Deep Maps Cork

The official page for University College Cork's 'Deep Maps - West Cork Coastal Cultures' project. Deep Maps is funded by IRC 'New Horizons' Grant

Welcome to 'Deep Maps : West Cork Coastal Cultures' project page. We are an IRC funded initiative under the 'New Horizon' Grant scheme based at University College Cork. From the mid-eighteenth century onwards, there exists a rich record of cultural engagements with places along the Atlantic littoral: responses in different cultural media by individuals drawn to the unique cultural and biological a

spects of a unique maritime environment. The romantic period in particular sees a diverse range of such literary texts in the form of translations, original poems, tales and novels; as well as a significant body of sketches and paintings of sea and land. The enormous impact of the Great Famine on this coastline drew further attention to the area from writers, journalists, artists and illustrators. Later in nineteenth century, an important photographic record emerges, now preserved within the National Photographic Archive. Such texts capture information related to reefs, sea cliffs and vegetation; as well as representing such practices as farming, fishing and seal-hunting; and depicting historical processes including land use, work, family life and migration. Writers, folklorists and painters who were drawn to Ireland’s south-west coast in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries encountered its particularities at a time before our modern division of the disciplines. In joining the research skills of a cultural historian with those of a marine biologist, the project promises to reconnect aspects of this maritime environment that are often disconnected in modern debates. In doing so, it responds to needs emerging from both humanities and science research: in the case of the former, the environmental humanities have posed urgent new questions about the scope and scale of human interactions with the environment as represented in literary and other texts; while in the case of marine biology, scientists are increasingly aware of the need to deepen and enrich their apprehension of marine environments via a more nuanced sense of the histories and cultures of these storied places. The project investigates the biological, cultural and historical context of the south west coast of Ireland from 1700 to 1920. The focus is on the rich maritime environment that is found along the arc of Cork’s Roaring Water Bay, from Clonakilty to the tip of the Beara peninsula, as it is shaped by sea and land and as it is imagined within 18th -19th century cultural texts. The period to be researched begins with the emergence of wide-ranging antiquarian inquiries and poetic responses to the Cork coast and ends with the start of serious biological field research in this area. By advancing a transdisciplinary understanding of this coastline, the project forms a link between its cultural history, scientific research and environmental priorities while communicating a sense of cultural identity and fostering ownership of maritime heritage. As community is at the heart of this project we would welcome your comments, feedback and information about everything West Cork's coast has to offer. The Deep Maps Team!

Photos from Marine Science at Lough Hyne's post

27/05/2021

07/01/2019

During the course of the Deep Maps project Ireland experienced several major storms including (October 2016) and (February/March 2018). A range of storm events have been recorded in Ireland, but perhaps the best known is that of 6 January 1839, known to Irish people as the Night of the Big Wind or 'Oíche na Gaoíthe Móire'. The Cork Constitution reported kn the effects in 1839 stating "In the neighborhoods (sic) of Bandon, Skibbereen, Clonakilty, Bantry, &c., the storm raged with great violence, and houses are unroofed, and plantations ruined, and hay and corn blown about in every direction.". For more on this great weather event visit the link below.

http://www.deepmapscork.ie/past-to-present/climate/night-big-wind-oiche-na-gaoithe-moire/

📷Image from Leather Hardback Sketchbook with the Title ‘Glengarriff’ (Image Credit: UCC BL/EP/B/3304, l)

03/01/2019

Pollution is not a new phenomenon. Ever since humans have inhabited the earth we have been responsible for contaminating our environment, whether air, land or water. As part of our project, we investigated the changing perspectives and understandings of pollution from the 18th century to near recent times. To learn more about these historical perspectives on pollution visit the link in our bio!

📸Image Credit: Tomasz Mikolajczyk

27/12/2018

Brushing off the cobwebs with a beach walk at Christmas and was saddened to see so much plastic washed up on this cove. Pollution, and in particular plastic pollution, was one of the most readily identified issues facing the coastal environment according to surveys conducted as part of our research project. To learn more about these surveys and the other key environmental priorities identified along the West Cork coastline, visit our website:

http://www.deepmapscork.ie/community-perspectives/pollution-community-perspectives/

07/12/2018

"…a large body of water suddenly poured into the harbour … the successive risings and fallings of the water continued about 10 minutes… By different accounts received here the water was affected in the same manner along the coast, to the westwards of this harbour." To learn more about the impact of the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 on the West Cork coastline, visit our Deep Maps website.

http://www.deepmapscork.ie/past-to-present/climate/1755-lisbon-earthquake-tsunami-west-cork-coast/

(Image Credit: The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford, BEDFM 1974.27.1570)

30/11/2018

"For several weeks past a most alarming typhus fever has been raging in Ireland; scarcely any part of the country being free from it. This wide and rapid extension of the disease has been effected by hordes of beggars traversing the island in every direction; who, pressed by famine, rush into every house the aspect of which affords the hope of relief, and the same breath that thanks the owner for his charity, blasts the hand that bestows it, and spreads desolation through his family." - The Scots Magazine (1817) addressing the impact of The Year Without Summer that followed the 1816 eruption at Mount Tambora. To learn more, visit our Deep Maps website:

http://www.deepmapscork.ie/past-to-present/climate/1816-year-without-summer/

📸Francis Danby, Sunset at Sea after a Storm (Image Credit: Google Art Project)

28/11/2018

Not quite 'The December Storm', but video of Tragumna West Cork this morning have got us thinking about l’Expédition d’Irlande! The major historical legacy of that winter storm of December 1796 that scuppered the attempts at a French landing on the West Cork coast in support of the United Irishmen. Learn more on our Deep Maps website!

http://www.deepmapscork.ie/past-to-present/climate/storm-december-1796/

Image: End of the Irish Invasion; – or – The Destruction of the French Armada (1797) by James Gillray (Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

27/11/2018

Deep Maps Cork paid a visit to the exhibition in University College Cork Boole Library today! A beautifully laid out collection with lots of creative, interactive components. This exhibition runs until December 21st so be sure to drop by to learn about Ireland's first female botanist!! One of our research assistants even makes a guest appearance 😊

17/08/2018

Preparation for our exhibition involved ongoing research in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science. A number of visits were conducted to their natural history museum and teaching collection, ( much to the delight of our researchers!) and an opportunity to explore the Lough Hyne Photographic Archive that was meticulously organised by Terri Kearney for her own publications. A number of objects from both collections were included in our exhibition.

16/08/2018

For this week's we will take a look back at our Deep Maps exhibition which featured in the broader 'Now Wakes the Sea' exhibit in 2017. The Deep Maps section, along with this virtual was curated by of the . If you miss our story, all is not lost. We will be archiving it in our highlights and our feed which will contain additional points of interest 😊 .

This exhibition would not have been possible without contributions from the following:
, School of Geography (UCC), School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (UCC), INFOMAR, Boole Library Special Collections (UCC), National Library of Ireland, Irish Research Council and the Office of the Vice President for Teaching and Learning, UCC.

15/08/2018

One of our favourite events from the Ellen Hutchins festival last year was the seaweed identification class held on Whiddy Island. Not only did we learn about the different types of seaweeds around Bantry Bay and West Cork, but we also learned about the life and times of Ellen Hutchins and the difficulties she faced in collating her reference collections. In fact, we even got hands on experience of how they did it in the 1800s! This event will take place again in the 26th of August as part of heritage week and is not to be missed.

Don't forget to join us over on our instagram account for heritage week as we explore some of our past Heritage Week events on our and 😊

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