The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland are a uniquely detailed source for the history of the northern half of Ireland immediately before the Great Famine. They were written in the 1830s to accompany the 6" Ordnance Survey maps, but with one exception were not published at the time. In this new edition they act as a nineteenth-century Domesday book and are essential to the understanding of the cultural heritage of our communities. The Memoirs document the landscape and situation, buildings and antiquities, land-holdings and population, employment and livelihood of the parishes.
Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Vol 2: County Antrim I, 1838-9 covers 5 parishes and granges in the south east of Antrim, much of the area now known as Newtownabbey, and including Glengormley, Carnmoney and Mallusk, a region in the immediate vicinity of Belfast which contained both rural and industrial areas. It provides a unique insight into the life of this fast changing community over 150 years ago.