Forthcoming Cork Atlas

Image: John Speed, ‘Corcke’ in The theatre of the empire of Great Britaine …  (London, 1611 [1612]), inset to map following p. 139; TCD, MS 1209, no. 38.

This new historical atlas of Cork will explore the city from its origins to the present day. The emergence of Cork from a monastic settlement on a marshland site through to the thriving city we know today is explained in a thoroughly researched text, illustrated with newly created thematic maps, early views and photographs. Historic maps are reproduced on large-format pages showing how the topography transformed through time. A gazetteer of over 13,000 sites and accompanying essay gives the detailed topographical history of the city up to c. 1900.

Image: National Archives of Ireland, OS town plan, Cork city, sheet 15, 1842 (OS 140).

The Irish Historic Towns Atlas is a long-term research project of the Royal Irish Academy. Since publication began in 1986, thirty atlases of Irish towns and cities, north and south, have been published. The atlases are produced following basic principles making it possible to compare and contrast places with one another. Cork will join the cities of Dublin, Belfast, Galway and Limerick; and regional towns of Bandon and Youghal already covered in the Irish series; as well as over 580 European towns and cities produced as part of a wider International scheme. See IHTA publications for more information.

The Irish Historic Towns Atlas of Cork is published by the Royal Irish Academy in association with Cork City Council. Maps are produced in association with Ordnance Survey Ireland.

Preview video

For Heritage Week, a video was produced ahead of the digital and printed atlas of Cork. The video was supported by the Heritage Council Stewardship Fund, in partnership with Cork City Council and produced by Frameworks Films. 

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Digital Atlas of Cork/Corcaigh

A Digital Atlas of Cork/Corcaigh was released in December 2023 that contains 6,245 historic sites on layers of maps in a Geographical Information System (GIS). It is free to search and available here.

Read more about the launch and the Digital Atlas here. 

About the authors

Howard Clarke, MRIA is Professor Emeritus of the School of History at University College Dublin. A member of the International Commission for the History of Towns, he has been actively involved with the Irish Historic Towns Atlas for many years as part of the editorial board and contributor to many of the project’s publications, most notably as author of Dublin, part 1, to 1610 (IHTA, no. 11, 2002).

Máire Ní Laoi is a retired secondary school teacher who specialised in Irish and French. She grew up in Cork and has had a long family association with the city. She is a graduate of UCC and carried out much of the initial research for the Irish Historic Towns Atlas of Cork.

Events 

Howard B. Clarke delivered a lecture on the atlas to the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society on Wednesday 8 March 2023 at 20.00. The lecture was in person and online. See more information here. 

Publicity 

Read the Michael Moynihan interview with Sarah Gearty about the Cork atlas in the Irish Examiner 26 Jan. 2023 here.

Publication details

Irish Historic Towns Atlas, no. 31, Cork/Corkaigh

Authors: Howard Clarke and Máire Ní Laoi

Print date: Summer 2024

Publisher: Royal Irish Academy, ria.ie

ISBN: 978-1-80205-002-8

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