Tim Robinson (cartographer) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tim Robinson
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Tim Drever, London 2019 by John Drever
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| Born | 1935 Yorkshire, England
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| Died | 3 April 2020 (aged 85) London, England
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| Alma mater | Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge |
Timothy Drever Robinson (born 1935 – died 3 April 2020) was an English writer, artist, and mapmaker. He was famous for his books about the Aran Islands and Connemara in the west of Ireland.
He also made very detailed maps of these places. He called the Aran Islands, The Burren, and Connemara "the ABC of earth wonders."
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Tim Robinson was born in England. He studied mathematics at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University.
His Work and Maps
Tim Robinson first worked as a visual artist, using the name Timothy Drever. He worked in cities like Istanbul, Vienna, and London.
In the 1970s, he moved to the Aran Islands. These islands are off the coast of County Galway in Ireland. There, he started to study the land in great detail.
Making Maps
Robinson created his first map of the Aran Islands in 1975. He made a second version in 1980. Later, in 1996, he wrote a book called "Oileáin Árainn" to go with the map.
In 1977, he made a map of the uplands of North-West Clare, which included The Burren. A new version of this map came out in 1999.
In 1981, Robinson started focusing on Connemara. He wrote a small book that later became a bigger one called "Setting Foot on the Shores of Connemara." He also wrote articles for the Connacht Tribune newspaper called "Mapping South Connemara."
In 1990, Robinson published his map of Connemara. It came with a guide that explained different places. He and his wife, Máiréad, ran a special publishing company called Folding Landscapes. They published all his maps and books from their home in Roundstone, County Galway.
Awards and Recognition
In 1987, Tim and Máiréad Robinson won the first Ford European Conservation award given in Ireland. They then represented Ireland at a bigger award ceremony in Madrid in 1988.
Tim Robinson was chosen as a special visiting scholar at Magdalene College, Cambridge, in 2011. He gave a lecture called ‘A Land without Shortcuts’. This lecture was later published in a magazine.
His two books about the Aran Islands, called Stones of Aran, are very well-known. They are full of information about the land and culture. One writer called them "One of the most original... works of literature ever produced in Ireland." The first book, Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage, explores the coast. The second, Stones of Aran: Labyrinth, looks at the island's inner parts.
His later works included a three-book series about Connemara. These were called Listening to the Wind, A Little Gaelic Kingdom, and The Last Pool of Darkness. He was also a member of Aosdána, an Irish group for artists.
Robinson won two Irish Book Awards. He won in 2007 for Connemara: Listening to the Wind. He won again in 2011 for Connemara: A Little Gaelic Kingdom. He also won an award for translating a book called Graveyard Clay with Liam Mac Con Iomaire.
A film about Tim Robinson, called Tim Robinson – Connemara, was made in 2011. It explored the land, history, and stories of Connemara through his work.
Personal Life
Tim Robinson passed away on 3 April 2020, at the age of 85. He died at St Pancras Hospital in London. He passed away due to an illness called COVID-19. This happened during the pandemic in the United Kingdom.
Sadly, Tim died just two weeks after his wife and partner, Máiréad Robinson. Tim was a cousin of a scientist named Ronald Drever. He was also the uncle of a sound artist named John Levack Drever.
His Main Books and Maps
- Map of Árainn (Connacht Tribune, 1975, and 1980)
- The Burren: A Map of the Uplands of North-West County Clare (1977)
- Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage (The Lilliput Press, 1986)
- Connemara: A One-Inch Map, with Introduction and Gazetteer (Folding Landscapes, 1990)
- Stones of Aran: Labyrinth (Lilliput Press, 1995)
- Oileáin Arann: A Map of the Aran Islands, with a Companion to the Map (Folding Landscapes, 1996)
- Setting Foot on the Shores of Connemara (The Lilliput Press, 1996)
- The Burren: A Map of the Uplands of North-West County Clare (Folding Landscapes, 1999)
- Connemara: Listening to the Wind (Penguin Ireland, 2006)
- Connemara: The Last Pool of Darkness (Penguin Ireland, 2008)
- Connemara: A Little Gaelic Kingdom (Penguin Ireland, 2011)
- Graveyard Clay (with Liam Mac Con Iomaire), Translated from the original Máirtín Ó Cadhain novel Cré na Cille (Yale University Press, 2015)
