How do I get there?

When in Roscommon town I asked several people to draw me directions to Dr. Hyde Park, the large GAA stadium to the south of the town and to the racing grounds to the north from a central position on main street. The results were interesting and informative. Having never previously visited Roscommon I was interested to see if the grand axis terminating at the Bank of Ireland building and the castle felt as dramatic in reality.The overlay below shows 6 of the maps drawn for me. Nearly every map represents the large square and diversion of traffic around the Bank of Ireland building at market square on Main Street. Most of the maps use placenames and road names as markers with some exceptions were people drew symbols such as the castle. The text below is an analysis of the frequency of terms used in the interpretive maps.

Teenagers were the most eager to help me in this task and put a lot of effort into representing their town. Interestingly, the purple map, drawn by a teenage girl had a different approach to the others. She represented her world in a sense. Instead of starting the map at Main Street and working towards Hyde Park she drew it from Hyde Park back towards town. The key markers for her were shops and restaurants like Dunnes Stores or Supermacs. She also delineated the housing estate in which she lives. She 'ran out of space' closer to the main street and instead drew arrows stating 'to town'. I wondered was there something telling in this especially in relation to one man's opinion that the center of the town was moving towards the retail complex.