A Must for all Road Anoraks. The RIC Road Book 1893

Sponge Bob

This is a road book provided for operational matters to the RIC ( Royal Ulster Constabulary) in 1893. The public could also buy it.

It is called De Via Hibernia

http://ia341004.us.archive.org/3/items/deviahiberniaroa00daggrich/deviahiberniaroa00daggrich.pdf 23mbits searchable PDF.

It came with a copy of this ( zoomable ) map of Ireland produced by Keith Johnston of the then renowned companyW. & A.K. Johnston in Edinburgh. . Export permitted at lower than screen resolution save for extra extra large export format.

The book plus the extra extra large map are aroung 50Mb between them.


THIS work was undertaken with the view of supplying a
great want of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and of
kindred public services ; and also of providing a " Road
Book," of a reliable and comprehensive character, for the use of
cyclists and tourists, of Irish travellers, and others of the public
who may desire to travel through our beautiful Island.
The Compiler and Editor has been at very great pains to avoid
inaccuracy and prolixity, and has striven to condense the mass of
information given, both by the use of contractions and symbols,
and by the stringent avoidance of merely ornamental description.
He has in the design and execution forborne from trespassing
on the domain and scope of all other " Guides" to Ireland which
travellers have at their disposal. In this way, it is hoped that the
effort will receive the support of the travelling public, whom it is
designed to serve, and be spared the rivalry of other similar works,
useful each in its own sphere.
The labour of compilation has been exceedingly heavy : and
were it not for the ungrudging assistance so freely tendered by
members of the great Royal Irish Constabulary Force of all ranks, —from the Inspector-General, who kindly sanctioned the use of
the splendid organization under his command, to the junior constable,
who, perhaps an enthusiastic cyclist, did his utmost to place
his local knowledge at the service of the public—it would have
been impossible of execution. To all and every assistant in the
very laborious undertaking, whose names are embodied in their
place in the work, my best thanks and acknowledgments are due,
and are very gratefully tendered. To "one especially, who, by his
untiring zeal, intelligence, and ability contributed very largely to
the accuracy of the intricate details—my clerk, Constable Robert
Callaghan, R.I.C., of Lisnaskea—my very special thanks are due,
for his willing labour and assiduous perseverance in checking the
tots of such voluminous and intricate returns. I may be pardoned
for hoping that some recognition of his sterling worth may be
bestowed on him, such as I cannot give, but such as he deserves.
The book, as it leaves my hands, is not perfect, but I hope that it
will be accepted as an honest effort to provide a useful Guidebook
not hitherto available.
The printing of such a book deserves a word of remark, as it
was an undertaking of a very unusual, and most difficult kind.
The printer will, I hope, not be overlooked, the more so as the
work was done in Ireland by an Irishman, and, in my humble
judgment, is a credit to him.
The system of alphabeticising all details has been followed :
in a few instances where the strict sequence has been, in a very
small degree, departed from, it was due, I understand, to the
exigencies of composing the pages, and technical considerations.
A list of "Addenda et Corrigenda" is given, which, considering
the extraordinary difficulties of such a work, will not, I hope,
be considered unduly extensive.
The book, as a " Road Book," is almost- exhaustive of all the
roads in Ireland. When it is considered that in each case the
route from place to place, with nearly every turn, every hill, and
every cross-road met with, is indicated, and the distance between

(1) Every Route is given both ways, i.e., going and coming,
and by different persons : one at each end of every Route.
(2) The known and reputed distance from place to place
must agree with total of all the intervening spaces from cross
road to cross road, and thus an undue expansion of these distances,
either by carelessness or mistaken estimate, is prevented.
A single careful reading of the "Instructions" will render
at once intelligible, the plan on which the work was designed.
The amount of information given could not otherwise have been
included in the limits of a book intended for the overcoat pocket,
or the hand-bag of the tourist.
The notes of the objects of interest at each place are mainly
Historical or Archaelogical, and are simply intended to remind the
traveller of what to look for ; the places, when found, will sufficiently
describe themselves to anyone interested in such things.
Distance lines give, at a glance, the shortest route between some
thousand places. These distances are "as the crow flies," and
have been derived from an authoritalrive source, founded on the
Ordnance Survey. Any difference between the distance on the
map and in the book, is accounted for by the consideration that
roads deviate sometimes considerably, and the shortest route is
not necessarily practicable. The Roads are shown in scarlet ; the
Rivers (inland waters) and their names in bright blue ; the Sea
shading in green ; the distance lines in black ; Railroads are in
solid scarlet lines ; while the body, names of Towns, shading, etc.,
are in purplish mauve.