DRAFT BLOG: All in the Family--Mathematical Gene-ology
Earlier here, we accounted for about 80 Irish mathematicians who shared a name, such as Michael Brennan, Patrick Dowling, John McDermott, Jim Murphy, Martin Newell, Kathleen O'Sullivan, and Michael Walsh.
This time we look at people who are closely related, including some with well-known names like Thomson, Boole, Everett, Synge, Timoney, Newell, Muldowney, Hurley, Flannery and Creedon. (The two lists overlap, inevitably.)
Sometimes it's a father and son, sometimes father and daughter, and other times siblings. Below we present all known such cases, about 150 people, some going back a few centuries. We will keep adding to this list, as new examples come to light.
So is there any evidence below in favour of the existence of some kind of a mathematical gene, which is sometimes passing down through blood lines? We have our opinion on this matter, and others will have theirs.
As usual, we include some people with physics and engineering leanings. Please alert us to any omissions or errors.
Thanks to many people for valuable input, especially Olivia Bree and David Malone.
Last updated 3 Aug 2026.
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HAMILTON 1739 |
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Hugh Hamilton (1729-1805) was born 26 March in Balrothery, Dublin. He was educated at TCD (BA 1747, MA 1750, Fellow 1751, BD 1759, DD 1762), where he started his career, serving as the fourth Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural & Experimental Philosophy (1759-1769). His 1858 book Sectionibus Conicis: Tractatus Geometricus was praised by Euler and was adopted for use in many British universities. From 1864 on he became increasingly active in church matters, first in Armagh, and he was later made a bishop. He was also a charter member of the Royal Irish Academy. He was third great-grand-father of John L. Synge below. |
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LLOYD 1772 |
father & son |
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Bartholomew Lloyd (1772-1837) was born 5 February in New Ross. He was educated at TCD (Scholar 1790, BA 1792, MA & Fellowship 1796, BD 1805, DD 1808), and spent his entire career there. Starting in 1813, when he was appointed Erasmus Smith's Prof of Maths, he implemented radical changes in the methods of teaching mathematics, including the introduction of the calculus to the curriculum. In 1822, he became Erasmus Smith's Prof of Natural & Experimental Philosophy, a position he held until becoming Provost (1831-1837). At various points he also was Donnellan Lecturer, Regius Prof of Greek and Archbishop King's Lecturer of Divinity. He wrote several books. |
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Humphrey Lloyd (1800-1881) was born 16 April in Dublin, and was educated at TCD (Scholar 1818, BA 1819, Fellow 1824, MA 1827, DD 1840). He succeeded his father as Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural & Experimental Philosophy (1831-1843), then became Senior Fellow. His research was mostly in conical refraction and geomagnetism. He authored several books, including A Treatise On Light and Vision (1831), Lectures on the Wave-theory of Light (two volumes, 1836 & 1841), and The Elements of Optics (1849), and was President of the RIA (1846-1851). Later, again like his father before him, he served as Provost (1867-1881). |
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THOMSON 1786 |
father & son |
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James Thomson (1786-1849) was born 13 November in Annaghdown near Ballynahinch, Down, and was educated at Glasgow (MA 1812). He taught at the Belfast Academical Institute (1814-1832), being awarded LLD by Glasgow (1829). He then became prof of maths there (1832-1849), where he also served as provost. His 10 books include 4 authored 4 while teaching in Belfast, and the later An Elementary Treatise on Algebra Theoretical and Practical (1844). He had 2 notable academic sons, engineer James and William (later known as Lord Kelvin, see below). Wikipedia / MacTutor / Glasgow / Ulster Bio |
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Physicist, mathematician and engineer William Thomson (aka Lord Kelvin, 1824-1907) was born in Belfast (son of James above), and grew up there and in Glasgow. He was educated at Glasgow and at Cambridge (BA as 2nd wrangler 1845). After a year in Paris, his career was spent at Glasgow (1846-1907). he did pioneering work on heat, electricity and thermodynamics. His engineering insights led to the first successful transatlantic cable. Co-authored landmark book Treatise on Natural Philosophy (1867) with Peter Tait.
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GRAVES 1806 |
brothers |
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John Graves (1806-1870) was born 4 December in Dublin. He studied science and classics at TCD, as a classmate and friend of Hamilton, and then pursued law in London. Throughout, he maintained a parallel career as a mathematician and avid collector of maths books and pamphlets. One of his notable discoveries, from late 1843, was octonions, an extension of Hamilton’s quaternions. |
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Robert Graves (1810-1893) was born 9 March in Dublin. He was educated in classics at TCD, following which he spent 3 decades as a clergyman in England. He then returned to Dublin and at the end of his life proposed the admission of women to TCD. In the 1890s, he published Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton in three volumes. |
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Charles Graves (1812–1899) was born in Dublin and was educated at TCD (Scholar, BA 1834, Fellow 1836, MA 1838). He spent the first half of his career there, serving as Erasmus Smith's Prof of Maths (1843-1862). Then he left TCD for the life of a clergyman, eventually becoming a bishop. However he published mathematics for half a century, and was president of the RIA (1861-1866). He had two notable brothers, mathematician John and Hamilton biographer Robert. |
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STEVELLY 1795 |
father & son |
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John Stevelly (1795-1868) was born 23 June in High Park, near Douglas, Cork, and was educated at TCD (BA 1817, MA 1827, LLB & LLD 1844). He first taught at the Royal Belfast Academical Institute (1823-1849), and took out some patents. He was the first professor of natural philosophy at Queen's Belfast (1849-1867). Bio / Steam Engine / Family |
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Robert Stevelly (1844-1916) was born 25 August in Belfast, Antrim, and was educated at Queen's Belfast (BA 1863) and at Cambridge (Peterhouse, BA 1868). He taught for a while at Aldenham School (Watford) before becoming an inspector of schools in England. |
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BOOLE 1815 |
man, wife & daugher |
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George Boole (1815-1864) was born 2 November in Lincoln, England. Despite being largely self taught, in 1849 he secured a job as the first professor of mathematics at Queen’s College, Cork. He died prematurely, and his extensive legacy includes Boolean algebra, which laid the foundations of the information age, and 4 books. His wife Mary and daughter Alicia (see below) also made contributions to mathematics. |
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Mary Boole (née Everest, 1832-1916) was born in Gloucestershire, England. She grew up mostly in Poissy, near Paris, and later in England. Her private education included plenty of mathematics. In time, she married George Boole, who had tutored her and was already settled in Cork as first professor of maths at Queen's College. She helped him assemble some of his landmark books, and their daughter Alice also contributed to mathematics. Following her husband's death, she moved to London where she taught and developed innovative ideas about the use of physical manipulations in strengthening "the unconscious understanding of materials learned in a classroom setting'' (e.g., curve stitching). Her numerous publications include the book Philosophy and Fun of Algebra (1909). First woman in Irish maths to publish maths books (1890 onwards). |
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Alice Boole (later Stott, 1860–1940) was born 8 June in Cork, a daughter of George & Mary Boole. She grew up there and in London, was educated privately and never attended university. In the 1880s, she was a pioneer in the visualisation of 4-dimensional shapes, and coined the term polytope for higher dimensional analogues of polyhedra. She wrote some of the chapters on sections of 3-dimensional solids in Howard Hinton's book A New Era of Thought (1888). She married Walter Stott in 1890. Between 1900 and 1910 she published numerous papers on polytopes, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Groningen (1914, in absensia). In the 1930s she worked with Donald Coxeter. First Irish woman to do original research (1880s). First Irish woman to write parts of a book dealing with maths (1888). First Irish woman in maths to get honorary doctorate. |
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ROBERTS 1817 |
twins & ?? |
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Michael Roberts (1817–1882, twin of William) was born 18 April in Carrigaline, Cork, and was educated at TCD (Scholar 1836, BA 1838, Fellow 1843, MA 1848, Senior Fellow 1879). He was appointed inaugural Prof of Maths at Queen's College, Galway, in 1848, but resigned before the first students arrived in 1849. He published mathematics over a several decade period, and was Erasmus Smith's Prof of Maths at TCD (1862-1879). He authored the book A Tract on the Addition of Elliptic and Hyper-Elliptic Integrals (1871). |
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William Roberts (1817–1883, twin of Michael) was born 18 April in Carrigaline, Cork, and was educated at TCD (BA 1838+, MA 1843). He was on the staff at TCD from 1841 on, serving as Donegall Lecturer in Maths (1867-1876). His sons Westropp and Ralph were also mathematicians. RALPH? JAMES? | ||
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Ralph Augustus Roberts (1854-? d by 1910) was born 14 May in Dublin and grew up in Kilmoney, Carrigoline, Cork. He was educated at TCD (BA 1876, MA 1882), and taught there for a while, authoring books on conics, plane curves, and calculus. He was an army and civil servant tutor in London the 1890s. His father William and uncle Michael (twins, above) were also TCD maths men who had been on the staff there. | ||
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PURSER 1820 |
brothers |
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John Purser (1835-1903) was born 24 August in Dublin and was educated at TCD (BA 1855+, MA 1859). He followed Slesser above as professor of maths at Queen's Belfast in 1863, a position he held until 1901, also serving as registrar for a spell. His students included Larmor and Orr below. |
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Frederick Purser (1839–1910) was born in Dublin, younger brother of mathematician John, and was educated at TCD (Scholar 1859, BA 1860, MA 1864, Fellow 1879). He was University Professor of Natural Philosophy (1902-1910). |
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POOLE 1821 |
?? & brothers |
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Hewitt Poole (1821-1897) was born 13 August in Cork and was educated at TCD (Scholar 1840, BA 1841+, Fellow 1847, MA 1852, DB & DD 1880). |
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Horace Poole (1885-1962) was born 15 March in Dublin, and was educated at TCD (Scholar, BA physics 1907, MA 1910, PhD 1918). He lectured at TCD until moving to the RDS in 1921. |
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John (Jackie) Poole (1893-1976) was born 15 March in Dublin, and was educated at TCD (Scholar 1913, BA physics 1915, MA year?, PhD 1921). He was at TCD (1934-1976 ) and then became commissioner of the Board of Irish Lights. |
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STONEY 1826 |
father & daughter |
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George Stoney (1826-1911) was born 15 February at Oakley Park near Parsonstown (Birr), King's County (Offaly)). He was educated at TCD (BA 1847+, MA 1852), later getting honorary doctorates from RUI (1879) and TCD (1902). His career started at Birr Castle (1848-1852) and Queen's Galway (1852-1857). He then spent decades in educational administration (1857-1893), all the while publishing in the areas of cosmic physics and the theory of gases. He introduced the term "electron" in 1891. His daughter Edith also trained in maths. Wikipedia / Ency Brit / DIB / Ingenius Irl |
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Edith Stoney (1869-1938) was born 6 January in Dublin, daughter to Offaly's physicist George Stoney (who later coined the term "electron"). She was educated at Newnham College (BA earned 1893). She had a remarkable career in physics and medical physics, including stints teaching maths at Cheltenham Ladies' College and physics at the London School of Medicine for Women, from which she had received a medical degree (1895). TCD awarded her ad eundum BA & MA (1904). She was very active in the suffrage movement and in WWI medical efforts. Wikiepedia / IPEM / Nature First Irish woman in maths awarded an ad eundum TCD BA (1904 |
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EVERETT 1831 |
father & daughter |
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Joseph Everett (1831-1904) was born in Ipswich, and was educated at Glasgow. His career included stints at Windsor (Nova Scotia, 1859-1864) and Glasgow (1864-1867), where he worked in Kelvin's lab. He then spent 3 decades as Prof of Natural Philosophy at Queen's Belfast (1867-1897). He wrote 4 books and contributed maths to the Educational Times. His daughter Alice also pursued maths. |
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Astronomer Alice Everett (1865-1949) was born 15 May in Glasgow, and brought up in Belfast, where her father was professor of natural philosophy at Queen's College. She was educated there and at Girton: sitting the Royal University of Ireland examinations earned her a BA (1887) and her Tripos performance (1889) earned her an RUI MA the same year. She worked at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (1890-1895) and in the USA (Pottsdam 1895-1898 and Vassar 1898-1899), and much later did research back in London in optics and the engineering of early television. Wikipedia / Bio / MacTutor / DIB First Irish woman to get MA in maths (1889) First woman paid to do astronomical work at the Royal Observatory. |
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TOWNSEND 1831 |
father & son |
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Edward Townsend (1831-1919) was was Cork, and was educated at TCD (BA 1853, MA 1856). He was professor of engineering at Queen's Galway, staying almost half a century, and serving as registrar. He played a key role in the design of the Galway to Clifton railway. RUI awarded him an honorary DSc in 1882. |
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Mathematical and experimental physicist John Sealy Townsend (1868-1957) was born 7 June in Galway, son of Edward Townsend above. He was educated at TCD and later studied with JJ Thomson at the Cavendish Lab. He worked for over 40 years at Oxford, where he supervised doctoral students and authored 4 books. |
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GOULD 1837 |
brothers related to Pierce Goold (aka Gould, 1676?-1715)??? |
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James Goold (1837??-??) was educated at Queen's Cork (BA 1858). Nothing is known about his career. | ||
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Michael M. Gould (1839??-1888??) was educated at Queen's Cork (BA 1857). Career in India? | ||
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CLERKE 1842 |
sister & brother |
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Agnes Clerke (1842-1907) was born 10 February in Skibbereen, Cork. She was educated privately, studying mathematics, physics and astronomy at the third level in Dublin, and later in Italy. Settling in London, she published extensively, wrote numerous popular and well regarded books on the history of astronomy, and contributed to the Encyclopaedia Britannica on both astronomy and mathematics. Her sister Ellen also wrote about astronomy, and her brother Aubrey did maths at TCD. First woman in Irish maths to publish maths books (1890 onwards). |
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Aubrey Clerke (1843-1923, brother of Agnes above) was born in Skibbereen, Cork, and was educated at TCD (Scholar 1862, BA & Gold Medal 1865). His career was spent as a barrister in London. |
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STOOPS 1842 |
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William Stoops (1844?-1919) was born in Castleblayney, Monaghan, and was educated at Queen's College Cork (BA 1874). At first he taught at the Coleraine Academic Institute, then in 1881 he became the headmaster at the Newry Intermediate School, Down, where he stayed until 1917. He contributed to the Educational Times. Obit 1 / Obit 2 / Educational Times / 1901 Census / 1911 Census |
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James Mills Stoops (1867-1941) was born 25 September in Alsmeed, Muckno Parish, Cremorne, northeast of Castleblayney, Monaghan, a nephew of William Stoops above. He was educated at Queen's College Belfast (BSc 1891). At first he taught at Victoria College in Belfast, contributed to the Educational Times, and authored solutions for some Blackie's Guides to the Intermediate Mathematics. In 1899 he matriculated at the University of London, and the rest of his career seems to have been spent as a clergyman in Australia and New Zealand. He taught maths at Emmanuel College in Brisbane from its 1912 opening. (Thanks to Kerry Mahony for finding the death date.) |
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Doctor William A. Stoops (1869-1938) was born 20 February in Mullyash just outside Castleblayney, Monaghan. He was educated at Queen's Belfast (BSc 1897, MD 1903??) and practiced medicine in England. He was one of the main mourners at the funeral of William above who died in 1919, and may have been a cousin of James above. |
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SMITH 1843 |
brothers |
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W. McLaren Smith (1843-1873) was born 25 June in Belfast, Antrim, and was educated at Queen's there (BA 1863, MA 1864). He was admitted to Cambridge (Trinity) and studied there briefly. His very short career was spent teaching in India, first at the College of Berhampore, and then at Presidency College (Calcutta). |
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Hugh McLaren Smith (1846-1867) was born 17 March in Belfast, Antrim, and was educated at Queen's Belfast (BA 1866). He died at 21. |
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BIGGS 1847 |
father & son |
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Richard Biggs (1847-1904) was born 10 March in Devizes, Wiltshire, England and was educated at TCD (1868, MA 1871, LLB & LLD 1874). His career was spent teaching in Ireland, first at the Chesterfield School in Birr, Offaly, then for over a decade as headmaster of the Grammar School in Galway, and from 1894 on as the headmaster at Portora, in Enniskillen, Fermanagh. He died in a canoeing accident on Lough Erne. He contributed to the Educational Timese. |
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Henry Biggs (1882-1934) was born 16 September in Galway and later attended Portora in Enniskillen, where his father Richard (above) was headmaster. He was educated at first at TCD (BA 1905), then worked at the Cavendish Lab (1906-1907). After a period at Manchester (MSc 1916), he ended up at Oxford. He authored 2 books. 1901 Census / Army / Relativity / Nature |
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DRURY 1849 |
man & grandson |
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Henry D'Olier Drury (1849-1931) was born 29 December in Dublin. He was educated at Cambridge (BA 1872, Tripos 1873), where he attended lectures by Maxwell. He taught maths at Marlborough College in Wiltshire (1873-1909). |
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Astrophysicist Luke Drury, grandson of the above (via Maurice O'Connor Drury), was born in Dublin, and was educated at TCD (BA 1975) and Cambridge (PhD 1979). His thesis on "Some Fluid Dynamical Problems in Astrophysics" was done under John Stewart. His career was spent at MPI Heidelberg (1979-1986) and DIAS & Dunsink (1986-2018). He also served as Andrews Prof of Astronomy at TCD (1998-2019). He had 7 PhD students. |
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PERRY 1850 |
brother & sister & ? |
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Engineer and mathematician John Perry (1850-1920) was born 14 Feb in Garvagh, Londonderry. He was educated at Queen's Belfast (BE & gold medal 1870, MA 1882), and his academic career included short stints in Bristol (1871-1874), Glasgow (1874-1875, with William Thomson, aka Kelvin, whom he successfully challenged on the subject of thermal conductivity), and Imperial College (Tokyo, 1875-1878) before setting down at Finsbury Technical College in 1882 and later Imperial College (1896-1913). He authored 5 books on mechanics and applied maths, including one on spinning tops. He received an honorary DSc from RUI in 1886, and an honorary LLD from Glasgow in 1901. His sister Agnes also did maths, and his nieces included pioneering early engineering graduate Alice and mathematics graduate Agnes (Molly). |
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Agnes Perry (later Ehrhardt, 1858-1940) was born 1 June in Garvagh, south of Coleraine, Londonderry, and grew up there and in Belfast, a sister of engineer and mathematician John above. She was educated at Newnham (BA earned 1883). She taught WHERE? In 1891, she married Albert Ehrhardt. Her nieces included pioneering early engineering graduate Alice and mathematics graduate Agnes (Molly).
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Agnes "Molly" Perry (1882-1963) was born 5 June in Roscommon, and grew up in Galway town. She was educated at Queen's College Galway (BA 1903, MA 1905), where she was the 6th woman graduate, and the 1st woman to get an honours maths degree. (Her younger sister Alice also excelled in maths there, but switched track and made history as the first female engineering graduate.) In 1949, Molly was described as "the most distinguished mathematician of her time in the college". She lectured in maths at Queen's (1903-1904), thus becoming the first woman to teach maths at the 3rd level. She was RUI examiner 1906, and earned pedagogy credentials at Bedford College (1906-1907). She then taught at Winchester High School (1908-1909) and Camden School for Girls (1910-1914- ?), retiring in 1936. Soon thereafter she moved to Renvyle, and later back to Galway. 1901 Census / Wikipedia / Teaching / 1937 First woman to get honours maths BA at Galway (1903). First woman to teach maths at third level in Ireland. |
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DOWLING 1854 |
brothers related to Patrick J. Dowling (1888-1972)?? |
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Edward Dowling (sometimes listed as Hughes-Dowling, 1854-1940) was born in Ballyloo, Carlow (baptised 19 June). He was educated at the University of London (BA 1873 or 1875), and then for a few years travelled and taught on the continent. He taught at St Patrick's College in Carlow in the late 1870s, and was a student at UCD in 1882, possibly earning an RUI degree. He taught maths at UCD (1884-1892), and at various secondary schools throughout Ireland for another 2 decades, also serving as inspector for the Intermediate Board in the 1890s. His brother Patrick is below, and his son John earned UCD degrees in physics and taught there for half a century. (Thanks to Ronan Malin for the photo.) |
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Patrick Dowling (1858-1922), brother of Edward above, was born 26 October in Carlow. He was educated at UCD (BA 1892), and taught elementary maths there at least 1887-1901. He also taught at Maynooth and Carysfort, and later served as registrar of the Royal College of Science for Ireland, for a while also being head of maths at the Dublin Technical Schools (and teaching at Kevin St). His first wife was John Casey's daughter Catherine (who died in 1905), and he edited or revised some 1890s editions of the geometer's books. Obit / Fund / 1901 Census / 1911 Census |
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James Hughes-Dowling (1882-1929) was born 2 April in Fermoy, Cork, and was educated at Maynooth (BA 1909). He was an inspector of schools. |
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TEEGAN 1857 |
father & son |
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Thomas Teegan (1857-1921) was born 16 March in Ballivelone, Enniskean, near Bandon, Cork. He was a schools inspector for the National Board of Education and later taught English and History at the Central Training College. He authored the 1887 book Elementary and Intermediate Algebra, which ran to 10 editions. His son James (1899-1967) got his PhD in physics at UCD (1937). Obit / Book / 1901 Census / 1911 Census |
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LARMOR 1857 |
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Theoretical physicist Joseph Larmor (1857-1942), older brother of Alexander below, was born 11 July in Magheragall, Antrim, and grew up there and in Belfast. He was educated at Queen's Belfast (BA 1874, MA 1875), where he was taught by John Purser, and at Cambridge (St John's, senior wrangler & Smith's Prize 1880, MA 1883). [JJ Thompson was 2nd wrangler.] He was professor at Queen's Galway for 5 years, then spent nearly half a century at Cambridge, in 1903 getting the chair vacated by Stokes upon his death. Most of his research concerned electricity, thermodynamics, and the electron theory of matter. He had at least 4 doctoral students and authored or edited 6 books, including the influential Aether and Matter (Cambridge, 1900) and 2 volumes of the papers of Stokes (Cambridge, 1904 & 1905). He received honorary doctorate from RUI (1882), TCD (1893) and Cambridge (1920). Wikipedia / MacTutor / Family / Enc Brit / Ulster Bio |
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Physicist Alexander Larmor (1858?-1936) was born in Magheragall, Antrim, and grew up there and in Belfast. He was educated at Queen's Belfast (BA 1879, MA 1881) and Cambridge (Clare, 11th wrangler 1884, part III 1885, MA 1888). He got fellowships both at Clare and at Owen's College, Manchester. Most of his career was spent teaching at the Londonderry Academy, where he served as head, and from 1907 on at Magee College, as prof of natural philosophy.. He authored some books on Euclid's geometry. Cambridge / Nature / Obit / 1901 Census / 1911 Census |
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ANDERSON 1858 |
brother & sister |
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Physicist Alexander Anderson (1858-1936) was born 16 May in Camus, Coleraine, Londonderry, and was educated at Queen's Galway (BA 1880, MA 1881) and Cambridge (Sidney Sussex, 6th wrangler 1884, MA 1888). He was on the Galway staff for half a century, where he also served as president. He is credited as being the first to consider black holes as real physical entities, in a 1920 paper. He received DSc degrees from Glasgow (1901) and NUI (1908). Wikipedia / DIB / UCG / Cambridge / 1901 Census / 1911 Census |
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Bessie Anderson (1862?-1927) was born in Camus, Coleraine, Londonderry, and was educated at Queen's Galway (BA, 1888), her subjects being maths and logic. She taught at Victoria College (? -1901) and then at Rutland High School in Dublin (1901-1923). 1901 Census / 1911 Census / Obit / School First woman to graduate from Queen's College Galway (pass BA 1888, maths and logic). |
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McVICKER 1861 |
brothers |
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John McVicker (1861-?) was born in Londonderry, and was educated at Queen's, Belfast (BSc 1882) and Oxford. No career details are known. |
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Charles McVicker (1862-1933) was born 20 July in Londonderry, and was educated at TCD (BA 1886, MA 1893) and Cambridge (Christ's, 17th wrangler 1892). He taught at St Mary's College (Hammersmith) for part of his career. Bio 1 / Bio 2 / Edu Times 1 / Edu Times 2 |
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YATES 1869 |
father & sons & daughter |
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James Yates (1869-1929) was born 24 February in Frankfort, Kilcormac, King's County, and was educated at TCD (BA 1891, MA 1894). His career was spent as a school inspector, including stints in Cork, Armagh, Tipperary, Louth and Dublin. Following partition, he moved to Belfast, and continued to work in education. His brother John and 3 of his children also did maths at TCD, most notably daughter Barbara. |
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Henry Yates (1908-1954) was born 5 May in Nenagh, Tipperary, and grew up there and in Belfast. He was educated at TCD (BA 1930, MA 1933), and taught there till 1933. He then worked for the English Electric Company in Rugby (1933-1944) and subsequently at the Parsons and Marine Engineering Turbine Research and Development Association in Newcastle-on-Tyne (1944-1954), dying comparatively young. |
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James, mother was Thrift James Yates (1915-1957) was born 22 October in Drogheda, Louth, and grew up there and in Belfast. He was educated at TCD (scholar 1936, BA 1938). He was in the physics dept at TCD for several year, and then moved to Cambridge. |
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Barbara Yates (1919-1998) was born in 22 January in Dublin, and grew up mostly in Belfast. She was educated at first at TCD (scholar 1940, BA 1941), then lectured at QUB (1942-1945) and at Aberdeen (1945-1948). She was on the staff at Royal Holloway (1948-1984?), earning her 1952+ Aberdeen PhD on "A Difference-Differential Equation" under Edward Wright. She was the first female Irish university graduate to get a pure maths doctorate. |
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THRIFT 1870 |
siblings |
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William Thrift (1870-1942) was born 28 February in Halifax, Yorkshire, England, and grew up there and in Carlow. He was educated at TCD (BA 1893, MA 1896). He was Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural & Experimental Philosophy (1901-1929), got DSc in 1936, and served as Provost (1937-1942). He was also active in politics, serving at TD several times in the 1920s-1930s. He edited the 1912 edition of Thomas Preston's Theory of Light, and was a very accomplished chess player. His sister Lily (1875-1961) below and D Wikipedia / Nature / Masons / 1901 Census / 1911 Census |
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Lily Thrift (later McCaw, 1875-1961) was born 2 October in Halifax, Yorkshire, England, sister of William above, and grew up mostly in Carlow. She was educated at Alexandra College, earning an RUI BA (1898). She taught for a few years then married in 1902 and moved to Armagh. (Thanks to Douglas Mobray for the photo.) Family / 1901 Census / 1911 Census First grad from Alexandra College to get a maths degree (1898) |
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Harry Thrift (1882-1958) was born 28 December in Dublin, did maths degrees too, that latter also working at TCD for many years.
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HOUSTON 1871 |
brothers? |
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William Houston (1871-1953) was born 18 Jan in Ballyclabber, Coleraine, Londonderry. He was educated at Queen's Belfast (BA 1892, MA 1896) and at Cambridge (St John's, 5th wrangler 1896, part II 1897). His career was spent at Cambridge, followed by 4 years at UCG, then he became assistant commissioner of education for Ireland. |
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Robert Martin Houston (1880-1947) was born 2 Feb in Ballyclabber, Coleraine, Londonderry, and was educated at Queen's Belfast (BSc 1901). No career information is known. |
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LEATHEM 1871 |
brothers |
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John Leathem (1871-1923) was born 5 May in Belfast, Antrim, and was educated at Queen's Belfast (BA 1891) and Cambridge (bracketed 4th wrangler, 1894, part II 1895). The University of London awarded him a DSc (1899). His relatively short career was spent at Cambridge. He wrote 4 books, including Volume and Surface Integrals Used in Physics (Cambridge, 1905), in which he introduced the now standard arrow notation for limits. His colleague G. H. Hardy enthusiastically embraced and promoted this innovation. |
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George Leathem (1881-1953?) was born 21 Dec in Belfast, younger brother of mathematician John. he was educated at QUB (BA 1903) and at Cambridge (St John's. 19th wrangler 1904). His career was spent in the civil service in India. |
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McELDERRY (MEGAW) 1874 |
mother & daughter & son |
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Annie McElderry (later Megaw, 1874-1968) was born 4 September in Ballymoney, Antrim. She was educated at Queen's College, Belfast (BA 1895, MA 1896), the master's via Victoria College. She taught at Rutland School in Dublin, where she rose to the rank of principal. Her daughter Helen Megaw was a celebrated crystallographer. 1892 / Victoria / 1901 Census / 1911 Census / Tree First Irish woman to earn MA in maths by exam in Ireland (1896) |
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Crytallographer Helen Megaw (1907-2002) was born 1 June in Dublin. She grew up in Dublin and in Belfast, and was educated at Girton College Cambridge (BA earned 1930 but not awarded, PhD 1934), studying under (and later working alongside) Tipperary's John Bernal. She then studied under Hermann Mark in Vienna (1934-1935). She published papers over a 30-year period, and authored 2 books. Wikipedia / Bio / DUB / 1911 Census |
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Thomas Megaw (1908-1990) was born 30 April in Dublin and grew up there and in Belfast. He was educated at QUB (BSc 1928). He worked in engineering in England (1936-1973), playing leading roles in the construction of well-known river tunnels and London tube lines. In 1970, he received an honorary DSc from QUB. OBIT |
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HARDEN (SMITH) 1875 |
couple & son |
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Dora Harden (later Smith, 1875-1951) was born 8 February in Dublin, and was educated at Alexandra (RUI BA 1897). She married clergyman Charles Smith below in Dublin at the end of 1898, and then lived in Donegal and Tyrone. Their son Frank Smith (1912-1987) also did maths (at TCD, 1934). [Photo courtesy of Pete Smith] |
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Charles Smith (1864-1930) was born 13 February in Ballinrobe, Mayo, and was educated at TCD (Schol 1885, BA 1889, MA 189x). He was an IEB examiner in 1900. Most of his career was spent as a clergyman in Donegal and Tyrone. He married TCD maths grad Dorothea Carleton Harden above. Their son Frank Smith (1912-1987) also did maths (at TCD, 1934). |
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Frank Smith |
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ACHESON 1880 |
sisters & a son |
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Molly Acheson (later Faris, 1880-1958) was born 12 June in Portadown, Armagh, and was educated at Girton (BA earned 1904). She taught in Belfast until her 1919 marriage to Samuel Faris. In 1907 TCD awarded her an ad eundem MA. She and her sister below married two brothers. |
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Grace Acheson (later Faris, 1885-1973) was born 17 December in Portadown, Armagh, and was educated at Queen's Belfast (BA 1907, MA 1909). She taught English and classics as well as maths at Victoria College (1909-1912) until her marriage to George Faris, and again (1925-1951) following his early death, rising to the rank of headmistress. Her son John Faris (1913-2011) below was a logician at QUB. She and her sister above married brothers. |
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Mathematical logician John Faris (son of Grace Acheson above, 1913-2011) was born 15 March in Caledon, south of Dungannon, Tyrone, and was educated at Oxford (MA 1936). His entire career was spent at QUB (1936-1978). His books included Truth-Functional Logic (1962) and Quantification Theory (1964). |
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HARPER 1880 |
siblings |
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Edgar Harper (1880-1916) was born in 4 July in Mullafgadun, Dungannon, Tyrone, and was educated at first at TCD (BA 1902). Most unusually, he then earned an RUI BSc (1904, via private study), and an RUI Travelling Studentship (and MSc) in 1905. After 2 years teaching at the Royal School back in Dungannon, he secured a post at Bangor (1907-1913). During his time there he co-authored the book Aerial Locomotion (Cambridge, 1911), a very early treatment of flying. In 1912 he successfully applied for the professor of maths physics position at UCC, a job for which Eamon de Valera was also famously considered. He held that position 1913-1915, before abandoning academia to fight for King and country. Starting with a May 1915 commission in the Royal Munster Fusiliers, it was as a member of the 8th Battalion of the South Staffordshire regiment that he died in July 1916 at the Somme offensive known as the Battle of Albert. His younger siblings Margaret and Victor were also maths teachers. 1901 Census / Who's Who / War |
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Margaret Harper (1883-1922, sister of Edgar) was born 24 October in Dungannon, Tyrone. She taught in Newquay (Cornwall, 1904-1906) and then attended QUB. After a year teaching in Ballymena (1910-1911) she taught in England again (Cumbria) till at least 1918. She died young. |
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Victor Harper (1887-1964, brother of Edgar and of Margaret above) was born 13 February in Dungannon, Tyrone, and was educated at QUB (BA, 1908). He taught in England at first, and then at Campbell College (Belfast, 1915-1922). He spent the next 30 years as the headmaster of Lurgan College. 1901 Census / Campbell / Lurgan / Obit |
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DE VALERA 1882 |
man & grandaugher |
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Éamon de Valera (1882-1975) was born 14 Oct in New York City, and grew up in Bruree, Limerick. In 1904, he earned a maths BA in Dublin from the Royal University of Ireland. After teaching at Rockwell and Clonliffe, and attending classes at TCD, he was on the staff at Carysfort (1906-1916) and Maynooth (1912-1914). He then turned to nationalist activities, and ultimately entered a long career in politics. In 1940, as Taoiseach, he initiated the foundation of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. |
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POWER 1885 |
father & daughter |
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Michael Power (aka Mícheál de Paor, 1885-1974) was born 2 April in Piltown, Kilkenny, and was educated at UCD (BA 1907, MA 1908, BSc 1909). He was awarded an NUI Travelling Studentship Prize in 1909 and a Travelling Studentship in 1910. After a few years at UCD he was appointed to UCG (1912-1955). He co-authored the 1950s book Nótaí ar mhion-áireamh with Máirtín Ó Tnúthail (Martin Newell). His daughter Sheila became a maths physicist. |
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Mathematical physicist Sheila Tinney (née Power, 1918-2010) was born 15 January in Galway, where her father Michael was professor of maths. She was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1938, MSc 1939), where she was awarded an NUI Travelling Studentship Prize. Her 1941 PhD from the University of Edinburgh on "The Stability of Crystal Lattices" was done with Max Born, making her the first Irish university educated woman to get a doctorate in mathematical science. Her career was spent at DIAS (1941-1949), where she was one of the first scholars in residence, and at UCD (1941-1978). At UCD she introduced generations of students to quantum physics, and briefly served as acting dept head of maths physics. |
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KENNEDY 1887 |
father & son |
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Henry (Harry) Kennedy (1887-1968) was born 28 January in Toor, Tippperary, south of Nenagh He was educated at UCD, first in maths science (BA 1909, MA 1910) then in physics (BSc 1911, MSc 1912, PhD 1917), winning but not using the first NUI Travelling Studentship in physics. His doctorate was awarded for previously published papers with UCD's John McClelland. He had taught maths at UCD for several years, before turning his attention to agricultural economics. From 1926 to 1963, he was secretary of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, and NUI awarded him an honorary DEcon in 1954. He was also a director of the ESB from its inception. His was father of mathematician Maurice Kennedy (1924-1994), whose career was spent at UCD.
Obit / Independent / 1901 Census / 1911 Census |
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Maurice Kennedy (1924-1994) was born in Dublin, and was educated at UCD. His 1954 Caltech PhD on "Ergodic Theory for a Certain Class of Markov Processes" was done under Samuel Karlin. His career was spent at UCD, where he also served as registrar. His research interests included analysis, functional analysis, and point set topology. | ||
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SYNGE 1890 |
brother & man & daughter |
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Edward ''Hutchie'' Synge (1890-1957) was born 1 June in Dublin and attended TCD (scholar 1910).
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John (Jack) L. Synge (1897–1995) was born on 23 Mar in Dublin, and grew up there and in Cavan. He was educated at TCD (Scholar 1916, BA 1919, MSc 1922, DSc 1926), and worked at the University of Toronto before becoming University Professor of Natural Philosophy at TCD (1925-1930). The rest of his career was spent back at Toronto, as well as in the USA, and finally at DIAS (1948-1972). He spoke at ICM 1924, 1932 and 1936, and played a key role in the foundation of the Fields Medal. He supervised many theses and wrote over a dozen books. He is credited with the introduction of a new geometrical approach to the special and general theories of relativity. His daughter Cathleen Morawetz (1923-2017) had a successful mathematical career at the Courant Institute in the USA. In 1957, he published Kandelman's Krim: A Realistic Fantasy, a short novel. Wikipedia / MacTutor / RDS / Royal Soc / Book Review |
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Cathleen Morawetz (née Synge, 1923-2017) was born 5 May in Toronto, and split her early years between there and Dublin when her father Jack Synge was on the staff at TCD. She was educated at the University of Toronto (BA 1945), MIT (MSc 1946) and NYU (PhD 1951). Her thesis on "Contracting Spherical Shocks Treated by a Perturbation Method" was done under Kurt Friedrichs. Her career was spent at the Courant Institute, researching nonlinear PDEs and their applications such as wave propagation. She served as President of the American Mathematical Society (1995-1996). In 1996, she received an honorary ScD from TCD. |
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Öpik 1893 |
father & son |
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Ernst Öpik (1893-1985)
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Uno Öpik (1926-2005)
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TIMONEY 1909 |
father & son & grandaughter |
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Dick Timoney (1909-1985) was born 17 May in Belleek, Fermanagh, and was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1930, MSc 1931), where he earned an NUI Travelling Studentship Prize. After a year at Edinburgh, studying with E. T. Whittaker, he returned to UCD, where he served on the staff for 47 years. 1911 Census / IMS / UCD |
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Richard M. Timoney (1953-2019) was born 17 July in Dublin, son of longtime UCD mathematician JR "Dick" Timoney. He was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1973, MSc 1974), where he earned an NUI Travelling Studentship. His 1978 doctorate on "Bloch Functions in Several Complex Variables" was done under Lee Rubel at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His career was mostly spent at TCD, where he supervised numerous PhD and master's theses and co-authored the book Recent Advances in Operator-Related Function Theory (AMS, 2006). His research interests included several complex variables and functional analysis. Sadly, he died before a conference to celebrate his work. |
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Theoretical physicist Nuala Timoney was born in Dublin, where her father and grandfather were both mathematicians. She was educated at TCD (BA 2004) and at Siegan (MSc 2007, Dr rer nat 2010). Her thesis on "Robust Rotations and Coherent Quantum State with a Single Trapped Ion" was done under Christof Wunderlich. Her career started at the Univ of Geneva 2010-2016, following which she has worked for Intel in Dublin.
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TIERNEY 1910 |
brothers |
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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. He In 1982, he became the first president of the Irish Met Society. 1911 Census / IMS / 1949 / 2001 |
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Eamonn Tierney (1918-2004) was born 16 April in Derry city and was educated at Maynooth (BSc 1940) and UCD (MSc 1945). He then taught at St Columb's back i n Derry (1945-1976), before spending the rest of his life in parish work. |
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NEWELL 1910 |
father & son & grandson |
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Martin J. Newell (aka Máirtín Ó Tnúthail, 1910-1985) was born 30 July in Galway city, and was educated at UCG (BSc 1929, MSc 1930, Travelling Studentship 1930). He studied quantum mechanics at St John's, Cambridge, 1930-1933 under Ralph Fowler. After 2 years teaching at St Michael's in Listowel, he spent the rest of his career at UCG. He was appointed prof of maths in 1955, and later served as college president (1960-1975). He authored the book Algébar Iolscoile and co-authored the calculus book Nótaí ar mhion-áireamh with Michael Power above. |
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Martin L. Newell (born Galway city, son of Martin J. Newell above), was educated at first at UCG (BSc 1961, MSc 1962, Travelling Studentship Prize 1962). His 1966 PhD on "Poly-e-Gruppen" was done in Frankfurt under Reinhold Baer. He first taught at Queen Mary in London before returning to UCG for 35 years. He has edited 2 conference proceedings on group theory. His son John is also a mathematician. |
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Biostatistician Johnnie Newell was born in Galway, and was educated at NUIG (BSc 1990, MSc 1992) and Glasgow (PhD 1999). His thesis on "Practical Methods for Analysing Dependent Survival Data" was done under Tom Aitchison. His career so far has been at NUIG. He has supervised 7 PhDs, and co-authored book Statistics for Sports and Exercise Science: A Practical Approach (2010). His father Martin and grandfather Martin (1910-1985) also had careers in maths at Galway. |
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TODD 1911 |
brothers |
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Jack Todd (1911-2007) was born 16 May in Carnacally, Down, and grew up there and in Belfast. He was educated at first at QUB (BA 1931). After 2 years studying with Littlewood at Cambridge, he taught at QUB and at King's College, London. Following several years at the Admiralty, during the war, he moved to the USA, where he spent a decade at the National Bureau of Standards. The rest of his career was spent at Caltech, where he supervised 5 PhDs and wrote 2 books. He was an early proponent of using computers to do numerical mathematics. His efforts in the 1940s helped to ensure the preservation of the Oberwolfach Mathematical Research Institute in Germany. |
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Billy Todd (1913-1981, brother of Jack above) was born 2 November in Carnacally, Down, and grew up there and in Belfast. He was educated at QUB (BSc 1936). His career was spent teaching at Methodist College and later at Rainey School | ||
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Bertie Todd (1917-1992?, brother of Jack & Billy above) was born 17 August in Carnacally, Down, and grew up there and in Belfast. He got a University of London external degree by correspondence (circa 1939). While his career was spent in research in the linen industry, some of his publications had mathematical content. |
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SPAIN 1914 |
father & son |
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Theoretical physicist Barry Spain (1914-2007) was born 18 November in Derry city, Londonderry. He was educated at TCD (BA 1936, MSc 1938, MA 1957) and at the University of Edinburgh (PhD 1939), his thesis on "A Nuclear Statistical Model with Applications to Stability" being done under Klaus Fuchs, a man who later passed nuclear secrets to Moscow. His career was spend at Imperial College (1945-1947), TCD (1947-1957), and Sir John Cass College (1957-1980). He wrote five books, including Tensor Calculus--A concise Course (1953) and Analytical Conics (1957). His son Philip is also a mathematician. |
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Philip Spain was born in Dublin and educated at Cambridge (BA 1965) and Glasgow (MA 1969, PhD 1971), his thesis on "Weak Compactness in Operator Algebras" being done under Henry Dowson. His whole career was spent at Glasgow (1967-2006). |
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DOBBS & NEVILL 1917 |
man, women, a son & a grandson |
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Neil Dobbs (1917-1963) was born 7 November in Kampala, Uganda, and grew up there, in Kenya, and in Dublin. He was educated at TCD (Scholar 1939, BA 1940). His career was spent first in the civil service in the Gold Coast, and later as a teacher at St Columba's in Dublin. He married Eleanor Nevill below. Their grandson Neil is also a mathematician. |
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Eleanor Nevill (later Dobbs, 1917-1999) was born 28 July in Nurney, Carlow, and was educated at TCD (Scholar & BA 1940). She married Neil Dobbs above, and their grandson Neil is a mathematician (currently at UCD). Following decades in the Gold Coast, she taught at Alexandra College until 1981. Her sister below also got a maths degree. |
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Cecily Nevill (1921-2002) was born 10 July in Nurney, Carlow, and was educated at TCD (Scholar 1942, BA 1944). She taught at Royal Holloway for a while, and was then engaged in teacher training and student enrichment in both Kenya and Bath. |
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Hugh Dobbs was born 11 April in Dublin, and was educated at TCD (BA in chemistry 1970, HDip). He taught maths in school in Waterford for 35 years. His son Neil is a mathematician at UCD. |
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Neil B. Dobbs was born 26 January in Waterford city and was educated at TCD (BA 2001) and Paris (PhD 2006+). His theseis on "Critical Points, Cusps and Induced Expansion in Dimension One" was done under Jacek Graczyk. His career so far has included positions in IMPAN Warsaw (2007-2008), Stockholm (2008-2010), IBM New York (2010-2012), Helsinki (2012-2014) and Geneva. Since 2017, he has been at UCD, where his interests include measure-theoretical behaviour of chaotic dynamical systems and the geometric properties of Julia sets. |
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IMAEDA 1918 |
father & daughter |
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Kuninosuke Imaeda (今枝國之助, Kuninosuke Imaeda 1918-2012) was born 5 Jul in Okayama and was educated at Osaka Univ (1941-1943). Following military service he worked at Kawasaki Machine-Manufacturing Factory until 1950. His academic career was spent at Yamanashi Univ in Kofu (1950-1958), DIAS (1958-1981), and finally Okayama Univ (1981-1990). His work included new methods of studying high-energy particle collisions and secondary particle decay, and a quaternion and biquaternion approach to classical electrodynamics. He co-authored the book Black Hole Physics (1981) with his daughter Mari (see below). DIAS / ResearchGate / Books |
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Mari Imaeda (今枝真理, Imaeda Mari) was born 1 Oct in Kofu, and grew up there and in Dublin. She was educated at TCD (BA 1974+), Univ of Cincinnati (MSc 1977) and UCD (PhD 1980). Her thesis on "The Motion of Sources of Robinson-Trautman Solutions of the General Relativistic Field Equations" was done under Peter Hogan. Her career started at Athlone (1981-1983) and Cleveland State (1987-1993). She co-authored the book Black Hole Physics (1981) with her father Kuni (see above). |
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QUINLAN 1919 |
father & son |
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Applied mathematician Paddy Quinlan (1919-2001) was born 7 Dec in Kilmallock, Limerick, and was educated at UCC and Caltech. His 1949 PhD on "A Fourier Integral Approach to an Aeolotropic Medium" was done with Romeo Martel & Frederick Converse. He lectured at UCC for four decades, supervising numerous theses there. He also served as a member of Seanad Éireann, from 1957 to 1977. |
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Michael Quinlan was born in Pasadena, CA, USA, and grew up in Cork city, and was educated at first at UCC (BSc 1969, MSc 1970), winning an NUI Travelling Studentship Prize. His 1973+ PhD on "Evaluation of a Reaction Rate Model for Polymer Fracture" was done at Univ of Utah under Ed Fitzgerald. His whole career was spent at UCC.
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FAHY 1922 |
father & sons |
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Physicist Frank Fahy (1922-2005) was born 8 June in Mallow, Cork. Following his BSc in maths and physics (UCC, 1942) he did his MSc on “Problems on Atmospheric Electricity” with P. J. Nolan at UCD (1944) and was awarded an NUI Travelling Studentship in physics. After a year at DIAS he went to the University of Chicago where he was awarded his PhD on "Investigations on Large Cosmic-ray Bursts" under Marcel Schein in 1951. He taught at Marquette University in Wisconsin (1950-1952) and then returned to UCC for 35 years, serving as physics dept head and college vice-president along the way. He was also chair of the School of Cosmic Physics at DIAS from 1970 to 1995. |
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Ed Fahy | ||
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Stephen Fahy | ||
DUNWOODY 1932 |
brothers |
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Norbert Dunwoody (1932- ) was born in Belfast, and was educated at QUB (BSc 1954?, PhD 1958). His thesis on "A Theoretical Investigation of Forced Heat Convection by Laminar Flow Through Ducts" was done under Stanley Dennis. After a decade at QUB he moved to Coleraine. where he worked for over a quarter century. His research was in fluid dynamics and heat transfer. |
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Jim Dunwoody (1935-2012) was born in Belfast, and was educated at QUB (BE 1957, PhD 1964). His thesis on "Some Investigations of the Viscous Flow Past a Flat Plate" was done while he worked at the National Physics Lab, Teddington, SW London, also under Stanley Dennis. His career was spent at QUB (1965-1998). |
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O'RAIFEATAIGH 1933 |
father & son |
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Mathematical physicist Lochlainn O'Raifeartaigh (1933-2000) was born 11 March in Dublin, and was educated at first at UCD (BSc 1953, MSc 1956). His 1960 doctorate on "Non Local Field Theories" was done at the University of Zurich under Walter Heitler (see above). He had early stints at DIAS (1961-1963), Madras (1963-1964), Syracuse (1963-1967), and IAS Princeton (1967-1968), before settling at DIAS (1968-2000). He supervising many postgraduates and postdocs. His 5 books include Group Structure of Gauge Theories (1986). He is best known for several ground-breaking results in the application of group theory to the physics of elementary particles, notably his "no-go theorem." |
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Cormac O'Raifeartaigh (O'Rafferty) was born 26 March in Dublin, and was educated at UCD (BSc physics, 1988) and TCD (PhD 1994). His thesis on "Spin-Dependent Conductivity in Silicon-on-Sapphire" was done under Robert Barklie. Most of his career has been spent lecturing in physics at WIT (SETU). He trained as a solid-state physicist, and is very active in the history and philosophy of 20th century science. |
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CAULFIELD 1935 |
father & sons |
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Brendan Caulfield (aka Breandán Mac Conamhna) was born in Belderrig, Mayo, and was educated at first at UCG (BSc 1956, MSc 1957). Dip in stats. LLD. His career was spent lecturing at Lanchester Polytech in Coventry (1970s) and as the head of RTC Sligo (1979-2001). His mathematical sons Colm-cille Caulfield and Oisín Mac Conamhna are below. |
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Colm-cille Caulfield was born in Coventry, England, son of Brendan Caulfield (aka Breandán Mac Conamhna) above, and grew up there are in Sligo town. He was educated at UU Coleraine (BSc 1987) and at Cambridge (PhD 1991). His thesis on "Stratification and Buoyancy in Geophysical Flow" was done under Paul Linden. After several years each at Toronto, Bristol, and San Diego, he returned to Cambridge in 2005. He specialises in fluid mechanics and turbulence, and has supervised 15 PhD students. His brother is below. |
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Oisin Mac Conamhna was born in Sligo, and was educated at NUIG (BSc 2000) and at Cambridge (Tripos Part III 2001, PhD 2005). His thesis on "G-Structures in Supergravity" was done with Stephen Hawking. After a few years at Imperial College, he switched to quantitative finance and now works for Lloyds. His father and brother are above. |
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McCARTHY 1939 |
father & daughter |
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Maeve McCarthy was born in Galway city, and was educated at UCG TSP 1992, and Rice (PhD 1997). Her thesis on "An Investigation Of The Optimal Design Of The Tallest Unloaded Column" was done under Steve Cox. Her career has been spent at Murray State University. She has served as executive director of the the AWM. |
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MULDOWNEY 1939 |
brothers |
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Jim Muldowney (1939-2022) was born 25 December near Thomastown, Kilkenny, and was educated at UCG (BSc 1960, MSc 1961) and Alberta (PhD 1966). His thesis on "Analyticity and Asymptotics of Jost Functions" was done under Francis Baragar. After 2 years at Univ Oklahoma (Norman), he returned to the Univ Alberta, in Edmonton, from which he officially retired in 2009, having supervised 3 PhD students. His brother Pat (below) was also a mathematician. ResearchGate / LinkedIn / Obit |
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Pat Muldowney was born was born near Thomastown, Kilkenny, and was educated at UCG (BSc 1967, MSc 1969) and Coleraine (PhD 1984). His thesis on "Application of Integration Theory to Statistics and Mechanics" was done under Ralph Henstock. He then lectured for 36 years at Magee, where he co-supervised 2 PhDs overseas and authored the books General Theory of Integration in Function Spaces (1987) and A Modern Theory of Random Variation: With Applications in Stochastic Calculus, Financial Mathematics, and Feynman Integration (2012). His brother Jim (above) was also a mathematician. |
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MURRAY 1939 |
father & son |
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Seamus (Moss) Murray (1939-1983) was born 20 July in Dublin, and grew up there and in Nenagh, Tipperary. He was educated at UCD (BA 1960, MA 1961) and was awarded an NUI Travelling Studentship Prize in 1964. He studied for a while at Caltech, and spent his career at United Aircraft, the University of Southampton, and the University of Petroleum Minerals (Dahara), dying relatively young. | ||
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James Murray (son of Seamus above) was born in Nenagh, Tipperary, and was educated at UCD (BSc 1995, MSc 1996). His career has been spent as a quant. | ||
SEN |
father & son |
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Theoretical physicist Siddhartha Sen was born 16 November in Calcutta, India, and first educated at the University of Calcutta (BSc 1961, MSc 1963). His 1969 MIT ScD on "A Renormalizable theory of Weak Interactions and the Axial Vector Anomaly" was done with Ken Johnson. Shortly after that he joined the staff at TCD (1971-2002), where he supervised 5 theses and co-authored the books Topology and Geometry for Physicists, and Elements of Statistical Mechanics: With an Introduction to Quantum Field Theory and Numerical Simulation. |
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Shayan Sen was born in Dublin and educated at TCD (BA 1992) and Cornell (PhD 1999). His thesis on "Representations And Characters Of An Extension Of SL(3,R) By An Outer Automorphism" was done with Birgid Speh. His career has been spent as an actuary in Canada. |
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McMurry |
mother & son |
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Sarah McMurry (née Barrett) was born 11 July in Bedfordshire and grew up there and in Sussex and Hertfordshire. She was educated at Bedford College (BSc 1964) and Oxford (DPhil 1967). Her thesis on "Some problems in the theory of nuclear interactions: 1. Nucleon magnetic moments in a bootstrap model 2. KN* production in Kp scattering" was done with Ian Aitchison. Her career was spent at TCD (1968-2007). She authored the books Quantum Mechanics and Mathematics As a Language - Understanding and Using Maths. Portrait / |
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Astronomer Andrew McMurry was born in Dublin, and was educated at Cambridge (BA 1993?) and Oxford (DPhil 1997). His doctorate on "Radiative Transfer in Stellar Chromospheres" was done under Carole Jordan. He spent many years at the Univ of Oslo. He now works in IT in the UK. |
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McDERMOTT |
father & son |
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John P. McDermott was born 22 March in Salthill, Galway, and was educated at first at UCG (BSc 1962, MSc 1963, Travelling Studentship 1963). His 1968 DPhil "On the Representation Theory of the General Linear Group" was done at Oxford under Graham Higman. After 7 years at Newcastle, he returned to UCG where he lecture for over 3 decades. | ||
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John J. McDermott was born 2 July in Galway city, son of John P. McDermott above/ He was educated at first at UCG/NUIG (BSc 1991, MSc 1992, Travelling Studentship Prize 1992). His 1999 PhD on "Subgroup Growth and the Plane Crystallographic Groups" was done at Bath under Geoff Smith. His career has seen him teach at UCC and work as scientific officer in computing St Andrews. He now lectures at Dundee. |
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HURLEY 1944 (Cork) |
father & son |
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Donal J. Hurley was born 31 March in Clonakilty, Cork. He was educated at UCC (BSc 1965, MSc 1966, Travelling Studentship Prize 1966), and at Yale. His 1970 PhD on "Existence and Properties of Class A Geodesics on Riemannian Manifolds" was done under Gustav Hedlund (1904-1993). Most of his career was spent at UCC. He co-authored the books Geometry, Spinors and Applications (Springer 2000) and Topics in Differential Geometry; a New Approach Using D-differentiation (Springer 2002).
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Gavin Hurley was born in Bishopstown, Cork, son of Donal Hurley above, and was educated at first at Cambridge (BA 1999, MA 2000). His Cornell PhD on "Policies for the Stochastic Inventory Problem with Forecasting" was done in 2005 under ??. His career has been spent in industry, at Goldman Sachs (2005-2008), Bord Gáis (2008-2011), Baringa (2012-2013), and at EDF in England since 2013, where he is now head of data science. |
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HURLEY 1944 (Galway) |
father & sons |
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Ted Hurley was born 22 Sep in Tuam, Galway), UCG TSP 1966. His 1970 PhD on "Representations of Some Relatively Free Groups in Power Series Rings" was done under Karl Gruenberg (1928-2007) at Queen Mary College in London. After stints in Sheffield and UCD, he taught for 30 years at UCG/NUIG, supervising 4 PhD students and co-editing several conference proceedings. His interests include group theory and coding and cryptography. He is passionate about mathematics education, and has written about it for the Irish Times.
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Paul Hurley was born in Galway, and was educated at UCG (BSc 1995) and École Poly Féd Lausanne (PhD 2001). His thesis on "The Provision of a Low Delay Service within the Best-Effort Internet" was done under Jean-Yves Le Boudec. He worked at IBM Zurich (2013-2018) before joining the data science staff at West Sydney Univ in Australia. His interests include signal processing, medical imaging, radio astronomy, and abstract algebra. |
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Aaron Hurley was born in Galway city, and was educated at UCG (BA 1996, MA 2005) and Nottingham (PhD 2001). His thesis on "" was done under Gowland. His career has been spent in software. He is also active in music. |
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Barry Hurley was born in Galway city, and was educated at UCG (BSc 2000, MSc 2004, PhD 2013). His thesis on "Classification Problems in Finite Linear Groups" was done under Dane Flannery. His career has been spent in industry. |
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Donny Hurley was born in Galway city and was educated at NUIG (BSc 2004, PhD 2010). His thesis on "Virasoro Correlation Functions for Vertex Operator Algebras" was done with Michael Tuite. He was in the CS dept at Maynooth (2014-2016) and lectured at IT Sligo (2017-2022). He is now at GMIT in Galway (ATU Galway-Mayo). IT Sligo / ResearchGate |
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MALONE |
father & son |
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Jim Malone was born in Clare, and was educated in physics & maths at UCC (BSc 1967, PhD 1972). |
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David Malone was b |
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FLANNERY |
father & daughter |
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David Flannery (1952-2023) was born in Sligo, and grew up in Galway and Dublin. He was educated at first at UCC (BSc 1972, MSc 1973, HDip). He lectured at CIT (1975-2012), worked in group theory, and later earned his PhD from TCD (2006) on "Enhancing the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics in the Senior Cycle" under John Evans. He published the books In Code: A Mathematical Journey (2000, co-authored with his daughter Sarah), and The Square Root of 2: A Dialogue Concerning a Number and a Sequence (2006). |
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Sarah Flannery was born in Cork, and as a teenager won the 1999 EU Young Scientist of the Year Award for her project "Cryptography – A new algorithm versus the RSA". She was educated in CS at Cambridge (BA 2003), and has worked in indusry.
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O'REGAN |
brothers |
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Donal O'Regan was born in Cork and was educated at UCC (BSc 1979, MSc 1980) and Oregon State Univ (PhD 1985). His thesis on "" was done under Lee. After short stints at Univ Idaho, TCD, and Maynooth, he settled at UCG in 1990. His interests include differential equations, non-linear analysis and fixed point theory. He has published over 2000 papers and 35 books. UG / GoogleScholar / ResearchGate / 2012 / |
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Fran O'Regan (brother of NUIG's Donal above) was born in Cork and educated at UCC. He has long lectured at IT Sligo. |
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Ó CAIRBRE |
brothers |
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Aongus Ó Cairbre was born in Drogheda, Louth, and was educated at Maynooth (BSc 1980, MSc 1982) and at Berkeley (PhD 1987). His thesis "On Unitary Equivalence of von Neumann Algebras Generated by Weyl Operators on Fock Space" was done under Marc Rieffel. His career has been spent at Kevin St / DIT. | ||
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Fiacre Ó Cairbre was born in Drogheda, Louth, and was educated at Maynooth (BSc 1981, MSc 1982), where he earned an NUI Travelling Studentship Prize, and at Berkeley (PhD 1987). His thesis on "Ergodic Actions of SU(2) X T on Operator Algebras" was done under Vaughan Jones. His career has been spent at Maynooth. Maynooth |
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BRADY |
brothers |
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Tom Brady was born in Kilbride, Meath, and was educated at TCD (BA 1982) and Cornell (PhD 1988). His thesis on "The Integral Cohomology of Out_+(F_3)" was done under Marshall Cohen and Karen Vogtmann. After spells at Univ Michigan and Brigham Young, he settled at DCU, where he has supervised 2 PhD students. His interests are in geometric group theory and combinatorics. |
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Noel Brady (brother of Tom above) was born in Kilbride, Meath, and was educated at TCD (Scholar, BA 1988) and Berkeley (PhD 1993). His thesis on "The Geometry of Asynchronous Automatic Structures on Groups" was done under John Stallings. After postdocs at Utah and Cornell, he settled at the Univ Oklahoma, where he recently served as dept head. He has supervised 4 PhD students, and co-authored the book The Geometry of the Word Problem for Finitely Generated Groups (2007). His interests are in |
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CREEDON |
brothers |
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Tadhg Creedon was born 27 May in Ballinveltig, west of Cork city, and was educated at UCC (BSc 1990, MSc 1991 by thesis, PhD 1995). His masters on "Minimum Counterexamples in Finite Rings" was done under Des MacHale, and his PhD on "Derivations that Map Into the Radical" was done under Gerry Murphy. After stints at UCC (1995-1999), MIC (1999-2002), and UCC (2002-2003) again, in 2004 he settled at CIT (now MTU). . |
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Leo Creedon was born 13 May in Ballinveltig, west of Cork city, and was first educated at UCC (BSc 1991, MSc 1992). His 2000 PhD on "The Units of Modular Group Algebras" was done under Maziar Shirvani at Edmonton. Since 2004, he has been on the staff at IT Sligo, where he has supervised 4 doctoral students. |
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