A new map of Ireland's highest mountains, Carrauntoohil and the Macgillycuddy's Reeks in Co Kerry, has been welcomed by leading mountaineers.
The new, detailed weatherproof map will contribute greatly to safety on Ireland's most-dangerous and most-visited mountains, they said.
The vast majority of call-outs by the Kerry Mountain Rescue Service are to the Macgillycuddy's Reeks. Since 1996, there have been over 125 search-and-rescue operations on those mountains. Most of the 30-plus fatalities since the late 1960s on the Kerry mountains have been from falls on, or in the vicinity of, Carrauntoohil.
It is the first weatherproof map produced by the Ordnance Survey (OS). With a scale of 1:25000, and four centimetres to one kilometre, it has twice the detail of the previous 1:50000 map of the mountains in Number 78 of the OS Discovery Series.
Contour lines of 10 metres and 50 metres, as well as ridges and dips, are clearly shown. For the first time, most of the place-names appear in Irish. Carrauntoohil itself appears as simply Corran Tuathail, without reference to the anglicised version.
The notorious Devil's Ladder, and the traditional starting point for the climb of Carrauntoohil of Cronin's Farmyard, are named for the first time in an OS map. They are amid "new" and near-forgotten ancient place-names in the area which extends from the Killarney National Park to Caragh Lake in the west, and from Cappanalea Outdoor Pursuits Centre in the north to the tourist spot of Moll's Gap in the south.
Numerous archaeological features, including souterrains, several locations for rock art, cillins (children's graveyards) and ancient field systems are marked.
The new map was launched by the Kerry TD and Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O' Donoghue.
Mr Malachy McVeigh, divisional controller of tourism and leisure with the OS, said there had been considerable consultation with mountaineers and this co-operation would continue.
The map, which has used the most modern technology, could be revised easily once the first edition sold out, and the OS would welcome feedback from walkers, Mr McVeigh said.
Mr Con Moriarty, a mountaineer from the foothills of Carrauntoohil, said a number of accidents, even fatalities, could be attributed to flaws in the older maps in use 25 years ago.
There had been no purpose-made walking map until the 1980s. People actually stepped off ledges which were not shown in the old hand-drawn 19th century maps of the mountain, and cliffs were regularly missed, he said.
He called for further weatherproof maps for the Beara and Iveragh peninsulas.
"We always had complaints the maps were falling apart after a day out in Kerry," Mr Moriarty said.
Mr Pat Falvey, an explorer leading this week what will be his fourth Irish Everest expedition, said the world's highest mountain did not have such a detailed map.
"It's a great addition. For the first time, spellings have been corrected," he said of the new map.
Map-reading and navigation were essential tools for hill-walking, Ireland's fastest-growing leisure activity.
Mr Falvey will be joined by Dr Clare O'Leary and Mr John Joyce from Galway.
Dr O'Leary, from Bandon, in Co Cork, hopes to become the first Irish woman to reach the summit.
The Wyeth Irish Everest 2004 expedition sets off from Ireland on St Patrick's Day.