John Rocque

Somebody posted an image of an old map of the Liffey on facebook today. I was sure it had been used on an old Irish bank note (pre euro) and did some searching online. It turns out that my memory is to be trusted, it was on the back of the ten pound note and the image is taken from the 1756 map of Dublin by John Rocque. What interests me about the image is the amount of ships and boats on the Liffey, hard to imagine now that it once was such a bustling transport hub 250 years ago.

Source: Wikipedia

John Rocque (1709–1762) was a surveyor and cartographer.Rocque is now mainly remembered for his map of London. He began work on this in 1737 and it was published in 24 printed sheets in 1747. It was by far the most detailed map of London published up to that time, and remains an important historical resource.

The map of London and his other maps brought him an appointment as cartographer to the Prince of Wales in 1751. 

His 1756 map of Dublin featured on an Irish Ten Pond banknote. The Area around Dublin city is covered on 4 maps. They extended as far as Skerries and Cardy Rocks to the North, Carton House to the west, Blessington to the south west,and Enniskerry to the south.