# Journey map geometry

Retrieved 2026-09-21. These files contain geographic reference geometry, not reconstructions of precise 1904 administrative limits or shoreline conditions. No source establishes which pier James McPadden used.

- `ireland-counties.geojson`: all 32 traditional counties; WGS84 longitude/latitude. Source https://www.townlands.ie/static/downloads/counties.geojson.zip ; downloaded archive dated 2022-04-24. Douglas–Peucker display simplification with 0.001 degree tolerance and five decimal coordinates. County names are in `properties.name`, geographic centers in `properties.center`. This is a display derivative; simplification does not guarantee identical shared edges. Raw source is `counties.geojson`.
- `tullynascreen-neighbors.geojson`: unsimplified geometry embedded in Townlands.ie pages for Tullynascreen and its four explicitly listed neighbors, Corglancey, Garvagh, Greaghnafarna, and Sracummer. The pages display last update 2022-04-24. Start page: https://www.townlands.ie/leitrim/drumahaire/killanummery/killanummery/tullynascreen/ . Tullynascreen is OSM relation 5532596. Native Polygon coordinates are preserved.
- `cobh-waterfront.geojson`: present-day OSM coastline lines, former station building, Heartbreak Pier footprint, and public heritage location points, from https://api.openstreetmap.org/api/0.6/map.json?bbox=-8.305,51.846,-8.289,51.853 . Per-feature source links are included. Heartbreak Pier is way 1271931633; old station building is way 312008879; station location node is 3969371847; heritage centre node 654043442; original White Star office/current Titanic Experience node 1702785469.

The three datasets above: © OpenStreetMap contributors, [Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0](https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/). Townlands.ie confirms its OSM-derived licensing at https://www.townlands.ie/page/download/ . Attribution link https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright . Retain attribution and licensing with redistributed data; share adapted databases under ODbL. This license does not automatically apply to story text, photographs or historical map scans.

## Downloadable map data review — 30 September 2026

The same ODbL notice is embedded in the two additional OSM derivatives: [Dromahair road map](./dromahair-road-map.json) and [Queenstown street context](./cobh-waterfront-context.json). Their adjacent source notes explain the display projection, omitted private approach and historical limits. Downloading these databases carries their attribution/license notices with them.

Three other geography files instead use Natural Earth's [public-domain terms](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/):

- [Atlantic land](./atlantic-land.geojson): Natural Earth 1:110m physical land. The original geometry matched a fresh source download byte-for-byte before adding provenance metadata. It is generalized coastline, not the ship's track.
- [Ireland physical land](./ireland-physical-land.geojson): two polygons extracted from 1:50m physical land, with coordinates rounded for display. All 303 retained vertices matched the source at the stored precision.
- [Irish camera geography](./irish-camera-geography.geojson): 22 land/lake features extracted from 1:10m data. All 2,782 retained vertices matched their sources at the stored precision.

Fresh source URLs are in each file's provenance. Existing source hashes for the 1:50m and 1:10m extracts matched the freshly retrieved source files. These are modern geographic references, not dated historical surveys. Natural Earth's terms do not clear the separate OSM or historical raster maps.

The review added metadata, not geometry. The 32 county relation identifiers match the Townlands.ie archive. Five neighboring townlands are context, not a parcel map. Queenstown's modern building names do not establish 1904 occupants or uses. No exact family cottage pin, private approach, owner identity or property claim is supplied. Neither geographic accuracy nor a line on a historical railway map proves James's itinerary.

## Primary historical context

### Stanford railway crops and route overlays

Reviewed 30 September 2026. Edward Stanford, *Composite: Ireland* (1904), catalogue 0949.046, a digital composite of four sheets at 1:486,830. [Catalogue](https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~314681~90083599:Composite--Ireland-) · [full-resolution JP2](https://www.davidrumsey.com/rumsey/download.pl?image=/179/0949046.jp2).

Credit: David Rumsey Map Collection, David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford University Libraries. Map crops and derived traces are provided under [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/); retain credit, source and license, identify adaptations and share adaptations under the same license. See the [collection reuse policy](https://www.davidrumsey.com/about/copyright-and-permissions). Current review covers noncommercial educational use, not a blanket permission for a future commercial book, merchandise or standalone map sales. No endorsement is implied.

The preserved master is 11,028 × 13,752 pixels, SHA-256 `9a0a0a860bfe382217a003dec0f8f55ad989238bc4e970d1e33d1941ccd11b3e`. Each JPEG matches the following native-size region. Coordinates are **x, y, width, height**, measured from the master’s upper-left corner—not geographic coordinates.

| Download | Crop box in master pixels |
| --- | --- |
| [Dromahair to Collooney](./stanford-1904-first-segment.jpg) | 4250, 4100, 1100, 650 |
| [Collooney toward Charlestown](./stanford-1904-sligo.jpg) | 3550, 3650, 2100, 1700 |
| [Claremorris and Athenry](./stanford-1904-claremorris-athenry.jpg) | 2700, 5100, 2200, 2300 |
| [Athenry and Limerick](./stanford-1904-athenry-limerick.jpg) | 3100, 7100, 2200, 2800 |
| [Toward Cork](./stanford-1904-limerick-cork.jpg) | 3650, 9150, 2000, 2600 |
| [Cork and Queenstown](./stanford-1904-cork-queenstown.jpg) | 4350, 11000, 1300, 1000 |

These are JPEG crops, not byte-identical copies of the decoded master. The website also scales and softens the map beneath an animated, manually interpreted line. Original crop pixels remain unchanged. The [first-segment trace](./stanford-1904-first-segment-trace.json) uses a local station-anchored geographic approximation; the [southern overlays](./stanford-1904-corridor-trace.txt) use display coordinates whose dimensions differ from the JPEGs. Do not treat display coordinates as native image pixels or a surveyed track alignment.

Overlay review supports the regional corridors only. The Limerick–Cork crop begins south of Limerick. Separate map sections do not establish train services, transfers, travel times or James's chosen route. The map gives no present-property rights or permission to visit private land.

### Other historical context

- https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20828105/cobh-railway-station-lower-road-ringmeen-cobh-co-cork — National Inventory of Architectural Heritage: former Queenstown Railway Station, built 1862, survey 2007.
- https://cobhheritage.com/about/ — Cobh Heritage Centre is located inside the restored Victorian station.
- https://titanicexperiencecobh.ie/group-bookings/ — original White Star ticket office, surviving original Heartbreak Pier, transfer by tenders in the 1912 passenger story. This establishes the heritage location, not an individual traveler's 1904 boarding point.
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emigrants_leaving._Scotts_Quay,_Queenstown_(31593623155).jpg — National Library of Ireland Lawrence collection photograph, ref L_CAB_05258, catalogue circa 1880–1900; archival visual context for Scott's Quay/tenders, with dating discussion after 1891. The geotag is a camera location, not used as a precise pier coordinate.


## Publication scope

This is a project-authored research or interpretation note, not an original historical record. Its publication review covers this text only, not the linked images, maps or documents. Keep source credits and uncertainty labels with any permitted reuse. Original project-authored writing in this note is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), to the extent the project controls the rights. Credit Ed McPadden / The McPadden Project, link to this original note and the license, and indicate changes. Quoted third-party passages, linked media and source datasets or route geometry retain their own terms and are not included. Publication assessments are not additional restrictions on licensed writing; retaining evidence limits is research good practice.

[Current per-file decisions](../downloads/founding-edition-asset-register.json).