Statistical Survey of the County of Meath: With Observations On the Means of Improvement; Drawn Up for the Consideration, and Under the Direction of the Dublin Society. Dublin: Graisberry & Campbell, 1802. First Edition. Pp xxxv, 425, Appendix [49]. Ex library copy, with ink stamps & with occasional label residue to endpapers. Rebound in green cloth boards, title in gilt to spine. Crease running through mid-section of pages of the Introduction, otherwise a nice bright copy.

Illustrated with a large folded map of Co Meath, eleven plates & a folded chart in the text.

The survey covers topics such as topography, geography, natural flora and fauna, farm development, living conditions, wages, livestock, transport, industry, religious practices and much more. It was produced in the context of the aftermath of the 1798 rebellion, the passage of the Act of Union 1800 and an agricultural boom due to the Napoleonic Wars.

The Irish Statistical Survey was carried out under the direction of the Royal Dublin Society. Each county was surveyed with the aim of determining the ‘actual state, capabilities and defects of agriculture, manufactures and rural economy’. In practice the surveys contained a vast quantity of local information on almost every aspect of the county surveyed. Because these studies were carried out under central direction the quality of the information provided is good, and given their early date, they remain an invaluable source for the study of each county. They record many details about conditions in pre-Famine Ireland, including social and economic conditions, the growth of population and poverty, education, religion, history, the Irish language and local customs.