A scene from Glenomera 1828
Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 4:06 pm
Rachel Hewitt, in her book, ‘Map of a Nation – a biography of the Ordnance Survey’ (Granta, 2010), devotes two chapters (pp. 235-288) to the making of the Ordnance Survey 1842 map of Ireland, which began in 1824. She mentions some of the problems encountered by the officers, including hostility from the people (pp. 252 – 3):
“Both the Interior and the Trigonometrical Surveyors were faced with hostility from local residents as they made their way across Ireland. Dressed in military uniform, the men were unmistakable emblems of British occupation…But not all surveyors’ stories were full of woe. When they were not living out of tents, they brought welcome trade to inns and hostels. And in 1828 the Dublin Evening Post drew a charming picture of the collaboration between the Ordnance Survey and the local populace. The journalist described how the residents of Glenomera, in County Clare, helped the Ordnance Surveyors to build a trig station. Perhaps they were motivated by simple curiosity in the endeavour, or by good relations with some of the individual map-makers that they met while the latter were staying in local accommodation, or even by the hope that a cartographical image of Ireland might bolster national identity. Either way, a large crowd ascended the mountain, borne up by music from flutes, pipes and violins, and accompanied by young women carrying laurel leaves. However, even this contained a subversive element. The Glenomera residents insisted on naming the trig station, ‘O’Connell’s Tower’, after ‘The Liberator’ Daniel O’Connell, the Irish political leader who campaigned for the repeal of the Act of Union and for Catholic Emancipation, the right of Catholics to become Members of Parliament.”
I think “Glenomera” here may be Cragnamurragh, which is in the townland of Killeagy Ryan in the parish of Killokennedy. Cragnamurragh is in the Slieve Bernagh mountain range - there’s a trig station at the summit. Gragnamurragh was probably part of the Glenomera estate, owned by the Arthur family. Google “Cragnamurragh 526m mountain”, or copy and paste https://mountainviews.ie/summit/401/ into your browser and scroll down for a picture of the trig station – it's not a tower - more a small pillar.
http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V2,562836,674994,8,7
http://thearthurfamilyoflimerickandclar ... omera.html
Sheila
“Both the Interior and the Trigonometrical Surveyors were faced with hostility from local residents as they made their way across Ireland. Dressed in military uniform, the men were unmistakable emblems of British occupation…But not all surveyors’ stories were full of woe. When they were not living out of tents, they brought welcome trade to inns and hostels. And in 1828 the Dublin Evening Post drew a charming picture of the collaboration between the Ordnance Survey and the local populace. The journalist described how the residents of Glenomera, in County Clare, helped the Ordnance Surveyors to build a trig station. Perhaps they were motivated by simple curiosity in the endeavour, or by good relations with some of the individual map-makers that they met while the latter were staying in local accommodation, or even by the hope that a cartographical image of Ireland might bolster national identity. Either way, a large crowd ascended the mountain, borne up by music from flutes, pipes and violins, and accompanied by young women carrying laurel leaves. However, even this contained a subversive element. The Glenomera residents insisted on naming the trig station, ‘O’Connell’s Tower’, after ‘The Liberator’ Daniel O’Connell, the Irish political leader who campaigned for the repeal of the Act of Union and for Catholic Emancipation, the right of Catholics to become Members of Parliament.”
I think “Glenomera” here may be Cragnamurragh, which is in the townland of Killeagy Ryan in the parish of Killokennedy. Cragnamurragh is in the Slieve Bernagh mountain range - there’s a trig station at the summit. Gragnamurragh was probably part of the Glenomera estate, owned by the Arthur family. Google “Cragnamurragh 526m mountain”, or copy and paste https://mountainviews.ie/summit/401/ into your browser and scroll down for a picture of the trig station – it's not a tower - more a small pillar.
http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V2,562836,674994,8,7
http://thearthurfamilyoflimerickandclar ... omera.html
Sheila