2014
Paper, ink
420 x 297 mm
WORD MAP maps the route taken through a landscape using the literal translation of Irish placenames to mark the townlands which are encountered. These descriptions of place make the route easier to remember and recount. Not only are they a reminder of local history, they are a key to understanding the environment we inhabit, the context in which we are building. In some cases they give large features human scale, other times, generating a sense of place.
Placenames, as Gaeilge, and their literal English translations stir our imagination. Poetic in nature, they engage with us, they conjure up images and they sustain memories.