Alan Counihan A Field Name Research ... - Townlands Project

Most farm households will already possess a full colour aerial
view of their landholdings. This is supplied by the Department of
Agriculture as an “aerial aid” for farm identification purposes.
2. Global Positioning System, (GPS).
While sadly not part of the process of all field name surveys the
recording of the physical location, or GPS, of all surveyed fields
is now actively encouraged by the Heritage Council. The letters
GPS stand for Global Positioning System. The use of Global
Positioning System handsets is becoming commonplace for
all landscape data recording. It is important to remember that
while the field name survey you are undertaking will be of
primary interest to your local community it also has a wider
national relevance. Local history is the weft and warp of a larger
cultural pattern. There may be historians and scholars interested
in comparing the data you gather with that from other parts of
the country or those from abroad who wish to access the field
name information and to view the fields themselves in the
landscape via the computer. This will only be possible if the exact
locations of the field are known.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based global
navigation satellite system(GNSS) that provides location and
time information in all weather anywhere on Earth when and
where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS
satellites. It is freely accessible by anyone with a GPS receiver.
Most GPS receivers are accurate to within 15 meters on
average.
In order to record the location of any field you will need to use a
hand held GPS device and these are commonly available and
reasonably priced. Some mobile phones now also offer GPS
capabilities. An outlay of €300.00 will purchase an accurate and
reliable hand-held GPS instrument. The GPS instrument can
record, among other data, the grid references of the fields or
places in your survey.
The less expensive the instrument the less accurate it is likely
to be while exotic features are also unnecessary for survey
purposes However, care must be taken in setting up the
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