Thread: Dare to Dream: Irish People who took on the World (and Won!) Based on my new wonderful book! @sarahwebbishere author, @GrahamArtwork illustrator, @OBrienPress publisher! @AnPostIBAS 2019 shortlist Best Irish Published Book of Year! 44 dreamers, explorers, inventors...!

William Parsons. 1800-67. 3rd Earl of Rosse @BirrCastle, Co Offaly built world’s largest telescope; ‘Leviathan’! Thankfully wife rich! Most powerful instrument of its time for >70 yrs! 1st to see M51 nebula! Drawings world sensation; may have inspired Van Gogh's The Starry Night!

George Boole. 1815-64. Mathematical genius, philosopher & logician. 1st Prof Maths @UCC! Author of The Laws of Thought which contains Boolean algebra; foundation information age! An American student used his 0/1 as yes/no to create a circuit! Hence "Father of modern computing"!

Agnes Mary Clerke 1842-1907. Born Skibbereen, Cork. Brother educated @tcddublin shared books with her! Sent articles to @EdinburghReview & @Britannica e.g. Galileo; great making science accessible! 1st book huge success! Hon member @RoyalAstroSoc. Lunar crater named after her!

Albert DJ Cashier 1843-1915. Born Jennie I Hodgers in Clogherhead, Co Louth. 17, sailed to US; reinvented herself as man! In Union Army in Civil War; brave & loyal! Treated in hospital after war & discovered he was female; army took pension away! Colleagues protested; reinstated!

Lady Gregory. 1852-1932. Born Co Galway, shy & loved reading! When husband died wrote in earnest; published >40 books/plays inc versions Irish myths! Spreading the News v popular! With WB Yeats founded @AbbeyTheatre; put on works by important Irish writers. Died @Coole_Garryland.

Douglas Hyde. 1860-1949. Born Castlerea, Co Roscommon. Taught by his father & brilliant at languages! Especially loved Irish. @tcddublin wrote poetry as An Craoibhín Aoibhinn, "the pleasant little branch"! 1st president @CnaG! 1st Prof Modern Irish @ucddublin! 1st @PresidentIRL!

Roger Casement 1864-1916. Born Sandycove, Dublin. Worked in the Congo; because of report on rubber workers' treatment, King Leopold had to hand control back to Belgian government! Became Sir, when wrote similar report on Peru! Executed for role in Rising; 1,500 rifles to Ireland!

Lena Rice. 1866-1907. Born near Cashel, Co Tipperary. 1889, 1st female official during men's singles matches! She is only female player from Ireland to ever win @Wimbledon singles championship (1890)! During the match she invented the forearm smash! Played in boater hat & boots!

Maude Delap. 1866-1953. Born in Co Donegal but raised on Valentia Island. From a girl, she was a self-taught marine biologist! 1st person to breed jellyfish in captivity, & so observed their full life cycle for 1st time! Also studied plankton! Has a rare anemone named after her!

Lily & Lolly Yeats. 1866-1949, 1868-1940. Supported family; dad bad with money, mum ill & brothers didn't earn much! Founded Cuala Industries; embroidery (Lily) & publishing house (artist/writer Lolly)! Employed only women & used Irish materials; important in Gaelic Revival!

Annie Maunder 1868-1947. Born Strabane, Co Tyrone. Discovered in 'Little Ice Age' (1645-1715), lack of sunspots on; 'Maunder Minimum'! One of 1st to find link between sun spots &'s climate! Fellow @RoyalAstroSoc! Moon crater named for her/husband, @ROGAstronomers& RAS medal

John Holland. 1841-1914. Teacher & engineer from Liscannor, Co Clare. Invented 1st successful submarine! Designed many different version & suffered many knockbacks (e.g. Holland I sunk)! Holland VI bought in 1900 by @USNavy, & HMS Holland 1 1st modern submarine in @RoyalNavy!

Frank Pantridge 1916-2004. Born Hillsborough, Co Down. Studied @FSLnews @QUBelfast. Doctor in WW2 & prisoner of war on Burma Railway; got military cross! Prof Cardiologist at Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast; invented portable defibrillator! 1st in Belfast ; used batteries!

James Martin. 1893-1981. Born Crossgar, Co Down. Began buildings 1929. When his friend & chief test pilot Captain Valentine Baker killed in test flight, he wanted to design something to save pilots' lives! Martin-Baker ejector seat 1st produced 1946. Still used; saved >7,500!

Fergal O'Brien. Tissue Engineering Scientist. "created a new way of getting bone tissue to regrow after an accident or operation. His invention, 'HydroxyColl', is made of..collagen combined with hydroxyapatite, found in living bones...encourages new bone to regrow around it"!

Margaret Murnane from Limerick. Studied @UCC @UCBerkeley. Prof Physics @CUBoulder. Previously @UMichLab @WSUPullman. @JILAscience with husband. i/c @STROBE_STC. Designed some of fastest lasers in & created table-top affordable X-ray laser used by labs & universities around!

Valeria Nicolosi. Chemist & Physicist. Valerie was a v curious child, dismantling her family's VCR & toaster! Prof of Nanomaterials & Advanced Microscopy @tcddublin! Discovered a new way of increasing the storage capacity of a battery; 3x more efficient! Previously @UniofOxford!

Maria McNamara @MariaMcN_palaeo. Palaeobiologist & Senior Lecturer in Geology @UCC, Cork. Likes fossils, skin & feathers! Her research shows dinosaurs had feathers! She found that pterosaurs had at least 4 kinds of feathers! She is also an expert on fossilisation of colour!

Tom Crean. 1877-1938. Born Anascaul, Co Kerry. Joined @RoyalNavy at 15! Member of 3 major expeditions to Antarctica! In one, awarded Albert Medal for Lifesaving; walked/crawled to get help for Lt Teddy Evans who had scurvy so couldn't walk! i/c dogs! Mt & glacier named after him!

Gretta Cousins 1878-1954. Born Boyle, Co Roscommon. @RIAdawson & became music teacher. Co-founded Irish Women's Franchise League to campaign for women's vote! Moved to India; campaigned for independence from Britain, imprisoned for supporting Gandhi, set up more women's groups!

Patrick Pearse. 1879-1916. Set up 2 largely Irish-speaking schools: Scoil Éanna (St Enda's) & Scoil Íde (St Ita's)! Gifted teacher loved by students! Active @CnaG & Irish Volunteer. Commander-in-Chief 1916 Rising & chosen President of Republic! Executed but changed Irish history!

James Joyce. 1882-1941. Writer. Most famous for Ulysses (1922)! @ucddublin. Afraid of dogs& thunder! 10 'Thunderwords' in Finnegan's Wake; new words (1 made up lots words for thunder in different languages)! @MoLI_Museum exhibition on him! He is celebrated 16 June; Bloomsday!

Elizabeth O'Farrell. 1884-1957. Joined @CnaG; fluent in Irish. Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Ireland) & Cumann na mBan (women republicans)! Delivered surrender in 1916 Rising! Rest of life worked as midwife. Famous photo of her with Patrick Pearse, but removed from it!

Rex Ingram 1893-1950. At 27 described as 'the world's greatest director'! Born Rathmines, Dublin. Went to @Yale then found job in silent movie studio. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) was his most successful silent movie. Made 27 movies, set up own studio, wrote novels!

Rosanna 'Rosie' Hackett. 1893-1976. Born Dublin. Founding member Irish Women Workers' Union & supported strikers in 1913 Dublin Lockout. Involved in Irish Citizen Army & 1916 Rising. 1970, gold medal for 50 yrs service to trade union movement! 2013, Dublin bridge named after her!

Cynthia Evelyn Longfield 'Madam Dragonfly' 1896-1991. Grew up in Cloyne, Co Cork. Over her long career as entomologist she travelled (sometimes alone) to S America, Pacific islands, SE Asia, Egypt, Canada & Africa! Never went to university but international expert in dragonflies!

Ernest Walton. 1903-95. Born in Dungarvan, Co Waterford. @NobelPrize winner physicist for work with John Cockcroft with "atom-smashing" experiments @Cambridge_Uni 1932; became 1st person to split atom! "When I looked in through the microscope I could see lots of little stars..."

Mary Elmes. 1908-2002. Born Co Cork. @tcddublin (Modern Languages). Refugee aid worker; saved as many as 427children in Holocaust; hid them in boot of! 2015, 1st & only Irish person honoured as Righteous Among the Nations in recognition of her work in Spanish Civil War & WW2!

Jack Kyle. 1926-2014. Born Belfast. @QUBelfast (Medicine) Played @UlsterRugby @IrishRugby @lionsofficial @Barbarian_FC! Won 46 caps for Ireland! After graduating, devoted life to helping people! Worked in Indonesia & Zambia. Only retired from surgery at 74! Also loved poetry!

Ronnie Delany. Born 1935 Arklow, Co Wicklow. 5, moved to Sandymount, Dublin. Athletics scholarship to @VillanovaU (Science & Economics); Jumbo Elliott coach! 1956, 7th person in world & youngest (21) to run a mile in <4 mins! Gold medal in 1500 metres at 1956 Summer Olympics!

John Hume. Born 1937 in Derry. Teacher who became leader @SDLPlive. Elected to @Europarl_EN. For peace work in N Ireland in The Troubles awarded @NobelPrize with David Trimble; role in Good Friday Agreement. Gandhi Peace Prize & Martin Luther King Award; only person to have all 3

Prof Susan McKenna-Lawlor. Astrophysicist. Studied @ucddublin. Prof @MaynoothUni. Designed EPONA; flew on @esa's mission through Halley's comet collecting data! Set up Space Technology Ireland Ltd, building instruments for @NASA @isro etc! In International Academy of Astronautics