John Rocque's Dublin: a guide to the Georgian city

John Rocque, the acclaimed eighteenth-century surveyor and cartographer, produced large-scale maps of London, Paris and Rome before turning his attention to Ireland, where he came in 1754 and where some of his finest work was carried out. Rocque produced several maps of the cuty and county of Dublin, including the 4-sheet Exact survey of the city and suburbs of Dublin (1756), which is the subject of this book.

Rocque's 'Exact survey'is a great achievement by way of accuracy, design and presentation. It is also an invaluable source for the history of Dublin city. 'John Rocque's Dublin' reproduces forty extracts from this map and each one is accompanied by a commentary. These details consider Rocque's work at the level of individual streets and buildings, revealing particular elements of his cartography and aspects of the city's history that are intended to enhance our appreciation of the 'Exact survey' as a whole.

The extracs and commentaries are accompanied by explanatory essays. John Montague introduces John Rocque and explains the context in which the 'Exact survey' was produced. Colm Lennon describes mid-eighteenth-century Dublin as depicted by Rocque and highlights some of the features of the city's political, social, economic and cultural history that are the focus of map extracts that follow.