History of OpenStreetMap in Ireland

Last week I was invited to give a workshop at the Second Irish OSGeo Conference in Portlaoise. The event was a great success with a attendees from across the OSGeo space, from academics to startups.

I also volunteered to give a talk on OpenStreetMap (OSM) in Ireland. Since we are currently in the process of setting up an official chapter of OSM in Ireland. Check out OpenStreetmaMap.ie if you want to help.

Check out my full talk: here

But some of the visuals are more interesting than the talk as a whole.

To start out, the first edits in Ireland.

The first line:

Located in Banbridge, in Northern Ireland between Newry and Belfast:

First polygon:

Clearly St. Stephens Green, a great park in Dublin:

Then a look at the full history of roads in Ireland on OpenStreetMap:

 

A large part of the history of OpenStreetMap in Ireland is the townlands project. Townlands in Ireland are small divisions of land, often used in addressing for example. Your address could be: Mr. O’Brien, Blue house, Tawny (the townland), Donegal. The postman knows where you are.

There are over 61,000 townlands in Ireland. Traced manually from 650+ out of copyright OSi maps from Trinity College. Check out Townlands.ie for more info.

The project ran from 2012 to 2017 and the progress is clear when charting the history of boundaries in OpenStreetMap in Ireland:

 

And since the conference was held in Portlaoise, here is how it looks over time in OSM:

 

For the script to generate these histories see: Creating OpenStreetMap History Visualisations

#Ireland 2023

Ireland is bidding for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

They have submitted 12 stadiums in their bid. They cover all four provinces and the breadth of the island.

Ranging from Europe’s third biggest stadium Croke Park in Dublin. Welcoming 1.5 million fans every year. Packing in 82,300 dedicated fans every year for the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) Hurling and Gaelic Football finals. An integral part of Ireland’s history through sweat, blood, and identity.

The Aviva Stadium in Dublin, the worlds oldest international rugby stadium. Venue for the 2011 Europa League Final between Portuguese sides Porto and Braga.

Ravenhill Stadium in Belfast. Home of Ulster Rugby and in 1991 venue for Japan’s first match victory in a Rugby World Cup.

Thomond Park in Limerick. Heart of the community and host to a 12 year unbeaten run for Munster rugby. Winner of the ‘Best Rugby Stadium in the World’ vote in 2013.

Ireland 2023 Stadiums