The Ordnance Survey Memoirs 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.
This volume contains the Memoirs for five parishes in south Londonderry, in the shadow of Slieve Gallion and including the towns of Draperstown, part of Moneymore, and Tobermore. Much of this district was owned by the Drapers' Company, whose regulations and benevolence greatly influenced their tenantry.
This was a thriving area well endowed with remains of antiquity, gentlemen's seats, mills and public buildings, and its commercial character is attested to by a variety of occupations, fairs and markets. Social life is especially well documented through habits of the people, emigration and education, with wonderful accounts of the traditions, customs and verse of its inhabitants. Together this material provides a unique insight into life in this area over one hundred and fifty years ago.