This book is probably the first really detailed local history published in Ireland. Spanning to 955 pages, it has a wealth of information on virtually every location in the county. It begins with a general account of the county's history in 50 pages. This followed by a tour of every barony in the county, with chapters on each town, village and prominent place encountered. These chapters contain a full description of the topographical, economic and cultural aspects of the area. This is followed by a detailed examination of the history and antiquities from earliest times to 1838. D'Alton was especially interested in the local families in each area, and provides a great detail of information about them throughout the book. With some families he even devotes an entire chapter to their history. These include the Vernon, St. Lawrence, Talbot, Fagan, Taylor, Barnewall, De La Field, Stanyhurst, Hamilton and Eustace families. However the book contains a wealth of detail on every subject, and remains one of the most important local histories produced in the 19th century. It is an essential tool for the study of County Dublin and its people.
There are no comments yet