Wednesday 7 January 2015

UCD launches Army Barracks of 18th-century Ireland

Click for interactive map
University College Dublin (UCD) has launched a free website that will be of interest to military, social and family historians: Army Barracks of 18th-Century Ireland.

It is still in development, but has launched with an interactive map of all 142 army barracks active on the island between 1690 and 1815 (click the image, right, to view), as well as a more detailed look at the barracks in County Armagh.

The latter provides a map of the county's eight army barracks, together with dates of operation, photos, history and list of sources of information.

Ultimately, the project aims to investigate the social, cultural, economic, environmental and political impact of these barracks and their occupants on 18th-century society.

The Barracks site is one of four current projects collectively called Mapping State and Society in Eighteenth-Century Ireland. This project aims to provide a free electronic platform for research projects that are using spatial and other data in order to create online maps and further data relating to state and society in eighteenth-century Ireland. The online resource will create a unique and essential electronic research tool for understanding this period of our history.

In addition to the army barracks research, UCD is currently working on mapping boroughs and revenue collection ports and districts. A further component on Law and Order is also in gestation at Queens University Belfast.

UPDATE: Listen to a free podcast of Ivar McGrath discussing the project on HistoryHub.ie.