INTRODUCTION

The mapping of Ireland began, in a way, with Ptolemy's Geographica. The creation of true maps of Ireland, however, does not occur until the late middle ages and early modern periods, largely as a result of the need of new settlers on the island to know, measure and lay claim accurately to their properties. During the nineteenth century enormous efforts were expended on developing a comprehensive series of maps of all Ireland in great detail and of great elegance which are still used today. Now, at the start of the 21st century, we have access to a whole range of map series, and (if the funds are available) these can also be obtained in a digitised form. Cartography in Ireland has come a long way since Ptolemy built his word-pictures, probably based on second and third hand descriptions, of the known world two millenia ago.

THE 'IRISH CARTOGRAPHY' DISCUSSION GROUP

The 'Irish Cartography' discussion group is due to become active in February 2002.

RELATED DISCUSSION GROUP HOMEPAGES

• Irish Geography: all aspects of the study of geography in Ireland
  
  
• Irish Place Name Studies: the history, meaning and mapping of place names in Ireland
  
  
• Irish Archaeology: the archaeology of Ireland of all periods
  
  
• Late Gaelic Ireland: the history and archaeology of late medieval and pre-modern Ireland (c.1000 - 1700AD)
  
  
• Early Modern Ireland: the history and archaeology of early modern Ireland (c.1600 - 1900AD)
  
  
• Irish Social History: the history - and prehistory - of Ireland's society

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DOCUMENTS & DATABASES

Page last updated 18 September 2001