An Historical Geography of Ireland offers students a comprehensive reassessment of the evolution of society and economy in Ireland, presenting an informed account of how that past illuminates the present. In this volume distinguished scholars synthesize recent research in Irish historical geography and economic history and present it in an explicit theoretical framework. Starting from the ninth century and continuing to the present it examines both the internal and external forces that have shaped Ireland. Comprehensive historical geography of Ireland in one volume Covers the Irish diaspora, especially to the US Starts from the ninth century and continues to the present day Places Ireland in its international context

“Tap[s] the power of new geospatial technologies . . . explore[s] the intersection of geography, religion, politics, and identity in Irish history.”—International Social Science Review Ireland’s landscape is marked by fault lines of religious, ethnic, and political identity that have shaped its troubled history. Troubled Geographies maps this history by detailing the patterns of change in Ireland from 16th century attempts to “plant” areas of Ireland with loyal English Protestants to defend against threats posed by indigenous Catholics, through the violence of the latter part of the 20th century and the rise of the “Celtic Tiger.” The book is concerned with how a geography laid down in the 16th and 17th centuries led to an amalgam based on religious belief, ethnic/national identity, and political conviction that continues to shape the geographies of modern Ireland. Troubled Geographies shows how changes in religious affiliation, identity, and territoriality have impacted Irish society during this period. It explores the response of society in general and religion in particular to major cultural shocks such as the Famine and to long term processes such as urbanization. “Makes a strong case for a greater consideration of spatial information in historical analysis―a message that is obviously appealing for geographers.”—Journal of Interdisciplinary History “A book like this is useful as a reminder of the struggles and the sacrifices of generations of unrest and conflict, albeit that, on a global scale, the Irish troubles are just one of a myriad of disputes, each with their own history and localized geography.”—Journal of Historical Geography

This book provides a detailed, student-friendly overview of Ireland in the twenty first century and the remarkable economic and social transformations that have occurred since the late 1980s. The "Celtic Tiger" phenomenon has made Ireland the focus of much attention in recent years. Other countries have openly declared that they want to follow the Irish economic and social model. Yet there is no book that gives a comprehensive, spatially-informed analysis of the Irish experience.This book fills that gap. Divided into four parts -- planning and development, the economy, the political landscape, and population and social issues -- the chapters provide an explanation of a particular aspect of Ireland and Irish life accompanied by illustrative material. In particular, the authors reveal how the transformations that have occurred are uneven and unequal in their effects across the country and highlight the challenges now facing Irish society and policy-makers.Written by experts in the field, it is a key text for those wishing to understand the contemporary Irish economic and social landscape.

Irish history is often past and furious and nowhere more contentiously than when discussing religion. This book is designed to be read with equal profit by those who know a little and those who know a lot about the role of religion in Irish history. It moves at a fast pace, it is extensively illustrated with fresh images and maps, it draws on diverse evidence in multiple languages and it uses examples drawn from every county in Ireland. The volume covers commentators writing in Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Latin and Spanish. The focus is on the lived experience of real people in real places in real time, rather than on the abstractions of nationality, class and race. Because religion played such a decisive role in Irish life, the book is also an oblique-angle version of Irish history, conveying a sense of how we got to be where we are, even as we leave it behind.

For many years after its foundation in 1791, the Ordnance Survey was mainly concerned with making small-scale military maps of England. The department had no definite plans for Ireland until 1824, when it was directed to map the whole country (as a prelude to a nationwide valuation of land and buildings) as quickly as possible on the large scale of six inches to the mile. After many delays and some mistakes, economy and accuracy were brought to this new task by applying the division of labour in a complex succession of cartographic operations, outdoor and indoor, each of which was as far as possible checked by one or more of the others. A similar system was later adopted by the Survey's British branch. The six-inch maps of Ireland appeared between 1835 and 1846, during which time they evolved from merely skeleton maps (Sir James Carmichael Smyth) into a full face portrait of the land (Thomas Larcom). It was originally intended to accompany them with written topographical descriptions, but only one of these had been published when the idea was abandoned in 1840. The revision of the maps, begun in 1844, was more successfully pursued, though like the original survey it presented new and challenging problems. In the 1850s the production of both smaller and larger scale maps of Ireland was placed on a regular footing. The survey's Dublin office was kept in being to carry out these tasks, which were not completed until almost the end of the century. The above mentioned topics are fully described in this thesis. Meanwhile a new and separate chain of events had begun in 1887 with the authorization of cadastral maps of Ireland on the scale of 1/2500. The latter, together with some more recent aspects of Irish Survey history, form the subject of a brief postscript.