Ireland's Greatest
Encyclopedia
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
(RTÉ) and associated television documentary series broadcast on RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
, where viewers voted to choose the greatest person in the history of Ireland
History of Ireland
The first known settlement in Ireland began around 8000 BC, when hunter-gatherers arrived from continental Europe, probably via a land bridge. Few archaeological traces remain of this group, but their descendants and later Neolithic arrivals, particularly from the Iberian Peninsula, were...
. The concept was based on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series 100 Greatest Britons
100 Greatest Britons
100 Greatest Britons was broadcast in 2002 by the BBC. The programme was the result of a vote conducted to determine whom the United Kingdom public considers the greatest British people in history. The series, Great Britons, included individual programmes on the top ten, with viewers having further...
. The winner was John Hume
John Hume
John Hume is a former Irish politician from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and was co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize, with David Trimble....
.
Format
To draw up an initial shortlist of 40 names, RTÉ commissioned an opinion pollOpinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
of 1,000 members of the public, carried out by Ipsos MRBI
Ipsos
Ipsos S.A. is a global market research company headquartered in Paris, France. The Company was founded in 1975 and has been publicly traded on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1 July 1999...
in late 2009. The shortlist was published on 22 March 2010 on the RTÉ.ie
Rte.ie
RTÉ.ie is the brand name and home of RTÉ's online activities, located at the URL http://rte.ie. The site began publishing on 26 May 1996. According to RTÉ, it operates on an entirely commercial basis, receiving none of the licence fee which funds much of RTÉ's activity. The site, it says, is funded...
website, and readers could vote for their preferred person for 12 days, ending on 2 April; one vote per IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
was permitted. The top ten was announced on The Tubridy Show
The Tubridy Show
The Tubridy Show was an Irish talk-based entertainment radio programme presented by Ryan Tubridy. It was broadcast on Mondays to Fridays at 09:00 on RTÉ Radio 1....
with Myles Dungan
Myles Dungan
Myles Dungan is an Irish broadcaster and author. He has presented many arts programmes on RTÉ Radio.Dungan began broadcasting in RTÉ in 1977 as a continuity announcer. He has worked as a reporter for RTÉ Television and RTÉ Radio. He has presented programmes such as Five Seven Live, The Arts Show...
on 5 April 2010. The top five was established at this point, but not publicised until RTÉ's programming schedule for autumn 2010 was unveiled in August. Each of the top five was profiled in a one-hour documentary programme broadcast in autumn 2010 and presented by a public figure advocating that person's claim to the title of "greatest person". Viewers voted for the overall winner, announced on The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
on 22 October 2010.
Top five
The ranking of the top five, and the advocates who each present a one-hour documentary about one of them, were as follows:| Place | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | Bono Bono Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his... |
Top 40
The following people were shortlisted:| Rank | Name | Born | Died | Field(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1937 | Politics | ||
| 2 | 1890 | 1922 | Politics | |
| 3 | 1944 | Politics | ||
| 4 | 1868 | 1916 | Politics | |
| 5 | Bono Bono Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his... |
1960 | Music, charity | |
| 6–10 | 1915 | 1997 | Politics | |
| 6–10 | 1976 | 2009 | Music | |
| 6–10 | 1951 | 1986 | Music | |
| 6–10 | 1879 | 1916 | Politics | |
| 6–10 | 1955 | Charity | ||
| 11–40 | 1882 | 1975 | Politics | |
| 11–40 | 1939 | 2007 | Music | |
| 11–40 | 1934 | 2008 | Music | |
| 11–40 | 1976 | Acting | ||
| 11–40 | 1926 | 2011 | Politics | |
| 11–40 | 1951 | Charity, music | ||
| 11–40 | 1971 | Sport | ||
| 11–40 | 1925 | 2006 | Politics | |
| 11–40 | 1939 | Literature | ||
| 11–40 | 1882 | 1941 | Literature | |
| 11–40 | 1928 | 2002 | Literature | |
| 11–40 | 1971 | Sport | ||
| 11–40 | 1977 | Music | ||
| 11–40 | 1899 | 1971 | Politics | |
| 11–40 | 1917 | 1999 | Politics, sport | |
| 11–40 | 1959 | Sport | ||
| 11–40 | 1945 | Music | ||
| 11–40 | 1952 | Acting | ||
| 11–40 | 1775 | 1847 | Politics | |
| 11–40 | 1961 | Music | ||
| 11–40 | 1979 | Sport | ||
| 11–40 | 1961 | Business | ||
| 11–40 | 1944 | Charity | ||
| 11–40 | 1969 | Sport | ||
| 11–40 | 1846 | 1891 | Politics | |
| 11–40 | 1920 | 1979 | Sport | |
| 11–40 | 1763 | 1798 | Politics | |
| 11–40 | 1952 | Music | ||
| 11–40 | 1854 | 1900 | Literature | |
| 11–40 | 1865 | 1939 | Literature |
Ireland's Greatest Women
In 2005, Marian FinucaneMarian Finucane
Marian Finucane is an Irish broadcaster with Raidió Teilifís Éireann . She has worked with the national broadcaster since in 1976, starting as a continuity announcer. She was the first presenter of Liveline...
's radio show organised a similar poll to find Ireland's greatest woman. There were some claims of ballot-stuffing. The top ten was:
- Nano NagleNano NagleHonora "Nano" Nagle founded the "Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary" in Ireland . Of the many schools founded by the Presentation Sisters - a number are named after Nano Nagle.- Family background and historical context :The time of Nagle's birth was one of dark sorrow for...
, founder of the Presentation SistersPresentation SistersThe Presentation Sisters, also known as the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary are an order of Roman Catholic women founded in Cork, Ireland by Nano Nagle in 1775.... - Mary RobinsonMary RobinsonMary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
, President of IrelandPresident of IrelandThe President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
and UN High Commissioner for Human RightsOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsThe Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is a United Nations agency that works to promote and protect the human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948... - Michelle SmithMichelle SmithMichelle Smith is a retired Irish swimmer and practising Irish barrister. She was a triple gold medallist at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, for the 400 m individual medley, 400 m freestyle and 200 m individual medley...
, winner of three gold medals and a bronze medal in swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics1996 Summer OlympicsThe 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
(later tarnished by allegations of usage of the performance-enhancing drug androstenedioneAndrostenedioneAndrostenedione is a 19-carbon steroid hormone produced in the adrenal glands and the gonads as an intermediate step in the biochemical pathway that produces the androgen testosterone and the estrogens estrone and estradiol.-Synthesis:Androstenedione is the common precursor of male and female sex...
) - Saint BrigidBrigid of KildareSaint Brigit of Kildare, or Brigit of Ireland , nicknamed Mary of the Gael is one of Ireland's patron saints along with Saints Patrick and Columba...
, 4th/5th century abbessAbbessAn abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
and one of Ireland's patron saintPatron saintA patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
s (many modern historians believe Brigid to be fictional) - Gráinne Ní Mháille, Galway pirate
- Christina Noble, founder of the Christina Noble Children's FoundationChristina Noble Children's FoundationThe Christina Noble Children's Foundation, also known as simply the CNCF, is an international non-government organization, dedicated to serving the world's oppressed and marginalized children...
- Edel QuinnEdel QuinnThe Venerable Edel Mary Quinn was an Irish lay missionary.Born in Kanturk, County Cork, Edel was the eldest child of bank official Charles Quinn and Louisa Burke Browne of County Clare. She was a great-granddaughter of William Quinn, a native of Tyrone who settled in Tuam to build St...
, Catholic missionary - Sophia McColgan, child abuse survivor
- Kathleen LynnKathleen LynnKathleen Florence Lynn was an Irish Sinn Féin politician, activist and medical doctor. She was born to a Dublin Church of Ireland family and educated in England and Germany before graduating as a doctor in 1899 from the Royal University of Ireland.An active suffragette, labour activist and...
, suffragetteSuffragette"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
, Sinn FéinSinn FéinSinn 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...
TD and Easter RisingEaster RisingThe Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
participant - Nora Herlihy, co-founder of the Irish League of Credit UnionsIrish League of Credit UnionsThe Irish League of Credit Unions is a trade association for credit unions in Ireland. It operates in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland...
Ireland's Greatest Sportsperson
In September 2009, RTÉ ran an online poll in sponsored by Paddy PowerPaddy Power
Paddy Power is Ireland’s largest bookmaker. Offline it conducts business through a chain of licensed betting offices and by operating Ireland's largest telephone betting service. Online it offers sports betting, online poker, online bingo, online casino games and spread betting...
to nominate Ireland's greatest sportsperson. A shortlist of 32 names was selected by a panel of experts. The top ten was announced on 31 December 2009:
- Pádraig HarringtonPadraig HarringtonPádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:...
(golf) - Brian O'DriscollBrian O'DriscollBrian O'Driscoll is an Irish professional rugby union player. He is the current captain of the Ireland Rugby team and captained Leinster Rugby until the start of 2008 season. He also captained the British and Irish Lions for their 2005 tour of New Zealand...
(rugby union) - Joey DunlopJoey DunlopWilliam Joseph "Joey" Dunlop, OBE , was a world champion motorcyclist from Ballymoney in Northern Ireland, best known for road racing. Referred to throughout the sport as "Joey", in 2005 he was voted the fifth greatest motorcycling icon ever by Motorcycle News...
(motorcycling) - George BestGeorge BestGeorge Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...
(soccer) - Roy KeaneRoy KeaneRoy Maurice Keane is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic in Scotland....
(soccer) - Sean KellySeán Kelly (cyclist)John James 'Sean' Kelly is an Irish former professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the most successful road cyclists of the 1980s, and one of the finest classics riders of all time. From turning professional in 1977 until his retirement in 1994, he won nine monument classics, and 193...
(cycling) - Sonia O'SullivanSonia O'SullivanSonia O'Sullivan in Cobh, County Cork. She began her running career in Ballymore Running Club which is located in the eastern side of Cobh Town. She was one of the world's leading female 5000 m runners for most of the 1990s and early first decade of the 21st century...
(athletics) - Christy RingChristy RingNicholas Christopher Michael Ring , better known as Christy Ring, was a famous Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with the Glen Rovers club from 1941 until 1967 and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 1939 until 1963. Ring is widely regarded as one of the greatest hurlers in...
(hurling) - Vincent O'BrienVincent O'BrienDr. Michael Vincent O'Brien was an Irish race horse trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history, according to a worldwide vote hosted by the Racing Post newspaper...
(horse racing) - Paul McGrathPaul McGrath (footballer)Paul McGrath is a retired Irish footballer, who played as a defender. McGrath is widely recognised as one of the greatest players to have ever come out of Ireland....
(soccer)
The other 22 were:
D. J. Carey
D. J. Carey
Denis Joseph Carey , better known as D.J. Carey , is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Young Irelands from 1988 until 2007 and was a member of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team from 1990 until 2005...
,
Eamonn Coghlan
Eamonn Coghlan
Eamonn Christopher Coghlan is an Irish Senator and former athlete, who specialised in middle distance track events and the 5000 metres...
,
Ronnie Delany,
Ken Doherty
Ken Doherty
Ken Doherty is an Irish professional snooker player. He is the only player ever to have been world amateur and world professional champion...
,
Mike Gibson,
Johnny Giles
Johnny Giles
Michael John "Johnny" Giles is a former association footballer and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s...
,
Kevin Heffernan
Kevin Heffernan (Gaelic footballer)
-See also :* List of people on stamps of Ireland*Dublin GAA*Dublin GAA Honours*Dublin Senior Club Football Championship...
,
Alex Higgins
Alex Higgins
Alexander Gordon "Alex" Higgins , also known by his nickname of Hurricane Higgins, was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who was twice World Champion and twice runner-up. Higgins earned the nickname The Hurricane because of his speed of play...
,
Jack Kyle
Jack Kyle
John Wilson Kyle OBE , commonly referred to as Jack Kyle or Jackie Kyle, is a former rugby union player who played for Ireland, the British Lions and the Barbarians during the 1940s and 1950s...
,
Eddie Macken
Eddie Macken
Eddie Macken is an Irish equestrian show jumper, who was a member of the Irish team - along with Paul Darragh, Capt. Con Power, and James Kernan – that won the Aga Khan Cup three years in a row...
,
Tony McCoy
Tony McCoy
Anthony Peter McCoy OBE , commonly known as A. P. McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish horse racing jockey....
,
Barry McGuigan
Barry McGuigan
Finbarr Patrick McGuigan MBE , known as Barry McGuigan and nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, is a former Irish and British professional boxer who became a world featherweight champion.-Background:...
,
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates....
,
Mick O'Connell,
Christy O'Connor Snr
Christy O'Connor Snr
Christy O'Connor is a former Irish professional golferO'Connor was born in Knocknacarra, Galway. He turned professional in 1946. Throughout the 1960s he won at least one professional event during each year on the British Tour, a level of consistent success matched by very few other players...
,
Mick O'Dwyer
Mick O'Dwyer
Mick O'Dwyer , is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He played Gaelic football with his local club Waterville and was a member of the Kerry senior team from 1956 until 1974...
,
Jack O'Shea
Jack O'Shea
Jack O’Shea is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played football at various times with his local clubs St. Mary’s in Kerry and Leixlip in Kildare. He was a member of the Kerry senior inter-county team from 1976 until 1992...
,
Mary Peters
Mary Peters (athlete)
Dame Mary Elizabeth Peters, DBE, DL is a former British athlete, competing mainly in the pentathlon and shot put.-Biography:Mary Peters was born in Halewood, Lancashire, but moved to Ballymena at age eleven...
,
Stephen Roche
Stephen Roche
Stephen Roche is a retired professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming only the second cyclist to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia stage races, plus the World road race championship...
,
Henry Shefflin
Henry Shefflin
Henry Shefflin is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Ballyhale Shamrocks and has been a member of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team since 1999...
,
Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith is a retired Irish swimmer and practising Irish barrister. She was a triple gold medallist at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, for the 400 m individual medley, 400 m freestyle and 200 m individual medley...
, and
John Treacy
John Treacy
John Treacy is a former Irish athlete and Olympic medalist, who represented Ireland at four Olympic Games between 1980 and 1992.- Career :...
.
Ireland's Greatest Scientist
In 2010, the website science.ie selected its Top 10 Irish scientists, in response to the exclusion of scientists from the RTÉ longlist.- Robert BoyleRobert BoyleRobert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
, founder of modern chemistryChemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and discover of Boyle's lawBoyle's lawBoyle's law is one of many gas laws and a special case of the ideal gas law. Boyle's law describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system... - William Rowan HamiltonWilliam Rowan HamiltonSir William Rowan Hamilton was an Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, who made important contributions to classical mechanics, optics, and algebra. His studies of mechanical and optical systems led him to discover new mathematical concepts and techniques...
, mathematician who developed Hamiltonian mechanicsHamiltonian mechanicsHamiltonian mechanics is a reformulation of classical mechanics that was introduced in 1833 by Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton.It arose from Lagrangian mechanics, a previous reformulation of classical mechanics introduced by Joseph Louis Lagrange in 1788, but can be formulated without...
and discovered quaternionQuaternionIn mathematics, the quaternions are a number system that extends the complex numbers. They were first described by Irish mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton in 1843 and applied to mechanics in three-dimensional space...
s - Ernest WaltonErnest WaltonErnest Thomas Sinton Walton was an Irish physicist and Nobel laureate for his work with John Cockcroft with "atom-smashing" experiments done at Cambridge University in the early 1930s, and so became the first person in history to artificially split the atom, thus ushering the nuclear age...
, physicist who "split the atomNuclear fissionIn nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
"; the only Irish Nobel laureateNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in a science (Physics, 1951) - Kathleen LonsdaleKathleen LonsdaleDame Kathleen Lonsdale, DBE FRS was a crystallographer, who established the structure of benzene by X-ray diffraction methods in 1929, and hexachlorobenzene by Fourier spectral methods in 1931...
, X-ray crystallographer who discovered the molecular structure of benzeneBenzeneBenzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
and diamondDiamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s - Dorothy PriceDorothy PriceDorothy Stopfort Price was an Irish doctor who made a great contribution to the elimination of childhood tuberculosis in Ireland.-References:...
, introduced the BCGBacillus Calmette-GuérinBacillus Calmette-Guérin is a vaccine against tuberculosis that is prepared from a strain of the attenuated live bovine tuberculosis bacillus, Mycobacterium bovis, that has lost its virulence in humans by being specially subcultured in an artificial medium for 13 years, and also prepared from...
tuberculosisTuberculosisTuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
vaccineVaccineA vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...
to Ireland - John TyndallJohn TyndallJohn Tyndall FRS was a prominent Irish 19th century physicist. His initial scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he studied thermal radiation, and produced a number of discoveries about processes in the atmosphere...
, physicist who studied radiant energyRadiant energyRadiant energy is the energy of electromagnetic waves. The quantity of radiant energy may be calculated by integrating radiant flux with respect to time and, like all forms of energy, its SI unit is the joule. The term is used particularly when radiation is emitted by a source into the...
in air - Harry FergusonHarry FergusonHenry George "Harry" Ferguson was an Irish engineer and inventor who is noted for his role in the development of the modern agricultural tractor, for becoming the first Irishman to build and fly his own aeroplane, and for developing the first four-wheel drive Formula One car, the Ferguson P99...
, inventor of the modern tractorTractorA tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction... - George Gabriel StokesGeorge Gabriel StokesSir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet FRS , was an Irish mathematician and physicist, who at Cambridge made important contributions to fluid dynamics , optics, and mathematical physics...
, physicist who worked in fluid dynamicsFluid dynamicsIn physics, fluid dynamics is a sub-discipline of fluid mechanics that deals with fluid flow—the natural science of fluids in motion. It has several subdisciplines itself, including aerodynamics and hydrodynamics...
, opticsOpticsOptics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
and mathematical physicsMathematical physicsMathematical 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...
; also discovered Stokes' theoremStokes' theoremIn differential geometry, Stokes' theorem is a statement about the integration of differential forms on manifolds, which both simplifies and generalizes several theorems from vector calculus. Lord Kelvin first discovered the result and communicated it to George Stokes in July 1850...
9. Fr Nicholas Callan
Nicholas Callan
Father Nicholas Joseph Callan was an Irish priest and scientist from Darver, Co. Louth, Ireland. He was Professor of Natural Philosophy in Maynooth College near Dublin from 1834, and is best known for his work on the induction coil....
, who invented the modern induction coil
Induction coil
An induction coil or "spark coil" is a type of disruptive discharge coil. It is a type of electrical transformer used to produce high-voltage pulses from a low-voltage direct current supply...
9. Charles Algernon Parsons
Charles Algernon Parsons
Sir Charles Algernon Parsons OM KCB FRS was an Anglo-Irish engineer, best known for his invention of the steam turbine. He worked as an engineer on dynamo and turbine design, and power generation, with great influence on the naval and electrical engineering fields...
, inventor of the steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
9. William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging...
, who formulated the first and second Laws of Thermodynamics
Laws of thermodynamics
The four laws of thermodynamics summarize its most important facts. They define fundamental physical quantities, such as temperature, energy, and entropy, in order to describe thermodynamic systems. They also describe the transfer of energy as heat and work in thermodynamic processes...
Criticism
The list of nominees for Ireland's Greatest was criticised by historians Diarmuid Ferriter, Tim Pat CooganTim Pat Coogan
Timothy Patrick Coogan is an Irish historical writer, broadcaster and newspaper columnist. He served as editor of the Irish Press newspaper from 1968 to 1987...
, and Maurice Manning
Maurice Manning
Maurice Manning is a former Irish Fine Gael politician. Manning was a member of the Oireachtas for 21 years, serving in both the Dáil and the Seanad. Since August 2002 he has been President of the Irish Human Rights Commission...
, and Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
columnist Noel Whelan They said that the list was skewed towards recent times, and that many nominees were celebrities from popular culture or sport rather than people who had made a lasting contribution to society; Ferriter said "It is going to be very hard to take this seriously for historians". Ryan Tubridy
Ryan Tubridy
Ryan Tubridy , affectionately known as "Tubs", is an Irish broadcaster and writer, a presenter of live shows on radio and television in Ireland. He has been described as "one of Ireland's most gifted broadcasters"...
, who presents The Late Late Show, commented, "There are some really silly names in there. It's contentious to say the least". Liam Dolan in the Sunday Independent
Sunday Independent
The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...
called it "a shambolic litany of well-intentioned do-gooders and talented non-entities". People whose inclusion attracted criticism included Stephen Gately
Stephen Gately
Stephen Patrick David Gately was an Irish pop singer–songwriter, actor, dancer, musician and author, who, with Ronan Keating, was one of two lead singers of the pop group Boyzone. All of Boyzone's studio albums hit number one in the United Kingdom, their third being their most successful...
, Louis Walsh
Louis Walsh
Louis Walsh is an Irish music manager and judge on the British television talent show The X Factor.-Band manager:...
and Daniel O'Donnell. The Belfast Telegraph
The Belfast Telegraph
The Belfast Telegraph is a daily evening newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland by Independent News & Media.It was first published as the Belfast Evening Telegraph on 1 September 1870 by brothers William and George Baird...
noted the absence of Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
and George Best
George Best
George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...
; other absentees noted were Michael Davitt
Michael Davitt
Michael Davitt was an Irish republican and nationalist agrarian agitator, a social campaigner, labour leader, journalist, Home Rule constitutional politician and Member of Parliament , who founded the Irish National Land League.- Early years :Michael Davitt was born in Straide, County Mayo,...
, John McCormack, William Rowan Hamilton
William Rowan Hamilton
Sir William Rowan Hamilton was an Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, who made important contributions to classical mechanics, optics, and algebra. His studies of mechanical and optical systems led him to discover new mathematical concepts and techniques...
, Lady Gregory
Augusta, Lady Gregory
Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory , born Isabella Augusta Persse, was an Irish dramatist and folklorist. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, and wrote numerous short works for both companies. Lady Gregory produced a number of...
, and Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
. Ken Sweeney in the Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
criticised the ranking of Stephen Gately ahead of Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
. The dearth of women —3 out of 40— was also noted. Website science.ie responded to the lack of scientists on the RTÉ shortlist by organising its own poll for Ireland's greatest scientist, won by Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
.
External links
- Ireland's Greatest from RTÉ website