Comeraghs on the map

I am quite happy to shill for my friends (both of them). If your cousin's daughter needs some sciencey Transition Year work experience or help with her DNA sequence analysis, then I'm yer man. A job in the catering trade; help locating the pancreas so that it may be relaxed; advice about the placement of Train Control System beacons; a job lot of profiteroles for a wedding; recommended reading for teenage archers - these may also be accommodated but I'll have to cast my network a bit wider. I have my fingers in several almost [Hi Denis] completely non-overlapping pies: home education; molecular sequence analysis and evolution; samba.

A map of beauty is a joy forever and I'm delighted to report that my pal Barry Dalby of EastWest mapping has just published a new 1:25,000 scale map to follow the one in which our farmlet features front-and-centre.  Barry has travelled further from home to cover the Comeragh 'Mountains' which loom on the horizon when I look NW from Pat the Salt's old gaff on the Waterford Coast. If I can't see the Comeraghs then I know I'd better finish up mowing the grass because the rain is incommming. You can buy the new map for €12.50 normal or €19.50 covered in hurricane proof laminate. I am amazed and delighted that, if you have the skills and inclination, you can earn a living as a cartographer outside of and separate from the Ordnance Survey - the government mapping service. It's a bit like my late lamented friend Mary Mulvihill who scrabbled an income for 20 years by being a free-lance science journalist and author. I gave away my last copy of Barry's Blackstairs map to an old colleague of The Beloved's who dropped in unannounced after walking to the top of Mt Leinster behind our house. Remarkably, that strong hill-walker had never heard of EastWest mapping and was dependent on the OS 1:50,000 scale maps for navigating the uplands. "Take this map", I cried, "it might save your life one day". Anyway, why listen to me when you can get it from the horse's mouth:
This Comeragh map has taken a solid eight months work over the past year plus quite substantial costs. I've funded this all myself as I believe this sort of mapping should be made. We are reliant on sales to recover the outlay so would greatly appreciate if you will spread the word with friends. Thank you for your support and I trust you will get good use and/or enjoyment from this map, 

Barry Dalby.

If you live in the South Midlands of Ireland, the map should sort out all your Christmas presents!