Irish Maths/Physics Meteorologists: July 2026
Our goals this month include accounting for the Irish maths/physics graduates, especially those pre-2000, who ended up with careers in the Irish Met Office. This includes many of the official Meteorologists hired during the first 65 years of existence of this 26-county government entity, as well as some people who initially started in the Irish Met Service at the secondary school graduate level entry level position of Met Officer, who later got specialised third level credentials and became Meteorologists.
In the first half of the 20th century, the brightest maths graduates on the island of Ireland generally had little opportunity to pursue research careers, at home or overseas. Many of those from the 26 counties ended up in the civil service and the public sector in what became the Republic of Ireland, as statisticians or meteorologists, while other played leadership roles in bodies such as the ESB (Electricity Supply Board) and later on the ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute).
December 2026 marks the 90th anniversary of the 1936 foundation of the Republic of Ireland's Meteorological Service, known as Met Éireann since Mar 1996. Many of the men who played significant roles in the early days of the Met Office had university training in maths, or physics, or some combination thereof. It wasn't until the late 1970s that women also joined the service.
In Dec 1939 newspaper ads appeared seeking maths/physics university honours graduates for positions in the Irish Meteorological Service. See an example below, and an acceptance letter sent to a successful applicant.
The first 7 hired were: Austin Bourke, Leslie Leech, Sean McWilliams, Austin Morgan and Shane Tierney (all in Jan 1940), followed by Paul Browne (Feb) and finally Fred Dixon (Mar).
The above photo from 1939 in Foynes shows 5 of those plus 4 others. From left to right, we see: Tierney, John Doherty, Martin O'Herlihy, an unknown man, Burke, Browne, Jack Staunton, McWilliams and Leech.
The two-row photo dates from a little later, in Valentia, and shows Jack Staunton, Gerry Granville, Barney McNamee, Kilian Rohan and Barney Doherty at the back, and Gerry O'Sullivan, Hubert Lamb, Tom Morley, and Con Gillman in the front.
Granville, McNamee, Rohan, and Gillman were from the second (Mar 1940) cohort of university graduate hires, which Doherty and Vincent Guerrini joined later in the year.
A third cohort was hired early in1945: Tom O'Callaghan, Declan Larkin, John Willie O'Byrne, Jim McMonagle, and F O'Shea.
The above 1945 photo taken at Rineanna (soon to be renamed Shannon) shows (L to R) Tom O'Callaghan, Fred Dixon, Jim McMonagle, Shane Tierney, John William O'Byrne, Ignaaius Laambert, and Declan Larkin..
METEOROLOGY THEN AND NOW
Up until the late 1930s, what little advance information people in Ireland had about the weather came from the British Met Office, itself in its early days. It was the impending war and the rapid development of transatlantic aviation, combined with the strategic location of Ireland for flights connecting the rest of Europe to Greenland and Canada, that drove the sudden need for accurate weather predictions for all of the airspace around Ireland. The needs of shipping and farming interests, not to mention the general public, were not major factors in those early days.
During WWII, of course, there was no desire to keep the Luftwaffe or Kriegsmarine informed about meteorological conditions around Ireland or Britain! Over time, weather prediction (still in its infancy) was shared with the public, in newspapers and on radio, eventually even technical Sea Area Forecasts were broadcast once a day.
Today, radio and TV inundate us with weather updates, and we can get forecasts on our smart phones 24/7 that give reliable peeks even a week ahead. Maths, physics, numerical modelling and simulation, and huge advances in electronics and computing, are what make this possible.
When Irish television was launched at the start of 1961, RTE unveiled a crack team of new on-camera forecasters: Michael Gilligan, George Callaghan, Paddy MacHugh, Denis Fitzgerald, and Seamus Miller. These men soon became mini-celebrities in a country where chatting about the weather has been a favourite pastime since time immemorial. Little did the average viewer realise that these men's careers had started with 3 or 4 years of advanced study in maths/physics.
Unlike radio forecasting, which was part of the job of a state meteorologist and could be done without leaving the office, those appearing on RTE in a weather forecasting role were contracted separately, and had to cycle or drive (or take the bus) over to a Montrose studio with their charts under their arms.
LOTS MORE TO COME HERE
Comments, additions and corrections are welcome, as are more photographs.
Thanks to Peter Lynch, Aiden Kelly, Michael McAuliffe, Olivia Bree, Jim Hamilton, Tom Sheridan, Rod Gow, Declan Murphy, Ted Hurley, and Carl Murray for valuable input. Last updated 23 Jul 2026.
 |
01. Leo Pollak (1888-1964) was born 23 Sep in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and was educated at the univ there (PhD 1910). His thesis on "The Duration and Intensity of Sunshine on the Douneuberge near Mileschau" was done under Rudolf Spitaler. His career had three phases: at the Geophysical Inst Prague (1911-1939), at the Irish Met Service (Oct 1939-1947), and at DIAS (1947-1963). In 1950, he was co-author of the second edition of Victor Conrad's book, Methods in Climatology. He was a pioneer in data processing and sounded early alarms about global warming. |
 |
02. Mariano Doporto (1902-1964) was born 18 Jan in Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain, and was educated in physics at the Centra Univ Madrid (1923). He first worked at the met office in Madrid (1924-1927) and then as director of the Igeldo Met Obs in San Sebastian (1927-1937?). He came to Dublin in Nov 1939 to join the fledgling Irish Met Service, and served as its director from 1948 until his death in 1964 |
 |
03. Ignatius Lambert (aka Eigneachan Lampord, 1903-1976-??) was born in Wigan to an Irish mother, and was educated at first at Liverpool (BA 1924). Moving to Dublin to study Irish, he got a Celtic Studies BA from UCD in 1930. Liverpool MSc 1935? After teaching at Dun Laoghaire VEE 9from 1930), the rest of his career was spent in the Irish Met service (Mar 1940-1955-???). For the first 4 years he was at Valentia, before moving to Dublin. He was very active in piping circles, and in 1976 was awarded an NUI DSc. In 1931, he applied for a position in the Irish dept at UCC. |
 |
04. Austen Nagle (1903-1984) was born 1 Nov in Birmingham, and was educated at Imperial College (MSc). He worked in the British met office 1927-1938. He was the founding director of the Irish Met Service (Dec 1936-1948). He spent the rest of his career at the US Weather Bureau in Washington (1948-1973). |
 |
05. Sean/Shane Tierney (1910-1987) was born 20 Jan in Derry city, and was educated at UCD (BA & BSc 1929). He taught at St Columb's in Derry (1929-1938), before having a long career in the Met service (Jan 1939-1977), running CAFO on its founding in 1961, and rising to the rank of assistant director in 1964. He was then very active in international marine meteorology. In 1982, he became the first president of the Irish Met Society. 1911 Census / IMS / 1949 / 2001 |
 |
06. Barney McNamee (1911-1968) was born 10 Mar in Forkhill, Armagh, halfway between Crossmaglen and Newry. He was educated at UCD (BSc 1934, MSc 1935?). He spent 3 decades at the Irish Met Service (Mar 19409-1968), including spells on Valentia (in a tent), Shannon and Dublin airport. |
 |
07. John Harding (1911-1983) was born 22 Dec in Belfast, and was educated in physics at TCD (BA 1934, MSc 1936). He spent over 35 years in the British meteorology service (1936-1973), including a spell (1937-1939) "on loan" at Foynes. |
|
08. Agnes Chambers (later Nash, 1912-2001) was born 28 Jul in Downpatrick, Down, and was educated at QUB (BA 1933). She worked for the British met service (1944-??), before marrying in 1950. |
|
 |
09. Vincent Guerrini (1912-2000?) was born 12 Aug in Dublin, and was educated at UCD (BSc in maths 1933, MSc in physics by thesis under JJ Nolan 1934). He was awarded an NUI Travelling Studentship in 1934, and did some postgrad work in Germany. (May 1938 he sailed Bremen to Ireland, listed as student.) He worked as a radiation physicist at the North Staffs Royal Infirmary (1938-1939?). He then worked for the Irish Met Service (Jul 1940-1958?), Shannon. in the period 1959-1965 he was in Chili, Bolivia and Paraguay. It seems that 2 of his 3 Limerick-born sons did degrees in meteorology in the US, and later became priests. |
 |
10. Fred Dixon (1913-1988) was born 27 Mar in Oundle, near Peterborough, England, and was educated at Cambridge (BA 1934). In 1936, he joined the British Met Service, and in Mar 1939 moved to the fledgling Irish service at Foynes. In 1940 he was posted to Dublin, and in 1956 to Rosslare. Back in Dublin, he subsequently headed up Dublin airport forecasting (1963–1964), CAFO (1964–1975) and the climatological division (1975–1977). DIB / Photos / 1975 Video / Stamps / 2001 |
 |
11. Austin Bourke (1913-1995) was born 4 May in Dungarvan, Waterford, and was educated at first at UCC (BSc 1933, MSc 1934). He lectured there for 5 years before joining the brand new Irish Met Service, where he worked for 4 decades (Jan 1939-1978), rising to the position of director. Along the way, he did a PhD in UCC in 1965 on "The Potato, Blight, Weather, and the Irish Famine", reflecting his expertise in agrometeorology and plant biometeorology. NUI awarded him an honorary DSc in 1973. |
 |
12. Con Gillman (1914-1990) was born 9 Jun in Curraduff, west of Newmarket, Cork, and was educated at UCC (BSc 1935, MSc physics 1937). After a brief period teaching maths, at St Brendan's in Killarney, his career was spent in the Met service (Mar 1940-1982). He started at Foynes and Rineanna (later Shannon), then moved to Dublin in 1962, while sometimes commuting to work in Rosslare! The final 3 years were spent at Baldonnel. Weather / Book Collector / Obit / Grave |
 |
13. Sean McWilliams (1914-1984) was born Jun in Maghera, , and was educated at Maynooth (BSc 1935). He then taught for a few years. Following training at Foynes, the rest of his career (1939-1977??) was spent in the Met service. From 1944 on, he was at Valentia observatory, which in time he directed. |
 |
14. Hugh (Barney) Doherty (1915?-1993--??) was born in Derry and was educated at QUB (BA 1936). His whole career was spent at the Irish Met Service (May 1940-1980). He started in Foynes, and later worked at Dublin airport. Jabberwocky / 1977 / parents Frank H and Kathleen dead link http://edepositireland.ie/handle/2262/70481 |
 |
15. Gearóid (Gerry) Granville (1915-2000) was born 2 Feb in Ballyferriter, Kerry, and was educated at UCG (BA 1937). He worked for the Irish Met Service for 4 decades (Mar 1940-1980), rising to assistant director in 1978. He served in various airports, and headed up long-range forecasting in Dublin starting in 1963. He took a leave in the 1950s to work with Jerome Namias at the US Weather Bureau in Washington, DC.
|
 |
16. W Arthur Morgan was born in Wales. Educated? MSc. His career in the Irish met service (1945-1958--??) was spent at Foynes and Shannon. He died relatively young. |
 |
17. Paul R Brown (1916-1960s??) was born in Hendon. Educated? MSc His time with the Met service was short: Jan 1941 to Nov 1944, in Foynes. died relatively young |
 |
18. Leslie Leech (1916-2001) was born 16 Jul in Dublin, and grew up there, briefly in Toronto, and then in Belfast. He was educated at QUB (BSc physics 1938). His entire career was spent in the Irish Met service (Jan 1939-1982), where in time he became head of forecasting at Dublin airport, and finally head of climatology. |
 |
19. Kilian Rohan (1916-1999) was born 31 Jul in Ballina, Tipperary, across the Shannon from Killaloe, Clare. He was educated at UCD (BA 1938, MA 1939), then spent 4 decades (Mar 1940-1981) in the Irish Met Service, where he rose to the rank of director (1978-1981) and authored 2 books. He was head man at Shannon 1948-1970. |
 |
20. Kåre Breivik (1917-2007) was born 4 May in Trondheim, Norway and was educated Oslo (Cand Real 1949). His career was spent in the Irish met service (1950-1982), first at Shannon for 3 years, and then at Dublin airport. He was also an important figure in sailing circles. 1974 / 1980 (KB was involved but he is not in this photo) / RIP
|
 |
21. John Willie O'Byrne (1920?-2003- ) was born 20 May ?? in Galway, and was educated at ?UCG (BL, MSc). His career was spent it the Irish met service (Feb 1945-1958-?), mostly at ? Shannon. |
 |
22. Jim McMonagle (1919-2011) was born 1 Aug in Altaghaderry, Killea, Donegal, right across the border from Derry, where he went to school. He was educated at UCD (BA 1940, MA 1941, BSc 1942). Most of his career (Feb 1945-1980?) was spent in the Irish Met Service. Dub airport
|
|
23. Dermot O'Connor () was born in Kilvoutra, Clondrohid, near Macroom, Cork, and was educated at UCC?? (c 1952?). Most of his career was spent in the Met service (1941-1982).
1941 |
|
 |
24. Declan Larkin (1920-2014) was born 15 Aug? in Dublin and was educated in UCD (BSc, MSc). He served briefly in the Met service (1945-1947?), before spending 4 decades in the physics dept at UCG (1947-1986). |
 |
25. Alan Heusaff/Heussaff (aka Bernard Heubacher, 1921-1999) was born 23 Jul in Saint-Yvi, Finistère, Brittany, and was educated at first in maths and physics in Marburg, Germany (1947-1950). Moving to Ireland, he graduated from UCG (BSc 1951). Still using the alias Heubacher, he joined the Irish met service in 1952. He started at Shannon, before moving to Dublin airport (1958-1986). He did extensive personal research on ancient weather patterns as mentioned in Irish annals. He was most well known, however, as a Breton nationalist and Celtic language revivalist. Wikipedia / Meteorology / DIB / IT / Bio |
 |
26. Donal Linehan (1923-2006) was born 16 Nov in Cork city and was educated at UCC (BE in civil eng 1944, BSc 1945). His entire career was spent in the Irish Met Service (1946-1988). He specialised in aviation forecasting, mostly at Shannon, but also setting up the Cork airport forecasting office in the second half of the 1960s. In 1975, he moved to the main office in O'Connell St in Dublin, playing a major roll in the design of the Met office's Glasnevin HQ. He served as director (1981-1988). |
 |
27. George Callaghan (1924-2014) was born 26 Sep in Hamiltonsbawn, Armagh, and was educated in maths & physics at TCD (Scholar 1944, BA 1946). BSc? He worked mostly in the Met service (1950-1984-). In Jan 1962, he became Ireland's first TV weatherman, and was a regular RTE forecaster for 11 years. He later worked in the marine division. He authored Weather satellites and cloud pictures (1980). |
 |
28. Bill Wann (1925-2011) was born 2 Jan in Dublin and was educated at TCD (Scholar 1945, BA 1946, MSc in CS 1964). His entire career was spent in the Irish Met Service (1947-1990), rising to the rank of assistant director in 1980. His career included periods at both Dublin (1949-1961) and Shannon (early 1960s) airports. In 1965, back in Dublin, he pioneered the application of computers to weather forecasting in Ireland, being made head of the new computer division in 1976, and he continued to play a leadership role there as that focus expanded considerably in the decades to come. For six months in 1988-1989 he was acting director. |
|
29. Norman Watson (1925-2014) was born in England and was educated IEE ... His career spent in the Irish met service (1948-???), mostly at Shannon. / RIP |
|
 |
30. Thaddeus (Ted) Kelly (1926-1991) was born 26 Dec in Ballintoy, Antrim, and grew up near Coleraine, in Derry. He was educated at UCD (BA 1947, MA 1949). His career was spent at the Irish Met Service (1951-1961-), mostly in Shannon . |
 |
31. Danny McNally () was born in Cork?, and was educated at ??. Most of his career was spent in the Met service (1948-1986). |
 |
32. Tim Cronin (1927-2006) was born in Cork and was educated at UCC (BSc 1950, MSc 1951). He was joined the Irish Met Service in 1952, working in both Shannon and Dublin airports. He lectured for 30 years in Bradford Univ (1962-1992), and published the books Mathematical Topics for Engineering and Science Students (1971) and Elementary Calculus (1976). |
 |
33. Paddy MacHugh (1927-2014) was born in Dublin and was educated at UCC (BSc 1954). His entire career was spent in the Irish Met Service (-1956-1990), rising to become head of CAFO. In Jan 1962, he was one of the country's first TV weathermen, and was a familiar sight on RTE for a quarter of a century. |
 |
34. George Kelly (1927-2009) was born 22 or 23 Jul in Dublin, and joined the Met service young, serving in Valentia, Foynes, Midleton, and Shannon (1945-1959). Along the way he earned a BA from UCC (1952). He followed that up later with an MA (1961) by thesis ("A Survey of Some Numerical Weather Prediction Methods") and a PhD (1967), both under Paddy Quinlan. His doctorate was on "The Lambda-method for Linear Boundary Value Problems". He then joined the maths physics staff at UCC (1967-1991), in due course becoming dept head.
|
 |
35. Cormac O'Connor (1928-1998) was born 12 Feb in Limerick and grew up there and in Clare. He was educated at UCD (BSc 1949). His career was spent in forecasting in the Irish Met Service (1950-1988), mostly at Shannon and Cork airports. In retirement, he wrote the "Weather Watch" column for the Irish Examiner 1997. He was also a painter. 1959 / 1964 / 1970 / 1986 / Obit
|
|
36. Frank O'Carroll (aka Proinnsías Ó Ċearḃail, 1928-2000) was born 24 Mar in Dublin, and was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1949, MSc when?). He started his career in the Irish Met Service ( -1955-1957- ), then lectured at Kevin St (1960-1961), and later worked as head of stats in An Foras Talúntais (-1962-1964-). The rest of his career was spent at BP Research in London ( -1966-1984-). He did a PhD on "Price Determination and Economic Mechanisms in the European Oil Industry" under RJ Deam in 1974 at Queen Mary College. 1955 / 1957 / 1962 / 1964 / 1967 / 1977 / 1984 / Irish fonts / Grave |
 |
37. Seamus Miller (1928-1983) was born in Mounrath, NW of Abbeyleix, Laois, and was educated in maths sci at UCG (BSc 1948, MSc 1950?). His career was spent in the Irish Met Service (1952-1983), serving at Shannon for the rest of the 1950s. He was part of the first team of forecasters on RTE in Jan 1961, and was a regular TV forecaster for 20 years. He eventually served as head of CAFO (-1979-1983). |
|
38. Dominick P Finn was born 1928 in Cork city, and was educated at UCC physics? (MSc year?). His career was spent in the Irish met service (1952-??) mostly at Cork airport. |
|
 |
39. Michael Gilligan (1929?-1984) was born in Garrison, Fermanagh, and was educated at UCD (BSc 1949). He worked for the Met service (?-1962-1983), and was part of the first RTE weather team. He continued to be a familiar sight on TV for 21 years. |
 |
40. Paddy Lyons (1929-2024) was born in Schull, Cork, and was educated at UCC (BSc 1949?). His career was spent in the Irish Met Service (??-1993?), rising to become the head at Shannon, and finally head of aviation. |
 |
41. Charlie Daly (1929-2000) was born 11 Jan in Dublin, and grew up in Drogheda and Dundalk, Louth. He was educated at UCD (1950 BSc). His entire career was spent in the met service (1951-1993), starting at Dublin & Shannon airports. He moved to CAFO in Dublin when it opened in 1961, and was one of the first TV forecasters. In 1971, he returned to aviation forecasting at Dublin airport, leading that office 1982 -1987. His final 6 years were spent back in CAFO. |
 |
42. Michael Connaughton (1930-2019) was born in Gurteen, Mount Bellew, Galway, and was educated in maths sci at UCG (BS, MSc 1953). He joined the Met Service circca 1955, but spent a lot of his career at WMO Geneva, returning to the Met Service circa 1985-1986, and retiring circa 1990. |
|
43. Frankie Fitzgerald was born in 1931 WHERE and was educated at UCC (BSc 1954). His career was spent in the Met Service (1955-1991?), retiring as the head at Cork airport. GMIT? |
 |
44. Gerry McDonald was born in 1931 in Cavan, and joined the met service WHEN as an MO. He was the first observer at Belmullet (1956). Later he was educated at ?? 1975 BSc, CE, MIERE, . The rest of his career was spent at Casement Aerodrome.
|
 |
45. Sean Connolly (1932-2008) was born in Bruff, Limerick, and was educated at UCG (BSc 1952?, MA or MSc 1953). His entire career was spent in the Met service (1953-1997), mainly in aviation forecasting at Shannon, rising to become head of aviation services.
|
 |
46. Kevin J. Murphy (C I Ó Murchadha) (1933-1996) was born in Monaghan town and was educated in maths sci at UCC (BSc 1961). His career was spent in the met service (1958-1988), mostly at Shannon. |
 |
47. Claude M Byrne (1934-2001) was born 2 Feb in Cork and was educated at ?UCC? (BSc 1966?). His career was spent at the met service (1957-1983??), mostly at Shannon. |
 |
48. Tom Keane (1934-2016) was born 6 Dec in Kilnamona, Clare and spent his entire career in the Met service (1954-1999), first serving in Dublin airport (1954-1956), Valentia (1956-1959) and Shannon (1959-1960). After earning a degree at UCG (BSc 1963), he worked at Rosslare (1963-1964), back at Shannon (1964-1971), and in CAFO (1972-1979). He then became head of the agricultural division, co-founding AGMET in 1984. Finally in 1995, he became head of research and applications. His 4 books include Establishment of the Meteorological Service in Ireland – The Foynes Years, 1936-1945 (from 20120. |
 |
49. Mick Donovan was born ??? and was educated at UCC (BSc? 1954). |
 |
50. John G Doyle was born 1939? in Dublin and worked his whole life for the Irish Met Service (mid 1950s-2000ish). Along the way he was educated at Reading (BSc year?). He was a familiar face on TV from 1978 for almost 20 years. / RTE |
 |
51. Ray Bates (1940-2024) was born 24 Oct in Kilmore Quay, Wexford, and was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1962). He joined the Irish Met Service in 1963, and a year later took leave to go to MIT, where he was awarded a PhD (1969). His thesis on "Dynamics of Disturbances on the Intertropical Convergence Zone" was done under Jule Charney. He returned to the Met Service (1969-1987), in time serving as forecaster, head of research (from 1978), and assistant director (from 1981). Next, he worked at Goddard Space Flight Center, in Maryland (1987-1995), and finally at the Univ of Copenhagen (1995-2004). He then had an adjunct position back at UCD. He supervised 4 PhDs, including that of Peter Lynch below. He founded the Irish Met Society in 1981. Met E / Bio / Papers / ResearchGate |
 |
52. Austin Woods (1941-2022) was born in Trim, Meath, and was educated at ??UCD?? and at Penn State Univ (MSc 1970, PhD 1972). His theses were on "Wind and Turbulence over Two Woodlots in Arkansas" and "Satellite Radiance Gradients and Clear Air Turbulence" respectively, the latter done under Hans Panovsky. His career started in the Irish Met service (1972?-1978), doing TV forecasting for 2 years, then he moved to ECMWF (1978-2004), becoming assistant director in 1984. He authored the book Medium-Range Weather Prediction: The European Approach (Springer, 2006). |
 |
53. Aodhagán Roddy (1941-2011) was born 15 Feb in Longford town, and grew up south of there in Ballymahon. He was educated at UCG (BSc 1962, MSc in physics 1963), and at Edinburgh (PhD 1967). His thesis on "The Formation of Condensation Nuclei in City Air, by Ultraviolet Radiation of Wavelength Greater Than 2900A" was done under G. R. Evans. Following a few years at Colodaro State, he returned to spend the rest of his career at Galway (1969-2006), where he supervised several PhD students. He was a founding members of the Irish Meteorological Society in 1981, and served as its President for many years. |
 |
54. Michael Mansfield (1941-1999) was born in Oola, Limerick, and was educated at ???. His career was spent at the met service (--1971--), including Shannon, CAFO, and ?climate sections. |
 |
55. Denis Fitzgerald was born in 1941 in ?, and was educated at ? (BSc 1963). his career was spent in the Met service (1963-1985-??). He was a regular forecaster on TV from 1965 to 1975. He ended up heading the climatology division. |
 |
56. Éamon Murphy (1941-2026) was born in Dublin, and was educated at ?? (BSc when). Most of his career was spent in the Met service (years???), at Valentia and Shannon. He served as head of admin & training. |
 |
57. Liam Burke was born in 1942 in Dublin and was educated at ?UCD? (BSc 1963?). His career was spent at the met service (1963-??). |
 |
58. Tony Hollingsworth (1943-2007) was born 6 Jul in Dublin, and came first in the country in his Leaving Cert (1960). He joined the Met service (1960-1961 & 1965-1967), who allowed him time off to earn a BA from UCC (1964). He got him PhD on "Modification of the Atmospheric Semi-Diurnal Lunar Tide by Oceanic and Solid Earth Tides" with Norm Phillips at MIT (1970). The rest of his career was spent in Reading, first as a researcher at the university there (1971-1975), then at the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (1975-2007), becoming deputy director in 1995. He was a pioneer in numerical weather prediction. IT / Royal Met Soc / ECMWF / Tribute / WMO |
|
59. Matthew F Sheahan was born in 1943 in ?Mallow?, Cork, and was educated at ?UCC? (BSc 1965?). His career was spent in the met service (-1967-years?). |
|
|
60. Aidan McDonald was born 1943 in Dublin, and was educated at UCD (BSc 1965), and Purdue Univ (PhD 1972), his thesis on "Nonlinear Realizations of SU(3) x SU(3) and the Symmetry Breaking Meson Lagrangian" being done with Peter Rosen. He lectured in Oxford and TCD before spending the rest of his career (1977-2008) in NWP research in the Irish Met Service, after a brief spell at Shannon. GoogleScholar / 1998 / 2001 / 2004 |
 |
61. Jim Logue (aka Séamus Ó Laoghóg) was born in 1943 in Derry city, and grew up mostly in Dublin. He was educated at UCD (BSc physics? 1964). His entire career was spent in the Met service (1964-2008). After a year in Rosslare and 3 years at Shannon, he was posted to Dublin, where he worked with Bill Wann and Andy McManus on the computerisation of climatological records. He headed up the new Galway training centre for a decade upon its 1979 opening. He then returned to Dublin, as head of instrumentation, then worked in IT, becoming assistant director in 1998. |
 |
62. Peter Lynch was born 19 Jan 1944 in Dublin and was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1968, MSc 1969). He later did a PhD on "Planetary-scale Hydrodynamic Instability in the Atmosphere" under Ray Bates (TCD 1982). A big part of his career was spent at the Met service (1971-2004), rising to the rank of deputy director. He started as Rosslare, and moved into research in Dublin, which division he ended up heading, focussing on dynamical meteorology and numerical weather prediction. Then, he became the first Met Éireann Professor of Meteorology at the School of Maths Sciences at UCD (2004-2011), as well as Director of the associated Meteorology & Climate Centre. He supervised 5 PhDs there, and published the book The Emergence of Numerical Weather Prediction: Richardson's Dream (2006). In the period 2004-2013, he oversaw the MSc reports of 68 people. In 2012, he inaugurated That’s Maths, a blog of expository and far-ranging articles on pure and applied mathematics. Many of these also appeared in the Irish Times as a column using the same moniker. Four books have resulted, starting with That’s Maths (subtitled “The Mathematical Magic in Everyday Life”, 2016). Earlier blog / UCD / Books / GoogleScholar / |
 |
63. Brian G G Munnelly was born in 1944 in ?Laois?, and grew up in Clonmel. He was educated at UCD (BSc 1967?). His career was spent in the met service (1968-2008-???), mostly at Dublin & Shannon airports. |
 |
64. Brendan McWilliams (1944-2007) was born 7 Aug in Dublin and brought up in Waterville, Kerry (his father Sean worked at the Valentia Observatory). He was educated at UCC (BA 1964) and soon joined the Met service, where he worked for over 30 years (1965-19n98). He started at Rosslare and Shannon, then in 1972 moved to CAFO in Dublin, and in 1978 became head of the Dublin airport office. In the 1970s, we was a regular forecaster on television for 6 years. He got an MBA from UCD in 1987, and in 1990 became deputy director. He finished his career with 6 years at EUMETSAT (Darmstadt). Some of his popular Irish Times "Weather Eye" columns--started in 1988--were published in two books after his death. |
|
65. Gerry O'Reilly was born in 1945 in ?? and was educated at UCD? (BSc 1966??). His career was in the met service (1974-when?), mostly in CAFO. |
|
66. JMC Beard was born in 1946 and was educated at UCC (MA), joined the met service 1971. |
|
 |
67. Tony O'Farrell was born 28 May 1947 in Dublin, grew up there and in Templemore, Tipperary. He was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1967), and then spent a year in the Met service at Rosslare and Shannon. Following his UCD MSc (1969), and earning an NUI Travelling Scholarship, he went to Brown for his PhD (1973). His thesis on "Capacities in Uniform Approximation" was done under Brian Cole. After a postdoc at UCLA (1973-1975), he spent over 35 years as professor at Maynooth, supervising 5 PhD students, and also helping to set up the department of computer science. His 6 books (and publishing house, Logic Press) reflect his diverse mathematical interests. On 16 Oct 1990, he organised the first Hamilton Walk to Broom Bridge, in Dublin. Wikipedia / Maynooth / GoogleScholar / Interview / Logic House / Hamilton Walk |
 |
68. Tom Sheridan was born in 1947 in Dublin, and was educated in physics at UCD (BSc 1969). Most entire career was in the Met service (1969-1987 & 1990-2009), the missing years being at ESAOC Darmstadt. He served at Rosslare and Shannon, and at CAFO (as head, 1990-1994), and then served as head of the commercial division and climatology, in turn, before becoming assistant director in 2005. |
 |
69. Declan Murphy was born 1947? in Cork city, and was educated at UCC (BSc 1968?, MSc 1969?). His whole career was spent in the Met service (1970?-2009), ????, where he did TV forecasting 1975-1977, and eventually served as director (1989-2009).
|
|
70. Alan McIlveen was educated a QUB (BSc 1969, PhD 1972), his these on "1. Free-free Transitions of Electrons in Gases of Atomic and Molecular Hydrogen, and Helium : 2. Excitation and De-excitation of Atomic Hydrogen by Collision with Helium" being done under Ken Bell. His career was spent in the British Met Office. |
|
 |
71. Mick R Walsh * was born 1948? in? Dungarvan, Waterford, and was educated at UCD (???). Most of his career was spent in the Met service (1977?-2010). He became head of CAFO in early 90s?. * pronounced Welsh |
|
72. Richard Cotter was born ??? and was educated? maths UCD maths DIT (MSc 2005) His career was spent in the met service (1973-??) |
|
 |
73. Jerry Scully was born in 1950 in Loughrea?, Galway, and was educated in physics at UCG (BSc & MSc when?). His whole career was spent in the Irish met service (1975-2010), starting in Rosslare and Shannon. He was mostly at CAFO, first in marine forecasting, then as a familiar face on TV from 1983 to 1998, and on radio for over 30 years. |
 |
74. Aidan Nulty was born 1950 in Drogheda, Louth, and was educated at UCD (BSc 1972?). His career was spent at the Met service (1978?-2010). His 1981 PhD on ''" was done with Kevin Carroll back at UCD. He was a regular TV weather forecaster for 16 years starting in 1983. |
 |
75. Michael Cleary was born in 1951 in Tuam, Galway, and was educated at UCG (BSc physics 1978, MSc ?). His whole career was spent in the Met Service (1978-2010), starting at Shannon, and then moving to CAFO. He was a familiar face on TV in the 1980s and 1990s. |
 |
76. Ray McGrath was born in 1951 in Limerick city?, and was educated at TCD (BA). Most of his career was spent in the Met service (1975-2016?), in research & applications (which he eventually headed). |
 |
77. Liam Campbell was born ???? and was educated at first in physics at UCD (BSc 1974). After working for the P&T as an engineer, he did an MSc (UCD, 1977?). His career was spent in the Irish met service (1978??-2016), rising to the rank of director in 2009. |
 |
78. Sean McCurtin (1952-2000) was born in Loughrea? Galway, and was educated at UCG (BSc physics 1975?8?, MSc year/). His entire career was spent in the Irish met service (1978?-2000), mostly at Shannon. He was head of aviation when he died. |
 |
79. Jim E. Hamilton was born 1952 in Dublin and was educated at first in physics at UCD (BSc 1974). His 1980 PhD on "Computer Simulation of the Geomagnetic Current Sheet" was based on research done at Reading with Roger Hockney & James Eastwood (1974-1977). His Met service career (1977-2017) was mostly spent in research in Glasnevin, after 2 years of training at Rosslare, Shannon, and CAFO in Dublin. His work included development of the CHARTS plotting and graphics programs used by Met for 3 decades. He also installed versions of it in many other countries from Argentina to Turkey. |
 |
80. Evelyn Murphy was born 1955 in Galway city, and was educated at UCG (BSc 1977?), following which she did postgraduate study in Miami. Her career was spent in the met service (1979-2015?), mostly in CAFO, then in the Marine division. In 1983, she became the first woman forecaster on Irish TV. |
 |
81. Gerald Fleming was born 20 Nov 1957 in Wexford town and was educated in physics at UCD (BSc 1978, MSc by thesis 1980). His entire career was spent in the met service (1980-2017), becoming a well-known TV forecaster for 25 years starting in 1985. |
 |
82. Evelyn Cusack was born 3 Nov in Clonaslee, north Laois, and was educated in physics at UCD (BSc 1980, MSc 1981). Her entire career was spent in the Met service (1981-2023). She was a regular weather forecaster on TV for 30 years (1988-2018), then became head of forecasting. |
 |
83. John Eagleton was born in Drogheda, Louth, and was educated at Kevin St and TCD (BA physics/ 1979?). His entire career was spent in forecasting in the Irish Met Service (1979-2019), a decade of that as a familiar face on TV. |
 |
84. Kieran Commins was born in Kildare, and was educated at UCD (BSc physics, 1978). His whole career was spent in the met service (1979-??). |
|
85. Pat Cornally was at Shannon. |
|
 |
86. Teresa Cunningham (later Cotter) was born in Corofin, Galway, and was educated at UCG (BSc physics 1979?). Her whole career was spent in the met service (1979-??). |
 |
87. David Rogers was born in 1956 in Dublin and was educated at UCD?? (BSc when?). His whole career was in the met service (1981-2016?), mostly in CAFO. |
 |
88. Michael McAuliffe was born in Dublin, and was educated in maths science at UCD (BSc 1978, MSc 1979). His entire career (1979-2010) was spent in forecasting at the Irish Met Service, and he was a familiar voice on radio. |
 |
89. Donal O'Sullivan was born in Gorey, Wexford, and grew up in Glenealy, Wicklow. He was educated at UCD (BSc 1978, MSc 1979) and at the University of Washington in Seattle (PhD 1986). His thesis on "Rossby Wave Propagation on Beta-Planes" was done under Jim Holton. He worked for a decade as a meteorologist in the USA before switching to software engineering. |
 |
90. Joan Blackburn was born in Tipperary town, and was educated in physics at UCD (BSc 1979?). Most of her career was spent in the Met service (1981--). . |
 |
91. Vincent O'Shea was born in ?Skibbereen, Cork, and his career was spent in the Irish Met Service (1980?-2018??). He was educated at Kevin St (BSc physics?). He worked in Dublin airport, and moved to CAFO in 1990.
|
 |
92. Liam Keegan was born in ???, and joined the Irish Met Service as an MO. Later, he was educated at TCD (BA). head climatology. |
 |
93. Pat Clarke was born in Limerick city, and was educated at ????? His career was spent in the met service (1980?-2018??) Shannon, Dublin airport, CAFO.
|
 |
94. Aidan Bent was born in Nenagh (?), Tipperary, and was educated in physics at UCG (BSc 1979, MSc 1980) where he earned an NUI Travelling Studentship Prize. He worked for the Met service in Shannon (1980-2020???).
|
 |
95. Jean Byrne was born in Tarbert, Kerry, and her whole career was spent in the Irish Met Service (1980-2021). She started as an MO, then was educated at TCD (BA, 1989). She was a forecaster on TV for many years, starting in 1996. |
 |
96. Roland McDermott was born in Dublin and was educated at TCD (BA 1981). He had a spell in the Irish Met Service (1983-1990?), giving forecasts on the radio. |
 |
97. Seamus Walsh was born in Dublin and was educated at TCD (BA 1981). His entire career was spent in the Met service (1982-2020). He worked in CAFO and rose to become head of climatology. He frequently gave forecasts on the radio. LinkedIn / ResearchGate / |
 |
98. Pat Goodman was born in ?? and was educated in physics at UCD (BSc 1984, MSc 1986). He was with the Irish met service for 3 years (1986-1989), before switching to academia, and has been at DIT/TUD ever since. He has a PhD from TCD (2000) on "Particulate air pollution and mortality in Dublin 1980-1996". He has supervised dozens of postgraduate theses.
|
 |
99. Klara Finkele was born in Bavaria and was educated in maths at ??? (BSc 1985?). Aussie PhD? She has been with the Irish met service since late 1998. She did meteorology at UCD (MSc 2006). in 2014 she moved from research to forecasting. She now heads up the agriculture division there. MSc in Applied Mathematics and PhD in Meteorology in boundary layer meteorology. Post doctoral positions focusing on land surface modelling and hydrological aspects as well as ten years' experience as a weather forecaster at Met Eireann. |
 |
100. Harm Luijkx
|
 |
101. Gerry Murphy was born in Magheracloone, near Carrickmacross, Monaghan, and was educated at UCD (BSc physics 1990). He has been with the Irish met service since 1992, headed the Valentia office (1993-1999), then spent 2 years in agricultural meteorology in Dublin. He has a 2001 MSc on "Characterisation of MKIV Brewer Spectrophotometer for spectral measurement of UVB radiation". Since 2001, he has been at CAFO, and has become a familiar TV weather forecaster. |
 |
102. Joanna Donnelly was born 23 Sep in Dublin and was educated at DCU (BSc applied maths 1993). She was at the Met service (1995-2025), and was a TV forecaster starting in 2015. |
 |
103. Eoin Moran was born in Doneraile, near Mallow, Cork, and was educated at the UCG (BSc 1993, MSc 1994). He joined the Met service in 1995, and served in Valentia (1997-2007) before moving to Dublin. He became assistant director in 2011, and director in 2016. LinkedIn / |
 |
104. Conor Sweeney was educated in mechanical engineering at UCD (BE 1995) and TCD (PhD 2000+), his thesis on "" being done under Craig Meskell. His career started at TCD and DIAS (2001-2003), followed by a spell in the Irish Met Service researching climate modelling (2003-2005). Since 2007 he has been at UCD, where is deputy director of the Met Éireann AIMSIR Centre.. UCD / LinkedIn / ResearchGate / |
 |
105. Michelle Dillon was born in Tullycrine, east of Kilrush, Clare. She was educated at first at Limerick (BSc 1997) and DCU (MSc 1998). After several years in IT (1998-2005), she joined the Met service, and earned another MSc (meteorology, UCD 2006). She started out in the aviation division at Shannon, then moved into general forecasting. Since 2016, she has been a familiar face on TV. |
 |
106. Aoife Davis (later Fleming, 1974-2014) was born in Kildalkey, Meath, and was educated at UCD (BA math & geography 1994?, HDip 1995?). She was at the Met service 2001-2014, first as an MO. She did another degree in maths at DIT (2006) and one in meteorology at UCD (MSc 2007). The rest of her short career was spent in forecasting. |
 |
107. Sarah O'Reilly was born in Tralee, Kerry, and was educated at first in theoretical & maths physics at TCD (BA 1998). She joined the met service in 2000, working in forecasting, agriculture, and then technology, before becoming assistant director in 2017. She has a PhD in meteorology from Univ Galway (year?). |
 |
108. Andrew Parnell was born 19 Aug in Watford, and was educated at Canterbury (BSc 1999, MSc 2000) and Sheffield (PhD 2005+). His thesis on "The Statistical Analysis of Former Sea Level" was done under Clive Anderson. After a postdoc at TCD (2005-2008) with John Haslett, he was at UCD (2008-2018) where he supervised 5 PhDs, and Maynooth (2018-2024) where he supervised 8 more. In 2024, he became Met Éireann professor of data science for climate and weather at UCD and director of the Met Éireann AIMSIR Centre there. UCD / LinkedIn / GoogleScholar / ResearchGate |
 |
109. Siobhán Ryan was born in Dublin and was educated at first in maths, physics and chemistry at TCD (BA 1999). She has been at the Met service since ??. She got a meteorology MSc (UCD 2006). After working at Dublin airport, she settles at CAFO. She has been a TV forecaster since 2010. |
 |
110. Emily Gleeson was born in Thurles, Tipperary, and was educated at first at Maynooth (BSc in phy & chem, PhD 2004), her thesis on "Single and Multi-moded Corrugated Horn Design for Cosmic Microwave Background Experiments" being done under Anthony Murphy. After a spell at Intel, she joined the Met service in 2006. After 2 years in forecasting, she moved to research in climate modelling and radiation physics. Maynooth / TCD / GoogleScholar - |
 |
111. Eoin Sherlock was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1999) and at TCD (MSc 2000). After 5 years as a software engineer he did meteorology back at UCD (MSc 2006) and joined the met service as a researcher. In time, he moved into forecasting, and since 2018 has been head of hydrometeorology. |
 |
112. Keith Lambkin was educated in physics at UCD (BSc 2000??) and meteorology (MSc 2007). He has been in the met service ever since, first at Valentia, and then in Glasnevin, where he has worked in the agriculture and climate divisions. |
 |
113. Sinead Duffy was educated at first in physics at Maynooth (BSc 2000). She joined the Met service in 2004. She did an MSc in meteorology at UCD (2008). |
 |
114. Paul Nolan was educated first in maths at NUIG (BSc 2000) and Maynooth (MSc 2001). After doing high performance computing at TCD (MSc 2003), he did a PhD (UCD 2009). His thesis on "Simulating Climate Change and Its Effects on the Wind Energy Resource of Ireland" was done under Peter Lynch. Since 2013, he has been a climate scientist at the Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC). He leads the Met Éireann TRANSLATE project, developing standardised future climate datasets and climate services for Ireland. ICHEC / UG/ GoogleScholar / ResearchGate |
 |
115. Liz Coleman (-2023) was educated in maths & physics at TUD (BASc 2001) and in meteorology at UCD (MSc 2006). She joined the met service in 2016 and became deputy head of forecasting in 2023. |
 |
116. Eoin Whelan was educated at first at TCD (BA theoretical physics 2001, MSc 2002). He joined the Met service in 2002 and has worked in research. LinkedIn / |
 |
117. Meghan Stephens was born in England and brought up on Inishowen, Donegal. She was educated at QUB (BSc 2002) and NUIG (MSc 2004, PhD 2009), her thesis on "Numerical Methods for Singularly Perturbed Differential Equations" being done under Niall Madden. Her career so far has been spent in New Zealand, first as a research scientist for the Met Service there (2009-2013). Since then she has worked as a data scientist and in analytics and modelling for the NZ Treasury. |
 |
118. Gobnait McSweeney was born WHERE and was educated WHERE, UCD MSc 2006 . Joined when? |
 |
119. Deirdre Lowe was born in Belfast and was educated at QUB (BSc maths 2004??). She has been at the met service since
|
 |
120. Sarah Gallagher was born in Dublin and was educated at first at TCD (BAI 2003). She joined the Met service in 2006, rising to head of observations in 2020. Along the way she did an MSc in meteorology in 2011 and a PhD in fluid dynamics in 2014, both at UCD. Her thesis on "The Nearshore Wave Climate and Wave Energy Resource of Ireland: Past, Present and Future" was done with Frédéric Dias. LinkedIn / Gov.ie / ResearchGate
|
 |
121. Sandra Spillane was born in Thurles, Tipperary, and was educated at 7IT (BSc 2003, PhD 2008) and UCD (MSc 2008). Her doctorate8 on "A Study of Boundary Layer Flow with No-slip and Slip Boundary Conditions" was done with Laurence Crane. Her whole career has been at the Irish Met Service (2007- ). in 2014, she moved from research to C&O. |
 |
122. Jevon Keane-Brennan was educated at NUIG (BSc physics & electronics 2006, PhD 2011). He worked at the British Met Office (2013-2018), before joining the Irish Met Service. |
 |
123. Aoife Murray was born in Dublin ... and educated at ..... She joined the met service in 2006. She has worked in aviation. |
 |
124. Colm Clancy was born in Bishopstown, Cork, and was educated in maths at UCC (BSc 2006) and at UCD (PhD 2010). His thesis on "A Filtering Laplace Transform Integration Scheme for Numerical Weather Prediction" was done under Peter Lynch. His career started with postdocs at the Meteorological Research Division of Environment Canada in Montreal (2011-2014) and at UCD (2014-2016). He then joined the Irish Met service (2016-2025) where he worked in research and applications. He is now back at UCD as part of the UCD Met Éireann AIMSIR Centre, lecturing in applied mathematics and meteorology. UCD / LinkedIn / ResearchGate |
 |
125. Alan Hally was educated at NUIG (BSc physics & astronomy 2008) and UCD (MSc meteorology 2009), and Toulouse (PhD atmospheric physics 2013). He's been with the Irish met service since 2016, first as a researcher, then in forecasting, and more recently in the AI transformation team. |
 |
126. Mark Bowe was educated at Maynooth (BSc physics & astrophysics 2009, HDip maths 2010) and UCD (MSc meteorology 2011). He trained and worked as a meteorologist in Wellington, NZ (2014-2019), then spent a year at the UK met office in Exeter. Since 2020, he has been with Met Éireann, in general and aviation meteorology. He is also a TV forecaster. |
 |
127. Linda Hughes was born in Oughterard, Galway, and was educated at NUIG (BSc physics 2012?) and Reading (MSc meteorology 2013?). After working as a meteorologist in Scotland, she joined Met Éireann. She has worked in aviation and general forecasting, and is known to TV viewers. |
 |
128. John O'Sullivan was educated at TCD (BA 2012), UCD (MSc meteorology 2013), and Maynooth (PhD 2019). His thesis on "Extreme Events in Calibrated Climate Models: Impacts for Ireland" was done under Andrew Parnell. He did a 2-year postdoc in climatology at the Irish Met Service (2024-2025), before joining the CSO. |
 |
129. Jack McDonnell was born in Castleblayney, Monaghan, and was educated entirely at Maynooth (BA 2013, MSc 2014, PhD 2018+). His thesis on "Predicting Grass Growth at Farm Level to Adapt to Changing and Volatile Weather Conditions" was done under Caroline Brophy & Deirdre Hennessy. After a postdoc at the Met Service (2018-2019) he joined the staff at DKIT. His current research focus is on modelling and visualising Gaelic football data and multi-species grassland experiments. Orchid / DKIT / ResearchGate |
 |
130. Liz Gavin was educated at Maynooth (BSc maths physics & stats, MSc climate change 2011), and has been at the Met Service since 2005. |
 |
131. Seánie Griffin was educated at UCC (BSc maths sci 2013), Reading (MSc meteorology 2014), and UCD (PhD applied maths 2021). He has been at the Met service since 2021. |
|
|
132. Aoife Kealy was educated at Maynooth (BA geography & maths 2018, MSc climate change 2019), and has been with Met E since 2020. |
 |
133. Ailis Hankinson was educated at UCC (BS astrophysics 2022) and Reading (MS meteorology 2023). |
 |
134. Tom Bourke was born in ?Templemore, Tipperary. Came in as an MO, was in CAFO as such for many years, promoted to Meteorologist in the 2000s, and worked in Shannon thereafter. Retired now. |
| 00. Joseph Bourke | |
|
00. Tony Tighe? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
00. John McNeill Aldergrove, 1986 |
|
|
00.
|
|
|
00. RC, NF, HON , PM, LW, MG, LZ, MC, TS, no.
|
|
