George Boole 200

Good news for those who have been following the George Boole/Grenville Place saga which I've covered here for some time. 

It now seems likely that the building will be saved and re-purposed for civic/educational uses as part of the Year of George Boole in 2015.

Further details about Boole and the celebrations next year can be found in the wonderful new website:
http://georgeboole.com/

Boole's home to be rebuilt as part of year of celebrations

As part of a year of celebrations to mark 200 years since the birth of George Boole, his derelict former home in Cork City looks set to be refurbished and restored.

The building at number five Grenville Place has been derelict since a structural collapse in 2010. Despite repeated calls for the building to be saved, it has languished forlornly since the initial collapse.

Now, as part of University College Cork's Year of George Boole in 2015, the building could be rebuilt and saved for future generations. 

George Boole was the first Professor of Mathematics at Cork and is regarded as the 'Father of Boolean Algebra' whose research laid the groundwork for modern computing. University College Cork is keen to reaffirm the association between the university and Boole and is planning a series of commemorations including a statue of Boole, various exhibitions and an international conference. More information on the Year of George Boole website.

Although a future use for the refurbished building has not been decided, UCC is believed to be working with Cork City Council and others on plans for the Boole's former home.

Such a large scale and high profile year of events is to be warmly welcomed. The fact that a centrepiece of this year might secure a piece of Ireland's scientific and architectural heritage, should bring to an end this sorry saga.

You can see what the building might look like in this presentation (powerpoint) from YOGB.

Culture Night - Science in the City

The public will get a chance to handle some ancient fossils, meet slithering reptiles and view some amazing carnivorous plants when the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences at UCC throws open its doors for Culture Night 2013 on September 20th.

This is the first year that BEES has participated in Culture Night and visitors will get a chance to see some unique animal specimens collected by Charles Darwin himself during his famous voyage aboard the Beagle. The School of BEES is one of just a tiny number of institutions worldwide that houses Darwin specimens.

BEES Culture Night organiser Tara Duggan says there will be lots to see during the family-friendly event: "Starting at the historic Cooperage building, once part of the Jameson Distillery, visitors can tour our geology garden, wind turbine, fish ponds, greenhouses and laboratories. They can also try their hand at some experiments and step back in time while browsing the exhibits of our natural history museum and dinosaur fossils".

Throughout Culture Night BEES staff and students will be giving rapid-fire talks and showing short films about our environment and the world-leading research going on at BEES.

Culture Night 2013 takes place on Friday September 20th. BEES will be open for visitors to drop in from 5pm-8.30pm, with guided tours taking place at regular intervals. info

For full details on Culture Night in Cork, see the Culture Night Cork website.

Image: Tomas Tyner/School of BEES, UCC

"She looks beneath the shadow of my wings"

This plaque in Skibbereen, in West Cork marks the birthplace of the sisters Ellen and Agnes Clerke, both noted writers, particularly on the science of astronomy.

Living together in Skibbereen, Italy and London for most of their lives, the women pursued a common interest in science and, in particular, in the communication and popularisation of the subject.

Ellen was born on 20th of September 1840 in Skibbereen and Agnes was born on February 10th 1842. Their father was a bank manager in the town and a Protestant. Their mother was Catherine Deasy, a Catholic.

Although the family moved to Dublin in 1861 and to Queenstown (Cobh) in 1863, the sisters spent much of their childhood in West Cork. Due to their father's wealth and stature, the family was able to spend the cold winters in Rome (1867 and 68); Naples (1871 and 1872); Florence (1873-76). The sisters made the most of these trips abroad - spending many days reading in the Florence Public Library.

Agnes Mary Clerke (left) and Ellen Mary Clerke

The sisters only brother Aubrey noted the defining influence of their father, John William Clerke, on the scientific aptitude of the sisters:

"Although a classical scholar of Trinity College, Dublin", wrote Aubrey Clerke in 1907,"his interests were for the most part scientific".

"In our earliest years his recreation was chemistry, the consequential odours of which used to excite the wrath of our Irish servants. Later a 'big telescope' (4 inch aperture)was mounted in the garden, and we children were occasionally treated to a glimpse of Saturn's rings or Jupiter's satellites".

"These trivial things show that it was in an environment of scientific suggestion that our early lives were passed", wrote Aubrey Clerke in a foreword to a booklet recalling his sisters' lives.

The Clerke family home in Skibbereen

The family moved to London in 1877 and Agnes published the A Popular History of Astronomy during the Nineteenth Century in 1885. Her second book The System of the Stars was published in 1890.

Agnes Clerke was not a practicing astronomer and her contribution to the field is largely based on her tireless collation and interpretation of data from other researchers and the communication of that research. She could, perhaps, be best described as a science communicator, using today's vernacular.

Despite not working as an astronomer herself, she had, of necessity a vast knowledge of the area and spent a three month period in 1888 at the Cape Observatory (Cape Town) updating her knowledge.

Clerke Crater on the lunar surface

Agnes Clerke was a recipient, in 1893, of the Actonian Prize from the Royal Institution in London. This award was presented to the person who "in the judgement of the committee of managers for the time being of the Institution, should have been the author of the best essay illustrative of the wisdom and beneficence of the Almighty, in such department of science as the committee of managers should, in their discretion, have selected".

A member of the British Astronomical Association, Agnes was also an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Ellen Clerke is also known for some astronomical writings including the pamphlets "Jupiter and His System" and "The Planet Venus" but she was also known as a journalist, poet, novelist and commentator on religious issues, with a keen interest in Italian matters having lived in the country for several years.

Ellen's poem Night's Soliloquy, beautifully captures her and her sister's love of astronomy.

Agnes has the distinction of having a crater on the surface of the moon named in her honour. Crater Clerke is about 6 km in diameter and located very close to the Apollo 17 landing site - the last landing of humans on the lunar surface.

Ellen died after a short illness on March 2nd 1906. Huggins notes that "these sisters were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in death they were but little divided". Agnes died on January 20th 1907 from complications associated with pneumonia.

Private funds could help secure scientific heritage

Some positive steps forward could be on the way for number 5 Grenville Place in Cork City, the former home of mathematician George Boole.

The building partially collapsed in October 2010 and has been languishing in a terrible condition since, despite pressure being applied to Cork City Council and others to protect the building as part of Cork's cultural, historic and scientific heritage.

George Boole was the first Professor of Mathematics at Queen's College Cork (now University College Cork) and is widely regarded as the 'father' of computer science and certainly of Boolean algebra. Boole lived at Grenville Place from 1849 to 1855 and it is where he wrote one of his most important works: An Investigation of the Laws of Thought, on Which are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities.

In March of 2011, Cork City Manager Tim Lucey said that, subject to the consent of the owner, the City Council would "establish the level of interest in its future use/development, from the range of bodies which have expressed views to the Council on its historic importance".

At a Cork City Council meeting earlier this month, Mr. Lucey told councillors that a Building Condition and Feasibility Study had been completed for No. 5 Grenville Plane and had been circulated to University College Cork.

"It has been suggested to UCC that a small working group be established to determine how best to resolve issues and see what possibilities exist to deal with this important building in light of upcoming anniversaries of George Boole in 2014/2015", said Mr. Lucey.

The 150th anniversary of Boole's death falls on 8th December 2014. The 200th anniversary of his birth takes place on 2 November 2015.

The City Manager also confirmed that "preliminary discussions" had taken place between the university where Boole was professor of mathematics and the city council. According to the Irish Examiner, this working group will consider approaching Apple Computers, which has its European headquarters in Cork and other computer and software firms to see if private funding would be available to help preserve this building and Boole's memory in the city.

The Forgotten Botanical Gardens

On the south side of Cork City, between Turners Cross football stadium and Munster Rugby's Musgrave Park, lies the remnants of the southern city's long lost botanical garden.

It's so long ago since the site was used as a botanical gardens and the duration of its existence so short, that the memory of it is almost gone from the public consciousness.

To find the site today, you need to look for Saint Joseph's Cemetery. Once the short-lived gardens were closed, the site became one of the largest public cemeteries  in the city.

The Cork Botanical Gardens were established in 1808 by the Royal Cork Institution, which itself had been founded in 1803. The RCI had a huge influence on educational matters in Cork, supportive of the establishment of Queen's College Cork (now UCC) and the institution itself was a forerunner of Cork Institute of Technology. The gardens were themselves just one element of the RCI's plan to promote scientific and cultural matters in Cork.

James Drummond with one of his grandchildren

The Scottish botanist James Drummond (1786-1863) was chosen to curate the new gardens and he continued to do so until its closure, due to lack of funds, in 1828. Drummond was just 22 when he arrived in Cork from Scotland. On the closure of the park, Drummond, his wife (Sarah Maxwell Mackintosh) and six children travelled to the Swan River Colony (Western Australia) where he took up various roles as Government Naturalist, farmer, and plant collector. A hill and nature reserve in Australia, as well as over 100 plants have been named in his honour. A memorial to Drummond stands in Pelham Reserve, overlooking the family farm at Toodyay, Western Australia.

Drummond's father, Thomas, was a noted bryologist (collector of mosses) in Scotland and his grandfather, also Thomas, was a gardener.

Pinguicula grandiflora

The gardens in Cork had their beginnings when the RCI leased the 5.5 acre site at 'Lilliput', Ballyphehane in 1807. Once Drummond arrived in 1808, he laid out the site with a walled enclosure of about 1-acre at its centre with a glasshouse. As well as his work in the gardens, Drummond botanised widely across the Co. Cork and was elected an associate of the Linnean Society in 1810. He discovered Spiranthes gemmipara near Castletown Berehaven in 1810 and the insectivorous  Pinguicula grandiflora at Macroom in 1809.

Hogan's reclining angel atop the Murphy tomb. The inner wall of the cemetery and botanical gardens is visible in the background.

Once government funding was withdrawn, the garden became untenable and Fr. Theobald Mathew, the 'Apostle of Temperence' purchased the site for use as a public cemetery for Cork's poor. An 1837 description in A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland says the botanical garden/graveyard was "in the style of the Pere la Chaise, at Paris: the graves are distributed over the greater part amid the shrubs, plants, and flowers brought hither at a very great expense by the original proprietors; the ground is intersected by broad gravel walks, and there are several handsome monuments. Among these, one of the most remarkable is that erected over a vault belonging to Messrs. Murphy and O'Connor: it consists of a sarcophagus of Portland stone resting on a base of limestone. On the sarcophagus is the figure of a mourning angel, as large as life, of white Italian marble, wrought in Rome by Mr. John Hogan, a native of Cork". Fr. Mathew was buried at the centre of his own cemetery in 1856.

Grave of Fr. Theobald Mathew

For many years after the closure of the gardens and the opening of the cemetery, it was common for the place to be referred to as the 'Botanic Gardens Cemetery'. A death notice in the Cork Examiner on 31st October 1898 concludes: "Funeral from the South Parish Chapel for the Botanic Gardens on Tuesday (Nov. 1st), at 3 o'clock. R.I.P."

Now, all that remains of the gardens is the inner stone wall which once housed Drummond's glasshouse and which is now crowded with headstones and monuments. No significant planting remains. The street opposite the main gates to the cemetery is still however called Botanic Road. Unfortunately, nothing else marks the site of Cork's first Botanic Garden. Although further public and private botanic gardens were to be established, including that associated with University College Cork, this site at Ballyphehane has a unique place in the cultural and scientific heritage of the City. A place which has been all but forgotten by the general public.

The site should be marked with a suitable and modest marker to celebrate the vision of the Royal Cork Institution and the hard work of James Drummond.

Science in the (Curious) City

A series of events in Cork City this month should inspire creativity, spark innovation and encourage participants to "seek answers to life's great questions", according to the organisers.

In association with Dublin City of Science, CuriousCity is a collection of events running from June 23rd - 25th, all centred around the concept of STEAM - science, technology, engineering, arts and maths.

What I like about this series of events is that it is an attempt to move beyond concept of STEM and integrate the arts and sciences.

The event includes a science picnic at the Lifetime Lab; a retrospective of the work of Paul Gregg at Triskel Christchurch; a science rap workshop with DJ Stevie G; a science storytelling event for children at UCC; and a popup cinema showing films from the National Centre for Scientific Research in France.

Most tantalisingly of all, CuriousCity also promises some Spontaneous Secret Science events throughout the week.

You can find full details of all events on the CuriousCity webpage.

Boole's House: Problem hasn't gone away

The Evening Echo reports that after two and a half long years, the repair works to Grenville Place in Cork City are finally complete.

The quay wall was partially demolished here during the flooding of 2009. The roadway is directly adjacent to the former home of George Boole, a building which partially collapsed in October 2010.

Since then there has been pressure on those responsible, including Cork City Council to save the building and protect Cork's cultural, historic and scientific heritage.

Since Cork City Council had earlier stated that it would "subject to the consent of the owner, establish the level of interest in its future use/development, from the range of bodies which have expressed views to the Council on its historic importance" and given that the building now seems to be for sale on the open market, it's time to act.

The rebuilding of the quay wall was suggested as an obstacle to progressing the project. That obstacle has now, finally been cleared.

Given the length of time taken to deal with the quay wall, I won't hold my breath but Cork City Council and those responsible for the building's present condition would do well to hear that it hasn't gone away, you know.

Cobh: Titanic Connections and Ireland's First Female Pharmacist

Interior of Wilson's Pharmacy

A trip to Cobh in search of Titanic history uncovers a unique piece of Ireland's scientific heritage.

On this day 100 years ago, 123 passengers left Cobh (then Queenstown) in Co. Cork, Ireland to join the Titanic which was moored in Cork Harbour. So began the final journey across the Atlantic which was to end in disaster.

That tragedy has been marked across the globe this week as we approach the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking.

Earlier in the week, Communicate Science took a visit to Cobh to mark the anniversary. We visited the new Titanic Experience housed in the former White Star Line offices - the very building the Titanic passengers would have walked through and viewed the original White Star pier - badly in need of repair.

If you visit Cobh, Titanic Experience is worth a visit. It is just that; a real experience of life on board and the tragedy that occurred. If you're into the more detailed nitty-gritty of the tragedy, a visit to the nearby Cobh Heritage Centre is highly recommended.

White Star Pier, Cobh

However, while in Cobh, my interest was peaked by a distinctly scientific part of the town's heritage.

Just along the seafront from the Titanic memorial is Wilson's Pharmacy, which has been serving the people of Queenstown, Cobh and the visiting ships for over 100 years.

Opened in 1908 by John and Christina Wilson, it is remarkable that Christina Wilson was the first female pharmacist in Ireland.

Christina (nee Jessop) was born in Dublin in 1879, trained in Furlong's Chemist and was the first female pharmacist to qualify in Ireland in 1900. She went on to work in the South Dublin Union (now Saint James' Hospital) and it was there she met a young pharmacist from Cork who she married.

The couple returned to John's native Cobh and set up the family pharmacy at 18 West Beach. Three of their children, Jasper, John and Maura became pharmacists.

The pharmacy is now owned by Therese Wilson, granddaughter of the original owners.

The shop supplied ships of the White Star Line and, most likely, passengers aboard the Titanic. Much of the original shop fittings are still in place. As a piece of scientific heritage, it's a real find. Its connection with Ireland's first female pharmacist makes it even more impressive.

The plants and trees of Fota

This Bank Holiday weekend marked a much-anticipated return visit to Fota Arboretum in East Cork.

Fota Island was originally the home of the Smith-Barry family and in the ownership of that family since 1177. After the death of the last of the Smith-Barrys in 1975, the Island was sold to University College Cork. Over time, parts of the island has been put to a variety of uses including the unique Fota Wildlife Park. Although financial constraints required parts of the estate to be sold off for a golf course and hotel development, much of Fota remains in public ownership.

Fota House, former seat of the Smith-Barrys and their impressive gardens and arboretum is open to the public and is well worth a visit.

The Irish Heritage Trust took over responsibility for Fota House, Arboretum and Gardens in 2007 and there has been some noticeable improvements in signage and accessibility in that time. The Office of Public Works manage the gardens and arboretum.

Many sources describe the word Fota as coming from the Irish term 'Fód te' meaning warm soil and as such, the gardens are a great spot to relax and enjoy one of the greatest collection of rare and tender trees and shrubs growing outdoors in Ireland and Britain.

Japanese Cedar - a billowing thundercloud

The Smith-Barrys can be credited with the laying-out of the gardens and arboretum. Even up to the last of the Smith-Barrys, a Mrs. Bell, cataloguing and conserving the plant collections were important.

Japanese Cedar

One of the most impressive trees in the collection is a magnificent Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica 'Spiralis') planted in around 1880. The national tree of Japan, this variety has particularly interesting foliage where many of the needles twist themselves around the stems giving a spiral appearance. From a distance, the tree resembles a billowing thundercloud and is about 20 metres high.

There are a few small Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria araucana) trees in the arboretum.

Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria araucana)

Now is also a good time to visit. The Camellia and Magnolia are already in flower and Primroses abound in the wooded areas.

Magnolia 'Big Dude'

Camellia japonica 'Lavinia Maggi'

There is a magnificent Drimys winteri 'Glauca' currently in flower. Native to rain forests of Chile and Argentina, the bark of the plant known as "Winter's Bark" was a well known cure for scurvy.

Drimys winteri 'Glauca'

Drimys winteri 'Glauca'

Also at this time of the year, the azaleas which are dotted around the house are a riot of pinks, reds and purples.

For those who love plants Fota is a must visit. Understandably, the animals in the nearby wildlife park are a huge draw but, and at the risk of spoiling this oasis of calm, the gardens and arboretum deserve to be more visited in their own right.

Fota Garden and Arboretum are open year round and entry is free. There is however a €3 charge for parking. The island can also be accessed by train from Cork's Kent railway station. Charges apply for visiting Fota House and Fota Wildlife Park.

The Fota House Plant and Garden Fair takes place on Sunday 22nd April 2012 in association with Marymount Hospice New Building Fund. For more details, see www.fotahouse.com

What region of the earth is not full of our calamities?

You know Spring has arrived when the daffodils, which pushed through the soil early this year, are in full bloom around the country. In fact, today is Daffodil Day in Ireland - a fundraising event organised by the Irish Cancer Society. To celebrate, we remember an Irish plantsman who put Cork on the map in terms of daffodil growing - William Baylor Hartland.

WB Hartland came from a long line of successful horticulturists. His grandfather, Richard Hartland (1745-1821) worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew before moving to Ireland to become a gardener to the Earl of Kingston at Mitchelstown. Around 1787,  Richard established a nursery at Bellvue Cottage, Mallow and had three sons. Arthur established a nursery near Turner's Cross in Cork City - where it seems he planted a fine monkey puzzle tree; Richard jnr. opened a nursery at Glasheen which continued in existence up until 1923 as the Lough Nursery. By 1867 the Lough Nursery took up 40 acres and included 18,000 feet of glasshouses.

The third son, William Baylor (the father of our WB Hartland) stayed on at the family nursery at Bellvue.

Our William Baylor Hartland (1836-1912) was only seven years old in 1843 when his father died and left him the business. With the help of his uncles, the business was run successfully and he established his own nursery at Temple Hill, just outside Cork in 1878.  In 1889 he moved the short distance to Ard Cairn in Ballintemple.

Hartland became internationally famous for growing daffodil bulbs and developing new cultivars such as Ard Righ. He published his Little Book of Daffodils in 1896 and by the turn of the 20th century he was exporting bulbs all over the world.

The back cover of his catalogue from around that time (pictured) clearly shows the drive and marketing ability of the man. "The True Home of Daffodils" the advertisement proclaims about Cork. "Hartlands seeds, Daffodils, and bulbs of all sorts, to all parts of the world".

Hartlands Catalogue c. 1900 (Image: The Library, National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9)

The map of the world, with Cork at its centre is framed by a quote from Virgil - quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris or What region of the earth is not full of our calamities?

WB Hartland was clearly a wonderful salesman and his name lives on amongst daffodil breeders. He was also interested in new varieties of apple and he developed the Ard Cairn Russet variety. He died in 1912 and his nursery closed in 1917.

Cork Lough and the Lough Nurseries c. 1840. Present day Hartlands Avenue in red

The family name still lives on in Cork. In 1926, Oliver Hartland (who was, by then, running the Lough Nursery) built a road from Glasheen to the Lough. Hartland's Avenue remains as a reminder of the nursery and this family's industry.

Today is Daffodil Day and you can support the work of the Irish Cancer Society by buying a daffodil from sellers around the country. Look out for them and support this worthy cause.


Source: Much of the biographical information for this post comes from
Forrest, M (2010). Nurseries and nurserymen in Ireland from the early eighteenth to the early twenty-first century. Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes: An International Quarterly 30(4): 1460-1176.

In search of monkey puzzles

A. araucana, Spanaway, WA.

It's National Tree Week and earlier in the week I posted something on Araucaria araucana, the Monkey Puzzle Tree and asked for readers to let me know of any interesting examples in their area.

The thing about the Monkey Puzzle is that it is so unique and unmistakable for any other tree species that it tends to stick out in peoples' mind where they see one. As one writer put it: because of their uniqueness, they seem more common than they actually are.

They are also enough of a botanical curiosity that they are often an indication of some historic botanical connection that can be unearthed. They make for some good stories!

Melanie Brisbane was in touch from Spanaway in Washington State in the US to send a photo of her A. araucana covered in snow. The tree is quite cold-tolerant, although the roots can be damaged by severe and extended cold snaps.

Mary Higgins from Waterford mentioned the Monkey Puzzle at Doneraile Park in North Cork. The gardens at Doneraile Court and the plant collecting activities of Mary St. Leger are worthy of a post of their own. The tree is apparently still there but I don't have an image to hand. A trip North is on the cards, I think!
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Update 12/03/2012: Having travelled to Doneraile this weekend in search of A. araucana, I can safely say that if there was one in the park, it's gone now! More details in due course.
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TriploidTree commented on the specimen tree located at Tramore Road in Cork City (between Musgraves and CMP). CMP is gone from that location but at least one Monkey Puzzle is still present on the site.

Monkey Puzzle at Tramore Road, Cork

The size of the tree indicates that it has been located on the site for much longer than the current occupiers. A quick check of some old maps confirms the site was a plant nursery in the middle of the 19th Century and the tree was positioned at the entrance to the establishment. Surely a great way to impress prospective customers, by exhibiting one of the botanical curiosities of the age at the front gate.

c.1840 map of the Tramore Road Nursery site showing approximate position of the Monkey Puzzle tree (red dot)

OpenPlaques brought my attention to a tree at the bottom of Malone Road in Belfast which must surely be associated with the nearby Botanical Gardens? A quick search hasn't shown up anything there at the moment. Can any Belfast readers shed some light on the matter?
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Update 12/03/2012: Prof. John Pilcher from Queens University, Belfast contacted me recently to tell me that, as far as he knew, there was no Monkey Puzzle in the Gardens now. "Some of the old Belfast postcards seem to show one near the Malone road gate (near the Kelvin statue)" says John. "There are some specimens of [the related species] Araucaria heterophylla, one in the Tropical ravine and I think two in the Palm House".
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Finally, one other specimen of note is the fine example to be found at what is now Mahon Point in Cork City. This tree is all that remains of the once impressive Lakelands Demesne built by none other than William Crawford. As we've already learned, he was a keen plantsman and developed spectacular gardens on the site now occupied by suburban housing, a shopping centre and a dual carriageway. Sic transit gloria mundi.

I'll write more on Lakelands and Crawford's botanical exploits at a later date, but for National Tree Week it's good to know that this unique tree can act as a reminder of Crawford's Lakeland gardens.

A. araucana at Mahon Point, Cork

For Sale: Ireland's Scientific Heritage

George Boole's former home at Grenville Place in Cork City is now up for sale as an investment 'site'.

For €350,000 you can purchase this large city centre building which was once home to Queen's College Cork's first Professor of Mathematics and the 'Father' of modern algebra.

The house has been in a poor state of repair for some time and a structural collapse and 'making-safe' last year has led to significant damage to the roof and interior of the building.

At the time of the collapse there was significant enthusiasm for this building to be saved and restored. Over 1,200 people signed a petition to have the building urgently repaired and restored.

Now the building is up for sale with Global Properties as an investment site - apparently failing to mention that the building is listed on the Cork City record of protected structures and as such, cannot be demolished.

The property is described as a "Large site adjacent to the Mercy hospital and the Tyndall UCC overlooking the River Lee. Ideally-suited for Medical suites given it’s proximity to the Mercy Hospital".

Irish Examiner columnist and property editor Tommy Barker wrote recently about the property at number 5, Grenville Place suggesting that there was still hope that it could be saved: "While Boole’s house has been badly damaged by ravages of time and a partial building collapse, there’s surely enough IT entrepreneurs and major IT companies in Cork to rescue it in his memory."

It now seems that the time is right for a saviour of this building to emerge. Given Cork City Council's reluctance to get involved (they are still rebuilding quay walls alongside the property more than TWO YEARS after they were destroyed), perhaps Tommy Barker is right; perhaps it is time for the private sector to step up to the plate and make a contribution towards restoring this iconic and historically important building?

More details on Boole, 5 Grenville Place and the rest of this story in my earlier posts on the subject.

Cork Science Events in February

It's February, it's cold and it's wet! What you need is some science to keep the spirits up until spring. Here's a quick list of some science events happening in the next month or so. There is a particular emphasis on Cork events. Other events, particularly in Dublin, have been listed elsewhere.

Darwin Day │Sunday, February 12th │Quay Co-Op, Cork

Cork Humanists will be hosting an event to mark the life and works of Charles Darwin. They'll have birthday cake for the man himself and Dr. John Murray who lectures on paleontology at NUI Galway will give a presentation on "Darwin's Revelations". More info

Astronomy │ Monday, 13th February │University College Cork
Dr. Niall Smith, Head of Research at Cork Institute of Technology will give a talk entitled "Hunting for extrasolar planets - the latest finds and the life question" at 8pm in the UCC Civil Engineering Building G10.

Young Scientists│February 13th - March 3rd │Lifetime Lab
Winning Cork entrants in the recent BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition will be on display in the Lifetime Lab throughout the month.The idea is to recognise the work of students and their teachers, who have represented Cork at national level. More info

Brainbox Workshops │ Midterm, 13-17 February │Blackrock Castle Observatory
Got children to entertain and engage over the mid-term break? BCO are running daily 1.5 hour workshops on electronic circuits and how electricity impacts on our everyday lives. More info

Biodiversity │Wednesday, February 15th, 8pm │University College Cork
The College of Science, Engineering and Food Science continues its annual public lecture series with a talk by Dr. Paddy Sleeman on "Biodiversity and Infectious Disease - Towards One Health". More info

Geology Lectures │ Friday & Saturday, 17-18th February │University College Cork
The School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences is hosting this year's Irish Geological Research Meeting and the two keynote talks are open to the public. Prof. Dave Harper from Durham University will talk on "The origin of animal ecosystems: integrating the Cambrian Explosion and Ordovician Radiation" on Friday evening at 7pm. On Saturday at 5pm, Prof. Dick Kroon from University of Edinburgh will give a talk entitled "On the link between Neogene evolution of climates and hominids". Both talks are open to the public and all are welcome. More info

Where do we go from here? │ Saturday, 18th February │ University College Cork
UCC Science Society have an organised a one-day lecture series on the topic of  "Where to from here?". There is a broad range of topics to be covered, from genetics to astrophysics, nanotechnology to cancer and stem-cells. The lectures run from 11am - 6pm and are open to the public. More info

Coder Dojo │ Sunday, February 19th, 10am-1pm │Blackrock Castle Observatory
This movement aims to teach kids creative problem solving skills and practical creative skills. Alongside teaching, the aim is also to provide an outlet for kids who know how to code to meet others with similar interests. The 19th sees BCO's first class kicking off. See their website for more details. More info

Science and Business │ Wednesday, February 22nd, 8pm │University College Cork
Dr. Declan Jordan from the Dept. of Economics, UCC will present a talk where he argues that 'science-push' innovation policies are unlikely to produce the desired outcomes - growth and jobs. He'll argue that innovation policy should refocus and recognise that managers, salespeople and customers have just as much, if not more, to contribute to innovation than researchers and scientists. Sure to evoke a lively debate! More info

Wave Energy │ Wednesday, Febraury 29th, 8pm │University College Cork
Anne Blavette will talk about ocean power plants and their potential impact on the energy market and climate change in her talk entitled "Sea Waves are Tomorrow's Oil". More info

Have I missed something? Let me know

Energy Guzzler at Lifetime Lab

Image: Guzzler at Lismore Heritage Centre

Lifetime Lab is seeking help from primary school children all across Cork to keep an eye out for Guzzler, a furry energy eating alien that landed at the Old Waterworks recently. Guzzlers mission is to learn about saving energy from infant and junior classes and has been seen visiting Cork City schools this week.

The visit of Guzzler is part of a series of interactive, hands-on primary workshops available free to primary schools in Cork this year as Lifetime Lab partners the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to increase the understanding of climate change and energy efficiency.

Guzzler workshops are available to junior (1st & 2nd) classes and children will learn about energy efficiency and environmental awareness through participation in various experiments and activities using Guzzler the puppet - the ultimate energy waster!

Speaking about the partnership Mervyn Horgan Manager of Lifetime Lab said “The partnership with  SEAI  is a complement to the success of our existing education programmes, with close to 8000 primary school children per year attending workshops at Lifetime Lab we have developed a strong working relationship with schools in Cork” He further said “pupils receiving the free workshops will be introduced to the concept of energy conservation and  participate is fun activities at a level that is age appropriate, while class teachers will receive helpful resources linked to the SESE strands of science, geography and history”.

Speaking about the workshops Aoife Cannon, Education Executive with SEAI said

“The aim of SEAI’s Education Programme is to educate pupils on the benefits of sustainable energy, through local workshops we hope to reach a wider audience and really make a difference to the use of energy in Ireland”.  Aoife added “Lifetime Lab is an ideal partner to deliver the programme, both by the success in reaching a large audience but also as an exemplar of sustainability”

Guzzler Workshops are available free of charge to schools and will visit schools from January to March 2012. To book a workshop, or for more information, please contact [email protected] or 021 4941500 or go to www.lifetimelab.ie

For more on Guzzler and the work of the SEAI with Primary Schools, you can visit their site.

Science Public Lecture Series Kicks Off

The popular Annual SEFS Public Lecture Series at University College Cork will begin its 2012 programme on Wednesday, January 11th with a lecture by Professor William Reville. 

The lectures will be held weekly on Wednesday evenings at 8.00pm in Boole 4 Lecture Theatre and will run until Wednesday 14th March.

The lecture series will cover a wide range of contemporary issues, including How Weeds Develop Resistance to Herbicides, Nanosensors, Teaching Computer Science to Primary School Children, Biodiversity and Infectious Disease, Generating Electricity from Ocean Wave Energy, Irish Innovation Policy, Toxic Chemicals in Consumer Products, and Can Particles Ever Move faster than Light?.

In the first lecture on January 11th, Professor William Reville will give a lecture titled ‘The Weeds Fight Back - How Weeds Developed Resistance to Roundup”. William Reville is an Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry at UCC. He will describe how growing the world's major commodity crops (corn, cotton and soya), genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup, is now confronting a serious problem with weeds that have become resistant to Roundup. 

Admission is free, and as always, members of the public are invited to attend.

More details on this year's College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS) lecture series  can be found here (pdf).

George Boole and Cork's Heritage

Yesterday marked the 147th anniversary of the death of George Boole, first professor of mathematics at Cork and the 'father' of modern algebra.

In my most recent post for the Cork Independent Blog, I look at the fate of Boole's former Cork home, the interior of which collapsed over a year ago.

To read the post see here >>>
George Boole and Cork's Heritage

C.O.R.Y. gets to work, exploring the skies

CORY (Image: Blackrock Castle Observatory)

After receiving hundreds of entries to their Name the Big Dish competition, Blackrock Castle Observatory have chosen a winner. Drum roll please....

Rebecca Cantwell from Regina Mundi in Douglas, Cork came up with the winning name: C.O.R.Y., which stands for "Computer Operated Radio Yoke".

BCO said in a statement that the name "shows not only Rebecca’s Cork wit but also her knowledge of astronomy and science".

Rebecca joined NASA astronaut Greg Johnson in activating and lighting up CORY last night when it officially began receiving visual and audio signals from space - making it the largest radio dish available for educational purposes in Europe!

The 32 metre dish is based at the National Space Centre, at Elfordstown Earthstation near Midleton in Co. Cork and was originally constructed in 1984 to carry transatlantic telephone calls from Europe to the US. It was retired from this function in the mid 90's when underground cables were laid.

Now, in a partnership between the National Space Centre and Cork Institute of Technology, the dish is being refurbished to act as a state-of-the-art educational and research tool.

Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock TD with CORY (Image: Blackrock Castle Observatory)

Dr Niall Smith, Head of Research at CIT, who outlined Phase I and Phase II of the project said that “This project will see a €10m radio telescope brought back to life for less than €10,000 thanks to the partnership between National Space Centre and CIT. It’s a great example of using world-class infrastructure in the most cost-effective way to reach out into the community and to embed our growing scientific heritage alongside our world-renowned culture.

It will excite students in schools who will get to listen in on the radio signals from outer space; it will be a testbed for engineering and science projects from primary through to PhD; it will be available to researchers from across Ireland and beyond; it will be an iconic structure only minutes from the famous Jameson Distillery, which we hope in the future to open to tourists and public alike.”

Phase 1 of the project to refurbish the telescope is now complete and next year it is hoped to see the further refurbishment of the dish allowing it to turn and slew as it originally did, along with the installation of new sensors and receivers.

The dish is capable of detecting a host of cosmic phenomena including:

    the emission of giant slow moving hydrogen clouds
    the violent explosions of stars
    eruptions of the solar surface
    storms on Jupiter
    enormous galaxy-scale jets of quasars

The switch-on ceremony took place as part of Science Week, which continues until next Sunday.