Atlas & Book Reviews: Atlas of Ireland

Summary

The Atlas of Ireland, compiled at Trinity College, University of Dublin, under the direction of the Irish National Committee for Geography, was published by the Royal Irish Academy in 1979. Featuring a principal scale of 1:1,250,000 and 250 maps, the atlas comprehensively covers Ireland's physical environment and cultural geography. Despite the island's political partition, it successfully presents a unified geographical perspective. The cultural geography section is particularly notable, including thematic maps on the historical percentage of Irish speakers, prehistoric and early Christian sites, field boundary compositions, and folk traditions, offering valuable insights for North American scholars. With its clean design, distinct colors, and metric measurements, the atlas stands as a sound scholarly reference work for the English-speaking academic community.