Dublin

Email: Survey Officer

Astronomers

Observatories

Dunsink Observatory (Credit: http://www.astronomytrail.ie/)

Dunsink Observatory [DO] (1785- ), was the first building in Ireland specifically constructed for scientific research. It was where Ireland’s greatest mathematician and one of her greatest scientists, William Rowan Hamilton, lived and worked. And it was the place where the time standard for Ireland was set using astronomical observations until the first world war. Dunsink time is mentioned several times in James Joyce’s great novel Ulysses, and in 2012 the clocks used are still on display in the Observatory. Originally part of Trinity College Dublin, the Observatory was purchased by the state in 1947 when the School of Cosmic Physics was being established as part of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies . For some time under threat, happily in 2012 the observatory is used mainly for public outreach, small workshops and conferences, and as visitor accommodation for the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Open nights for star gazing are held twice monthly (Howse 1986; Stroobant 1931; Duff 1983).

Makers/Manufacturer

Grubb Telescope Company (1833-1925), Rathmines, Dublin, maker of telescopes and other optical instruments. Founded by Thomas Grubb (1800-78), who was laterjoined by his son Howard (1844-1931) in 1867.  During this period they constructed some of the largest astronomical telescopes in the world. By the First World War the factory was making periscopes and was  moved from Dublin to St Albans, England, by order of the Admiralty.   By 1925 the company, now known as Sir Howard Grubb and Son, was taken over and renamed  Grubb-Parsons (Glass 1997; Grace’s Guide).