Joseph Philip Ronayne (c. 1822 – 7 May 1876) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

notable for his role in the development of Irish railways. A member of the

Home Rule League The Home Rule League (1873–1882), sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was an Irish political party which campaigned for home rule for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, until it was replaced by the Irish Parliam ...

, he was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

from 1872 to 1876.

Career

Ronayne, youngest son of Edmond Ronayne, a glass-maker of

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, was born at Cork in abourt 1822. After an education at Hamblin and Porter's Grammar School in Cork, and instruction from Mr. O'Neill in practical surveying, he entered the office of Sir John Benjamin McNeill, civil engineer of London and Glasgow. He was first engaged in the design and construction of the main arterial lines of railway in Ireland, and then on one half of the

Cork and Bandon Railway Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway (CB&SCR), was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland. It opened in 1849 as the Cork and Bandon Railway (C&BR), changed its name to Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway in 1888 and became part of the Great South ...

. In 1853 he proposed furnishing Cork with water by the construction of a lake near Blarney, but this was not carried out. On 4 March 1856 he became a member of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

. From 1854 to 1859 he was in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he superintended hydraulic works, bringing down the waters of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

to the goldfields by means of canals and aqueducts. After returning to Ireland he became a contractor, and executed the Queenstown branch of the

Cork and Youghal railway The Cork and Youghal Railway (C&YR) was a company that built and operated a short railway built in the early 1860s in Ireland linking Cork City, Cork with Youghal, a small resort with harbour at the mouth of the Munster Blackwater. There w ...

. On the completion of that work, he laid out the Cork and Macroon railway. He took payment in shares, and thus occupied the unusual position of engineer, contractor, and the largest proprietor. He subsequently suggested to the government the construction of a dock in a bay near Monkstown, but the

Haulbowline Haulbowline ( ga, Inis Sionnach; non, Ál-boling) is an island in Cork Harbour off the coast of Ireland. The world's first yacht club was founded on Haulbowline in 1720. The western side of the island is the main naval base and headquarters f ...

site was finally adopted. On 10 December 1872 he was elected in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to represent

in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, after the death of John Francis Maguire. He was re-elected at the 1874 general electionWalker, op. cit., pages 115–116 and retained the seat until his death. He died at Rinn Ronain, Queenstown, on 7 May 1876, and was buried in Father Mathew's cemetery, Cork, on 11 May. He married, in 1859, Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Stace Wright, commander R.N.

References

;Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ronayne, Joseph Philip 1820s births 1876 deaths Engineers from County Cork Irish civil engineers Railway civil engineers Irish people in rail transport UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cork City Home Rule League MPs People educated at Hamblin and Porter's Grammar School