Oh boy, am I tired. Not only because I woke up at 5:30 am to get the airport, though that’s certainly part of it. It’s the 10 miles I walked today while learning about the advancements in Ireland that took place over the course of centuries, spanning from Medieval battles over books to the invention of barbecue chips. Were you expecting that for a first day activity?
Our main activity of the day was a walking tour of Dublin – but not just any normal walking tour, mind you. This tour was hosted by Ingenious Ireland, an organization that gives tours on the theme of Irish technology and innovation. Since this isn’t the usual angle taken by tourist-y walking tours, I was eager to learn a different aspect of Irish history than normal – and I wasn’t disappointed!
A short bus ride from outside our hotel led us to Trinity College (a place I hope to visit in more depth later in the week), where our tour began, and where we were greeted by our guide, Patrick. Wearing a lab coat and sporting wild, wiry hair, I could already tell that we’d be in good hands.
As we began our walk through Trinity’s campus, one thing he mentioned, which stuck out to me, is that Ireland is not as well known for science and innovation as it is for arts and culture. Only one Irish person has ever won a Nobel prize for the sciences. It’s the artists, especially the writers, who are well known, and my mind immediately confirmed what he said. Wilde, Yeats, Joyce – all these names popped into my head, but I couldn’t for the life of me name any Irish physicists or biologists.
Luckily, that quickly changed. Patrick introduced us to Ernest Walton, an Irish man who did the unthinkable – artificially split an atom, and rang in the atomic age with his colleagues at Cambridge in the 1930s. He also just so happened to be the only Irish Nobel Laureate in the area of physics! It was an Irishman, Charles Parsons, who invented the efficient reaction turbine, allowing the spread of electrical power, faster ships, and eventually aircrafts!
A model of Parson’s turbine at Trinity College!
Walton and Parsons made huge, revolutionary steps in the way of technology, but it turns out, many small things we take for granted every day were invented by Irish people. The first elephant dissection took place in Dublin. The process of perforation was invented in Ireland not long after the introduction of the postage stamp around 1840. From paper towels, to notebooks, to postage stamps still, this handy little invention created a convenience for people everywhere. And in what I believe is my favorite Irish invention, flavored potato chips debuted in Ireland under the Tayto brand in the 1950’s, created by Joe “Spud” Murphy. Yes, his nickname really was Spud. Talk about fate.
Patrick and a bag of Tayto chips – or crisps, I guess!
Our tour finished up with an explanation of the invention of the hypodermic needles, as well as the first copyright ruling on record (which led to a 6th century battle over a copied manuscript that left 3000 men dead. The two combatants later became saints). To top it all off, we got a peak at the Royal Irish Academy’s collection of manuscripts in the Irish language. They were displayed a text from the 15th century, a lovely and old work based off of a Latin text. Though I couldn’t take a picture of this particular manuscript, the RIA has a large collection of digitized scripts available to view online!
Though it had been an early morning, a long day, and a long walk, I couldn’t have asked for a better or quirkier introduction to Ireland and its rich history. I got to explore a facet of this country’s history hardly ever talked about, something I always appreciate when stereotypes and pre-conceived knowledge always precedes a visit.
Tomorrow we dive right into our academic visits, with stops at TENI, Facebook, and LGBT Noise!
The Copenhooligan 