In the 1730s and 1740s a number of societies were formed in Ireland to encourage the study of the natural history of the island. In part, these were a response to the ways in which Ireland was being misrepresented in publications emanating from Britain. One of these initiatives has been given the title ‘Hibernia’, though it actual name – if indeed it had any – is not known, and it led to creation of the Physico-Historical Society in 1744. Plans to publish county surveys had only limited success, though volumes for counties Cork, Down, Kerry and Waterford did appear.