BIRR CASTLE DEMESNE VISIT
9 JULY 2011

A note by Eamon Henry.
Date 12 July 2011

A visit to Birr Castle Demesne in County Offaly was made on Saturday 9 July 2011 by eleven members of the Active IT Society (AITS), organised and led by Mrs Angela Hickey. A two-hour journey by car got us there about noon, and after a light snack in the coffee-shop we started our tour, for a group charge of €6.50 per person. The day was dry and cloudy.
Our first venue, beside the coffee-shop, was the Historic Science Centre, which gives much attention to the famous telescope to be described below, but also treats the pioneer photography of Mary Countess of Rosse in the 1840s, and the Steam Turbine invented by her son Charles and used later in ships. We next walked through the extensive grounds, trying to absorb some of the rich variety of very old trees and exotic plants, labelled to give description, and including “The Carroll Oak” which is at least 500 years old. The rivers Camcor and Little Brosna meet within the demesne and provide a wildlife sanctuary, before flowing west into the Shannon.

The Castle itself is still private, as the family home of the Parsons, living there since 1620 in the castle they built on the site of a Norman castle dating from 1170. The Parsons family formal title is “Earl and Countess of Rosse”.

The inventor of the great telescope was the Third Earl of Rosse, William Parsons, born in Yorkshire on 17th June 1800 and departed this life on 31st October 1867. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin and at Magdalen College Oxford, where he graduated in Mathematics with First Class Honours in 1822. He married an English woman, Mary Field, in 1836 and they had four sons. He served as MP for Kings County (now named County Offaly) in the British House of Commons during 1821-1834 (starting while still at Oxford, and became an Irish Peer in the House of Lords from 1845 onwards. Recognition of his research work won him many honours, including the Order of St. Patrick. Unlike many other scientists of his time, he published full technical details of his telescopes and stellar discoveries in the best scientific journals available.
William the Earl in fact designed and built two telescopes of the “Reflecting” kind, one having a mirror of 36 inches diameter, and the second, named “Leviathan”, having a mirror of 72-inch diameter, and being the world’s largest from its first use in 1847 up to roughly 1917, a span of some seventy years. A “reflecting” telescope lets the light from a distant object come down inside an empty cylindrical tube to reach a curved (parabolic) mirror at the bottom, which reflects and focuses it to form an image back up inside the tube. This image is caught precisely by a small slanting mirror which reflects it out through a hole in the side of the tube, so as to reach the “Eyepiece” lens which magnifies the image as required. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) also designed and used a telescope of this kind.

A restored version of Leviathan stands where it was, in the grounds. It comprised a hollow iron tube (of wood & metal)some 54 feet long weighing 16 tons and having at its lower end a parabolic metal mirror of diameter 72 inches. The central viewing direction was due south. It could be raised from horizontal to vertical, but with only some 10 degrees rotation to left or right possible, because of the two big sidewalls of cut stone which carried the heavy tube in a steel frame attached to the walls by ropes and geared pulley-wheels with attached counter-weights. The mirror was made of “Speculum” metal, a mix of two-thirds copper and one-third tin, giving a highly polished surface, but reflecting only two-thirds of the light received, by comparison with more modern mirrors of glass and mercury which reflect some 90 percent of light received. With the help of only two men, the Earl was able to manipulate the 16-ton telescope so as to counteract (to some extent) the effect of Earth’s rotation, which in a few seconds can move the point of interest out of the telescope’s field of view if no continuous tracking adjustment is made. Nowadays an electric motor attachment can keep track of the point being viewed.

No photography was available at that time to make pictures of images in telescopes, so the Earl had to make sketches by hand of what he saw. Among many, the Owl Nebula and the Whirlpool Galaxy are notable. He discovered 226 new items as now listed in the “New General Catalogue” (NGC) series, and gave much improved views of some 70 objects already known. The power of Leviathan is illustrated by a remark of an Irish MP colleague, Thomas Langlois Lefroy: “Planet Jupiter is seen twice as large as the Moon appears to the naked eye”.

Only some of the data given above emerged from looking at the structure in the castle grounds. However, this writer hopes to be excused for concentrating on a world-famous telescope of its day, designed, built and used successfully by the brilliant Third Earl of Rosse, and published in detail so that others could know and use his discoveries.

MARSH’S LIBRARY VISIT 11 JUNE 2011
A note by Eamon Henry.
Date 12 June 2011

A visit to Marsh’s Library was made on Saturday 11 June 2011 by eight members of the Active IT Society (AITS), organised and led by Mrs. Angela Hickey. The Library is located in St. Patrick’s Close, beside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. We began our visit about 11.00 a.m. and were kindly received by the Keeper, Dr. Muriel McCarthy and the Deputy Keeper Mrs. Ann Simmons. Besides looking at a sample of the books on offer, displayed under glass, we also watched a film which gave the history of the Library, built in 1701 by Narcissus Marsh, Anglican Archbishop of Dublin, and in continuous existence since then. It is still publicly available to scholars. Its website address is www.marshlibrary.ie, with much of interest on offer.
The interior of the Library, with its beautiful dark oak bookcases, remains unchanged since it was built three hundred years ago. It is a magnificent example of a seventeenth century scholars’ library. Each bookcase has a carved and lettered gable. Also unchanged are the three elegant wired alcoves or “cages” where readers were locked in with rare books, of which many were originally chained to their shelves.

A brief historical background is in order. The King of England during 1689-1702 was William III, son of William of Orange and having as wife Mary, daughter of James II, until her death in 1694. The Irish supporters of James II had been defeated by the armies of William III at the Boyne, at Aughrim and at Limerick by the early 1690s. Thus, around 1700 the Anglican Church in Ireland, centred on Dublin, was very much within the English environment. Narcissus Marsh (1638-1713) was an Englishman, educated at Oxford before Ordination to the Church of England. He was a good scholar and became Provost of Trinity College Dublin, where he was soon recognised by the Duke of Ormonde as suitable for the post of Archbishop of Dublin, which Marsh duly obtained. Archbishop Marsh was particularly interested in science, mathematics and music, and he himself played the lute.

Marsh’s Library was the first public library in Ireland and one of the first in these islands. It was designed by Sir William Robinson, who also designed the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham. There are four main collections of printed books, relating to the 16th, 17th and early part of the 18th centuries, and comprising 25,000 books. The collectors were scholars and the scope of the subjects is surprisingly wide and varied, including the Greek and Latin classics, medicine, law, science, travel, mathematics and music. There are also books in Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish and Russian.
One collection is that of Edward Stillingfleet (1635-1699), Bishop of Leicester, some 10,000 books, and bought by Marsh for 2,500 pounds. Marsh’s own collection is the second, except for his great collection of Oriental manuscripts which he left to the Oxford Bodleian Library. A third collection is that of Elias Bouhereau, a French Huguenot refugee who became the first librarian after fleeing France in 1685. The fourth collection is that of John Stearne (1660-1745), Anglican Bishop of Clogher. There are also some three hundred manuscripts in the Library.

It holds as well two volumes of Bishop Bedell’s translation of the Old Testament into Irish, first published in London in 1685. Archbishop Marsh was responsible for the preparation of this translation for printing, with the help and encouragement of Robert Boyle (1627-1691), scientist and discoverer of “Boyle’s Law”. Prominent persons connected with the Library include Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral alongside the Library. He was one of the governors of the Library and attended the annual visitation for many years. A user of the Library was Thomas Moore (1779-1852), poet and song-writer.

BELFAST DAY TRIP 11 MAY 2011
A note by Eamon Henry.
Date 13 May 2011

A day trip to Belfast was made on Wednesday 11th May 2011 by eight members of the Active IT Society (AITS). The objective was to make a sight-seeing tour of the main items of interest within the Greater Belfast area. We were organised and led by Mrs. Angela Hickey, and set off by train from the Dublin Connelly station at 9.35 a.m.
As older persons enjoying free travel within the Republic, we were enabled to travel free north of the Border on the trains to and from Belfast, by each of us filling in a form provided by Irish Rail. A cool and breezy sunny morning accompanied us on our way to Belfast, which we reached about 12.00 noon.

Our first port of call was the Belfast Welcome Centre, after using our train tickets to get free bus transport from the Central Railway Station to the city centre, which is around the City Hall.
At the Welcome Centre we purchased our bus-tour tickets for 8 pounds sterling each, to be used with Allen’s Tours during the afternoon. Before lunching, we had a good look at the City Hall. This huge building in Victorian style is at least as big as the Dublin Custom House, with ornate frontage, and a large lawn open to the public and holding several statues of local notables, in keeping with its importance. Then a leisurely lunch gave us much-needed strength for the afternoon activities.
We made our way to the nearby “Dome”, a glass-topped summit of a shopping centre, where a panoramic view of greater Belfast is available. To the north, a distant mountain cliff comprises the eastern part of Cave Hill. Various church spires can be identified, as can Belfast Castle also. A helpful feature of the Dome is that, as one moves around inside the circular window, at waist-height there are plaques stating what can be seen when looking out in that particular direction, with an etching as well by way of visual help. Two huge Harland & Wolff cranes dominate the north-eastern horizon above the docks.

Our sight-seeing trip on Allen’s bus began about 4.00 p.m. and we stayed on the bus throughout the trip. Only a few of many features get mention here. The river Lagan flows north towards its estuary and thus provides a direction guideline. Travelling north-eastwards, we passed the Titanic Quarter on the docks and soon reached the entry to Belfast City Airport on our left. Stormont Castle has a steep avenue leading up to it, and from our bus-top view of maybe 200 yards away looked smaller than I had expected, smaller in width than our Dublin Custom House.

On our continuing circuit we passed St. Anne’s Cathedral and the City Hall, with Queen’s University and the Ulster Museum being further items worth mention. The Falls Road has many memorials to the Nationalist efforts towards equality since about 1968, things worth seeing at leisure. By contrast, the Shankill Road bears many Loyalist shrines and emblems indicating “no surrender”. The Belfast Peace Line is a high wall extending some two miles , and used to prevent free incursions of trouble-makers from either Falls or Shankill into the other area. Our tour commentator gave us a rather cool and fair outlook on all of this, with flashes of humour. For example, a newly-built hospital carrying yellow stripes all over its outside he described as “the Belfast eye-sore”. The full bus-tour took about 90 minutes.

With the tour finished, it was time to get a bus back to the Central Railway Station, and our train set out at 6.10 p.m. and reached Dublin Connelly station shortly before 9.00 p.m. This outing can be remembered as a very enjoyable experience.

VISIT TO GUINNESS STOREHOUSE IN DUBLIN
A note by Eamon Henry

On 13th April 2011 some eleven members of the Active IT Society made the trip, led by Mrs. Angela Hickey. The Storehouse can be envisaged as a museum of the Guinness Brewery, in successful production of “porter” beer since 1759, at Dublin’s St. James’s Gate.
We started at the usual point, namely the entrance to “Guinness Storehouse” about 11.00 am, and bought our €9 tickets, which included the cost of a pint of draft Guinness stout in the “Gravity Bar” on the seventh floor right at the top of the building. A vast amount of technical information is available about the brewing process for those interested, as one follows the guiding arrows along the intended trip, and listens to video instructions. A shop of varied items is available near the front entrance.
A brief description of the brewing process is relevant. Clean water is brought from sources in County Wicklow. During each year some 100,000 tonnes of Irish malting barley is used as one main ingredient, as well as some imported barley. Some 3 million pints of beer are produced each day, for home sale and export. The barley is first soaked for a couple of days, until it begins to sprout. It is then dried and roasted and ground up, being “malt” at this stage. It is now mixed with hot water and mashed, and the liquid (called “wort”) drained off. The solid residue becomes animal feed.
The wort is next boiled for 70 minutes with chopped hop-cones (imported), to give the bitter characteristic flavour. Next, yeast is added, to ferment the wort and produce some 7 percent alcohol content, during a two-day period. The yeast is then removed, and the remaining liquid is porter of an amber colour, needing some further maturing etc. before packing in casks for sale. The removed yeast is usable in further fermentation runs, with some of the yeast being sold for baking bread and other uses. This whole brewing process is shown in detail, step by step, with video commentary, as one follows the guiding arrows.
Around 1.00 pm we ascended to the Gravity Bar, to enjoy our pints. We had already sampled a small measure, to indicate the taste, when we reached the end of the production process demonstration. A panoramic view of Dublin and environs is available through the windows of the circular wall surrounding this Bar. To the west one can see the Wellington Monument of Phoenix Park; to the south one sees the Dublin hills, to the east Howth Head and lighthouse, and to the north Croke Park among other buildings. It happened that some RTE staff were visiting the Bar when we were there, as part of preparations for imminent visits by President Obama and Queen Elizabeth. As the now-visiting Dalai Lama was not mentioned, he might be a teetotaler!!
A leisurely lunch in the fifth-floor restaurant followed, at very reasonable prices, with coffee or tea on the house. All in all, this visit has provided a memorable and very enjoyable experience.

Bealtaine Dawn Chorus Terenure on Facebook !!

The Active IT Society's event for The 2011 Bealtaine Festival has been launched on facebook check out our page at "Bealtaine Dawn chorus Terenure".
Tell your friends and family and join our campaign to make this event as successful as possible.
The event itsalf will take place on Sunday May 29th at 7am in Terenure College by the Lakeside, come along on the morning bring your family and friends and join in the fun, sing along with the choirs and welcome the dawn in this unique event.
See you there !!