by the Historical Manuscripts Commission. This publication provides the names of all the senior ranks of officers serving in the Restoration Army of Charles II and in many cases relevant annotations have been provided by the editor. These annotations often provide useful genealogical information and can provide an essential historical perspective to the officers' careers in Ireland. Irish Army Lists provides a full index to the names of officers contained in the lists, but it is also fully and easily searchable. The Irish Army Lists provides a fascinating and detailed account of the new modelled Irish standing army during the reign of Charles II and is a welcome and much needed addition to post- Cromwellian Irish history publications.

Ward & Lock's Pictorial Guide to Connemara c.1890
Ref: IET0059 ISBN: 1-84630-075-4
Price: EURO 16.45 (ex VAT)
Description: Ward and Lock's Pictorial and Descriptive Guide to Connemara and the West of Ireland was published in London circa 1890 and can be viewed as a continuation of a myriad of books published in Ireland for the more intrepid foreign or Irish traveller throughout the nineteenth- century. However, with the advent of widespread rail communication in Ireland, the Pictorial & Descriptive Guide filled a niche for a new type of guide appealing to a new type of tourist. The Guide sought to provide information on every conceivable aspect of the tourist's travels, ranging from prices and descriptions of hotels to descriptions of the principal towns, the important antiquarian views and the botanical specimens that the traveller could expect to see on any one of the thirteen tours described. Ward and Lock's Guide, represents an important source for anyone interested in social history, travel history or the development of the Irish tourism industry. It is lavishly illustrated throughout, including 6 colour maps and many colour plates covering much of Counties Galway, Mayo and Sligo.

Ball's, The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921
Ref: IET0058 ISBN: 1-84630-074-6
Price: EURO 28.84 (ex VAT)
Description: Francis Elrington Ball's The Judges in Ireland (2 volumes) spans 700 years of Irish judicial history, from the reigns of Henry III, when he was at war with the Norman Barons in Ireland, to the reign of George V, and the inception of the Irish Free State. Running to nearly 800 pages, this publication charts the development of the Irish Judicial Bench, while also providing fascinating analysis of the political milieu for each period. Full judicial succession lists for the entire period are provided, together with extensive catalogues for many of the important personages and appointments to the Irish Judicial Bench. This edition is fully searchable allows users to quickly locate personal names, historical events and specific areas of interest.

Wilson's The Post-Chaise Companion, 1786
Ref: IET0057 ISBN: 1-84630-073-8
Price: EURO 20.58 (ex VAT)
Description: The Post-Chaise Companion of Ireland was published by W.
Wilson in 1786. Although a number of companions of this kind were published for Irish use before and after Wilson's edition, this represents one of the most complete guides of its type and all of which were to be relegated to history less than fifty years later with the advent of the railway. Prior to mechanisation, the post-chaise was the most familiar and widely used means of road transport. This commonly took the form of a closed-body travelling carriage, which together with a pair or four horses and postilion driver was hired from stage to stage.
Containing more than five hundred pages, the Post-Chaise Companion has far more to offer than merely as a directory of distances and also describes gentlemen's seats, sites of antiquity, manufactures and the rural landscape through which the post-chaise roads pass. Post-dating Taylor & Skinner's Maps of the Roads of Ireland and pre-dating many less- adequate Irish travel companions and directories, the Post-Chaise Companion has much to recommend it. The current CD-Rom publication is fully searchable and is a good addition to any historical library.

Simpson's The Annals of Derry, 1847
Ref: IET0056 ISBN: 1-84630-072-X
Price: EURO 20.58 (ex VAT)
Description: Published in 1847, Robert Simpson's Annals of Derry is one of the most important books available for genealogists and historians, researching the social history of early modern Derry city. Presented in a typically chronological form, Simpson recounts the principal events and development within the city, between the early seventeenth century and the mid nineteenth century. The author goes into considerable detail to outline some of the more important aspects of the history of Derry, including outlining the initial attempts to develop the city, under James I, and the besieging of the city by Jacobite forces in 1689. Extensive information on the social and economic development of the city is also provided, including accounts of the churches, chapels and meeting houses, the development of social services, and the development of trade and industry. This edition is fully searchable allows users to quickly locate personal names, historical events, street names and specific areas of interest.

John Mitchel's Jail Journal, 2nd ed., 1914
Ref: IET0055 ISBN: 1-84630-071-1
Price: EURO 20.58 (ex VAT)
Description: Described as 'a classic of Irish revolutionary writing', John Mitchel's Jail Journal was first published in the New York Citizen, the journal established by Mitchel on his arrival in America, between 14th January and 19th August 1854. A subsequent edition of the Jail Journal was published in which Mitchel detailed his experiences in the United States between 1853 and 1866, the current CD-Rom publication contains both. Throughout, the Jail Journal is replete with Mitchel's acerbic wit and anecdote detailing his prison experiences, transportation for Treason Felony and later reminiscences on his erstwhile colleagues.
This edition of the Jail Journal is a must for any reader interested in the personalities of the Young Ireland Movement and the 1848 Rising and its aftermath.