Online Historic Atlases-Dr Mary Kelly Talk

Dr Mary Kelly from the National Centre for Geocomputation (NCG) at NUI Maynooth recently spoke to third year geography students in St Patrick's College, about the online historic atlases for Irish Population Change 1841-2002 and the Irish Famine Data Atlas, as part of their module in Historical Geography. These resources were launched earlier this year by the NCG. Using data from 16 censuses of population (1841-2002) conducted in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, Dr Kelly and the team of researchers at NCG have created a database and connected interactive maps for each of the 3,432 electoral divisions on the island.  

During her lecture to the students and some staff, Dr Kelly demonstrated the usefulness of these resources for charting population change over the period 1841 and 2002 and in highlighting local variations in population growth or decline during the period of the Great Famine. One of the other key aspects of the Irish Famine Data Atlas is the inclusion of data relating to agriculture, population density on cropped land and housing during the period 1841- 1851, providing context to the nature and condition of both landscape and society in Ireland at this time. The production of these interactive maps and databases has provided teachers of geography, history and local studies and researchers with a unique learning and enquiry-based resource that was hitherto difficult to access.

Further information on the project and access to the database and interactive maps

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: Friday November 18 2011