UNCOVER THE STORY OF YOUR LOCAL AREA WITH ORDNANCE SURVEY IRELAND
Could your hometown have Ireland’s Favourite Placename
To mark GIS Day 2018 (which is today 14th November), Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi), Ireland’s National Mapping Agency, is today launching a nationwide competition to find the most interesting and unusual origin stories behind Ireland’s placenames. The public are invited to share the story of their hometown’s name with the OSi to be in with a chance of winning some great prizes and to have their local area awarded the accolade of Ireland’s Favourite Placename.
Commenting on the launch of the new competition, Patrick Kenny, Communications & Marketing Manager, OSi said;
“As the national mapping agency, it is our responsibility to provide the tools by which we understand our environment and navigate it. Placenames have always played an important role in how we navigate our physical environment but their origin and evolution tell a story that helps us understand it.
The history of placenames in OSi began in November 1824 when the first survey of Ireland commenced. There are over 51,000 townlands in the Republic of Ireland named on the earliest maps of Ireland. In the 19th Century the anglicising of Irish placenames began and resulted in some of the most unusual names we now see.
Patrick Kenny continued;
“Have you ever wondered where the name of your town originated and what untold secrets their historical names might hold? The OSi have a long history of recording the names of Ireland’s townlands but now we want your help to understand how these names came to be.”
How to get involved:
To enter the competition simply take a picture of your chosen placename as it appears on a map or road sign and tell us the deeper meaning or story behind it.
Entries can be submitted on our Facebook page facebook.com/OrdnanceSurveyIreland or by posting to our Instagram@ordnancesurveyireland_official with the #OSiUncovered.
See each site for further entry guidelines. See our Terms & Conditions for this competition.
The Top 10 entries will be placed into a random draw with 3 lucky winners receiving the new fitbit charge 3.
The closing date for entries is the 23rd November 2018.
About OSi
Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) is Ireland’s National Mapping Agency providing quality mapping and spatial information Services to meet society’s needs. We are a progressive, modern and hi-tech organisation that is constantly striving to improve our services to our customers.
The work of OSi is essential to the infrastructural development of Ireland. There is a growing recognition among decision makers that knowledge and understanding of location is a key component in effective decision making.
GIS Day provides an international forum for users of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in our society.The first formal GIS Day took place in 1999. Esri president and co-founder Jack Dangermond credits Ralph Nader with being the person who inspired the creation of GIS Day. He considered GIS Day a good initiative for people to learn about geography and the uses of GIS. He wanted GIS Day to be a grassroots effort and open to everyone to participate.
When hiking or climbing in isolated areas, make sure to purchase an OSi Discovery Map.
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