Down Survey facts for kids

The Down Survey was a special land survey of Ireland done by an English scientist named William Petty in 1655 and 1656. It was like making a very detailed map of all the land. The main reason for this survey was to figure out exactly how to share out land that had been taken from Irish people.

Petty himself called it the "Down Survey." Maybe it was because the results were "set down" on maps. Or maybe it was because the tools they used, like Gunter's chain, had to be "laid down" on the ground for each measurement. At the time, this survey was thought to be one of the most accurate maps ever made. It was also the first time the British Empire mapped an entire country it had taken over.

Why the Survey Was Needed

In 1649, an army called the New Model Army, led by Oliver Cromwell, came to Ireland. Their goal was to take control of the country again after the Irish Rebellion of 1641. By 1652, Cromwell's army had mostly succeeded. This army was paid for by private people who were promised land in Ireland once the fighting was over. This idea came from a law passed in 1642 called the Adventurers' Act. It said that people who lent money to Parliament could get land in Ireland as payment.

Another law, the Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652, said that land from defeated Irish people, mostly Catholic Irish who had fought against Cromwell, would be taken and given to others. Soldiers who fought in Ireland were also supposed to get land instead of their full wages, because Parliament couldn't pay them all. New settlers from England and America were also meant to receive land. The Irish landowners who lost their land were often moved to a part of Ireland called Connacht.

Starting the Survey

To share out all this land fairly, a very accurate map was needed. The person in charge of surveys, Benjamin Worsley, had started one in 1653. But William Petty, who was a doctor for the army, thought Worsley's plan wasn't good enough. Petty said Worsley only planned to map big borders, not the smaller local government areas.

Petty offered to do a new survey. He promised it would be done quickly (in just 13 months) and cost less money. He also said he would make a general map of the whole country. The government agreed and signed a contract with Petty in December 1654.

How the Survey Was Done

Petty's survey used about a thousand men. He finished the project quickly, not by using brand new science, but by carefully managing many helpers. Instead of hiring skilled surveyors, he used soldiers who no longer had jobs. These soldiers were cheaper to hire.

To help the unskilled soldiers, Petty designed simple tools for them. The soldiers only had to mark where natural things like rivers or hills were. Then, they used a special chain called a Gunter's chain to measure distances. After that, skilled mapmakers in Dublin took all this information and drew it onto special paper with grids.

The survey mainly mapped the borders of church areas called parishes. It didn't usually map every small piece of land inside those borders. The maps were generally drawn at a scale where 40 Irish perches (about 21 feet each) equaled one inch. This made the maps about 87% accurate, which was very good for the time.

The maps showed which land was useful and which was not. They used short notes for things like farmland, meadows, bogs, woods, mountains, and different types of grazing land. They also showed how much area each type of land covered. On the parish maps, houses and the names of their owners were often written down.

The survey mostly focused on land that was taken over. Some parts of counties like Roscommon, Galway, Clare, and Mayo were not surveyed. This was because they had already been mapped in an earlier survey and were not going to be taken.

Survey Results and Payment

When the survey was finished, the main surveyor first suggested rejecting it. But a new group of people looked at it and accepted the survey in May 1656.

Petty had to wait more than six months to get his full payment. He received £18,532 for doing the survey, which included paying his helpers and covering general costs. He had trouble getting another £3,181 that was still owed to him by the army. To pay this debt, he was given about 9,665 acres of land.

What Happened to the Land Next

Petty also helped decide how to divide and give out the land to the people who claimed it. For this extra work, he was given another 6,000 acres of land. He was also allowed to buy land vouchers worth £2,000.

Because of this land re-distribution, about 7,500 soldiers from the New Model Army settled in Ireland. This event is known as the Cromwellian Plantation.

Challenges and Checks on the Survey

In the 1650s, some members of Parliament questioned Petty's work on the survey. This was because the survey involved huge amounts of money and land for people who had supported the Cromwell government. There were questions about whether the land given to Petty as payment was valued correctly. His role in giving out land also made him open to criticism from those trying to get land.

After investigations, Petty was cleared. However, one report still said he might have made his own debt seem bigger than it was. It also suggested he might have kept some of the best lands for himself.

Even though he was never found guilty, questions about the Irish survey followed Petty for several years. In 1659, Petty wrote a small book called Proceedings between Sankey and Petty to defend himself. In another essay in 1660, he explained that he took on the survey to show how useful scientific training could be to the public.

Impact on William Petty

Petty became famous for his Survey of Ireland. It was the first time the British Empire mapped an entire country it had conquered. Petty was seen as a pioneer by the Royal Society, a famous group of scientists. The results of the survey became a big part of his life's work. Petty also created the first complete map of Ireland in 1673 and the first census (counting of people) of Ireland in 1659.

Sir William Petty later used the Down Survey maps, along with other maps, to create his 1685 book called Hiberniae Delineatio. This was the first printed book of maps (atlas) of Ireland.

The survey also made Petty very rich. As his reward, he gained about 30,000 acres of land in the Kenmare area in southwest Ireland, and £9,000. By 1658, Petty owned so much land in Ireland that he basically owned what is now County Kerry.

An English gentleman named John Evelyn, who knew Petty well, said about his work: "The map of Ireland, made by Sir William Petty, is believed to be the most exact that ever yet was made of any country."

What Happened to the Maps

The original maps of the parishes, all drawn by Petty himself, were kept in offices in Dublin. Sadly, the original Down Survey parish maps were lost in a fire in 1711. The official copies of these maps were also lost in fires at the Public Record Office during the Irish Civil War of 1922.

Petty also put the parish maps together to create maps of larger areas called baronies.

The notes next to the maps included details like the names of the previous landowners, their religion, the value of the land, and its size. The maps themselves showed the borders of small land areas called townlands, and sometimes houses, castles, roads, and fields. They listed who owned the land in 1640 and who the new owners were.

Considering when and how these maps were made, their accuracy is amazing. Even today, they are still used as trusted evidence in courts of law.

Surviving Parish Maps

Copies of some parish maps still exist in different places. The National Library of Ireland has a set of Down Survey parish maps copied in the 1780s. These maps cover land in counties like Cork, Dublin, Meath, Offaly, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Laois, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow.

Surviving Barony Maps

Some copies of the original Down Survey barony maps also survive. The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has a set. The British Library bought another set recently. The best set, which was Sir William Petty's personal copy, is in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (the National Library of France). It seems this set was on its way to London by sea in 1707 when a French ship captured the vessel. The French library then received the maps.

Where to Find the Maps Today

• Trinity College Dublin has published the Down Survey maps online at tcd.ie.
• The National Library of Ireland's Down Survey maps can be viewed on microfilm.
• Parts of the surviving maps have been published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission as DOWN SURVEY (1654–1656).
• Copies of both Hiberniae Delineatio and the edited barony maps are available in special collections at UCC.
• Another group of maps from this Survey, the parish maps, are available on microfilm at UCC.

See Also

• Bodley Survey
• Peyton Survey