Sheila Daly, Griffith's Pre-Famine Map of Mallow to Kanturk Railway & "The Cure"

Sheila Daly relates a fascinating story of the discovery of Griffith's pre-famine map of Mallow (1824), its re-discovery and her role in securing this priceless panorama of the Blackwater Valley for the National Library. Sir Richard John Griffith Bt. FRS (20 September 1784 - 22 September 1878), was an Irish geologist, mining engineer and chairman of the Board of Works of Ireland, who produced the first complete geological map of Ireland and was author of the valuation of Ireland - known simply as Griffith's Valuation. Griffith was also commissioned to map a proposed narrow gauge railway line to connect Mallow with the Kanturk coalfield while residing in the Mallow area c.,1824. Over a hundred years later a geologist Dr. Ted Neville of Trinity College Dublin visited the Kanturk area and met Sheila on her farm at the mine. Neville was excited to hear of the map's existence and arranged through Sheila to meet the owner Michael O'Connell who duly laid out the 20 foot map on the side of the road. Through ingenuity, persistence, setback, loss and re-discovery the map now resides within the National Library. For Sheila Daly however the story does not end there as her quest to see the map for the first time remains on her bucket list as she approaches her 100th birthday. Now following an invite from the National Library it appears that Sheila will get her wish and finally see the map she worked tirelessly to secure for the people of Ireland.