Derry City Council’s Museum and Visitor Services has announced that a rare archive book, Pacata Hibernia, Ireland Appeased and Reduced Or, An Historie of the Late Warres of Ireland, will go on display as part of the Guildhall Plantation Exhibition later this month.
Pacata Hibernia was originally published in London in 1633 for Robert Milbourne. It is believed to be almost entirely composed by Lieutenant Thomas Stafford, who served under Sir George Carew. The very detailed maps and plans show the battle layout, military formation, horsemanship and fortifications of the times. These items will add interest to the exhibition showing further images of cartography which played a strong role in developments of the seventeenth century.
“This publication is extremely rare," explains archivist Bernadette Walsh. "It is illustrated with eighteen engravings of 17th-century Ireland, detailing the final years of the Elizabethan Wars in Ireland and contains a long list of the Irish Nobility who fled to Spain in 1607, after the defeat of the Earls in 1601. The publication contains the background history to the Flight of the Earls, and the inevitable lead up to the Ulster Plantation and will be a welcome addition to the hugely successful Plantation exhibition that has been visited by thousands of people since its installment as part of multi-million pound regeneration of the Guildhall.
“It is important the archive collection reflects this period of history," added Bernadette. "Original artefacts and archives are considerably lacking not only in our own collections but also within collections across the island. This rare item was purchased and will now form part of our successful Plantation exhibition at the Guildhall.”
