The IHTA research project is run by the Royal Irish Academy and aims to examine the topographical development of a selection of Irish towns both large and small during key periods in their history.
In each volume, clues to the town's past religious life, defence and security, local and national government, industry, trade, transport, education and leisure habits are explored within the accompanying maps. Dense and accurate, these atlases reveal fascinating details about the physical environment and communities our ancestors lived in.
Included with each online atlas are:
- The cover, general abbreviations, introduction and select bibliography
- Word searchable essay, text maps and topographical gazetteer
- Map 1 (Cmid-19th, 1:50,000), Map 2 (Cmid-19th, 1:2500), Map 3 (modern C20th, 1:5000), growth maps, historical compilation maps and legend sheet.
The library of online atlases now looks like this:
Towns of Early Modern, Gaelic & Plantation: Bandon, Belfast, LondonDerry, Longford and Ennis
Towns of Viking origin: Dublin, Limerick
Towns of Monastic Origins: Kildare, Kells, Downpatrick, Armagh and Tuam
Towns of Anglo-Norman origin: Athlone, Carlingford, Carrickfergus, Fethard, Kilkenny, Mullingar, Sligo and Trim
The IHTA volumes in this latest release are no. 3 Bandon by Patrick O'Flanagn (1988); no. 12 Belfast, part I, to 1840 by Raymond Gillespie and Stephen A. Royle (2003); no. 15 Derry~Londonderry by Avril Thomas (2005); no. 22 Longford by Sarah Gearty, Martin Morris and Fergus O'Ferrall (2010); and no. 25 Ennis by Brian Ó Dálaigh (2012).