The Human Geography of Ireland

This is the first student-level human geography of Ireland for over twenty years. Since the 1970s Ireland has become a member of the European Community, has experienced economic change, both growth and recession, enormous urban development, the transformation of traditional social structures and population patterns particularly in the countryside and the intensification of the tragic political consequences of the "Troubles". Professor Johnson, distinguished Irish geographer and experienced writer of textbooks, has produced an up-to-date, thoughtful and stimulating analysis of Ireland's human geography, stressing the historical legacy and roots of the landscape, and the impact of recent dramatic changes. He begins by considering the distinctiveness of Ireland, and the factors that have shaped its geography. He then considers the nature of the environment, and contemporary environmental problems. Chapters deal with the rural landscape and agriculture and the evolution of the population and the urban system. Individual chapters on Dublin and Belfast then follow. The final four chapters deal with modern economic development and regional planning, the political geography of the south as well as the north, and Ireland and the future, particularly as a peripheral element of the European Community and the economic convergence between north and south.