The Down Survey: How William Petty Mapped Ireland for Cromwell

In the aftermath of Cromwell's brutal conquest of Ireland, a young English physician named William Petty undertook something unprecedented: a comprehensive land survey of the entire country. Known as the Down Survey, it mapped over 13 million acres, confiscated Catholic-owned land, and redistributed it to Protestant adventurers and soldiers. This episode dives into the survey's methods — how Petty used chains, compasses, and local informants to create the first accurate maps of Ireland — and its devastating consequences: the dispossession of Irish Catholics, the solidification of Protestant Ascendancy, and the creation of a landholding system that would fuel conflict for centuries. We explore Petty's brilliance and ruthlessness, the Surveyor General's office in Dublin, and the enduring mark the Down Survey left on Ireland's landscape and memory. A story of science, power, and theft — and the map that remade a nation. #DownSurvey #WilliamPetty #CromwellianConquest #IrelandHistory #LandConfiscation #MassMapping #ProtestantAscendancy #ToHaveandToHold #Cromwell #IrishCatholics #Surveying #17thCentury #DublinHistory #Colonialism #Cartography #IrishLand #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo