Westropp— ^aWy Italian Maps of Ireland from 1300-1600. 369 



possibly by accident. This fourth type continued till the Down Survey maps 

 brought in a more accurate variety, though far less rich — at least in sea-coast 

 names. The new school may be said to commence for Ireland in the issue of 

 Sir W. Petty's Hilernia Delineata in 168.3, the maps on which it is founded 

 dating 1652-1657.' 



The errors of the early maps suggest how beset with doubt, fear, and 

 danger must have been the approach of ships to our coasts with only such 

 charts to guide them. It may be well to select a few actual cases from the 

 vivid records of the Armada in 1588. 



Juan de Saavedra wrote^ to King Philip from the great galeass, Zuniga 

 (which through coiintless dangers had reached Havre). He tells how they 

 had got into good anchorage at Tue (probably the Bue, i.e. Eire, Berehaven of 

 the maps), twelve leagues from the Cape (Clear), the inhabitants being "all 

 rustic savages,"^ and attached to the English. The crew, though the helm 

 was broken, accordingly put out to sea, got lost, and found themselves in an 

 uninhabited creek near a tower held by the enemy, they never knew where ; 

 thence they escaped with difficulty. It is only from the letters of the 

 Sheriff of Thomond* that we learn that it was at Coolrone Bay, near Liscannor 

 Castle, in Co. Clare, far to the northward of their starting-point for the south. 



Marcos de Aramburo' tells how the San Juan Bautista sighted land two 

 hours before daylight. Some thought it was the Drosey Islands, others the 

 Quelles ;* the pilot thought " the Ox and Cow," eight leagues from the Cape_ 

 None of these guesses proved correct ; they came into the Blasket Sound. 

 Of course the trading-vessels once they reached Ireland could creep along a 

 friendly coast from harbour to harbour, as they found them marked on their 

 portolans, and met help and information at every point. 



None of the maps given in this paper show the northern Cape Clear,' so 

 often referred to by the Spaniards, unless it be the Cligra of some maps, the 

 Cap Seligra in the older maps. This corresponds to Cap Cleara, which was 

 passed by Alonzo de Leyva in his ill-starred voyage from Killybegs to his 

 doom at the Giant's Causeway, and so far is suitable to the Seligra of the 



' The splendid collection in the Fagel Library, Trinity College, Dublin, shows how strongly the 

 Continental maps were affected by Speed from 1620, and by Petty from 1690. 



-Calendar Spanish State Papers, Oct., 1588. 



3 This unflattering term is also applied to the Scotch, e.g. "a savage who spoke Latin," 

 ibid., p. 506. Cuellar speaks of "a bishop dressed like a savage." Our own term "outlandish" 

 belongs to the same narrow thought. 



* Cal. State Papers Ireland, 1588. See my notes in Journal of the Limerick Field Club, iii, 

 p. 194. 



5 See Eev. "W. S. Green's paper, Proc. R.I.A. xivii (C), p. 264. 



* See infra in next section, p. 37. 



' Froude, " Spanish Story of the Armada" (ed. 1892), p. 76, identifi»« it with Glare Inland. 



E.I. A. PROC, VOL, XXX., SECT. C. ^ [53] 



