Geographical Society of Ireland
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Welcome to the Geographical Society of Ireland

​The Geographical Society of Ireland (GSI), the professional representative organisation of geographers in Ireland, was founded in 1934. Over eighty years later, the GSI continues to raise awareness of the value and impact of Geography in Ireland and beyond, through a diverse range of activities and collaborations. 

​Society members are actively engaged in enhancing the international profile of Irish geography through their engagement with the International Geographical Union (IGU), RGS-IBG, Association of American Geographers (AAG) and other international groupings. 

Read more about society organisation and activities

EUGEO CONGRESS 2021
Conference Update and Extended Submission Deadline

​Due to unpredictable situation around the coronavirus pandemic, the 8th EUGEO Congress will be organized as a fully hybrid event, which means that participants will be allowed to choose between physical and online participation. Participants are asked to indicate their preference directly in the abstract submission form. The deadline for submission of individual paper proposals has also been extended until 15th February. For more details and up to date information, please follow the congress website www.eugeo2021.eu

GSI Awards Ceremony: Doctoral Research Award, Postgraduate Fieldtrip / Travel Awards, and Lifetime Achievement Awards 2020

GSI Annual Awards Ceremony took place online on December 16th. The GSI Doctoral Research Award 2020 went to Dr Shane Conway from NUI Galway for his research 'Exploring the Human Dynamics Affecting the Intergenerational Family Farm Transfer Process in Later Life: A Roadmap for Future Policy'. The awards took place at an online event on December 16th. Runner up candidates included Dr Dean Phelan from Maynooth University for his work 'Making Hui: The Minoritisation, Performance and Place of Islam in Contemporary Beijing' and Dr Jack McCarthy from UCD for his work 'Desire, Anticipation, and Assemblage: an Analysis of Collaborative Agri-environmental Governance on Collectively owned Farmland in Ireland'. The GSI would like to thank the members of the judging panel which included Mary Bourke (TCD), Denis Linehan (UCC) and Ronan Foley (Maynooth University).

At the same event, the GSI fieldwork/travel bursaries were awarded to Benjamin Kwao (TCD) for his project ‘Interrogating the Poverty Reduction Impact of Gold Mining at the Community Level in Ghana’ and to Pia Laue (TCD) for her research project ‘Attenuating floods with Natural Water Retention Measures (NWRM) for Agricultural Catchments in Ireland’.

The bursaries will contribute to the additional costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic for Benjamin’s fieldwork in Ghana and to assist Pia’s fieldwork in Wexford and Cork where research demonstration sites and water sensors are located.
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The winner of the GSI Lifetime Contribution Award for 2020 was Professor Joe Brady (UCD). An awards ceremony is planned for 2021

Geographical Society of Ireland Webinar
Haven: The Mediterranean Crisis and Human Security
Professor John Morrissey

The Geographical Society of Ireland is delighted to announce a new lunchtime webinar series for the 2020 – 2021 academic year. The first webinar will be delivered by Professor John Morrissey (School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, National University of Ireland Galway). Drawing critically on the UN concept of ‘human security’, Professor Morrissey will reflect on how his recent edited collection offers a transformative understanding of security in responding to the Mediterranean refugee crisis. From a range of arts, humanities and social science disciplines, and through case studies incorporating key governmental, NGO and refugee perspectives, the book critiques the major geopolitical, economic and social issues of the crisis. It documents the prioritisation of population management techniques that are underpinned by conventional territorial logics of security, before reflecting on the alternative priorities of human security that can facilitate an active human rights framework and a more holistic and humanitarian interventionism. In advancing a human security approach to the crisis, the book insists upon our interconnected global sense of precarity, interrogates the human consequences of the endless cycles of conflict and displacement, and challenges the impoverished thinking of statist security agendas that divide the world into zones of sanctuary and abandonment. Of broad appeal and relevance across the social sciences, from geography and migration studies to international relations and critical security studies, this book is a timely read for people working for NGOs and policy makers looking for a more holistic response to the ongoing refugee crisis.

This event will include an opening introduction to the volume from Professor Morrissey, followed by Q&A and discussion from ‘the floor' 

Date:    November 25th 2020
Time:   13:00 – 14:00 
Venue: Via Zoom (click here)

The Society aims to have a further online event in December show-casing entries for the GSI Doctoral Award (details below), with further online events planned for the first half of 2021.​

Geographical Society of Ireland (GSI) Doctoral Research Award &
Postgraduate Fieldtrip / Travel Awards 2020

The Geographical Society of Ireland is pleased to re-launch (delayed due to COVID-19) the call for its annual prize for its Annual Doctoral Research Award, a presentation based upon a recent PhD thesis in Geography. The competition is open to any graduate of a Higher Education Institute on the island of Ireland who has successfully defended their PhD degree since January 1st, 2016. The graduate must also be a current member of the GSI. Papers will be short-listed for presentation at a Webinar in December 2020 (presentation of approx. 10 minutes, plus 5 minutes Q&A). The plenary session will be adjudicated by a panel of senior academics. The prize includes an award of €250. Completed application forms should be submitted online by 5pm on Monday November 23rd 2020. 

Applications are invited for Geographical Society of Ireland Postgraduate Travel Awards to a maximum value of €250 per person/awardee. These bursaries are intended to offer financial support to postgraduate members of the GSI who wish to present papers or participate in workshops at national or international conferences. Due to COVID restrictions, this award may now also cover an award to attend a virtual conference. Awards are also available to postgraduate researchers requiring assistance to undertake fieldwork. Preference will be given to applications in support of dissemination activities. Applicants must be a current member of the GSI. Completed application forms should be submitted online by 5pm on Monday November 23rd 2020. Successful applicants will be expected to acknowledge the support of the GSI in their research and at the relevant conference. A brief overview of how the award was utilised should be submitted to the Society after the event.  
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If you have any queries about either of the awards detailed above please contact Dr. Karen Keaveney at secretary@geographicalsocietyireland.ie

GeoWeek 2020 Theme 'Celebrating Geography' Announced 

2020 has been a year of unprecedented challenge. Geographers have played a key role in addressing and responding to this year’s multiple challenges from the global pandemic, to racism and the Black Lives Matter campaign, to the ongoing climate crisis. To raise awareness of the importance of geographical knowledge, the theme of this year’s GeoWeek is Celebrating Geography. For more details see here.

​Maedhbh Nic Lochlainn (TCD) wins USI-IRC Why Research Matters Video Competition

PhD student at TCD, Maedhbh Nic Lochlainn, has won the award for creativity in the inaugural USI-IRC Why Research Matters Video Competition.  

Maedhbh’s research (on which her award-winning video is based) investigates how activists have used social media to contest housing and water issues in Ireland since the financial crisis. Maedhbh adopts a geographical approach to understand how activist use of social media works between and across digital technologies/platforms and material places. Using a combination of digital ethnography, maps, and participatory research interviews, she is contributing new understandings of activist practices and how these involve combining digital and material tactics in pursuit of transformative social change. Maedhbh points out that the importance of this question of the geographies of digital contention or protest has been highlighted during the ongoing pandemic, in which mass protest gatherings, alternative forms of digital dissent, and their potentials and limitations have captured popular attention. She observes, “We don’t understand enough about the practicalities and implications of these practices, but they matter for how we affect change and govern contemporary societies.”  Maedhbh’s award was chosen by Creative Ireland’s Sheila Deegan. The winning video can be accessed here.

​Geographers Respond to Covid-19

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Irish Geographers, in collaboration with others, have made a number of contributions to our understanding of the pandemic, the challenges it poses, its impacts on communities and the implications of management strategies. In doing so, the significance of space, place and location, as well as spatial mobility and interaction as factors that underpin how the pandemic works, has been highlighted. Ronan Foleys’s editorial in the most recent edition of Irish Geography ‘Geography and the Covid-19 Crisis in Ireland’ examines these issues from a number of disciplinary perspectives. In doing so, Foley reminds us all of the fundamental importance of geographical knowledge.

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​​Also, highlighting the importance of knowledge gleaned from spatial analysis is the research by Gerald Mills et. al. ‘Making sense of publicly available data on COVID-19 in Ireland’. Involving a collaboration between geographers and medical practitioners, this work draws on publicly available data to examine the impact and pace of the pandemic as it waxed and waned unevenly across the country. Finally, McCarthy and MacCarron’s work on the spatial analysis of the death notices published on RIP.ie (which has received significant attention in the media) highlights the counties most affected by the saddest impacts of the virus, whilst also reminding us of the real people, families and communities that lie behind the statistics. Our condolences to all those who have lost loved ones during this crisis. 

Images above: (top) shows the reduction traffic levels in response to the lockdown (supplied by G. Mills) and (below) shows deaths as recorded on RIP.ie (supplied by G.McCarthy) .

Editorship of Irish Geography
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​The Geographical Society of Ireland (GSI) is seeking expressions of interest from individuals to become Editor of Irish Geography for the period 2021-2024 (with the option of extending for a further two years). Expressions are asked in the form of a one-page statement that outlines your motivation to be Editor, your editorial experience and your vision for the Journal’s development. Please submit your statements to Karen Keaveney (Secretary of the GSI: secretary@geographicalsocietyireland.ie) by January 18th 2020. Informal enquiries can be made to IG’s current Editor: Dr Ronan Foley (ronan.foley@mu.ie).
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GSI Member
​Dr. Susan Pike 
appointed President of the
Geographical Association

​​Dr Susan Pike (DCU) has been appointed President of the Geographical Association. Susan works in Geography Teacher Education at DCU's Institute of Education, where she has coordinated Geography Education for 20 years. As a geographer, she also contributes to a range of other areas including early childhood education, as well as Masters options in Climate Change Education and Poverty and Social Inclusion in Education.
The Geographical Association (GA) is the leading subject association for teachers of geography. Its mission is to further geographical knowledge and understanding through education, with the vision of being a 'vibrant and diverse subject community inspiring high-quality geographical teaching and learning'.
From its roots at a meeting to exchange lantern slides 128 years ago, it now has members in more than 60 countries and strong links with geographical organisations around the world. Having a GSI member as president will no doubt increase the visibility of the GSI internationally, and strengthen our links with Geographers and teachers of Geography across varied institutional sectors. Susan's chosen presidential theme this year is 'Compassionate Geographies', clearly a theme that is has relevance on lots of levels. 

 New Research: Memories of Droughts in Ireland

The drought of Summer 2018 reminded us of how vulnerable Irish society is to water shortages, from local farms to businesses, wells to water supplies and even biodiversity. In a country renowned for rainfall we often forget that in the past Ireland has experienced some significant drought periods, particularly in the 1990s, 1970s and before. Funded by the Irish Research Council, Geographers from UCD and Maynooth University are looking to document local experiences and coping strategies that were implemented by individuals during past drought events and to identify lessons that can be learned from local experiences. So, if you have stories of your experience of drought you would like to share, know of weather records or diaries that you think may be of interest, or would simply like to find out more, please visit:
www.ucd.ie/droughtmemories

Appointment of New President to the GSI

​The Society is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Kathy Reilly (School of Geography, Archaeology & Irish Studies, NUI Galway) as the new President of the Geographical Society of Ireland. Kathy takes over from Dr Adrian Kavanagh (Department of Geography, Maynooth University). The Society welcomes Kathy to the role and extends its gratitude to Adrian for his tireless work and dedication to the Geography in Ireland over the course of the past four years. 
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Tips and Tricks: IRC Postgraduate (PhD) Funding
​ GSI PECN Information Session
Friday 16th October

Applying for IRC funding? Come to the GSI PECN information session aimed at postgraduate Geography students who are applying for the Irish Research Council's (IRC) Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship 2021. The event will facilitate peer-to-peer exchange with members of the Irish Geography postgraduate and early-career community that have successfully applied and received IRC funding in previous years.  Come along to garner tips and tricks and learn about the process of writing a successful Geography postgraduate IRC application.  

Join the session from  2-4 pm on Friday 16th October on Zoom. Register on Eventbrite here: IRC-tips-tricks-2020.eventbrite.ie. Not yet a member of the Geographical Society of Ireland or the Postgraduate and Early Career Network? You can register to be a member of the GSI here and subscribe to the PECN mailing list here.

Latest issues of Irish Geography

The November 2019 (52-2) issue was a special issue, edited by Cormac Walsh (Hamburg) and Gavan Rafferty (Ulster) on Brexit Geographies: Spatial Imaginaries and Relational Territorialities on the Island of Ireland. It included papers around the potential impact of Brexit in relation to a range of subjects including cross-border functional geographies (including international comparisons), PPGIS in landscape management in cross-border areas, and marine spatial planning. This is an ongoing story that will unfold over the next decade but good to get some geographical perspectives down in advance of its full implementation.
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The May 2020 (53-1) issue consists of a range of articles around; modelling building energy management in Dublin, cooperative farm succession, submarine geomorphology using remote sensing and a review paper outlining research on marine plastics at a global scale. There is also an extended book review on the multi-volume Cambridge History of Ireland from a historical geographers perspective. The editorial and book review already available with remaining articles to follow online in next two weeks.

Postponement of the 52nd Conference of Irish Geographers (CIG)

In light of the ongoing public health emergency across Ireland and the wider world, the Geographical Society of Ireland the Department of Geography TCD regret to announce the postponement of the 52nd Conference of Irish Geographers (CIG).
 
The CIG was due to be held in Trinity College Dublin from May 21st to 23rd 2020. We cannot guarantee that a venue will be available for the May 2020 dates scheduled and not to postpone would violate the public health warnings issued by the Irish government and college authorities. With the agreement of our colleagues in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick we are looking forward to Trinity College Dublin hosting the conference in May 2021. 

Arrangements will now be made to reimburse all those who have registered at this point, unless you wish us to retain your registration fee until the rescheduled event is arranged.  You will have received an email from the CIG registration desk at Keynote PCO, who will administer refunds or your request to retain your booking for 2021. 
 
The TCD Committee (chaired by Cian O’Callaghan) and the Geographical Society of Ireland would like to thank Keynote for their assistance in this postponement and we look forward to continuing our joint work with them into 2021 and beyond.

Please note: an EGM of the GSI will be arranged in autumn to elect new committee members, notwithstanding any further public health restrictions in force at that time.

​The GSI Committee is sending all members its best at this time, look after one another.

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In Memory of Michael J. Bannon, formerly professor of planning at UCD

Gographers, especially those of a certain age, will be sorry to learn that Professor Michael J. Bannon, formerly of the UCD planning department, died on 18 December 2019. A UCD Geography graduate of the mid-1960s, Michael was a long-time advocate and exponent of the links between Geography and Physical, especially regional, Planning. For Obituary by Arnold Horner See here

Geographical Society of Ireland Celebrates it's 85th Birthday

 ​This month the Society celebrates its 85th birthday. Some ninety people attended the first meeting convened in Academy House, Dublin in 1934. Since then, the Society and its members have made significant contributions to the study/promotion of geography in Ireland. 

In Memory of Gordon Herries Davies (1932-2019)

Gordon Davies, otherwise Gordon Leslie Herries Davies (he favoured the latter form from the late 1970s), who died on 22 February 2019 was one of the most significant figures ‘doing Geography’ in Ireland during the second half of the last century. More....

EUGEO 2019

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This year Geography at NUI Galway hosted the 7th EUGEO Congress in conjunction with the 51st Conference of Irish Geographers, in Galway City in the west of Ireland. The conference took place over four days (May 15th – 18th 2019) and the theme for the 2019 conference was Re-Imagining Europe's Future Society and Landscapes. The theme focuses on the centrality of the concepts of society and landscape within the Discipline of Geography and the importance of the relationship that exists between the physical and cultural landscape. Over 500 delegates attended the conference representing an astonishing 37 countries.
Click here for more

Save Geography

In response to the changed position of Geography within the Junior cycle curriculum The Association of Geography Teachers of Ireland has created petition, calling for the restoration of Geography as a core subject on the Junior Cycle curriculum. If you can, please support this petition.
Click here to sign the petition

​Year of Geography 2019

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​2019 has been declared the "Year of Geography". This initiative will focusing on different places/counties and different geographical themes each week during 2019 to raise the profile of Geography in Ireland both at a national and at a local level. 

​Nine reasons why geography matters

RTE Brainstorm recently published an article by By Anna Davies, Irish Research Council and Frances Fahy, NUI Galway outlining why geography is so important!
Click here to go to the article

Does Geography have a future?

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​ At CIG 2018 Shelagh Waddington from Maynooth University outlined some of the issues about the removal of Geography from the core curriculum of the Junior Cycle, Read more in her blog post Does Geography have a future?

Night of Geography 2020

​The “Night of Geography" or  "GeoNight" 2020 will be held on the 3rd of April this year. GeoNight was initiated by the French Geographical Society (Comité National Français de Géographie (CNFG) in 2017 in order to increase the recognition of geographical knowledge among the public. Last year saw a host of events from societies across Europe as well as Africa and South America. This year we encourage participation from Irish geographical communities, so if you are hosting events do let us know. 

​34th International Geographical Congress

The deadline for the 34th International Geographical Congress to be held in Istanbul (17-21 August 2020) had been extended to January 28th. The theme of the conference is 'Geography: Bridging the Continents'

Registration and Themed Session Submissions for CIG 2020 open this week 

The 25th Annual Conference of Irish Geographers will take place in UCD from 21st to 23rd of May 2020. Registration and themed session submissions open this week. See more

New followers on Twitter

​Thanks to all who participated in the 2019 Year of Geography initiative. Its success can be seen not only in its coverage in the local media but also in the increased traffic on twitter and other forms of social media. Followers on Twitter have increased from 408 on January 1st 2019 to 1,815 today! As can be seen from the diagram below (produced by Adrian Kavanagh) each month saw new followers! 
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Donegal features as the final county on the GSI's Year of Geography Initatiative

December sees Donegal feature as the final county on the very successful Year of Geography social media initiative, the objective of which has been to better highlight Geography across the island of Ireland and to better illustrate to the Irish public the work that geographers do. Follow #DonegalWeek in to find Tweets about people's favourite Donegal places, interesting place names, maps of everything from the county's coastal heritage its transport network, border connections and border passes and much more.​
 
Image right:  Donegal sheep tweeted this week by ​Arlene Crampsie

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Prof. Des Gillmor makes a strong case for Geography in letter published in The Irish Times.

​Prof. Des Gillmor (Trinity College Dublin) published a letter in the Irish Times outlining how students see that geography is of ‘vital relevance to their lives and to the world today’, that twice as many students study geography at Leaving Cert than study history, and that geography is ‘the only subject which deals comprehensively’ with contemporary challenges such as climate change. Read the letter here

Upcoming Exhibition and Symposium ​
Tírdhreach Feasach: Irish Environments in Transition

Conversations with artists and geographers/academics: Monica de Bath and Patrick Bresnihan, Cathy Fitzgerald and Nessa Cronin, Pauline O'Connell and Gerry Kearns, Seoidin O'Sullivan and Karen Till from 4-5:30pm, (Rocque Lab, Rhetoric House, South Campus) followed by exhibition launch from 5:45-6:30pm, Maynooth University Library lobby. Joint event with Kildare County Council Arts Service and Maynooth University Library, with additional support from the IRC New Foundations Scheme and Creative Ireland. For other events at the Maynooth Geography see here

Lifetime Contribution Award 2019

In May, it was announced that Prof. Jim Walsh would be awarded the Geographical Society of Ireland Lifetime Contribution Award for 2019. This reflected his many years of involvement/engagement with the Society (and many years of Society membership), which included a two-year period as President of the Society in the 2000s. The award itself was formally handed over to Jim in Maynooth on 18 September on behalf of the Society and its members by Prof. Des McCafferty, another former President of the Geographical Society of Ireland. This took place during an event to mark his retirement from formal academic life, following on many decades of teaching and research, commencing first of all with a period working in Carysfort College in Blackrock, before moving to Maynooth University in the late 1980s. As well as lecturing and researching in the Maynooth University Department of Geography, he also served for a number of years as Head of Department in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before going on to spend well over a decade as a member of the Maynooth University Executive. He supervised a number of PhD students, including the first two PhD students to graduate from Maynooth Geography; Celine McHugh and Seamus Lafferty.

Membership 

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​Membership of the society is open to anyone with an interest in environmental and geographical issues.

Benefits of membership include; 
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- A subscription to the international peer-reviewed journal Irish Geography,
- Participation in field trips and events sponsored by the society
- Access to a network of individuals and organisations with similar interests.
- Information on geographical events in Ireland and overseas.

Find out More

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Geography Society of Ireland, 2018