Irish Lands Stolen By Oliver Cromwell

Ever McGinnis land holdings in 1641

Do you have Irish ancestors? If the answer is "yes" then you will want to visit Irish Lands stolen by Oliver Cromwell

Quoting from the website (Trinity College Dublin)

Taken in the years 1656-1658, the Down Survey of Ireland is the first ever detailed land survey on a national scale anywhere in the world. The survey sought to measure all the land to be forfeited by the Catholic Irish in order to facilitate its redistribution to Merchant Adventurers and English soldiers. Copies of these maps have survived in dozens of libraries and archives throughout Ireland and Britain, as well as in the National Library of France. This Project has brought together for the first time in over 300 years all the surviving maps, digitised them and made them available as a public online resource.

It's a fascinating glimpse into lands your ancestors once lived on. There are two parts to the site - the Down Survey Maps and the Historical GIS

The Down Survey Maps section comprises digital images of all the surviving Down Survey maps at parish, barony and county level. The written descriptions (terrier) of each barony and parish that accompanied the original maps have also been included. The second section, Historical GIS, brings together the maps and related contemporaneous sources – Books of Survey and Distribution, the 1641 Depositions, the 1659 Census – in a Geographical Information System (GIS). 

Clicking on the Historical GIS tab takes you to a searchable database for the following:

• Landowner by Name (1641 and 1670)
• Ownership by Religion (Maps for 1641 and 1670)
• Murders in the 1641 rebellion (Distribution)

You can also view details by zooming in on the area of interest. A pop-up displays the name of the landowner, their religion and who ended up with that section of land.