O’DONOVAN, John. Ed. by. Letters Containing information relative to the Antiquities of the Counties of Armagh and Monaghan. Collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1835.

Illustrated with maps and plans. Facsimile reprint of the Bray edition (1927) which was limited to 75 copies. Quarto. pp. xxvi, 76, 8 (maps). Full buckram. Fine. Very rare.

In 1829 our greatest antiquary, John O’Donovan, was appointed to the staff of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland under George Petrie, a position left vacant on the death of Edward O’Reilly. It was his job to examine the ancient Irish manuscripts and records for the purpose of determining the nomenclature to be used on the maps. He travelled the length and breadth of Ireland and collected every scrap of information relative to the historic buildings and sites, often from the local historians and shanachies. This he recorded in a series of letters. These were published in 1927 for each of the counties surveyed.

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