A collection of historic ordnance survey maps will be made available to the public in libraries across the State, following today's the launch of the service by the Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI).
The collection consists of 6" mapping, historically acclaimed for its accuracy despite dating back to 1842. The maps contain every road, railtrack and hedge in the country at the time.
The maps date back to before the famine when the population of the island was double that of modern day Ireland and many place names were different.
OSI is releasing the collection in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Public Library Service.
Speaking at the launch of the collection Minister for the Environment Dick Roche described the collection as holding an "absorbing interest to Irish people at home and abroad".
"The service we are launching today will provide access to unique information and content on our rich Irish heritage", Mr Roche said. "I hope that this content will also help inform our new multicultural and multilingual society of the history that underpins today's Ireland."
Among other collections to be released later this year by the OSI, is a 25" series. It will be indexed by parish and was completed in 1913.
The public will be able to access the maps on public PCs in local libraries.
