{"id":342,"date":"2010-05-11T11:19:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-11T10:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/demo\/?p=342"},"modified":"2025-12-25T20:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T20:39:10","slug":"meath-methodology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/2010\/05\/meath-methodology\/","title":{"rendered":"Meath Methodology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Here is a clear <strong>step-by-step methodology summary<\/strong> of the <em>Meath Field Names Project<\/em> (Phase 1, c.2010\u20132012), structured like the Borgue project summary and divided into <strong>collection<\/strong>, <strong>recording<\/strong>, and <strong>digital mapping<\/strong> phases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1. Project Planning &amp; Design<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Mapping &amp; Survey Tools<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Meath County Council\u2019s spatial services advised on survey sheet and map design.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Microsoft Access database structure designed early for data capture.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Field ID System<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Each field within a townland was manually numbered to assign a <strong>unique identifier<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Volunteers were trained in the numbering system; returning the numbered map was critical.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. Field Name Collection<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Volunteer-based Survey<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Volunteers gathered field names and completed both report sheets and manually numbered maps.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The integrity of the system depended on pairing name data with numbered field maps.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Data Entry Timeline<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Data input into the Access database began in <strong>September 2010<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Continued steadily until <strong>September 2012<\/strong>, covering all submitted townlands.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1827\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/demo\/files\/2025\/05\/image-2-scaled.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/files\/2025\/05\/image-2-scaled.png 1827w, https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/files\/2025\/05\/image-2-214x300.png 214w, https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/files\/2025\/05\/image-2-731x1024.png 731w, https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/files\/2025\/05\/image-2-768x1076.png 768w, https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/files\/2025\/05\/image-2-1096x1536.png 1096w, https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/files\/2025\/05\/image-2-1461x2048.png 1461w, https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/files\/2025\/05\/image-2-1568x2197.png 1568w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1827px) 100vw, 1827px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. Database Design &amp; Function<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Database Features<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Structured for <strong>user-friendliness<\/strong>, <strong>error minimisation<\/strong>, and <strong>query\/report generation<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Each record linked to a specific field within a specific townland using the unique ID.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Outputs<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Access database itself was seen as a core output, enabling future use and analysis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4. Digital Mapping &amp; Integration<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Software<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chose <strong>MapInfo<\/strong> for GIS work to ensure compatibility with Meath County Council systems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Initial Challenge<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Explored existing datasets from OSI, Land Registry, and Department of Agriculture\u2014none were usable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digitisation Strategy<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In <strong>Summer 2011<\/strong>, two GIS MSc students from NUI Maynooth began manually digitising fields as polygons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>~200 townlands were completed, but scaling the task required professional help.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5. Contracted Digitisation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tender Process<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Public tender issued in <strong>May 2012<\/strong> via eTenders.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mallon Technology<\/strong> (Co. Tyrone) awarded contract.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Completion<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Full digitisation of all surveyed townlands completed by <strong>Autumn 2012<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>6. Final Integration &amp; Vision<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Practical Result<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Each field on the digital map could now be clicked to display all its associated data from the survey.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Integration with other datasets (e.g. <strong>field monuments<\/strong>) planned to enhance research potential.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is a clear step-by-step methodology summary of the Meath Field Names Project (Phase 1, c.2010\u20132012), structured like the Borgue project summary and divided into collection, recording, and digital mapping phases: 1. Project Planning &amp; Design 2. Field Name Collection 3. Database Design &amp; Function 4. Digital Mapping &amp; Integration 5. Contracted Digitisation 6. Final&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/2010\/05\/meath-methodology\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Meath Methodology<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":628,"featured_media":344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-methodology","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/628"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions\/362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/fieldnames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}