Mercator's Map of Ireland, 1584
Look below to see Mercator's map of Ireland from 1584.
As was often the case with maps of Ireland produced at this time, the west and north west of the country are somewhat distorted. It would appear that the cartographers had more detailed information about the eastern and southern parts of the country. Why do you think that this was the case?
Sligo 1589
This map of the Sligo coast dates from 1589. In 1588, Spain attempted to invade Britain. A fleet of ships, known as the Spanish Armada, set sail for England. They were met by a bigger fleet of English ships who drove them away from the English coast. They attempted to return to Spain by sailing north around Scotland. However, severe weather conditions wrecked many of the ships, some along the west coast of Ireland. Can you find some wrecked Spanish ships on this map?
Ireland 1609
This map was drawn up in 1609. Click the thumbnail image to see a larger version.
As you can see, today's counties have already been outlined, but there is not much more information available, and the rivers and lakes are not very accurately shown. Also, the west coast is not accurately shown - why do you think this is ?