The earliest of these is George Taylor and Andrew Skinners, Road Maps of Ireland, (1778) which prints maps of the principal routes from Dublin to the country towns, including the major country houses and the surnames of their occupants, with an alphabetical index to these surnames. The aim of William Wilson's The Post Chaise Companion (1786) is similar, providing a discursive description of what might be seen on various journeys through the countryside. These descriptions include the names of the country houses and, again, their owners' surnames. There is no index.

The next publications were the two editions, in 1812 and 1814, of Ambrose Leets' Directory. This contains an alphabetical listing of placenames towns, villages, country houses, townlands, in an arbitrary mix showing the county, the nearest post town, and, in the case of the houses, the full name of the occupant. These names are then indexed at the back of the volume.

The earliest country-wide directory covering more than the gentry was Pigot's Commercial Directory of Ireland, published in 1820. This goes through the towns of Ireland alphabetically, supplying the names of nobility and gentry living in or close to the town, and arranging the traders of each town according to their trade. Pigot published a subsequent edition in 1824 and his successors, Slaters, issued expanded versions in 1846, 1856, 1870, 1881, and 1894. These followed the same basic format, dividing the country into four provinces, and then dealing with towns and villages alphabetically within each province. With each edition the scope of the directory was steadily enlarged, including ever more towns and villages.

Guide to Irish Directories, Chapter 4 of Irish Genealogy: A Record Finder (Dublin: Heraldic Artists, 1981) includes a detailed county by county listing of the towns and villages covered by each edition. A detailed listing of the towns covered can also be found in the subscription section of this site. Otherwise, the most important differences between the various editions are as follows:

1824: Includes a country-wide alphabetical index to all the clergy, gentry and nobility listed in the entries for individual towns, omitted in subsequent issues.

1846: Includes the names of schoolteachers for the towns treated, a practice continued in following editions.

1881: This supplies the names of the principal farmers near each of the towns treated, giving the relevant parish. This feature was continued in the 1894 edition. From 1824, separate alphabetical listings are given for the clergy, gentry and nobility of Dublin and most of the larger urban centres. The best single collection of these directories is in the The National Library, where most of the early editions have now been transferred to microfiche.

Checklist

• 1778: George Taylor and Andrew Skinner, Road Maps of Ireland (reprint I.U.P., 1969) National Library Ir. 9141 t 1
• 1786: William Wilson's The Post Chaise Companion National Library Joly Collection pamphlet (National Library) 9141 w 13
• 1812: Ambrose Leet, A List of [...] noted places . National Library Ir. 9141 l 10
• 1814: Ambrose Leet, A Directory to the Market Towns, Villages, Gentlemen's Seats and other noted places in Ireland . National Library Ir. 9141 l 10
• 1820: H J. Pigot, Commercial Directory of Ireland . National Library Ir. 9141 c 25
• 1824: 0 J. Pigot. City of Dublin and Hibernian Provincial Directory. National Library Ir. 9141 p 75
• 1846: Slater's National Commercial Directory of Ireland . National Library Ir. 9141 s 30
• 1856: Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland
• 1870: Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland
• 1881; Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland
• 1894: Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland

See also Dublin directories from 1834

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