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Cork University Press unveils The Coastal Atlas of Ireland

13 Sep 2021

The latest in the award-winning Atlas series at University College Cork (UCC) has just been published. The Coastal Atlas of Ireland is a celebration of Ireland’s coastal and marine spaces and examines the shaping of the coastline of Ireland as a whole, from both the physical and human environmental perspectives.

Ireland has a spectacular coast and, with some million square kilometres of resources-rich marine territory, The Coastal Atlas of Ireland, draws on written contributions from over 140 authors from across the island of Ireland and beyond. Published by Cork University Press, the Atlas takes an explicitly all-island approach and is visually stunning with wonderful cartography.

It is organised into six sections, comprising a total of 33 chapters, with 950 pages that take the reader from the distant geological past, by way of the prehistoric era and a focus on the island’s physical environments, through time and the human colonisation of Ireland, to the complex cultural and economic landscapes of the near past through to the present day. It concludes with an assessment of the importance of coastal and marine environments in understanding the island’s development, appreciating the present, and contemplating future opportunities and challenges.

Edited by Robert Devoy, Val Cummins, Barry Brunt, Darius Bartlett & Sarah Kandrot, the atlas presents views of the island’s coastal future: where will the coast and its people be in 2200, or even next year, and what will its different landscapes look like.

Commenting Professor John O’Halloran, President of UCC stated “The Coastal Atlas of Ireland is a stunning and accessible celebration of Ireland’s beautiful coast. The Atlas series at UCC is a brilliant example in the translation of university research to inspire interest and engagement with learning. The contribution of these series to a greater understanding of our geography and history is only now being understood.”

Mike Collins, Publications Director at Cork University Press stated “some 50-60% of Ireland’s population is intimately linked to living in the coastal zone, and the Atlas will provide readers with a fascinating and comprehensive excursion through time and space along Ireland’s coastline.”

The Coastal Atlas of Ireland forms the fifth, and the latest, in the now nationally and internationally acclaimed series of Atlases published by Cork University Press. The Atlas of the Great Irish Famine was developed by RTÉ into a major two-part documentary, while the highly successful Atlas of the Irish Revolution topped the Irish non-fiction best-seller list and was developed by RTÉ into the documentary The Irish Revolution.