Wednesday 2 July 2014

Mapping city, town and country since 1824

The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) has launched an exhibition called Mapping city, town and country since 1824: the Ordnance Survey in Ireland. It's been organised by the RIA Library and the Irish Historic Towns Atlas (IHTA), and focuses on the Academy’s extensive collections relating to the mapping of Ireland at a scale of 6 inches to one mile.

The 6-inch maps are an essential source for the investigation of 19th-century Ireland's cities, towns and countryside. Every headland, mountain, river, field, plot, bleaching green and public building is recorded for posterity. 

The exhibition, which is accessible Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm, except on conference days at the Academy, sets out to illustrate the scope and depth of the Ordnance Survey engagement in the 19th-century island. It continues until 30 January 2015.

Mapping city, town and country – lecture series
To complement the exhibition, the RIA has organised a Mapping city, town and country lecture series. The lunchtime lectures will cover all aspects of the Ordnance Survey project. The lectures will be held on Wednesdays, 1–2pm, in the Meeting Room, Academy House, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, and will be recorded for podcast purposes. All welcome, and no need to book.

27 Aug:  The map-making of the OS: challenges on every front, with Dr Jacinta Prunt
1 Oct:    The OS 6" Mapping Project: political & cultural agendas, with Prof. William Smith
8 Oct:    Translations? The Ordnance Survey & Irish place-names, with Prof. Nollaig Ó Muraíle
15 Oct:  George Petrie’s “Topographical Department” (1835-42), with Paul Walsh
22 Oct:  Glimpses of Ireland's past: drawings in the OS Memoirs, with Angélique Day
29 Oct:  John O'Donovan's work for the Ordnance Survey, with Prof. Michael Herity
5 Nov:    From Rocque to the OS: mapping Dublin 1756 to 1847, with Rob Goodbody
12 Nov:  Dublin in 1847: city of the Ordnance Survey, with Dr Frank Cullen
19 Nov:  The OS now and in the future, with Colin Bray