The Royal Geological Society of Ireland traces its origin to the founding in 1831 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

of the Geological Society of Dublin, under the leadership of

William Buckland William Buckland DD, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist. Buckland wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named ' ...

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 Major-General Joseph Ellison Portlock (30 September 1794 – 14 February 1864) was born at Gosport and was a British geologist and soldier, the only son of Nathaniel Portlock, and a captain in the Royal Navy. Educated at Blundell's School and t ...

, who was taking part in the

Ordnance Survey of Ireland Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI; ga, Suirbhéireacht Ordanáis Éireann) is the national mapping agency of Ireland. It was established on 4 March 2002 as a body corporate. It is the successor to the former Ordnance Survey of Ireland. It and th ...

, 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 (3 June 1810 – 5 November 1881) was an Irish geophysicist, civil engineer, and inventor who distinguished himself in research on earthquakes and is sometimes called the father of seismology. His son, Frederick Richard Mallet was ...

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 Joseph Beete Jukes (10 October 1811 – 29 July 1869), born to John and Sophia Jukes at Summer Hill, Birmingham, England, was a renowned geologist, author of several geological manuals and served as a naturalist on the expeditions of (under th ...

. 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 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. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

. 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 (1822 – 12 September 1903) was an Irish Church of Ireland clergyman and geologist who also contributed to the preservation of the Irish language. Life He was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Henry Samuel Close, a w ...

read a paper before the society in 1866, on the ''General Glaciation of Ireland'', a masterly description of the effects of

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...

, 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. The Society did not admit women members. Throughout the latter decades of the century, for several reasons, membership slowly declined and the society was wound up in 1894.The Royal Geological Society of Ireland
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References

Organisations based in Dublin (city) Learned societies of Ireland 1831 establishments in Ireland 1894 disestablishments in Ireland Geology societies Scientific organizations established in 1831 Scientific organisations based in Ireland Organizations disestablished in 1894 {{Ireland-org-stub

See also

References