Atlas
This is the better looking, but less up-to-date, version of the Atlas of Irish Mathematics at its original site. In time, that version will be hosted here.
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Antrim Robert Adrain (1775-1843) was born 30 Sep in Carrickfergus, Antrim. Self taught, he moved to the USA following the 1798 rebellion, where he was one of the leading lights of academic mathematics in the early 19th century, publishing the method of least squares before Gauss.  Theoretical physicist Joseph Larmor (1857-1942) was born 11 Jul in Magheragall, Antrim. Graduating from Queen’s College, Belfast, he did his PhD at Cambridge, where he spent most of his career. He studied electricity, dynamics, and thermodynamics. His 1900 book Aether and Matter was influential at the time.  John Campbell (1862-1924) was born 27 May in Lisburn, Antrim, and was educated at Queens, Belfast, and at Oxford. His career was entirely at Oxford, where he was an early supporter of women's education. He worked in Lie algebras and differential geometry, and wrote two influential books.  Annie McElderry (1874-1968) was born 4 Sep in Ballymoney, Antrim. She earned her BA and MA in mathematics from Queen's College, Belfast, before the turn of the century, and then taught at Rutland School in Dublin, where she rose to the rank of principal. Her daughter Helen Magaw was a celebrated crystallographer. ArmaghBelfast Astronomer Alice Everett (1865-1949) was born 15 May in Glasgow, and brought up in Belfast, where her father was professor of natural philosophy at Queen's College. She studied maths there, and at Girton College, Cambridge, but her BA and MA degrees were awarded by the Royal University of Ireland. She worked at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, and later did research in optics and the engineering of early television. Link: Wikipedia  Jack Semple (1904-1985) was born 10 Jun in Belfast, and was educated at QUB and at Cambridge. He lectured at QUB and at King's College, London. He co-authored 3 books on algebraic geometry.  John Herivel (1918-2011) was born 29 Aug in Belfast. Upon graduation from Cambridge he was drafted to work at Bletchley Park. Following the war, he taught at QUB for thirty years, and later at Oxford, writing several biographical books along the way.  Mathematical physicist John Stewart Bell (1928-1990) was born 28 Jul in Belfast. He was educated at QUB and the University of Birmingham, and spent much of his career at CERN. He is known for a 'no-go theorem' named after him.  Statistician Sally McClean was born 30 Apr in Belfast, and was educated at QUB and Cardiff. After getting her PhD at Coleraine, she joined the staff and has supervised about 40 PhDs, and co-authored an influential text on statistical techniques for manpower planning. Links: Univ of Ulster  Astronomer Carl Murray was born in Belfast, and was educated at Queen Mary College, London, where he has spent most of his career. He studies the dynamics of planetary systems, and in particular the rings of Saturn. He co-authored the text Solar System Dynamics. Links: Queen Mary Speaker  Aisling McCluskey was born in Belfast on the Ides of March, and was educated at QUB. She is a topologist and teaches at NUI Galway. She recently co-authored a book with on undergraduate topology with Brian McMaster from QUB.  Informatics and computing pioneer Gordon Foster (1921-2010) was born 24 Feb in Belfast, and was educated at QUB and at Oxford. His career included stints at Bletchley Park, the University of Manchester (alongside Alan Turing), the London School of Economics and many years at TCD. He devised a 9-digit code upon which the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is based, and later worked to connect remote areas of the world to the internet.  Applied mathematician Mark McCartney was born 17 Apr in Befast and was educated at QUB. He teaches at the University of Ulster at Jordanstown, and his expertise includes vehicle dynamics and physics. He has co-authored several biographcal books on physicists and mathematicians. Link: UUJ Career in Belfast Tony Wickstead was born 13 Dec in Plymouth, and was educated at Cambridge and the University of London. He's been at QUB for 40 years, and his current research concerns Banach lattices and linear operators on them. Link: QUB CarlowCavanJohn Cosgrave (ex SPD) http://cardcolm.org/counties_files/CosgraveJohn.jpg Philip McShane (philosophy, Canada) http://www.plazayvaldes.es/upload/autores/2010/philip_mcshane_3_med.jpgClareCork Agnes Mary Clerke (1842-1907) was born 10 Feb in Skibbereen, Cork. She was educated privately, studying mathematics, physics and astronomy at the third level in Dublin, and later in Italy. Settling in London, she published extensively, wrote numerous popular and well regarded books on the history of astronomy, and contributed to the Encyclopaedia Britannica on both astronomy and mathematics.  Statistician Donal McCarthy (1908-1980) was born 4 Jun in Midleton, Cork. He was educated to PhD level at UCC, and served on the staff there, later becoming president of the college. He also did a term as director of the Central Statistics Office. Links: Wikipedia  Siobhan Vernon (nee O'Shea, 1932-2002) was born in Macroom, Cork, on 22 Feb. After completing her BSc and MSc at UCC, she taught there for over 30 years. Her 1964 PhD in mathematical analysis, also from UCC, is believed to be the first doctorate in pure mathematics earned by an Irish woman. Career in Cork Mathematician and logician George Boole (1815-1864) was born 2 Nov in Lincoln. Despite being largely self taught, in 1849 he secured a job as Professor of mathematics at Queen’s College Cork. His legacy includes Boolean algebra, which laid the foundations of the information age. His daughter Alicia also made contributions to mathematics.  Alicia Stott (nee Boole, 1860–1940) was born 8 Jun in Cork, a daughter of George & Mary Boole, and was educated in London. Though she never attended university, she was a pioneer in the visualisation of 4-dimensional shapes. She published several papers, and coined the term polytope for higher dimensional analogues of polyhedra. DonegalJoe Varilly (Costa Rica) Maria Meehan (NUIG) http://www.ucd.ie/t4cms/rms/t4_1285065472.jpegDown Mathematician and thermodynamics pioneer James Thomson (1786-1849) was born 26 Nov in Ballynahinch, Down. He was educated at the University of Glasgow and was professor there following two decades at the Belfast Academical Institution. His son William (later Lord Kelvin) grew up in Glasgow and gained fame as a brilliant scientist and engineer.  Jack Todd (1911-2007) was born 16 May in Carnacally, Down, and studied at QUB and Cambridge. He worked at QUB and King’s College, London, and later at the National Bureau of Standards and Caltech in the USA. He was an early proponent of using computers to do numerical mathematics. His efforts in the late 1940s helped to ensure the preservation of the Oberwolfach Mathematical Research Institute in Germany. Dublin Ireland’s most renowned mathematician and mathematical physicist William Rowan Hamilton (1805-1865) was born 4 Aug in Dublin. He was educated and spent most of his career at TCD. His extensive legacy includes innovations in algebra, mechanics and optics. He is perhaps most well known for the non-cummutative algebraic system of quaterions.  Charles Graves (1812-1899) was born 6 Nov (or Dec?) in Dublin. He was educated at TCD and taught mathematics there for several decades before becoming Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe for the second half of his long career. He was also an expert in Ogham inscriptions and Brehon laws.  George Salmon (1819-1904) was born 25 Sep (in Dublin?) and grew up in Cork. He studied at TCD where he also spent his career, writing numerous popular and influential books on higher level algebra and geometry.  Astronomer and mathematical physicist Robert Stawell Ball (1840-1913) was born 1 Jul in Dublin, and was educated at TCD. Ball worked at Birr, TCD and Dunsink, as was Royal Astronomer of Ireland. In mechanics, he invented the screw theory, and he authored many books.  Writer Bram Stoker (1847-1912) was born 8 Nov in Dublin. He earned a BA in mathematics from TCD before pursuing a long career in London theatre management. His 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula made him world famous. Links:  Sophie Bryant (nee Willock, 1850-1922), was born on 15 Feb in Dublin. She earned degrees from the Univ of London in both mental and moral philosophy and maths. She taught at several schools and wrote many books on diverse topics. She was the first woman to have a paper published in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society.  Mathematical physicist George FitzGerald (1851-1901) was born 3 Aug 1851 in Dublin, and his education and career were both at TCD. He was a pioneer in electromagnetic theory, and his name lives on today in the Lorentz–FitzGerald contraction.  Statistician Roy Geary (1896-1983) was born 11 Apr in Dublin. After study at UCD and the Sorbonne, he had a long career in the Department of Industry and Commerce, before leading both the Central Statistics Office and the Economic and Social Research Institute.  Mathematical physicist John Lighton Synge (1897-1995) was born 23 Mar in Dublin. Educated at TCD, he taught there and at the University of Toronto, as well as in the USA, finishing his career at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. He wrote 11 books.  Mathematician and astronomer Bill McCrea (1904-1999) was born 13 Dec in Dublin, and was educated at Cambridge. His academic career included a stint at QUB. He discovered that the Sun is largely made of hydrogen and helium,  J R McConnell (1915-1999) was born in Dublin, and was educated at UCD and in Rome. Links:  Mathematical physicist Lochlainn O'Raifeartaigh (1933-2000) was born 11 Mar in Dublin. Educated at UCD and the University of Zürich, he worked for over 30 years at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. He was particularly interested in the application of symmetries in particle physics, and he wrote five books.  Gerry Murphy (1948-2006) was born 12 Nov in Dublin, and grew up in Drimnagh. Despite leaving school at 14, he eventually earned degrees from TCD and Cambridge. He then taught at TCD, and later at UCC, where he was head of department. He authored two books on functional analysis.  Meteorologist Peter Lynch was born 19 Jun in Dublin, and was educated at UCD. After a career with the Irish Met Service, he returned to UCD to teach and supervise research on numerical weather prediction. In the Irish Times, he writes about mathematics for the general public. Links:  Journalist Mary Mulvihill (1959-2015) was born 1 Sep in Dublin. She studied genetics and statistics at TCD. Her articles, broadcasts, and books championed forgotten Irish STEM pioneers, including many women. Her self-guided "Dublin by Numbers" activity is aimed at school children, and is freely downloadable today. Links: Wikipedia Ingenious Ireland  Statistician Catherine Comiskey was born 16 Nov in Dublin, and was educated at TCD and DCU. She has taught at ITT Dublin and Maynooth, and now heads up TCD's School of Nursing & Midwifery. She has supervised numerous doctorates in biomathematics and statistical epidemiology. Link: TCD Career in Dublin Statistician William Gossett (1876-1937) was born 13 Jun in Canterbury, and educated at Oxford. For 35 years he worked at the Guinness brewery in Dublin. He is best remembered for the so-called Student's t-distribution.  Mathematical physicist John T. Lewis (1932-2004) was born 15 Apr in Swansea. He was educated at QUB, taught at Oxford, and for 25 years he was director of the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. He supervised about 30 doctoral theses.  Elizabeth Oldham was born in Links: FermanaghJames R. (Dick) Timoney born 17 May 1909 in Belleek, Fermanagh TimoneyJRCU. http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/ims/bull16/bull16_10-13.pdf IMS obit UCD Adele Marshall (stats, QUB) http://cardcolm.org/counties_files/marshalladele.jpg Galway Patrick d'Arcy (1725-1779) was born 27 Sep in Kiltulla Castle, Galway, and was educated privately in Paris, following which he had a successful career in the French army. He is remembered for his contributions to dynamics, especially angular momentum.  Martin J. Newell (1910-1985) was born in Galway, and educated at UCG. He also studied quantum physics at Cambridge, before teaching at UCD for 40 years, finally serveing as president of the college.  Mathematical physicist Sheila Power (1918-2010) was born 15 Jan in Galway, where her father was professor of mathematics. She was educated at UCD and the University of Edinburgh. As Dr. Sheila Tinney she introduced generations of UCD students to quantum physics. Patrick Farrell (Oxford) http://cardcolm.org/counties_files/farrellpatrick.jpg Rachel Quinlan (NUIG) http://maths.nuigalway.ie/~rquinlan/RQa.jpg Career in Galway Eoghan McKenna (1891-1967) was born 13 Dec in Millstreet, Cork. After earning his BSc and MSc, he taught in schools in Ireland and Glasgow and at the Municipal College of Technology (Belfast) before moving to UCG, where he lectured on mathematical physics through Irish for over 30 years. Actress Siobhan McKenna was his daughter. Links: Kerry Lexicographer Patrick Dinneen (1860-1934) was born 25 Dec in Rathmore, Kerry. After earning a BA and MA in mathematics from the Catholic University of Ireland, he taught English, Irish, Classics and maths at many schools, before authoring the landmark Irish-English dictionary, Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla. Links: Wikipedia Career in Kerry Brendan Guilfoyle was born 7 Dec in Dublin. He was educated at TCD and at the University of Texas at Austin, and has long worked at IT Tralee. He helped to prove the Caratheodory Conjecture in classical surface theory, which had been unresolved for 80 years. Link: Web KildareCareer in Kildare David Wraith was born in England, and was educated at Cambridge and Notre Dame. His career had been spent at Maynooth, where his research is in differential geometry and algebraic topology. Link: Maynooth Kilkenny Philosopher George Berkeley (1685-1753) was born 2 Mar in Kilkenny. He was educated at TCD and wrote a critique of the foundations of calculus. The University of California at Berkeley is named after him (though pronounced differently). LaoisLeitrimLimerick John Casey (1820-1891) was born 12 May in Coolattin, Limerick. He was self-educated until he graduated from TCD in middle age. He later opted to teach at the Catholic University of Ireland, rather than at TCD where he was offered a positon, and wrote 7 books on geometry.  Éamon de Valera (1882-1975) was born 14 Oct in New York, and he grew up in Bruree, Limerick. He earned a maths degree in Dublin from the Royal University of Ireland, and then taught at various schools before turning to nationalist activities, and ultimately entering a long career in politics. In 1940, as Taoiseach, he initiated the foundation of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Links:  Mathematical physicist Paddy Quinlan (1919-2001) was born in Kilmallock, Limerick, and was educated at UCC and Caltech. He lectured at UCD for almost 40 years, and served as a member of Seanad Éireann from 1957 to 1977.  Michael A. Hayes was born in Limerick, and was educated at UCG and at Brown. After some years at the University of East Anglia, he became head of Mathematical Physics at UCD, where he stayed for 26 years. His research was in elasticity theory and the kinematics of deformation. He co-authored the book Bivectors and Waves in Mechanics and Optics. Link: UCD Career in Limerick Natalia Kopteva was born and educated in Russia. She has taught at the University of Limerick for over a decade, and has co-authored one book. Link: UL Londonderry John Toland was born 28 Apr in Derry, and was educated at QUB and the University of Sussex. He has taught at University College London, Bath and Cambridge. In 1978, he proved Stokes' conjecture on the existence of gravity waves of maximum height on deep water.  Statitician Claire Gormley was born in Derry, and was educated at TCD. She now teaches at UCD. Her research interests include latent variable models, mixture models, rank data models, computational statistics and Bayesian statistics. Link: UCD Longford Political economist and statistician Francis Ysidro Edgeworth (1845-1926) was born 8 Feb in Longford. He didn’t study maths and economics until after he’d earned degrees in languages and law from TCD and Oxford, but later published a lot in mathematical economics. Louth Fiacre Ó Cairbre was born 21 Jun in Drogheda, Louth, and was educated at Maynooth and Berkeley. He teaches at Maynooth, and for many years has lead the Hamilton Walk in Dublin, each 16 Oct, from Dunsink Observatory to Broom Bridge. Links: Maynooth Mayo Tom Laffey was born 29 Dec in Mayo, and was educated at UCG and the University of Sussex. For over 40 years he lectured at UCD, pursuing research in group theory and linear algebra. He also played a major role in the successful establishment of the Irish Mathematical Olympiad.  Des MacHale was born 28 Jan in Castlebar, Mayo, and was educated at UCG and the University of Keele. He has spent his career at UCC, working in group and ring theory, and wrote the definitive biography of George Boole, the first Professor of Mathematics at what was then Queen's College, Cork. He has also authored a large number of books on puzzles and humour.  Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin was born 16 Mar and is from Carnacon, Mayo. She studied theoretical physics at UCD, and recently completed a doctorate in mathematics education in TCD. She has taught mathematics and physics at secondary level and now lectures in mathematics pedagogy at UCD. She is also an experienced radio and TV broadcaster. MeathMonaghanCiarán Mac an Bhaird (Maynooth) http://www.maths.nuim.ie/images/canbard-small.JPGOffaly Mathematician, geophysicist and social activist Gerry Gardner (1926-2009) was born 2 Mar in Tullamore, Offaly. Educated at TCD and Princeton, he worked in the USA in the oil and natural gas industries. A statistical analysis of his was used in a US Supreme Court decision.  Annette Pilkington was born 16 Jan in Daingean, Offaly. She was educated at UCD and at the University of Notre Dame, where she now teaches. She is an algebraist whose research interests are in classical groups, K-theory, and representation theory. Links: Notre Dame RoscommonSligo Mathematical physicist George Stokes (1819-1903) was born 13 Aug in Skreen, Sligo. His education and entire professional life was at Cambridge. His legacy includes Stoke’s theorem in multivariable calculus and the Navier-Stokes equations in fluid dynamics. Tipperary Monsignor Pádraig de Brún (1889-1960) was born 13 Oct in Grangemockler, Tipperary, and was educated at UCD and the Sorbonne. He spent three decades at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, before becoming president of UCG. A classics and Irish scholar as well as a mathematician, he wrote the famous poem "Thánaig Long ó Valparaiso".  Father John Ryan was born 27 Feb in Holycross, Tipperary. His mathematics education was all completed at UCC. For over thirty years he’s been a missionary working in Malawi. He's currently also teaching at Mzuzu University, specialising in coding theory. Tyrone Astronomer Annie Maunder (née Russell, 1868-1947) was born 14 April in Strabane, Tyrone. In 1889 she was the highest ranked mathematics student at the BA examinations at Girton College, Cambridge, but as a woman was denied a degree. For decades she pursued solar research at Greenwich Royal Observatory, often publishing her findings under her husband’s name. Link: Wikipedia  Edgar Harper (1880-1916) was born 4 Jul in Dungannon, Tyrone. He earned a BA and MA from the Royal University of Ireland, and then taught at the University of North Wales in Bangor, where he co-authored a book on the mathematics of flying. He became Prof of Mathematics at UCC in 1913, but in 1915 obtained an army commission and left. In July 1916, he died during the Battle of Albert at the Somme.  Francis Murnaghan (1893-1976) was born 4 Aug in Omagh, Tyrone. He was educated at UCD and then at Johns Hopkins. He later spent 30 years on the staff at Johns Hopkins and wrote 16 books on various topics in mathematics and mathematical physics.  Mathematical physicist David Bates (1916-1994) was born 16 Nov in Omagh, Tyrone. He was educated at QUB and University College London, and later taught at both institutions. He was a founding member of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. Waterford Physicist Ernest Walton (1903-1995) was born 6 Oct in Dungarvan, Waterford. He studied maths and physics at TCD and Cambridge, and his "splitting the atom" with John Cockroft in the early 1930s lead to the two men later sharing a Nobel prize. Walton lectured at TCD for 4 decades.  Annraoi de Paor was born 8 Aug in Waterford, and was educated in electrical engineering at UCD and at Berkeley. He spent most of his career at UCD where much of his research was of a mathematical nature. He has made notable contributions to rehabilitation engineering, and recently published the book An Illustrated Collection of Limericks for Engineers and Physicists. WestmeathWexford Sinead Breen was born 29 July in Wexford. She was educated at DCU and taught at Maynooth before moving to St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra where she lectures in maths and carries out research in maths education. Links: St. Pat's Wicklow Oliver Byrne (1810-1890) was born 31 Jul in Avoca, Wicklow. He started publishing in Dublin at age 20, but spent most of his life in England and the USA. He is remembered for a book giving an innovative coloured treatment of Euclid. Links: Wikipedia Convergence |
