Royal Geological Society of Ireland
Encyclopedia
The Royal Geological Society of Ireland traces its origin to the founding in 1831 in Dublin of the Geological Society of Dublin, under the leadership of William Buckland
and Adam Sedgwick
.
Its initial membership included academics, aristocratics, professionals and clerics.
The society developed under the direction of individuals such as Joseph Ellison Portlock
, who was taking part in the Ordnance Survey of Ireland
, and the geologist and surveyor Richard Griffith, who published the first geological map of Ireland in 1855. Fundamental concepts in geology were discussed for the first time. The geologist Robert Mallet
had life membership and was President of the society from 1846 to 1848.
Other individuals associated with the society were Patrick Ganly and Joseph Beete Jukes. Ganly worked for a number of years with Richard Griffith on the valuation of Ireland and discovered cross stratification
. Jukes lectured in Dublin as professor of geology for many years, first at the Royal Dublin Society
's Museum of Irish Industry
, and afterwards at the Dublin Royal College of Science
. During this period he wrote an article On the Mode of Formation of some of the River-valleys in the South of Ireland (Quarterly Journ. Geol. Soc. 1862). The Dublin clergyman Maxwell Henry Close
read a paper before the society in 1866, on the General Glaciation of Ireland, a masterly description of the effects of glaciation, and of the evidence in favor of the action of land-ice. He became president of the society in 1878.
The society gained royal patronage and a change in title in 1864.
Throughout the latter decades of the century, for several reasons, membership slowly declined and the society was wound up in 1894.
William Buckland
The Very Rev. Dr William Buckland DD FRS was an English geologist, palaeontologist and Dean of Westminster, who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus...
and Adam Sedgwick
Adam Sedgwick
Adam Sedgwick was one of the founders of modern geology. He proposed the Devonian period of the geological timescale...
.
Its initial membership included academics, aristocratics, professionals and clerics.
The society developed under the direction of individuals such as Joseph Ellison Portlock
Joseph Ellison Portlock
Major-General Joseph Ellison Portlock was born at Gosport and was a British geologist and soldier, the only son of Nathaniel Portlock, and a captain in the Royal Navy....
, who was taking part in the Ordnance Survey of Ireland
Ordnance Survey Ireland
Ordnance Survey Ireland is the national mapping agency of the Republic of Ireland and, together with the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland , succeeded, after 1922, the Irish operations of the United Kingdom Ordnance Survey. It is part of the Public service of the Republic of Ireland...
, and the geologist and surveyor Richard Griffith, who published the first geological map of Ireland in 1855. Fundamental concepts in geology were discussed for the first time. The geologist Robert Mallet
Robert Mallet
Robert Mallet FRS , Irish geophysicist, civil engineer, and inventor who distinguished himself in research on earthquakes and is sometimes called the father of seismology.-Early life:...
had life membership and was President of the society from 1846 to 1848.
Other individuals associated with the society were Patrick Ganly and Joseph Beete Jukes. Ganly worked for a number of years with Richard Griffith on the valuation of Ireland and discovered cross stratification
Cross-bedding
In geology, the sedimentary structures known as cross-bedding refer to horizontal units that are internally composed of inclined layers. This is a case in geology in which the original depositional layering is tilted, and the tilting is not a result of post-depositional deformation...
. Jukes lectured in Dublin as professor of geology for many years, first at the Royal Dublin Society
Royal Dublin Society
The Royal Dublin Society was founded on 25 June 1731 to "to promote and develop agriculture, arts, industry, and science in Ireland". The RDS is synonymous with its main premises in Ballsbridge in Dublin, Ireland...
's Museum of Irish Industry
Museum of Irish Industry
The Museum of Irish Industry, founded in 1854, originally an extension of the Museum of Economic Geology, was a museum dedicated to the exhibition of the various, display-worthy materials from, and donated by, the industries of mining and manufacturing established in Ireland...
, and afterwards at the Dublin Royal College of Science
Royal College of Science
The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Alumni include H. G. Wells and Brian May and are distinguishable by the letters ARCS ...
. During this period he wrote an article On the Mode of Formation of some of the River-valleys in the South of Ireland (Quarterly Journ. Geol. Soc. 1862). The Dublin clergyman Maxwell Henry Close
Maxwell Henry Close
Maxwell Henry Close was an Irish Church of Ireland clergyman and geologist who also contributed to the preservation of the Irish language.-Life:...
read a paper before the society in 1866, on the General Glaciation of Ireland, a masterly description of the effects of glaciation, and of the evidence in favor of the action of land-ice. He became president of the society in 1878.
The society gained royal patronage and a change in title in 1864.
Throughout the latter decades of the century, for several reasons, membership slowly declined and the society was wound up in 1894.