Central Dublin in two maps, one sweeping slowly across the other: John Rocque's 1756 survey (BnF Gallica) and the 1847 Ordnance Survey five-feet plan (Tailte Éireann), both from the History Habitat Dublin system. The view takes in the Liffey and its quays, Dublin Castle, College Green and Trinity College, and the streets north of the river.

Dublin in 1756 and 1847

Turn your map collections into point-and-see history

We design and build a new generation of online map systems for easier research, deeper learning and wider reach.

Try point-and-see in the app Talk to us about your collection

A point-and-see history of Trinity College and Parliament House

Point the app at a place, and you see its history as a sequence of maps in date order. These six are picked from the 17 listed for this spot by our Dublin system, which holds only a fraction of the city's historical maps. Narrow the list by period, scale or mapmaker, pick a map for full display, compare two maps side by side, bookmark and share what you see. Try it.

From the app's map list: John Speed's plan of Dublin, 1610 (David Rumsey Map Collection).

From the app's map list: John Rocque's map of Dublin, 1754 to 1756, with College Green and Trinity College (BnF Gallica).

From the app's map list: a Wide Streets Commission planning map of 1782 for Dame, Fleet, Westmoreland and D'Olier Streets, showing changes at Trinity College (Dublin City Council).

From the app's map list: the Ordnance Survey five-feet plan of Dublin, 1847, with College Green and Trinity College (Tailte Éireann).

From the app's map list: the Ordnance Survey five-feet plan of Dublin, third edition, 1865 to 1892, with College Green and Trinity College (Tailte Éireann).

From the app's map list: today's OpenStreetMap, with the Bank of Ireland and Trinity College's Parliament Square.

Why we do this

Living in rural Ireland, observing people’s connections in a landscape full of storytelling, makes you realise that history has a natural environment. Without this local human perspective, the past cannot be truly understood, nor can historical knowledge thrive.

History Habitat wants to promote both by drawing on all available (re)sources, embracing technical innovation, and building bridges.

James Malton's aquatint of 1793 (Art Institute of Chicago): the colonnade of the Parliament House on College Green, Dublin, with the west front of Trinity College beyond, and people walking, riding and driving a cart across the square between. — College Green in 1793, the small square between the Irish Parliament and Trinity College shown in the maps above. A future revolutionary like Wolfe Tone, a student at Trinity in the 1780s, had parliament on his doorstep.

Already in public service

Earlier History Habitat systems have been running for years on the websites of four Irish county libraries, used by local and family historians, students and academics:

See what these earlier systems can do.

The new generation and its point-and-see concept build on feedback from these libraries and their users: simple but powerful tools, a clear design that lets visitors explore on their own, and permanent links to whatever is on the screen. Anyone can bookmark and share these links, and libraries can put them on their web pages.

Let’s talk

We built the Dublin system on our own initiative, to show what a map system can do for research and learning. Maps for Waterford and Berlin are prepared the same way.

Interested? Tell us which place you have in mind, and we will set up two or three of its historical maps in a working system, free of charge. You do not need digitised maps of your own for this: like the Dublin system, it can draw on maps already published online by libraries, archives, universities and collectors.

Write to info@historyhabitat.com.

Image credits: Dublin in 1756 and 1847: map extracts from the History Habitat Dublin system; John Rocque, 1756, © BnF Gallica; Ordnance Survey five-feet plan, 1847, © Tailte Éireann. A point-and-see history of Trinity College and Parliament House: map extracts from the History Habitat Dublin system; John Speed, 1610, David Rumsey Map Collection, David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford University Libraries, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; John Rocque, 1756, © BnF Gallica; Wide Streets Commission, planning map for Dame, Fleet, Westmoreland and D'Olier Streets, 1782, © Dublin City Council, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; Ordnance Survey five-feet plans, 1847 and 1865–1892, © Tailte Éireann (1865–1892); © OpenStreetMap contributors. College Green in 1793: James Malton, The Parliament House, Dublin, hand-coloured aquatint, 1793, public domain (CC0), via the Art Institute of Chicago. Further credits: see the credits page.