Creator(s): Collis, Maurice, fl 1830-1845, land surveyor and cartographer
Administrative History ↴
This survey was prepared in 1839-1845 by Maurice Collis surveyor and mapmaker, the local inspections being apparently made in 1839 and 1840. The estates granted to the Provost in counties Galway and Meath, as is shown by the summary volumes, were covered in the survey but surveys of such lands are not amongst those in the collection.
Archival History ↴
The care of the muniments was handed over to the manuscripts department of Trinity College library in 1969.
Immediate Source Acquisition ↴
Official Transfer
Content & Structure
Scope & Content: Collis, Maurice, fl 1830-1845, land surveyor and cartographer ↴
This collection consists of a survey and valuation of the college lands carried out by Maurice Collis in the early 1840’s, 14 volumes for separate estates and two of summaries. Coming from the pre-famine period, this is of great interest as it details agricultural conditions, including information on areas and valuation, farm size, stock kept, nature of roads on each townland and distance to available supplies of manure and fuel. The population is enumerated townland by townland, subdivided by sex, age, religion, literacy, occupation and marital status. Details of housing are also included. All of the College estates were surveyed, as indicated by the summaries, but detailed volumes of the estates in Counties Meath and Galway granted at the restoration and known as the Provost’s estate were not found with the muniments. Land was surveyed in the following counties: Armagh, Cork, Westmeath, Longford, Louth, Meath, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, King’s County (Offaly), Queen’s County (Laois), Kerry, Kildare, Cavan, Limerick, Tipperary, Wicklow.
Appraisal Destruction ↴
Permanent Retention
Arrangement ↴
The collection is arranged as follows:
MUN/V/79/1-14 Survey of college estates by county and townland
MUN/V/79/15-18 Summary tables by counties and three duplicate copies
MUN/V/79/19 Rent charges of estates, except Provost’s estate
Conditions of Access & Use
Access Conditions
Please contact mscripts@tcd.ie in advance of your visit
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Please contact mscripts@tcd.ie for guidance
Creation Dates
1839-1845
Extent Medium
16 volumes
Material Language Script
English
Finding Aids
A descriptive list can be consulted in the Manuscripts and Archives Research Library, Trinity College Dublin
Archive Web Link →
Allied Materials
Publication Note
'Local Life in Ulster 1843-1848: The Statistical Surveys of Maurice Collis' by Alan Gailey in Ulster Local Studies, the Journal of the Federation for Ulster Local Studies, Vol. 9, No. 20, Summer 1985, pp. 120-127
Descriptive Control Area
Archivist Note
Natalie Milne, February 2014
Rules/Conventions
ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description. 2nd ed. Ottowa: International Council on Archives, 2000. National Council on Archives: Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names. Chippenham: National Council on Archives, 1997.
