Illuminating talk on historic maps of Ennis

An enthusiastic group of over 70 people attended DeValera Public Library, in Ennis, on Tuesday, August 21^st, for a talk by Ennis native Brian O’Dálaigh on the newly published Irish Historic Towns Atlas, no. 25, Ennis. Brian had dedicated 5 years of his time in researching and writing the comprehensive and invaluable introduction to the atlas.  In his talk, Brian traced the evolution of Ennis from its early O’Brien foundation, to the medieval period, and to the rise of Ennis as a market town and county town, and into the modern era. A fascinating selection of old and rare maps and photographs was used to illustrate the development of Ennis as well as highlighting aspects of the town which have been lost or changed utterly over the centuries. The new atlas, which is published by the Royal Irish Academy, is for sale in local bookshops and is a must for those who want to find out more about the town’s origins. The cartographic maps which accompany the atlas are a comprehensive collection of all maps produced of the town to date.  The Ennis atlas is number 25 of a series of historic town atlases of Ireland and only the fourth one on the western seaboard to be published – the others being Tuam, Sligo and Limerick.