bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Residence coding in the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) system: significantly worse than anticipated
Authors: Houghton Frank , Kelleher Kevin
Published: January 2024

Analysis was conducted of the patient residence geocoding of all E-code (external cause) discharges on the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry system for the calendar year 1996 from Limerick's two acute hospitals (one public, one private). The results indicate a substantial level of error, even at county and county borough level. Some 21 percent of the 1383 patients attributed to Limerick County Borough were wrongly assigned to this area. Only marginal differences were reported between the public and private hospitals, with the private hospital managing a slightly higher accuracy rate. The implications of this finding are significant for any analysis of spatial patterns of health care use. Particular care needs to be taken in relation to HIPE patient residence coding relating to any of the county boroughs in Ireland. A software geocoding engine urgently needs to be introduced into the HIPE system capable of geocoding patient addresses at least to district electoral division (ded)/ward level, and ideally to point location.
New maps of Ireland published in 2000
Authors: Ferguson Paul
Published: January 2024

NoteThe following list of map and atlases was compiled in the Map Library, Trinity College Library Dublin and is based on publications received on legal deposit. It does not claim to be complete and the compiler welcomes notification of other maps which may be included as an addendum in the 2001 list (to be published later in 2002). Details of new maps may be sent by email to: map.library@tcd.ie. The list does not include new or revised large scale maps added to the digital databases of either Ordnance Survey Ireland or Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
The Askeaton Investigation and the failure of Irish health information systems
Authors: Houghton Frank , Gleeson Marian , Kelleher Kevin
Published: January 2024

Sporadic concerns over animal health problems have been voiced in north county Limerick since the late 1980s. This issue came to the fore in late 1994 when local concerns developed to encompass human health in the area. The Mid- Western Health Board responded by attempting to investigate the health status of the local population in an effort to identify possible pollution related illnesses. Fourteen studies were initiated but several of the studies proved unfeasible given the limitations of the computerised health information systems, or had to completed by hand or interview. This investigation highlighted the almost total failure of Irish health information systems to respond to any form of in-depth analysis of population health status. This proved costly both financially and in terms of the delay that ensued, which allowed fear and concern to spread. As alarm escalated the number of conditions residents felt should be investigated increased. The geographical coding of all health information below county level, at least to DED level and ideally to point location is the most basic reform necessary for population health surveillance and investigation
Multinational investment and return migration in Ireland in the 1990s- a county-level analysis
Authors: Jones Richard C.
Published: January 2024

The mobility transition from emigration to immigration in Ireland in the 1990s resulted in significant return migration, whose relationship to new multinational jobs at the micro-scale has not been investigated. Spatial analyses of county data (Census and IDA) reveal that return migration was high in areas with high MNC and other job growth such as greater Dublin and the central west, and low in areas with poor job growth such as the border zone and parts of the southeast. However, some areas with low return migration had substantial job growth (e.g., county Limerick), and some areas with high return migration had a scarcity of new jobs (e.g. county Mayo) suggesting non-economic reasons for return. A household survey in Mayo County in 2002 revealed the predominance of family and quality of life reasons over economic reasons in the decision to return to Ireland. However, the improving Irish economy very likely enabled returnees to meet their career aspirations in Ireland, regardless of the primary reasons they stated for return.
Examples of recent rockfalls from basalt cliffs in Northern Ireland
Authors: Wilson Peter , Cunningham Alana
Published: January 2024

Two examples of recent rockfalls from basalt cliffs in Northern Ireland are described and some trigger mechanisms suggested. The Downhill rockfall of June 2002 resulted in derailment of the Londonderry-Belfast train and occurred following two months of above average rainfall. The Trostan rockfall(s) has (have) resulted in basalt boulders accumulating on the track bed of a late nineteenth century mineral railway, the track having been removed by 1900. Rockfall timing(s) and cause(s) are not known with certainty but the possibility of distant seismic activity acting as a trigger mechanism is introduced. Both examples exceed in magnitude rockfall events recorded elsewhere on the Ulster basalts, and demonstrate the unstable nature of basalt cliffs and the hazards posed to transport routes engineered along their base.
Reviews of books
Authors: Clout Hugh , Bannon Michael J. , Hourihan Kevin
Published: January 2024

IRELAND, THE GREAT WAR AND THE GEOGRAPHY OF REMEMBRANCE, by Nuala C. Johnson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ix + 192pp. ISBN 0 521 82616 0 hbk. £45.00stg.REINVENTING MODERN DUBLIN: STREETSCAPE, ICONOGRAPHY AND THE POLITICS OF IDENTITY, by Yvonne Whelan. Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2003. xvii+ 318pp. ISBN 1–900621–85‐lhbk.DUBLIN 1910–1940: SHAPING THE CITY & SUBURBS, by Ruth McManus. Dublin: Four Courts Press. 2002. 512pp. ISBN l‐85182–615–7hbk; 1–85182–712–9 pbk.
The exposure fallacy: migration, mobility and ecological analysis of health status in Ireland
Authors: Houghton Frank , Kelleher Kevin
Published: January 2024

The problem of differential rates of exposure within areas resulting from spatially inconsistent rates of migration and mobility is largely ignored in ecological health analysis. This error may be termed the 'exposure fallacy'. This paper quantifies population mobility and migration in Ireland using a variety of census measures. The results indicate that there is not only substantial residential mobility in Ireland, but that the nature and extent of this mobility differs significantly across areas. For example in 1996 more 250,000 people were not living in the same residence they had occupied twelve months previously. The viability of ecological analysis is therefore questioned. As anticipated the most mobile groups were young adults aged 20-35 years, and most residential moves were of a local nature. The error associated with the exposure fallacy may be partially reduced if analysis is conducted at county level and if young adults are excluded. The development of an area based mobility index for Ireland is also proposed for use in weighted least squares regression analysis. However significant problems remain despite these precautions. The adoption of a Finnish style centralised population and housing register is proposed, as is the introduction of a unique identifier for all individuals within the State.
Relict rock glaciers, slope failure deposits, or polygenetic features? A re‐assessment of some donegal debris landforms
Authors: Wilson Peter
Published: January 2024

Large-scale debris landforms on the quartzite mountains of north-west Donegal were previously interpreted by the author as relict protalus rock glaciers and protalus ramparts. Re-assessment of these features and their adjacent terrain indicates that slope failures may have supplied much, if not all, of the debris.  Implications arising from this recognition that other processes were involved in landform development are discussed and consideration is given to resolving the issue.
Contours of colonialism: Gaelic Ireland and the early colonial subject
Authors: Morrissey John
Published: January 2024

The sixteenth century is critical to our reading of Ireland's subsequent colonial and indeed postcolonial geographies, yet has frequently evaded considered scrutiny for a variety of reasons, including the deficiencies of the evidence. Eschewing assumptions of colonialism as a 'given' and informed by postcolonial perspectives in geography and related disciplines, this paper interrogates the initial contours of English colonial endeavours in one region of Ireland from the beginnings of renewed Crown interest in the mid-sixteenth century. Using  the example of the O'Dwyer family of Kilnamanagh in county Tipperary, the paper explores the interconnections as well as the conflicts of the worlds of the colonial 'newcomers' and Gaelic 'natives', and demonstrates how colonial discourses of civility, reform and the barbarous 'Other' were transcended on the ground by a complex set of locally dependent variables. Support is offered for the notion that expediency and survival were the fundamental imperatives of both the New English administration and Gaelic responses, and, by highlighting the absence of any consistent colonial relations, the discussion points to the contradictory and mutually constitutive nature of English and Gaelic worlds, co-existing by the end of the sixteenth century.
Submerged ice marginal forms in the Celtic sea off Waterford Harbour, Ireland. Implications for understanding regional glaciation and sea level changes following the last glacial maximum in Ireland
Authors: Gallagher Colman , Sutton Gerry , Bell Trevor
Published: January 2024

This paper presents the results of acoustic surveys and video imaging of the seabed off Waterford Harbour, beyond a previously identified submerged palaeochannel. This system extends south-west into waters at c. -56 m OD and terminates in an area of possible glacigenic sediments. The aim of the new surveys was to obtain multibeam sonar imagery and to correlate it with seismic profiles in order to understand the genetic relationships between the morpho-sedimentological elements of the seabed in this area. The multibeam sonar imagery revealed four arcuate, morphologically complex features that on-lap the regional bedrock and confine the previously identified palaeochannel. Both the morphology of these forms and their sedimentology, as revealed by video imaging, imply formation in an ice-marginal environment. These forms are hypothesised to reflect several stages of sedimentation at the margins of ice progressively retreating from the nearshore shelf of the Celtic Sea during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Geography militant: Resistance and the essentialisation of identity in colonial Ireland
Authors: Morrissey John
Published: January 2024

In recent years, a growing recognition of the interconnections (in addition to the conflicts) between the worlds of the coloniser and the colonised has enabled the construction of an enhanced collection of differentiated and nuanced historicogeographical accounts of the spaces and practices of colonialism. Indeed, it has become somewhat fashionable in postcolonial studies to emphasise the fluidity and 'in-between space' of 'colonial' projects and 'native' reaction. This is, however, arguably to the detriment of engaging the enmity and violence frequently an integral part of the colonial enterprise. This paper interrogates the in-between spaces of a colonial Ireland just beginning to be defined in the early seventeenth century and demonstrates how they were delimited ultimately by an essentialised envisioning of a radical settler colonial discourse and a corresponding exclusivism in colonial practice on the ground. By examining the outbreak of the 1641 Rebellion in Munster, the discussion considers the emergence of competing and exclusive Protestant and Catholic identities, and highlights the bounded nature of cultural interaction in early modem Ireland.
Relict periglacial boulder sheets and lobes on Slieve Donard, Mountains of Mourne, Northern Ireland
Authors: Cunningham Alana , Wilson Peter
Published: January 2024

Some morphological, morphometrical and sedimentological characteristics have been determined for relict periglacial boulder sheets and lobes on the upper slopes (>700 m OD) of Slieve Donard, Mountains of Mourne. The features occur principally on slopes of northerly and easterly aspect, include 'stone-banked', 'turf-banked' and 'unvegetated' varieties, and are developed on gradients of 10-27°. In terms of their dimensions, riser and tread gradients, and boulder characteristics (dimensions, sorting, form and fabric) the sheets and lobes are not of uniform size and form and in those respects compare favourably with examples described from Great Britain and elsewhere in the world. The process(es) of downslope movement is/are not easy to explain unless a finegrained, frost-susceptible material capable of undergoing gelifluction underlies the boulders. The likelihood of such material being present and its possible origin are discussed.
Ecological Footprint analysis: An Irish rural study
Authors: Ryan Brenda
Published: January 2024

This paper uses the ecological footprint concept to investigate the notion of a sustainable rural settlement. Most eco-footprint studies to date tend to focus at a national or city scale. However, this paper examines how rural settlements relate to global carrying capacity. The formulation of a relevant methodology is a central issue. Specifically, local and primary data collection methods developed to meet the aims of this study, are outlined. The methodology's component based structure and form of bottom-up data collection, allows the final footprint results to be analysed (and understood) in terms of underlying variations in consumption and waste production patterns within the community. These data can then contribute to the development and understanding of a model of best practice for a sustainable rural settlement.
The late Tertiary landscapes of western Ireland
Authors: Coxon Pete
Published: January 2024

This paper reviews two regions where the landscape of western Ireland can be partially reconstructed at the close of the Tertiary Period. The preglacial landscape of central western Ireland appears to have been heavily forested with a diverse range of tree types and the bedrock denuded with extensive karstification on limestone and with areas of tors and weathering mantles on the granites. There is also evidence that other clastic and igneous rocks were extensively weathered. Both of the palaeosurfaces described here are believed to be Pliocene in age and are at or near the present land surface. The preservation of such palaeosurfaces is considered in the context of the Tertiary landscape evolution of Ireland.
The Porchfield of Trim - A medieval 'open-field'
Authors: Kelly Dermot
Published: January 2024

The Porchfield of The Porchfield of Trim lies between the new Anglo-Norman town of Trim founded c. 1180 and the rural-borough of Newtown-Trim founded c. 1220 in County Meath. The two towns were connected through the 'open-field' Porchfield by a medieval road 'sunken-way'. The Porchfield probably included 'three acres in the fields outside the town' for a number of the new burgesses of Trim, as documented in the Borough Charters for Kells and Drogheda. Ridge-and-furrow was the cultivation method used in 'open-field' agriculture of the time. The characteristics of ridge-and-furrow are described and a case is made for the presence of apparent blocks of ridge-and-furrow in the Porchfield of Trim with reference to medieval land measurement units, in particular the perch as the predominant measured width of 'the long narrow strips' still existing in the Porchfield of Trim.
Experiences and perceptions of rural women in the Republic of Ireland: studies in the Border Region
Authors: McNerney Catherine , Gillmor Desmond
Published: January 2024

There has been surprisingly little study of Irish rural women and much of the limited research has focused on farm women. This paper reports on investigations of the experiences and perceptions of rural women in general in two study areas in counties Louth and Leitrim, in the Border Region of the Republic of Ireland. The aspects dealt with are transport, employment, education and training, childcare and elderly care, health, social contacts and information, migration, and rural living. Access to services and opportunities presented difficulties but many accepted this as an inevitable part of rural living, which generally was favoured. There were variations, however, between the study areas and to a greater extent between different women depending on their circumstances.
Liberal rule through non‐liberal means: The attempted settlement of Irish travellers (1955–1975)
Authors: Crowley Una M.
Published: January 2024

In 1963, after the publication of the Report of the Commission on Itinerancy, the Irish Government embarked on a national programme for the 'settlement', 'assimilation' and 'rehabilitation' of Irish Travellers. This paper is concerned with the power effects of discourses both driving and mobilised by the Report and with how liberal forms of thought and political rationality have considered the treatment of individuals and groups considered to be without the 'attributes of juridical and political responsibility' (Dean, 1999:134). The paper describes how Traveller society was 'imagined' and reconstructed during this period through elite discourse and the use of statistical inscriptions; how these mechanisms of representation facilitated and legitimated intervention into their everyday lives, rendered Travellers visible and permitted their characterisation as a 'group', a 'community' in need of reform.
Mind the gap! Householder attitudes and actions towards waste in Ireland
Authors: Davies Anna , Fahy Frances , Taylor David
Published: January 2024

The growing volume of domestic waste is a particularly visible manifestation of the environmental problems caused by high levels of economic growth and consumption in Ireland, while the effective management of waste is becoming progressively problematic for policy-makers and householders alike. Surveys of public opinion demonstrate a gap between concern for the environment and actions to protect it. However, there has been little consideration of public views of, and behaviour in relation to, the waste sector. An in-depth study of public actions and attitudes towards waste in Ireland was conducted in response to this paucity of information. The research revealed a complex landscape of attitude-action relationships influenced by factors ranging from personal characteristics to social and institutional contexts. Attention to this complexity by policy makers in Ireland will be essential if the management of household waste is to be improved.
Ireland and Japan ‐ the search for the tiger
Authors: Brillet Philippe M.
Published: January 2024

This paper tries to bridge the gap between the apparent oddity and the overnight popularity of the phrase 'Celtic Tiger'. It suggests out that the Tiger referred to is probably Japan, a country that shares with Ireland numerous features. Both are archipelagos, set between an ocean and an old civilisation - ten times more populated - that has long tried to subdue them. Each has also protected itself through a strong commitment to neutrality and, ultimately, an alliance with the US. Last, but not least, comes a recent prosperity, that contrasts sharply for both nations with their past. The Irish people are probably not aware of the magnitude of these similarities, yet one may venture that enough is known (and felt, even subconsciously) to explain the instant adoption of a flattering image that links the Republic to Japan.
Municipal solid waste management in Ireland: assessing for sustainability
Authors: Desmond Margaret
Published: January 2024

The generation of waste in Ireland has increased greatly since the raid 1990's in line with a period of extremely rapid economic growth. While waste management policy subscribes to a notion of sustainability, it is not altogether clear if it is being achieved in practice. To assess for sustainability international trends suggest that the setting of objectives and the measurement of progress towards them might be determined through the use of indicators. Accordingly the central thrust of this article is to assemble a small set of indicators and examine how they might be used in an Irish context to determine progress towards sustainable waste management.
Debate on 'Water movement in a structured soil in south-east of Ireland: preliminary evidence for preferential flow,' by Michael Ryan (1998) Irish Geography, 31(2), 124-137
Authors: Mulqueen J.
Published: January 2024

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Reviews of Books
Authors: Hourihan Kevin , Cherry Jonathan , Simms Anngret , Horner Arnold
Published: January 2024

RENEWING URBAN COMMUNITIES: ENVIRONMENT, CITIZENSHIP AND SUS‐TAINABILITY IN IRELAND, edited by Niamh Moore and Mark Scott. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005. xvi + 268pp. ISBN 0 7546 4083 3. £49.99stg.SOUTH TIPPERARY, 1570–1841: RELIGION, LAND AND RIVALRY, by David J. Butler. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2006. 336pp. ISBN 9 781851 828913. €55.00.MEDIEVAL DUBLIN: PROCEEDINGS OF THE FRIENDS OF MEDIEVAL DUBLIN SYMPOSIUM 2004, edited by Sean Duffy. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2005. 256pp. ISBN 1–85182–885‐Opbk. €24.95pbk.UNDERSTANDING EARTH PROCESSES, ROCKS AND THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF IRELAND: A companion to the 1:1,000,000 scale Bedrock Geological Map of Ireland, by Andrew Sleeman, Brian McConnell & Sarah Gately. Dublin: Geological Survey of Ireland, 2004. 120pp. ISBN 1 899702 50 4. €15.00.
A database of caves in Ireland
Authors: Drew David
Published: January 2024

Almost seven hundred caves are known to exist in the Republic of Ireland and they are a significant component of the physical and cultural environment. However, the value of caves is largely unappreciated except by those with specialist interests. A database has been compiled, available in a searchable on-line format, of all caves in the Republic. The database included not only locational and dimensional information but also attempts to 'value' individual caves in terms of, for example, their recreational, archaeological and ecological significance. Co. Clare has more caves and a greater total length of cave passage than the next three most important counties combined. No caves are known in five counties.
Transportation accessibility issues and the location of a national facility: the case of a new paediatric hospital to serve the Republic of Ireland
Authors: Murphy Enda , Killen James E.
Published: January 2024

This study considers the accessibility of three locations that were identified for consideration by the Health Services Executive for locating a new national children's hospital: The Mater, St. James's and Tallaght. Accessibility to each of these sites is considered first within the context of the Dublin region and then with respect to the area outside that region. For the Dublin region, a Dublin Transportation Office data set that gives travel times in the peak and off-peak periods is used along with small area population statistics derived from the 2002 census to identify: 1) the proportion of the total population, 2) the population aged 0 to 15 years and 3) of the female population aged 15 to 35 years that are nearest each of the three hospital sites. A similar analysis is conducted for the rest of the country using, where appropriate, published public transport schedules. The results suggest that in choosing a location for a single facility that is to serve the Dublin region only and where accessibility interpreted as minimisation of travel time is of over-riding importance, a city centre location is best. However, where the facility is to serve the national population and where the bulk of journeys to it will be by car, the results suggest that a strategic location to the west of the city will maximise accessibility.
From individuals to networks: unfolding complex poverty in rural Ireland
Authors: Shubin Sergei
Published: January 2024

The paper deals with the practices and experiences constraining the lives of rural people in Ireland. It examines the roles of different forms of associations between rural people in the production of poverty using the results of a research project carried out in the village of Ros Muc in Connemara. The paper argues that various links between rural actors define differentiated access to the network resources, which in turn affects poverty and marginalisation. By unfolding multiple connections which create rural problems the article reveals complex and changeable poverty. Starting from the analysis of social stratification systems and exclusionary trends, the paper later examines the locally contested dialectic of polarisation, moral marginalisation and cultural disengagement. The article takes on board the findings from this study to critically re-evaluate certain stereotypes of poverty and to articulate the need for broader understanding of disadvantage.
"Plus ga change " change and stasis in the age structure of Irish fertility, 1961- 2002: a spatio-temporal analysis
Authors: Wilson Murray G. A.
Published: January 2024

Since the 1960s Irish fertility has undergone dramatic change. While the broad outlines of both the nature and the origins of such change are, by now, well enough known and understood, little attention has been paid to the way in which changes in age specific fertility have been manifested regionally. This paper uses cluster analysis to group counties and county boroughs/cities according to their age-specific profiles of fertility at each full census year between 1961 and 2002 and then ANOVA to identify meaningful statistical relationships between cluster membership in each year and variables descriptive of the demographic and socio-economic context. By 1981 younger fertility profiles had spread from south eastern areas to almost all regions, but during the 1980s older fertility profiles became increasingly characteristic throughout western and northern districts. Despite the on-going, nation-wide ageing of fertility profiles since 1991, this basic regional distinction has remained largely intact. Prior to 1981 changing marriage patterns and family planning among older women seem to have underpinned profile change. Thereafter, however, profile change patterns seem to have socio-economic and perhaps cultural contextual origins.
Using GIS to map the evolution of the Gaeltacht
Authors: Bhrádaigh Emer Ni , McCarron Stephen , Walsh John , Duffy Patrick
Published: January 2024

This paper describes the results of using digital mapping techniques (Geographic Information Systems - GIS) to facilitate the translation of historical legislative documents into large-scale (townland level) maps of the Gaeltacht. The boundaries of the Gaeltacht, within the error limits of the digital spatial data, indicate the changing spatial extent of the Gaeltacht from its inception through phases of legislative reform throughout the 20th century. This spatial definition of the Gaeltacht has largely been the basis of protection for the Irish language since independence. Changes in the defining criteria and modification of areas comprising the Gaeltacht have resulted in a discontinuous modern Gaeltacht which lacks definition in any single legislative document. A digital version of the modem Gaeltacht boundary in a GIS readable format will allow its integration with other spatial datasets and gives the administrative region new clarity of definition. This paper does discuss the actual use of Irish in the Gaeltacht.
Review of Books
Authors: Margey Annaleigh , Hickey Kieran
Published: January 2024

MAPMAKING, LANDSCAPES AND MEMORY: A GEOGRAPHY OF COLONIAL AND EARLY MODERN IRELAND, C.1530 ‐ 1750, by W.J. Smyth. Cork: Cork University Press, 2006. 608pp. ISBN 1–85918–397–2. €69hbk.LIVING WITH NATURE'S EXTREMES: THE LIFE OF GILBERT FOWLER WHITE, by Robert E. Hinshaw. Boulder, Colorado, USA: 2006.339pp. ISBN 1 55566 388 5 $26.50pbk.
Colonial appropriation of Gaelic urban space: creating the first Ulster plantation town
Authors: Cherry Jonathan
Published: January 2024

Using a diverse range of source material this paper highlights the colonial appropriation of the existing Gaelic market town of Cavan, founded by the O'Reillys, in the establishment of the first Ulster plantation town. In contrast to what may be expected, a reading of the socio-economic, political and cultural landscape of the newly incorporated town of Cavan in the early years of the 17th century, highlights the dominant position and important civic role played by families of Gaelic origins in the governance of the town. Unlike other plantation towns Cavan town remained 'unplanned' in its morphological layout with the colonisers utilising and modifying the existing Gaelic urban fabric. The decision by English colonial powers to use the pre-existing urban settlement of Cavan town led to success for the colonial project on paper. Unlike other Ulster plantation towns, it also uniquely permitted the retention of a strong and distinct Gaelic presence and character which manifested itself in both the population and space of the town during the early decades of the 17th century.
The role of industry associations in stimulating economic development: a case study of the information and communication technologies sector in Cork
Authors: Power Carol , Brunt Barry
Published: January 2024

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector has contributed significantly to Ireland's recent economic success. While the sector remains disproportionately concentrated in the Dublin region, Cork has also benefited from the location of electronics manufacturing operations and, more recently, the emergence of an indigenous software sector. Drawing on interviews, archival research, and unpublished primary data, this article examines Cork's development as a centre for ICT investment since the 1980s. Particular attention is focused on the role of two local industry associations - the CEIA and it@cork - in facilitating the sector's expansion in Cork. By establishing critical links with semi-state organisations, these associations have contributed to the upgrading of Cork's physical infrastructure and the enhancement of social networks which, increasingly, are recognised as an important factor in regional competitiveness.
Reflections on the Harley-Woodward definition of 'maps'
Authors: Andrews John H.
Published: January 2024

no abstract available
Ptolemy's map of Ireland: a modern decoding
Authors: Darcy Robert , Flynn William
Published: January 2024

Claudius Ptolemy (roughly AD 90-168) presents us the oldest surviving account of Ireland in the form of a set of coordinates showing different geographical features or a ‘virtual map’. While Ptolemy’s map looks roughly like today’s Ireland there are a number of discrepancies. Likewise, while some locations are obvious, others are disputed or obscure. After reviewing earlier attempts at reconciling Ptolemy’s map with modern ones we adjust Ptolemy’s coordinates to modern references with two equations. We find Ptolemy’s map is consistent with some intimate Mediterranean knowledge of Ireland, its peoples, coastal features and principal places with their respective locations. We correct some of the modern locations attributed to Ptolemy, offer possible explanations for certain disputed or uncertain locations and offer some external validation to the prehistoric division of Ireland passed down from pre-Patrician sources.
Service delivery through partnerships in sparsely populated areas: evidence from France and Ireland
Authors: Cawley Mary , Nguyen Genevieve
Published: January 2024

Meeting the service needs of the less well-off and the elderly in areas of low density population remains a perennial problem. Increasingly, partnership between two or more of the state, the private and the voluntary sectors is viewed as a strategy for delivering welfare services, as part of new forms of local governance. Previous research points to the influence of established and new institutional and associated territorial structures on the formation and working of partnerships. This paper examines the role of partnerships in home-based welfare service delivery in France and Ireland; countries which share similarities, but also marked differences in their systems of local government and governance. The results reveal that both established and new territorial and institutional structures are influential in moulding approaches to service delivery through partnership. So too is the continuing role of the state, in contrast to some descriptions of the influence of neo-liberalism.
The changing landscape of Clara Bog: the history of an Irish raised bog
Authors: Crushell Patrick , Connolly Andrew , Schouten Matthijs , Mitchell Fraser J.G.
Published: January 2024

Clara Bog is one of the few raised bogs that has not been fully exploited in the Irish midlands and is a reminder of how the landscape of this region once appeared. This paper describes how the Clara Bog landscape has been changing since the commencement of the Holocene 11,500 years ago. Initially change was relatively slow as the bog naturally developed from its origins in an early Holocene lake, which became in-filled to form a fen circa 8000 years ago, before it continued to develop into an acid raised bog reaching its maximum extent by the beginning of the nineteenth century. Clara Bog has changed dramatically in the last 200 years due to human activity. Today less than 50% of its original bog surface remains. The changes in the bog during the historic past have been driven by population change, poverty, economic growth, construction of the Grand Canal, the building of roads, the need for fuel and farmland, nature conservation and tourism. The prehistoric development of the bog and land use in its hinterland was reconstructed from a detailed analysis of published archaeological records, palaeoecological studies and stratigraphical studies. Published maps and historical records have been vital in establishing a chronology for the changes that have occurred on Clara Bog since the beginning of the nineteenth century.
‘Settling back’? A biographical and life-course perspective on Ireland's recent return migration
Authors: Laoire Caitriona Ni
Published: January 2024

This paper uses a biographical and life-course perspective to explore some of the key narratives of return among return migrants to Ireland, focusing in particular on the themes of family, child-rearing, relationship breakdown and ‘settling down’. The ways in which return migrants use the concept of life-course transitions in order to make sense of and narrate their migration stories is explored. I argue that their narratives reflect a normative association of life stage with place, and that return migration reflects the ways in which key events in the individual life course transitions and family life cycles of 1980s emigrants have intersected with processes of economic and social transformation in Ireland. This occurs within the context of heteronormative and kinship-based ideals of Irish culture and of powerful myths of return. The data used in the paper is taken from the Narratives of Migration and Return research project, a north-south cross-border project which assembled an oral archive of 92 return migrant life narratives. In the paper, I draw on 33 of the interviews conducted in the south, which focused on the cohort of return migrants who had emigrated in the 1980s.
Nigerian migration to Ireland: movements, motivations and experiences
Authors: Komolafe Julius
Published: January 2024

This article focuses on the different Nigerian groups that have migrated to Ireland from the 1980s. Data from a series of interviews in Ireland and Nigeria are employed to identify distinct groups of Nigerian migrants to Ireland and their specific migration patterns. The article identifies two broad categories of Nigerian migrants to Ireland: those who have moved from other European countries, and those who have migrated directly from Nigeria. Within each of these categories, the article also identifies a number of sub-categories that are related to both macro- and micro-level factors and conditions. The paper argues that any study of African migration to Europe should focus on individual experiences rather than generalisations in order to capture the complexity of such migration movements.
Evaluating the success of pay-by-use (PBU) domestic waste charges in Ireland
Authors: O’Callaghan-Platt Abigail , Davies Anna R.
Published: January 2024

Irish waste collectors were advised by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government to adopt pay-by-use (PBU) domestic waste charges from 1 January 2005. The measure was taken to combat the rising volumes of waste produced nationally and to apply the ‘polluter pays’ principle to waste charging, in line with EU principles. The implementation of PBU domestic waste charges in Ireland and the impact of these charges nationally, in terms of waste to landfill, recycling and illegal waste diversion, were examined using a combination of postal surveys and telephone interviews with local authorities. The research revealed that PBU has had the desired effect of reducing waste to landfill. However, as currently applied in Ireland, PBU is not reaching its full potential. The use of a variety of PBU charging systems across the country, with one system used widely in Ireland considered internationally as the least effective PBU system available, and the absence of universal curbside recycling services, may have contributed to the relatively small decreases in waste to landfill on a nationwide level when compared to reductions reported internationally.
Geographies of informal care in Ireland, 2002
Authors: Foley Ronan
Published: January 2024

Given the increasing role that informal caregivers play in the Irish health, social and economic systems, this short empirical paper outlines and maps the spatial distribution of caregivers from the 2002 and 2006 Censuses to provide some preliminary insights into patterns of caregiving in Ireland. The primary tasks involved mapping the distribution of carers at small area-level in both 2002 and 2006 and noting specific changes in patterns from the 2006 data. Patterns of informal caring are discussed in relation to: (a) clusters and concentrations (as measured by location quotients), (b) specific distributions related to intensities of caring, (c) key changes noted between 2002 and 2006 and (d) some preliminary explorations of explanatory data. Associations were identified between high-intensity caring and age, social class, deprivation and working in the home. Finally, potential applied policy uses for data for informal caring are identified including needs assessment and as an evidence base for modelling spatial service equity.
Estimating catchment area population indicators using network analysis: an application to two small-scale forests in County Galway
Authors: Cullinan John , Hynes Stephen , O’Donoghue Cathal
Published: January 2024

This paper proposes an approach to estimating catchment area population indicators (CAPIs) using geographic information system (GIS)-based network analysis. Specifically, it considers how ‘GeoDirectory’, a geodatabase containing the spatial coordinates of every building in the Republic of Ireland, can be used in conjunction with estimated service areas to calculate the number of residential buildings within a catchment area. The count of residences within the catchment then acts as an indicator or proxy for its population and can be useful when the catchment area does not match closely any combination of geographical or administrative areas for which data exists. Two small-scale recreation forest sites in County Galway are considered by way of illustration: Barna Wood and Renville Forest Park. CAPIs are estimated for the two sites using distance-based service areas as well as isochrone surfaces, and comparisons are made to estimates based on measures of Euclidean distance. The analysis suggests that network-based service areas are useful for deriving catchment population indicators, that road density has a significant impact on catchment area size and that caution must be exercised with respect to travel speed assumptions when estimating isochrone surfaces.
Some nineteenth-century Irish litigation over commons and enclosures
Authors: Osborough W. N.
Published: January 2024

The investigations of the Irish municipal corporations commissioners in the 1830s furnish most of the readily accessible data on one key category of Irish common land - borough commons.1 Even so, any additional information to be gleaned is very welcome, and here we are in luck. Lawsuits exist, ones reasonably well reported, and these do indeed add something to our quantum of knowledge, if rather less than might have been hoped. Twenty years ago J.H. Andrews, relying on O’Higgins listings (O’Higgins 1986), drew attention to the dearth of legal commentary on Irish commons and enclosures, a criticism that was well deserved (Andrews 1987). Sadly, this state of affairs was to persist, so that what follows here is to be regarded as an attempt to go at least part of the way to remedy this neglect.
Territoriality on the Shankill–Falls divide: being wise after the event?
Authors: Boal Frederick W.
Published: January 2024

‘Remember, never go by Cupar Street’ (Ciaran Carson 1989). This invitation to revisit the paper that was published in Irish Geography in 1969 provides an opportunity to make a number of retrospective comments. We cannot change what has already taken place, including rewriting what is already in print, but we can add to that which is already in print and see things from the perspective of some 40 years later.
Towards a multi-purpose model for the proposed Mourne National Park
Authors: Bell Jonathan , Stockdale Aileen
Published: January 2024

The introduction of a national park in Northern Ireland has recently moved a step closer with the proposed designation of the Mourne Mountains. Nevertheless local stakeholders remain divided as to the need for a national park, and controversy continues as to the likely impacts of a Park for local landowners, users and communities. To date, not only has the Northern Ireland Assembly failed to respond to a Report to the Minister but the model of national park to be introduced has not been discussed. In the absence of any such details, landowners, in particular, still fear a restrictive model of national park. Through an evaluation of current challenges for the Mourne area, a review of different national park models, and findings from surveys and interviews conducted with local residents and stakeholders, this paper recommends a sustainable development model.
The CSO, the census and the needs of carers
Authors: Houghton Frank
Published: January 2024

The recent article by Foley (2008) on the geographies of informal care represents a welcome addition to the relatively small body of academic studies on the geography of health and social care in Ireland. Foley quite rightly outlines the potential utility of small area analysis to aid service planning and delivery. This is especially important given the particular needs and issues of carers, such as respite, financial strain and measures to combat isolation (O’Connor 1988, O’Connor & Ruddle 1988, Blackwell et al. 1992, Evason & Whittington 1996, Joint Committee on Women’s Rights 1996, O’Neill & Evans 1999, O’Shea 2000, Garavan et al. 2001, Lane et al. 2003).
Geographies of the Celtic Tiger
Authors: Kirby Peadar , Carmody Padraig
Published: January 2024

This special issue on the Geographies of the Celtic Tiger is more timely than we imagined it would be when first being planned. Its publication coincides with the Republic of Ireland entering its worst recession for at least a quarter of a century; a recession that owes as much to domestic policy failures as it does to the wider international context of bad debt and constrained credit. This special issue then is being published at a time that calls for a searching re-examination of the policies and underlying paradigm that for two decades were seen to facilitate an historically unique period of economic and social development in the Republic of Ireland. We are confident that the papers that passed critical review for inclusion in this special issue each have an original contribution to make, based on primary research, to reconsidering key areas of public policy and of the broader paradigm that informed the successes of recent decades.
The spatiality of Irish manufacturing linkages in the ‘Celtic Tiger’ era
Authors: Brennan Nicola , Breathnach Proinnsias
Published: January 2024

Manufacturing investment from abroad has been of immense importance to Ireland’s economic development in recent decades. In particular, high levels of foreign investment in manufacturing were the main contributor to the unprecedented economic growth rates from the early 1990s which led to Ireland’s economy being compared with the Asian ‘Tigers’. Clearly it is desirable from a national economic point of view that the current base of foreign manufacturing firms should remain as embedded as possible. In this respect, the low level of local linkages developed by foreign firms has been a constant concern for policymakers. A number of studies have been conducted on the nature of linkages developed within the Irish economy by foreign-owned manufacturing plants in terms of the nature of these linkages and their potential for further development. However, there has been little research on the spatial patterns of external linkages of the plants in question. Based on a survey of 91 firms in four key manufacturing sectors, this paper examines the spatial configuration of the material input linkages of Irish manufacturing industry. The findings show that major sectoral variations exist in the spatiality of the linkage structures of Irish manufacturing industry. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possible implications of these variations for the future stability and embeddedness of manufacturing firms in the Irish economy.
The Irish pharmaceutical industry over the boom period and beyond
Authors: Egeraat Chris van , Barry Frank
Published: January 2024

The pharmaceutical industry was one of the strongest performing sectors of the Celtic Tiger era. During the past two decades, employment growth in the sector has been strong and continuous, even when, in recent years, employment in other manufacturing sectors has been contracting. Although positive in itself, from a dynamic regional development perspective it is important to explore the qualitative changes in the types of activities that are conducted in Ireland. Adopting a global production network approach, the paper examines Ireland’s changing role in global production networks within the pharmaceutical industry, focusing on the different components of manufacturing and research and development (R&D). The analysis shows that Ireland’s involvement in manufacturing has shifted in the direction of relatively higher value generating activities. Within R&D, although the level of value creation has increased substantially, Ireland’s involvement nonetheless remains concentrated in the (relatively) lower value generating activities of the global R&D network. In addition, the sector remains strongly dominated by foreign companies so that a large share of the created value is not captured within Ireland.