The Central Statistics Office of Ireland (Jul 2024)
Summer 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the 1949 foundation of the Republic of Ireland's CSO (Central Statistics Office). That grew out of a division of the Department of Industry and Commerce whose origins go back to the foundation of the Irish Free State at the end of 1922. This is discussed at this CSO webpage.
In the first half of the 20th century, the brightest maths graduates on the island of Ireland generally had little opportunity to pursue research careers, at home or overseas. Many of those from the 26 counties ended up in the civil service and the public sector in what became the Republic of Ireland, as statisticians or meteorologists, while other played leadership roles in bodies such as the ESB (Electricity Supply Board) and later on the ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute).
Most of the men who played significant roles in the early days of the CSO had university training in maths. Many were actively recruited from the bachelors graduates in mathematical science at the NUI colleges, the first cohort having been educated in Cork.
Today, the CSO is a much larger and different organisation, in which maybe 1 in 4 of its roughly 1000 employees has mathematical or statistical training, with numerous others having training in economics.
Our goal this month is to account for the Irish maths graduates, especially those pre-2000, who ended up with careers in the CSO. This corresponds with the first half century of existence of this 26-county government entity. (To mark the 50th anniversary of the CSO in 1999, UCC established the Donal McCarthy Postgraduate Research Scholarship.)
Much detail of the careers of the earliest Irish government statisticians can be found at CS. Another excellent source of biographical information is this accounting of Past Presidents of Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland (SSIS). Below, we also include some CSO directors who initially trained in economics.
John Hooper was the first director of statistics (1922-1930) for the Free State. Following his untimely death, Stanley Lyon took over (1931-1947). Roy Geary was the third such director, and, in 1949, the Central Statistics Office itself was created, under his leadership.
Later directors were Donal McCarthy (1957-1966), Tom Linehan (1967-1991), Donal Murphy (1991-2000), Donal Garvey (2001-2007), Gerry O'Hanlon (2007-2012), Pádraig Dalton (2012-2024) and most recently, newly appointed Jennifer Banim. It would appear that there is correlation between being named Donal and leading the CSO!
In addition to those documented below, there were maths grads who only worked at the CSO for a year or two, including Joe McKenna (UCD BSc 1968), Páid Ó Murchú (UCC BSc 1972?), Pat Murphy (UCC BSc 1975), Anne Gaffey (UCD BSc 1981), and Kevin McDaid (UCD BSc 1991)
Some of the photos here were sources from the National Statistics Board website.
Comments, additions and corrections are welcome, as are more photographs.
Thanks to Olivia Bree (SPD) for valuable input. Last updated 2 Aug 2024.
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01. Statistician John Hooper (1878-1930) was born 26 January in Cork city and grew up there and in Dublin. He was educated at UCD (BA 1898). His career was spent in the civil service, first in the department of agriculture, and from 1923 on as the first director of statistics for the Irish Free State. He died before he was due to be awarded an NUI honorary doctorate. The Hooper Medal for school children is awarded each year by the CSO. |
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02. Statistician Stanley Lyon (1882-1975) was born 16 November in Dublin, and grew up there and in Drogheda, Louth. He was educated at UCD (BA 1906), having already worked in the civil service. He continued such work in both Dublin and London until 1922, following which he stayed in Dublin. He served as the second director of statistics (1931-1947), in what was later known as the CSO. |
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03. Statistician R. C. (Roy) Geary (1896-1983) was born 11 April in Dublin. After attending UCD (BSc 1916, MSc 1917) he was awarded an NUI Travelling Studentship, and studied at the Sorbonne (1919-1921). He had a long career in the Department of Industry and Commerce (1923-1949), before leading two newly formed government entities: the Central Statistics Office (1949-1956) and the Economic and Social Research Institute (1960-1966). He was attached the United Nations Stats Office from 1957 to 1960. He has 3 books to his credit. NUI awarded him a DEcon in 1962, and he also received honorary degrees from QUB (1968) and TCD (1973). His name lives on in the Stone–Geary utility function, the Geary–Khamis dollar, and UCD's Geary Institute for Public Policy, and elsewhere. Wikipedia / MacTutor / DIB / RDS / IMS / SSISI / Geary's C / Utility Function / Podcast / 1901 Census / 1911 Census |
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04. Statistician Donal McCarthy (1908-1980) was born 4 June in Midleton, Cork, and was educated at UCC (BA 1928, MSc 1934, PhD 1938+). His thesis was a result of study (1936-1937) at King's College London. He lectured at UCC (1931-1949), often in Irish, and introduced post graduate level statistics courses there starting in 1939. He was chair of maths physics from 1944 on, and then joined the CSO (1949-1966), first serving as deputy director, then from 1957 on as director. After a year heading up the ESRI, he was appointed president of UCC (1967-1978). He received honorary degrees from NUI (1967) and TCD (1971). |
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05. Brendan Broderick (1922-2007) was born 13 September in Dublin and was educated at UCD (BSc 1943, MSc 1944), where he was awarded an NUI Travelling Studentship (1945). Following study at Manchester under Sydney Goldstein, he spent his career at the CSO (1948-1983). In 1957, he was one of two people appointed to the new position of Senior Statistician. |
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06. Tom Linehan (1926-2017) was born 8 April in Cork city, and was educated at UCC (BE 1946, BSc 1948). He was one of four UCC postgraduates co-opted into the new CSO in the spring of 1949, abandoning his master's. With Bill Hyland, he then spent 8 months working in assorted statistical agencies in Washington, DC. His whole career was at the CSO, where in 1957, he was one of two people appointed Senior Statistician. Later, he became its longest serving director (1967-1991); this included the key period of preparing Ireland for membership of the EEC in 1973. He also wrote statistical verse. |
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07. Patricia McHenry (later Harrington, 1928-2013) was born in Galway city, and grew up there and in Cork, her father being physicist J. J. McHenry. She was educated at UCC (BSc 1948). She was one of 4 postgraduates there co-opted into the new CSO in 1949. However, she left a year later upon marrying. |
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08. Bill Hyland (1925-1996) was born in Cork city and grew up in Ballindangan. He was educated at UCC (BSc 1948) and as a postgraduate student was co-opted into the new CSO in the spring of 1949, abandoning his master's. With Tom Linehan, he then spent 8 months working in assorted statistical agencies in Washington, DC. He spent most of his career at the UN (NYC, 1952-1962, and Geneva, 1964-1966) and back in Dublin at the Dept of Education (1962-1964 and 1966-1990). |
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09. Eamon Henry was educated at UCG (BSc 1953, MSc 1954, PhD 1971+). His career included stints at the CSO (1968-1971 & 2001-2005), and spending a quarter century at ESRI (1971-1997). |
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10. Statistician and labour market specialist Jerry Sexton (1939-2022) was born 6th March in Cork and was educated at UCC (BSc 1960, MSc 1962). He worked at the CSO, rising to the rank of Senior Statistician, before moving to the ESRI (1981-2004). ESRI / SSIS (page 48) / ResearchGate / LinkedIn / RIP |
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11. Statistician Donal Murphy was born 28 December in Timoleague, and grew up there and in Cork city. He was educated at UCC (BSc 1962, MSc 1963, MEconSci 1964). His entire career (1964-2000) was spent at the CSO, where he served as Director (1991-1994) and then as the first Director General (1994-2000). In 1991 he completed an MSc in management science by TCD. |
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12. Statistician Iggy Ó Muircheartaigh was born in Dublin, and was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1963, MSc 1964). He worked at the CSO (1963-1966), and then studied at Glasgow (PhD 1970). His thesis on "Discrimination and Diagnosis" was done under John Aitchison. His career was spent at Galway (1970-2008), also serving as the college president. He still researches stats applications to human rights, economics, and medicine. |
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13. Economist Brian Geoghegan was born in Limerick, and was educated at UCG (BA 1964, MA 1965). He worked at the CSO until 1994, rising to the rank of Deputy Directo. The rest of his career was spent at IBEC (1994-2000), FÁS (2001-2005) and MRPA (2006-). |
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14. John Frain was born 24 June in Dublin and was educated at UCD (BSc 1965, MSc 1966). His career started at the CSO (1968-1982), followed by many years at the Central Bank (1982-2004) and finally a stint on the econ staff at TCD (2004-2011). He earned an MEconSc from UCD (1987) and a PhD in econometrics from TCD (2009). TCD / TCD2 / ResearchGate / Prabook |
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15. Tom Keane was born in Waterford and was educated at UCC (BSc 1966, MSc 1967). His career was spent in the CSO (based in Cork), where he served as head of IT. |
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16. Rory Hearne (1942-1988?) was born somewhere in Longford. He was educated at UCD (BSc 1966) and then at Aberytwyth (MSc in stats). He is believed to have worked at the CSO before settling down at An Foras Forbartha. He died relatively young. His legacy included a method, using fairly sophisticated statistical techniques, for locating stretches of the national roads that were high risk for accidents, as well as some early surveys of seat belt usage. |
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17. Statistician Donal Garvey was born 9 August in Millstreet, Cork, and was educated at UCC (BSc 1967, MSc 1968). His entire career was spent at the CSO, where he served as Director General (2001-2007). Back in 1994 he completed an MSc in management science by TCD. CSO. |
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18. Bill Keating was born 5 April in Crosshaven, Cork, and was educated at UCC (BSc 1968). His entire 42-career was spend at the CSO (Dublin), rising to the rank of Assistant Director General (Economic Statistics). |
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19. Mick Lucey was born in Cork and was educated at UCC (BSc 1970, MSc 1971). His career was spent at the CSO (Dublin), where he was Senior Statistician in economic statistics. His expertise includes national accounts (government). |
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20. Adrian Redmond was born in Dublin and was educated at UCD (BSc 1970, MSc 1971) and TCD (MSc 1973). He then spent 4 decades at the CSO, rising to the rank of Senior Statistician and serving as Head of Dissemination in this final years there. |
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21.Dave Jennings (1949-2009) was born in Cork city, and was educated at UCC (BSc 1971, BSc 1972), where he was awarded an NUI Travelling Studentship. His entire career was spent at the CSO, rising to the rank of Senior Statistician. |
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22. Joe Madden was born in Cork, and was educated at UCC (BSc 1971), TCD (MSc in stats 1972), and the Inst of Social Studies in the Hague (Dip 1974). His whole career was spent at the CSO, rising to the rank of Senior Statistician. |
| 23. Paddy McDonald was educated at UCD (BSc 1971, MSc 1972). His career was spent at the CSO, rising to the rank of Senior Statistician. His expertise includes national accounts (expenditure). | |
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24. Gerry O'Hanlon was born in Kilkenny and was educated at UCC (BSc 1972) and TCD (MSc in strategic management). His career was spent at the CSO, where he rose to become director general (2007-2012). |
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25. Aidan Punch was born 31 October in Cork and was educated at UCC (BSc 1972). His whole career was spent at the CSO (Dublin), in time specialising in "prices, national accounts, the labour market, demography, including census of population, and macroeconomic statistics." He served as Director (census). His fluency in Irish resulted in frequent media interviews as Gaeilge. |
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26. Statistician Mike Reidy was born in Kerry and was educated at UCC (BSc 1972). His career included stints at the CSO and CIE. |
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27. Statistician Catherine Finneran was born near Athlone, Westmeath, and was educated at UCG (BSc 1977, MSc 1978?), then lecturing at NIHE Limerick for a few years. The rest of her career was spent at the CSO. She was married to Dave Jennings (1949-2009), a UCC maths grad and Travelling Studentship winner whose career was also at the CSO. |
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28. Algebraist and statistician Patrick Quill was born in Dublin and was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1986, MSc 1987). He then taught in Bray for many years. Following his UCD PhD "On the Quadratic Character of Irreducible Modules of the Symmetric Group" (2003), done under Rod Gow, he joined the CSO. He has been there ever since, apart from a few years at the Dept of Finance (2011-2014). Since his return to CSO he has been Senior Statistician in the balance of payments and financial sector. He is currently with the IMF in Washington, DC. |
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29. Statistician Gerard Keogh is from Arklow, Wicklow, and was educated at first at NIHE Limerick (BSc 1986). He taught at RTC Cork for a few years and got a master's at DCU (1991) for a thesis on "Numerical Solution of Ordinary and Algebraic Differential Equations using One Step Methods" with John Carroll. He then joined the CSO, where his interests included methodology and environmental stats. He was awarded a PhD at TCD (2006) for a thesis on "Univariate Time Series Modelling and Forecasting Using TSMARS" done under John Haslett. He retired in 2023. |
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30. Statistician Patrick Murphy was born in Termonfeckin, Louth, and was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1988, MSc 1990). He commenced doctoral studies there under John Kennedy, who sadly died, following which he worked for the CSO (1990-1999). Since then he has been on the staff at UCD. His 2004 PhD on "" was done under Yudi Pawitan at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. |
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31. Statistician Pádraig Dalton was born in Wicklow and was educated in economics at UCD (BA 1989, MA 1990). His career since 1991 has been spent at the CSO, rising to the rank of Director General (2012-2024). |
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32. Jennifer Banim was born in Kilkenny and was educated at DCU (BSc 1989) and has been at the CSO since 1989. In mid 2024, she became Director General. |
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33. Statistician John Dunne was educated at first in stats at UCD (BA 1991, MA 1993), and has been at the CSO his entire career. He earned a 2002 MBA from UCC, and 2020 PhD from Southampton. |
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34. Elaine O'Sullivan was |
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35. Statistician Mary Heanue was born in Maynooth, Kildare, and was educated there (BSc 1993, MSc in physics 1996). Most of her career has been spent at the CSO, apart from a spell at the WHO (Lyon, 2006-2011). |
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36. Statistician James O'Shea CLARE |
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37. Statistician Edel Flannery was |
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38. Statistician Clare O'Hara was |
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| 39. Statistician Sarah O'Rourke was born in Dublin, and was educated at Maynooth (BSc 2009) and UCD (MSc in stats 2010, PhD 2015. Her thesis on "" was done under Gabrielle Kelly & Máirtín Mac Siúrtáin. | |
