Compilation: Maps of Ireland in Irish

For as long as anyone can remember, Irish culture has sustained the tradition of dinnseanchas – ancient lore about the origins of Ireland’s many traditional place-names. Gaeilge, the Irish language, is is one of Europe’s oldest languages, and is rooted in the land in ways that many other European languages are not. And yet, for centuries, colonial forces have continually tried to uproot Irish culture and Irish language. In the year 1800, the Act of Union brought the administration of Éire under British control. In typical colonial fashion, the new rulers’ first act was to map the land – a process known as the Ordnance Survey in Éire. The Ordnance Survey created ‘standardized’ English names for the island’s many features – townlands, rivers, hills – weakening and erasing local place-name traditions such as dinnseanchas.

Since that time, English has continued to replace Gaeilge not just in maps, but in all…