Orienteering Maps Presented to the Map Library

Posted on: 01 April 2009

A unique archive of over 1,000 Irish orienteering maps was donated to the Glucksman Map Library in Trinity College Dublin by the Irish Orienteering Association (IOA) on March 25th last.  TCD Librarian and College Archivist, Robin Adams, accepted the maps from IOA Chairman and Mapping Officer, Marcus Geoghegan, on behalf of the Library during a reception held in TCD.

In his handover speech, Marcus illustrated how the maps include detail not usually recorded on Ordnance Survey maps.  It was also noted that orienteering maps contain various types of information which might be of use to non-orienteers in years to come, namely old boundaries, ruined buildings and changes in vegetation.  Much of the detail on the maps, highlighted by orienteers, dates from pre-Famine times when the population was far greater than it is today.   Markings capture old walls, field boundaries and dwellings which might be ignored by other map makers.

Orienteers from clubs all over Ireland collected maps for the project which was co-ordinated by Brian Hollinshead with the help from a mapping enthusiast from each of the four provinces.  Representatives from Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Dublin Mountains Initiative were also present at the event.  The project marks the IOA’s 40th anniversary of orienteering in Ireland.  A display encompassing forty years of orienteering maps is on display in the Map Library in TCD.

The Map Library is open to the public for research purposes and visits on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Wednesday mornings.  External readers must make appointments in advance.