Mammal atlas of Ireland

The Mammal Atlas maps almost a quarter of a million sightings of 72 species of marine and terrestrial mammal. It brings together data from 57 different datasets, and includes more than 15,000 records that were submitted directly to the Data Centre from 2,400 different recorders over the five years of the data collection phase. All of these records have been extremely valuable in building up a comprehensive picture of the distribution of mammals in Ireland. It has been a very large collaborative project, and would not have been possible to produce without the contribution and support of a large number of people and organisations.



The Mammal Atlas runs to over 200 pages and has chapters on the Origins of mammals in Ireland, Mammal research in Ireland, Legislation and wild mammals in Ireland, Advances in mammal studies using genetic analysis, and Future outlook for mammals in Ireland. The main part of the Atlas are the Species Accounts of 72 terrestrial and marine mammals, written by 42 leading experts in Ireland. They provide information on the identification, distribution, habitat, ecology and population of each species, and presents two distribution maps showing the pre 2010 and 2010-2015 distribution. Other features include a chart showing the distribution of sightings broken down by month, and the Red List Status. I attach an example of both a terrestrial and marine mammals to give you an idea of what the final publication will look like.



The number of records that were submitted for inclusion in the Mammal Atlas far exceeded our expectations, but we now have a very solid baseline of mammal distribution in Ireland and its marine waters, to serve as a benchmark against which future changes can be tracked.


National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Heritage Council have contributed very generously to the publication costs of the Atlas, so we are able to keep the cost of the A4 hardback Atlas to €25 (plus postage and packaging). This can be ordered directly from the Data Centre 
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