A NEW official road map suggesting Kerry and Waterford have taken over chunks of neighbouring counties Cork and Kilkenny has caused red faces at Ordnance Survey Ireland.
The new Official Road Atlas Irelandsuggests Kerry has annexed quite a sizeable and picturesque portion of neighbouring Cork.
If anybody from Kerry was involved they showed discerning taste as the beautiful settings of Cork’s Bantry Bay, Dunmanus Bay and Mizen Head all feature on the map as part of the Kingdom.
But Kerry is not the only Munster county with expansionist ideas, the map suggests. As if not to be outdone, Waterford has gained a substantial foothold in parts of neighbouring Kilkenny.
The Déise has quietly laid claim to scenic spots such as Inistioge, Thomastown on the banks of the river Nore and, nestled in the river Barrow valley, the picturesque village of Graiguenamanagh.
The news is likely to alarm local politicians in south Kilkenny who have long opposed suggestions that Waterford city should expand into the neighbouring county.
A spokesman for Ordnance Survey Ireland said a number of complaints had been made in relation to the errors. “It was brought to our attention almost immediately. It should never have got through but unfortunately it did,” he said.
The mistakes are to be rectified in the next print run of the map and have been put down to first-run glitches. “It was an error and it is going to be fixed on the next reprint,” the spokesman said.
Ordnance Survey Ireland describes the road map, which has an annual print run of over 100,000 copies, as the most popular mapping product covering the 32 counties.
The new Official Road Atlas Ireland, produced by OSI in partnership with Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland, is the first official Irish road atlas to be released in three years.