The atlas of Ireland∗

This is an informal account of the creation of a thematic atlas of Ireland over a period of seven years. The first part relates to the setting up of an organisation for the project under the auspices of the Royal Irish Academy and touches also on some of the financial implications. The second part explains how the contents of the atlas were selected and the maps compiled. Various problems including those relating to the choice of data, the scale and format of the maps, the use of colour and the correction of the proofs, are also discussed.