Alfred O'Rahilly
Encyclopedia
Alfred O'Rahilly was a noted academic, President of University College Cork and Teachta Dála
(TD) for Cork City
.
and educated at St. Michael's College Listowel
, and at Blackrock College
in Dublin, O'Rahilly went on to third level education at University College Cork, where he completed an MA
and PhD
.
He was appointed assistant lecturer
in the Department of Mathematics
and Mathematical Physics
in 1914, and made full Professor of Mathematical Physics in 1917. He became Registrar
of the college in 1920, and held the post until 1943 when he became President of the University.
O'Rahilly founded the Cork University Press in 1931.
and was elected to Cork City Council
as a Sinn Féin and Transport Workers candidate. Arrested early in 1921 for political writings, O'Rahilly was interned on Spike Island
Prison Colony.
Released in October, 1921 he was constitutional adviser to the Irish Treaty Delegation. O'Rahilly supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and in 1922 he composed a draft constitution for the Irish Free State
with Edmund Darrell Figgis
.
O'Rahilly lead Irish delegations to the International Labour Organisation Conferences in 1924, 1925 and 1932, and took on conciliatory role in trade union
and employers disputes in Munster
.
Standing as a candidate in Cork Borough
for Cumann na nGaedheal, he was elected to the 4th
Dáil in 1923. He stood down in 1924, causing a by-election which was won by the Cumann na nGaedheal candidate Michael Egan.
from early life, O'Rahilly was a member of the Society of Jesus but left before ordination and was dispensed from his vows. He maintained his (sometimes controversial) religious views throughout his life, and became a priest
, and then Monsignor
, in later years following the death of his wife. He wrote a biography of Fr. Willie Doyle SJ - which was subsequently translated into other languages.
He was also an advisor on university education to the Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid
and sat on an informal committee from 1950. The committee included O'Rahilly, and the other presidents of the National University of Ireland
; Michael Tierney
of UCD
, Monsignor Pádraig de Brún
, Cardinal D'Alton, and Bishops Cornelius Lucey
of Cork
and Michael Browne
of Galway
.
in rejecting Maxwell's field account. As a logical consequence of his rejection of Maxwell, O'Rahilly also rejected Einstein's theory. O'Rahilly embraced Ritz's ballistic theory of light and Ritz's electrodynamics
. O'Rahilly also wrote against applying the theory of evolution to human society.
Because O'Rahilly thought Cork lacked a social science curriculum he volunteered to teach courses in economics and sociology. When told that they could not spare him from the physics courses, he volunteered to teach an economics course and sociology course along with his physics courses.
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
(TD) for Cork City
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
.
Education and academia
Born in Listowel, County KerryCounty Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
and educated at St. Michael's College Listowel
St. Michael's College Listowel
St Michael's College Listowel, is an all-boys secondary school serving the town of Listowel, and the greater North Kerry catchment area. The school is situated on the banks of the River Feale, and can be found on the Cahirdown Road.-History:...
, and at Blackrock College
Blackrock College
Blackrock College is a Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys aged 14–18, located in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. The College was founded by French missionaries in 1860, to act as a school and civil service training centre. Set in of grounds, it has an illustrious...
in Dublin, O'Rahilly went on to third level education at University College Cork, where he completed an MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
and PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
.
He was appointed assistant lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
in the Department of Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and Mathematical Physics
Mathematical physics
Mathematical physics refers to development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The Journal of Mathematical Physics defines this area as: "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the development of mathematical methods suitable for such applications and...
in 1914, and made full Professor of Mathematical Physics in 1917. He became Registrar
Registrar (academic)
In education outside the United Kingdom, a registrar or registrary is an official in an academic institution who handles student records. Typically, a registrar processes registration requests, schedules classes and maintains class lists, enforces the rules for entering or leaving classes, and...
of the college in 1920, and held the post until 1943 when he became President of the University.
O'Rahilly founded the Cork University Press in 1931.
Politics and public life
After the 1916 Rising O'Rahilly publicly supported Sinn FéinSinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
and was elected to Cork City Council
Cork City Council
Cork City Council is the local authority which is responsible for the city of Cork and its immediate hinterland in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment...
as a Sinn Féin and Transport Workers candidate. Arrested early in 1921 for political writings, O'Rahilly was interned on Spike Island
Spike Island, County Cork
Spike Island is an island of 103 Acres in Cork Harbour, Ireland.It was significant in the French intervention following the Glorious Revolution, and was later purchased by the British government in 1779 – becoming the site of Fort Westmoreland...
Prison Colony.
Released in October, 1921 he was constitutional adviser to the Irish Treaty Delegation. O'Rahilly supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and in 1922 he composed a draft constitution for the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
with Edmund Darrell Figgis
Darrell Figgis
Darrell Edmund Figgis was an Irish writer, Sinn Féin activist and independent parliamentarian in the Irish Free State. The little that has been written about him has attempted to highlight how thoroughly his memory and works have been excised from Irish popular culture.-Early life:Darrell Figgis...
.
O'Rahilly lead Irish delegations to the International Labour Organisation Conferences in 1924, 1925 and 1932, and took on conciliatory role in trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
and employers disputes in Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
.
Standing as a candidate in Cork Borough
Cork Borough (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Cork Borough was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1921 to 1969...
for Cumann na nGaedheal, he was elected to the 4th
Members of the 4th Dáil
This is a list of the members who were elected to the 4th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State. These TDs were elected at the 1923 general election on 27 August 1923 and met on 19 September 1923...
Dáil in 1923. He stood down in 1924, causing a by-election which was won by the Cumann na nGaedheal candidate Michael Egan.
Religion
A deeply religious CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
from early life, O'Rahilly was a member of the Society of Jesus but left before ordination and was dispensed from his vows. He maintained his (sometimes controversial) religious views throughout his life, and became a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, and then Monsignor
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
, in later years following the death of his wife. He wrote a biography of Fr. Willie Doyle SJ - which was subsequently translated into other languages.
He was also an advisor on university education to the Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid
John Charles McQuaid
John Charles McQuaid, C.S.Sp. was the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland between December 1940 and February 1972.- Early life 1895-1914:...
and sat on an informal committee from 1950. The committee included O'Rahilly, and the other presidents of the National University of Ireland
National University of Ireland
The National University of Ireland , , is a federal university system of constituent universities, previously called constituent colleges, and recognised colleges set up under the Irish Universities Act, 1908, and significantly amended by the Universities Act, 1997.The constituent universities are...
; Michael Tierney
Michael Tierney (bishop)
Michael Tierney was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Hartford, Connecticut from 1894 until his death in 1908.-Biography:...
of UCD
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
, Monsignor Pádraig de Brún
Pádraig de Brún
Monsignor Pádraig de Brún was an Irish clergyman, mathematician and classical scholar, who served as President of University College Galway....
, Cardinal D'Alton, and Bishops Cornelius Lucey
Cornelius Lucey
-Youth and education:Cornelius Lucey was born into a farming family at Carrigrohane, near Cork City. He studied at St Finbarr's College, Farranferris, the diocesan college. He graduated from St Patrick's College, Maynooth with BC and BCL, and obtained MAs at Innsbruck University in 1927–29 and then...
of Cork
Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross is a Roman Catholic diocese in southern Ireland. It is one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel and is subject to the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. The diocese is in the secular province of Munster...
and Michael Browne
Michael Browne (bishop)
Michael Browne was an Irish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh from 1937 to 1976....
of Galway
Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora is a Roman Catholic diocese in the western part of Ireland. It is in the Metropolitan Province of Tuam and is subject to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tuam...
.
Science
O'Rahilly wrote a major survey of electromagnetic theory, Electromagnetics. He opposed Maxwell's dominant (British) theory of the electromagnetic field and followed the French Catholic physicist, historian of science, and philosopher of science Pierre DuhemPierre Duhem
Pierre Maurice Marie Duhem was a French physicist, mathematician and philosopher of science, best known for his writings on the indeterminacy of experimental criteria and on scientific development in the Middle Ages...
in rejecting Maxwell's field account. As a logical consequence of his rejection of Maxwell, O'Rahilly also rejected Einstein's theory. O'Rahilly embraced Ritz's ballistic theory of light and Ritz's electrodynamics
Ritz's Equation
In 1908, Walter Ritz published Recherches critiques sur l'Électrodynamique Générale, a lengthy criticism of Maxwell-Lorentz electromagnetic theory, in which he contended that the theory's connection with the luminiferous aether made it "essentially inappropriate to express the comprehensive laws...
. O'Rahilly also wrote against applying the theory of evolution to human society.
Because O'Rahilly thought Cork lacked a social science curriculum he volunteered to teach courses in economics and sociology. When told that they could not spare him from the physics courses, he volunteered to teach an economics course and sociology course along with his physics courses.
Links and sources
- Denis O'Sullivan, ed., Social Commitment and Adult Education: Essays in Honor of Alfred O'Rahilly as an Irish Adult Educator (Cork University Press, 1989)
- UCD Archives - Papers of Alfred O’Rahilly