Bald's Map of Mayo 1830
Bald's Map of Mayo 1830
This map by William Bald was printed in 25 sheets in 1830 and was actually surveyed between the years 1809-1816.William Bald was born in Scotland c. 1789 and came to Ireland in 1809 where, on the recommendation of the officers of the British Ordnance Survey, he was appointed director of the Trigonometrical Survey of Mayo, which had been commissioned by the Mayo Grand Jury. The map was surveyed on a scale of four inches to the English mile and drawn on a scale of three inches to a mile.
The publication of the map aroused a certain amount of controversy locally because of what was perceived as being its exorbitant cost - £6372, which was a considerable sum in 1830. However it is considered to be the finest example of Irish cartography prior to the Ordnance Survey maps. Apart from the detailing of the physical features, a very important aspect of the map from a historical perspective, is the fact that it contains nearly 5,000 place-names.
A grid view of Bald's map is shown below. Please select a grid section or the text links following the map to view a larger image of the map's subdivisions.
View larger image of each grid section
Sheet 1: Mullet Peninsula North
Sheet 2: Bunwee Head and Belderg
Sheet 3: Downpatrick Head and Killala
Sheet 4: Bartragh Island South
Sheet 5: Sheet showing name of map
Sheet 6: Mullet Peninsula Central and South
Sheet 7: Gweesalia and Nephin Beg
Sheet 8: Crossmolina, Lough Conn and Nephin
Sheet 9: Ballina and Foxford
Sheet 10: Bellahy and Edmonstown
Sheet 11: Achill Island West
Sheet 12: Achill Island East and Corraun Peninsula
Sheet 13: Castlebar and Newport
Sheet 14: Swinford, Kiltimagh, Knock, Straide and Balla
Sheet 15: Ballyhaunis, Kilkelly and Ballaghadereen
Sheet 16: Inishturk and Mayo triangulation
Sheet 17: Clare Island, Louisburg and Cregganbaun
Sheet 18: Westport, Aughagower, Tourmakeady and Croagh Patrick
Sheet 19: Ballinrobe, Claremorris, Ballindine and Hollymount
Sheet 20: Irishtown and map scales
Sheet 21: Inishbofin and Inishshark
Sheet 22: Killary Harbour and Mweelrea Mountains
Sheet 23: Leenaun
Sheet 24: Cong
Sheet 25: Map Height References
Contact Information:
Ivor Hamrock, Local History Department, Castlebar Central Library, John Moore Rd, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.Email: ihamrock@mayococo.ie Phone: +353 (0)94 9047953