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If people refer to “Lewis” as a reference when discussing history it can throw the uninitiated or new student. The reference is of course to “A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland”…with an Appendix describing the Electoral Boundaries of the several Boroughs, &c in 2 volumes, with an accompanying “Atlas, comprising the Counties of Ireland and a general Map of the Kingdom” published by Samuel Lewis of London. Both works were published in 1837 and despite being severely criticised in the "Dublin University Magazine" the Dictionary was republished in 1842. It has been published in various forms in the ensuing century and a half and has become a major pre-famine reference book.
Lewis had previously published similar works on England and Wales.
He encountered a difficulty when it came to doing a similar work for Ireland. In England and Wales he found numerous county histories and local descriptions of cities towns and districts. However, when it came to Ireland he found an "extreme paucity of such works". This meant he had to rely on personal surveys, which increased the expense. Lewis states that "the most intelligent resident gentlemen in Ireland" completed the survey.
The value of the work is the input by these local resident gentlemen. Their accounts, which they prepared to reflect "the local history or useful information on the past and present state of Ireland", were edited and "fabulous tales and improbable traditions" were omitted. Proof sheets of the edited accounts were then forwarded to the contributors, "to render the account of every town and place as correct as possible" prior to going to press and adding any changes that had happened in the meantime.
One wonders at the fate of the original unedited submissions. It would be a wonderful complement to the final work if it existed today.
Another difficulty experienced by the authors that they must also have encountered in parts of Wales was the variety in spelling of place names. The most common difficulty was the names with the prefix Bally or Balli and Kill or Kil.
All distances are given in Irish miles; area is given in Irish plantation acres unless stated otherwise. The acreage of each parish is based on the Ordnance Survey where completed and in areas where it was not completed it is based on the acreage applotted under the Tithe Composition Act. Most of the population figures and numbers of houses are based on the 1831 Census and School statistics are taken from "The Report of the Commissioners of the Board of National Education"
The list of subscribers to the publication of the Dictionary is a valuable historical and genealogical reference in itself.
The difficulties encountered in compiling the Dictionary were too great for Lewis, as an Englishman unaccustomed with the language, traditions, and history of the Irish people. He surmounted the problem by employing Joseph Timothy Haydn a Limerick man who had experience in editing. In 1823, he became the first editor of the "Dublin Evening Mail" newspaper. Within a month it had become the city's best selling newspaper, at 2,500 copies an issue. Haydn's previous claim to fame was that he had been horsewhipped by the aide-de-camp to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for having made disparaging remarks about the ADC's parentage. The newspapers owners were so concerned that Haydn's impetuous nature could land them with libel suits, they paid him off when he was just over 40. The "Mails" loss was seen as a gain for Lewis. Haydn went on to publish his own "Dictionary of Dates" in 1841 and the "Book of Dignities" in 1851. He died in 1856 and Lewis died 9 years later.
However it is Lewis the publisher who will be long remembered for his eponomous work while we in Limerick can bask in the glory of Haydn the true compiler of this reference work.
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