Beggars Bush has been the address of Geological Survey
Ireland since the Survey moved in to its purpose-built location in the early
1980s. Known to geologists throughout the world, to Irish geologists and geology
students in Ireland, and to the interested public, the address has been
associated with generations of maps, technical reports, and data sets. It
has been home to the staff of Geological Survey Ireland and the walls are infused with
the stories of fieldwork and sample collection, and discussions on the tectonic
evolution of Ireland. As a place of deposit for the National Archive, Beggars
Bush has been the safe home of the original geological maps of Ireland, the
records of the early years of the Survey, and a large part of the Du Noyer art
collection. Beggars Bush is where Geological Survey Ireland made huge changes
in how and where it maps and collects data. It saw the introduction of digital
map production using GIS, the initiation of the world class Irish National
Seabed Survey and now INFOMAR seabed mapping projects, the use of
aircraft-mounted geophysical equipment to map the whole of Ireland again as
part of the Tellus project, and the expansion of the Groundwater programme. 
Almost 100 years after the British Army marched out of
Beggars Bush Barracks for the last time in the early days of 1922, the staff of
Geological Survey Ireland said goodbye to our offices there. The building is to be refurbished by the OPW and become the new head office of our parent Department, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. Due to COVID-19, many of us had not
been working in the building since March 2020, and apart from occasional visits
to sort files and pack, we are used to working elsewhere. Our rocks, samples,
files, offices and data servers have been carefully packed and moved in
preparation for our bright new future.
The main new office will be Booterstown Hall, Booterstown,
Dublin. Most administration, management, geologists, cartographers and project
staff will be based there in airy, light-flooded, temperature-controlled
offices overlooking Dublin Bay. Laboratories, equipment, file storage, the
National Archive, and the Customer Centre will move to a newly fitted out
facility in City West in mid-January.
As we look to the future of Geological Survey Ireland, we
are conscious that our work is part of the future of Ireland and its place in
the globe. Our work is part of how we meet the challenges of climate change and
the necessity to manage natural resources to meet the essentials needs of
society. Our maps and data are freely available to all and in 2022 we hope to
launch the National Geoscience Data Centre. We are committed to furthering the
understanding of the subsurface for the management of water, geothermal, and
mineral resources, as well as understanding the geology, geochemistry, and geoheritage of Ireland. We are excited about starting the new chapter in what
is now the 177 year history of the Geological Survey in Ireland.
New Address:
Geological Survey Ireland
Dept. of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Block 1
Booterstown Hall
Booterstown
Blackrock
Co Dublin
A94 N2R6