Timeline of Irish inventions and discoveries

• Ogham prehistory.{{cite web|title=The ancient Irish alphabet Ogham explained|url=https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/the-origins-of-the-shamrock-club-ogham-ancient-irish-alphabet-explained-193819371-237568741|website=IrishCentral.com|access-date=3 March 2018|language=en|date=11 May 2017}}
• Iomániocht (Scuaib/Camán/Ioman) - precursors to modern Hurling{{Cite web|url=http://www.gaa.ie/news/hurling-history-and-evolution/|title=GAA: Hurling History and Evolution|last=Association|first=Gaelic Athletic|date=15 December 2015|website=www.gaa.ie}}

• Penitential

• Irish scribes begin adding word spacing to texts.

• Caid (precursor to modern Gaelic football).{{cite book|last1=Foxall|first1=Damian|title=Ocean Fever: The Damian Foxall Story|date=2011|publisher=The Collins Press|isbn=9781848899490|page=41|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wetFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT41|language=en}}
• The Northern Reginians Anthem

name="Annals">[https://archive.org/stream/annalsofkingdomo04ocleuoft#page/784/mode/2up Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland], p.785, footnote for year 1405. This is likewise in the Annals of Connacht entry for year 1405: [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100011/index.html Annals of Connacht].

• Whiskey

• Irish road bowling.{{cite web|title=Road Bowling|url=http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article/1211/road-bowling|website=Culture Northern Ireland|access-date=3 March 2018|language=en|date=2 February 2006}}
• 1661: Modern chemistry founded by Robert Boyle with the publication of The Sceptical Chymist.{{cite journal|last1=Principe|first1=Lawrence|title=In retrospect: The Sceptical Chymist|journal=Nature|volume=469|issue=7328|pages=30–31|language=En|doi=10.1038/469030a|date=5 January 2011|bibcode=2011Natur.469...30P|doi-access=free}}
• 1662: Boyle's law discovered by Robert Boyle.{{cite web|title=Boyle's law - chemistry|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Boyles-law|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=3 March 2018|language=en}}
• 1680s: European adaptation of Drinking chocolate - Hans Sloane.{{cite web|title=More than just the chocolate man: The story of Hans Sloane|url=http://www.irishnews.com/lifestyle/2016/09/10/news/more-than-just-the-chocolate-man-the-story-of-hans-sloane-688703/|website=The Irish News|date=10 September 2016|access-date=3 March 2018|language=en}} However, this "adaption" is highly disputed. According to historian James Delbourgo, the Jamaicans were brewing “a hot beverage brewed from shavings of freshly harvested cacao, boiled with milk and cinnamon” as far back as 1494.{{Cite web|last1=Eveleth|first1=Rose|author-link=Rose Eveleth|date=12 February 2014|title=Chocolate Milk Was Invented in Jamaica|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/chocolate-milk-was-invented-jamaica-180949734/|access-date=9 October 2021|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}

• 1730: Concept of entrepreneurship described by Richard Cantillon.{{cite web|title=How Entrepreneurship Theory Created Economics|url=https://mises.org/library/how-entrepreneurship-theory-created-economics|website=Mises Institute|access-date=3 March 2018|language=en|date=21 August 2014}}

• 1759: Invention of Guinness by Arthur Guinness

• 1805: Beaufort scale invented by Francis Beaufort.{{cite web|title=Beaufort scale|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Beaufort-scale|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2 March 2018|language=en}}
• 1809: Milk of Magnesia discovered by James Murray.{{cite web|title=Stomach upset innovator honoured|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4295171.stm|website=BBC News|access-date=2 March 2018|date=25 February 2005}}
• 1813: Clanny safety lamp invented by William Reid Clanny.[http://www.minerslamps.net/homepage/safetylamphistory.htm Brief History of the Miner's Flame Safety Lamp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030826065256/http://www.minerslamps.net/homepage/safetylamphistory.htm |date=26 August 2003 }}
• 1820:
• Trinity Peninsula discovered by Edward Bransfield.{{cite web|title=Edward Bransfield - British explorer|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Bransfield|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2 March 2018|language=en}}
• Modern meat curing and the Bacon Rasher invented by Henry Denny, a Waterford butcher.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thinkbusiness.ie/articles/10-world-changing-irish-inventions/|title = 10 Irish inventions that changed the world}}
• 1821: The development of "Extra Stout" beer by Arthur Guinness II and others.{{cite book|last1=Yenne|first1=Bill|title=Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint|date=2007|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780470120521|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780470120521/page/205 205]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780470120521|url-access=registration|language=en}}
• 1830: Coffey still invented by Aeneas Coffey.{{cite book|last1=Carlton|first1=Carla Harris|title=Barrel Strength Bourbon: The Explosive Growth of America's Whiskey|date=2017|publisher=Clerisy Press|isbn=9781578605767|page=113|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RflBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT113|language=en}}
• 1831: Method of treating cholera patients discovered by William Brooke O'Shaughnessy.{{cite journal|last=O'Shaughnessy|first=W. B.|year=1831|title=Proposal of a New Method of Treating the Blue Epidemic Cholera by the Injection of Highly-Oxygenised Salts Into the Venous System|journal=Lancet|volume=17|issue=432|pages=366–71|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1742998|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(02)94163-2}}
• 1832: Kyanising invented by John Howard Kyan.{{cite book|last1=Standards|first1=United States National Bureau of|title=Standards and Specifications in the Wood-using Industries: Nationally Recognised Standards and Specifications for Wood and Manufactures Thereof Including Paper and Paper Products ... October 5, 1927 ...|date=1927|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=76|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fg3I7kwnnfcC&pg=PA76|language=en}}
• 1834: The game of Croquet.{{cite news|title=An Irishwoman's Diary|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishwoman-s-diary-1.959675|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2 March 2018}}
• 1836: Induction coil invented by Nicholas Callan.{{cite web|title=Milestones:Callan's Pioneering Contributions to Electrical Science and Technology, 1836|url=https://ethw.org/Milestones:Callan%27s_Pioneering_Contributions_to_Electrical_Science_and_Technology,_1836|publisher=ETHW|access-date=26 July 2011}}
• 1838: Screw-pile lighthouse invented by Alexander Mitchell.{{cite web |url = http://www.engineersjournal.ie/2015/06/30/alexander-mitchell-blind-irish-engineer/ |publisher = Engineers Journal Ireland |date = 30 June 2015 |title = Alexander Mitchell: the blind Irish engineer who enabled seafarers to see in the dark |author = Kenneth L Mitchell |access-date = 23 February 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190128005224/http://www.engineersjournal.ie/2015/06/30/alexander-mitchell-blind-irish-engineer/ |archive-date = 28 January 2019 |url-status = dead }}
• 1843: Quaternion discovered by William Rowan Hamilton.{{cite web|title=Sir William Rowan Hamilton - Irish mathematician and astronomer|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Rowan-Hamilton|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=3 March 2018|language=en}}
• 1844: Hypodermic needle invented by Francis Rynd.{{cite news|title=The Irish doctor who invented the syringe|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/the-irish-doctor-who-invented-the-syringe-1.1105651|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=3 March 2018}}
• 1846: Cup anemometer invented by Thomas Romney Robinson.{{cite web|title=History of the Anemometer|url=https://www.windlogger.com/blogs/news/history-of-the-anemometer|publisher=Wind Logger|date=2012-06-18}}
• 1848: Kelvin scale invented by William Thomson.{{cite web|title=Discoveries - Lord Kelvin - National Library of Scotland|url=https://digital.nls.uk/scientists/biographies/lord-kelvin/discoveries.html|website=digital.nls.uk|access-date=3 March 2018}}
• 1851: Binaural stethoscope invented by Arthur Leared.{{cite web|last=Prynne|first=Miranda|year=2010|title=A history of the stethoscope|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/10592617/A-history-of-the-stethoscope.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220093303/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/10592617/A-history-of-the-stethoscope.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 February 2016|website=The Telegraph|access-date=3 March 2018}}
• 1856: Icosian calculus discovered by William Rowan Hamilton.{{Cite journal

|title=Memorandum respecting a new System of Roots of Unity

|author= William Rowan Hamilton

|author-link=William Rowan Hamilton

|url=http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Hamilton/Icosian/NewSys.pdf

|journal=Philosophical Magazine

|volume=12

|year=1856

|page=446

}}

• 1857: Modern isoseismal map invented by Robert Mallet.{{cite book|last=Mallet|first=Robert|year=1862|title=Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857: The First Principles of Observational Seismology as Developed in the Report to the Royal Society of London of the Expedition Made by Command of the Society Into the Interior of the Kingdom of Naples, to Investigate the Circumstances of the Great Earthquake of December 1857|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4LcQAAAAIAAJ|publisher=Royal Society}}
• 1859: Proof of the greenhouse effect discovered by John Tyndall.{{cite web|last1=Graham|first1=Steve|title=John Tyndall : Feature Articles|url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Tyndall/|website=earthobservatory.nasa.gov|access-date=3 March 2018|language=en|date=8 October 1999}}
• 1864: Capnography invented by John Tyndall.{{cite journal|last=Jaffe|first=M. B.|year=2008|title=Infrared Measurement of Carbon Dioxide in the Human Breath: "Breathe-Through" Devices from Tyndall to the Present Day|journal=Anesth. Analg.|volume=107|issue=3|pages=890–904|doi=10.1213/ane.0b013e31817ee3b3|pmid=18713902|s2cid=15610449|doi-access=free}}
• 1865: The first Transatlantic telegraph cable pioneered by William Thomson on Valentia Island.{{cite web|title=Atlantic Cable|url=http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/Kelvin/atlanticcable.html|website=special.lib.gla.ac.uk|access-date=3 March 2018}}
• 1866: Standard drop method of hanging discovered by Samuel Haughton.{{cite book|last=Galvin|first=Anthony|title=Old Sparky: The Electric Chair and the History of the Death Penalty|date=2016|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.|isbn=9781510711358|page=33|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZduLDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT33|language=en}}
• 1871: Fireman's respirator invented by John Tyndall.{{cite journal|last=Tyndall|first=John|year=1873|title=On Some Recent Experiments with a Fireman's Respirator|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London|volume=22|pages=359–361|jstor=112853|bibcode=1873RSPS...22R.359T|issn=0370-1662}}
• 1877: Brennan torpedo invented by Louis Brennan.{{cite web|title=Brief History of the Torpedo | url=http://www.hansonclan.co.uk/Royal%20Navy/tor_his.htm|access-date=27 June 2013}}
• 1879: The rules of Hurling first standardised with the foundation of the Irish Hurling Union.{{cite web|title=How Dublin Saved Hurling|url=http://www.dublincity.ie/story/how-dublin-saved-hurling|website=www.dublincity.ie|access-date=3 March 2018|language=en}}
• 1881: Stoney units discovered by George Johnstone Stoney.Ray, T. P. "Stoney's fundamental units". Irish Astronomical Journal, Vol. 15, p. 152, 1981 15 (1981): 152.
• 1883: Method of producing electromagnetic waves discovered by George Francis FitzGerald.{{cite journal|last=Fitzgerald|first=George|year=1883|title=On a Method of producing Electro-magnetic Disturbances of comparatively Short Wave-lengths|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29313707#page/523/mode/1up|journal=British Association for the Advancement of Science|pages=405}}
• 1885: Cream cracker invented by Joseph Haughton.{{cite web|title=Cream Crackers – An Authentically Irish Snack|url=https://www.irishamericanmom.com/2012/10/26/cream-crackers-an-authentically-irish-snack/|website=Irish American Mom|date=26 October 2012|access-date=3 March 2018}}
• 1886: Graphophone invented by Chichester Bell.
• 1888: Gregg shorthand invented by John Robert Gregg.{{cite web|title=John Robert Gregg - American stenographer|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Robert-Gregg|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=3 March 2018|language=en}}
• 1889: Length contraction discovered by George Francis FitzGerald.{{cite journal|last1=FitzGerald|first1=George Francis|year=1889|title=The Ether and the Earth's Atmosphere|journal=Science|volume=13|pages=390|doi=10.1126/science.ns-13.328.390|pmid=17819387|issue=328|bibcode = 1889Sci....13..390F |title-link=s:The Ether and the Earth's Atmosphere|s2cid=43610293}}
• 1891: 'Electron' coined by George Johnstone Stoney.{{cite journal|last1=Stoney|first1=G. Johnstone|title=Of the "Electron," or Atom of Electricity|year =1894|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/122066#page/432/mode/2up|journal=Phil. Mag.|series=5|volume=38|pages=418–420}}
• 1894:
• Cohesion-tension theory discovered by Henry Horatio Dixon and John Joly.{{cite journal|last=Dixon|first=Henry H.|last2=Joly |first2=J.|title=On the ascent of sap |journal=Annals of Botany|date=1894|volume=8 |pages=468–470|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015001235830;view=1up;seq=566}}
• Joly colour screen invented by John Joly.{{cite book|last1=Hirsch|first1=Robert|title=Exploring Color Photography Sixth Edition: From Film to Pixels|date=2014|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9781317911159|page=21|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tx_fBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA21|language=en}}
• 1897:
• Holland VI invented by John Philip Holland.{{cite web|title=John Holland Father of the Modern Submarine|url=http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_19/holland.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006110950/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_19/holland.htm|archive-date=2013-10-06|access-date=2013-10-05}}
• Townsend discharge discovered by John Sealy Townsend.

• 1900: Reflector sight invented by Howard Grubb.{{cite book|last=Lockyer|first=Norman|year=1902|title=Nature|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_VcsKAAAAYAAJ|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_VcsKAAAAYAAJ/page/n288 227]|publisher=Macmillan Journals Limited|access-date=13 April 2018|via=Internet Archive|quote=grubb for sighting devices for guns}}
• 1905: Underground conveyor belt invented by Richard Sutcliffe.{{cite web|last=Bailey |first=Seth|date=2020-10-27|title=Who Invented the Conveyor Belt?|url=https://spantechconveyors.com/2020/10/27/who-invented-the-conveyor-belt/ |publisher=SpanTech|access-date=2024-06-20}}
• 1909: Irish logarithm invented by Percy Ludgate.{{cite web|last=Coghlan|first=Brian|date=2020-06-10 |title=Percy Ludgate's Logarithmic Indexes |url=https://treasures.scss.tcd.ie/miscellany/TCD-SCSS-X.20121208.002/Ludgate-LogarithmixIndexes-20200610-1459.pdf|access-date=2023-10-01 |website=treasures.scss.tcd.ie}}
• 1914: 'Dublin method' in radiation therapy discovered by John Joly.{{cite news|title=The Irish man who brought radiotherapy forward|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/the-irish-man-who-brought-radiotherapy-forward-1.1828507|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2 March 2018}}
• 1926: Three-point linkage invented by Harry Ferguson.{{cite web|title=Harry Ferguson: Planes, tractors and automobiles|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z88kwmn|website=BBC Timelines|access-date=2 March 2018|language=en}}
• 1927: "Variant colonies of staphylococcus aureus" discovered by Joseph Warwick Bigger and his students.{{cite journal|last=Bigger|first=J. W. |last2=Boland|first2=C. R.|last3=O'Meara|first3=R. A.|date=1927 |title=Variant colonies of Staphylococcus aureus|journal=The Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology|issn=0022-3417|volume=30 |issue=2|pages=261–269 |doi=10.1002/path.1700300204}}
• 1931:
• Drumm Battery Train invented by James J. Drumm.{{cite web|title=Flashback 1931 - first journey of battery-powered train - Independent.ie|url=https://www.independent.ie/life/flashback-1931-first-journey-of-batterypowered-train-34252634.html|website=Independent.ie|date=6 December 2015 |access-date=2 March 2018|language=en}}
• Sudocrem invented by Dublin pharmacist Thomas Smith.
• 1932: Disintegration of an atomic nucleus by artificially accelerated protons (splitting the atom) discovered by Ernest Walton.[http://www-outreach.phy.cam.ac.uk/camphy/cockcroftwalton/cockcroftwalton10_1.htm Cambridge Physics - Splitting the Atom]
• 1946: Ejection seat – first live test of a reliable, successful modern ejection seat invented by James Martin.{{cite web|title=British History - Ejection Seat|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/british_history/ejection_seat/|website=BBC - Primary History|access-date=2 March 2018}}
• 1947: Duty-free shopping established by Brendan O'Regan.{{cite news|title=Tributes paid to Clare man who pioneered duty free at Shannon|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/business/tributes-paid-to-clare-man-who-pioneered-duty-free-at-shannon-1.890624|work=The Irish Times|date=4 February 2008}}
• 1950: Flavoured potato crisps invented by Joseph Murphy.{{cite web|title=Joe 'Spud' Murphy: The Man Who Gave Potato Chips Flavor|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/20/joe-spud-murphy-the-man-w_n_1437270.html |website=HuffPost|date=2012-04-20|author=}}
• 1954: Clofazimine discovered by a medical research team led by Vincent Barry.
• 1960s: Portable defibrillator invented by Frank Pantridge.{{cite web|last=Crutchley|first=Peter|date=3 October 2016|title=Father of emergency medicine celebrated|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-37540915|website=BBC News|access-date=2 March 2018}}
• 1967: Pulsars discovered by Jocelyn Bell Burnell.{{cite journal|last=Hewish|first=A.|last2=Bell|first2=S. J.|last3=Pilkington|first3=J. D. H.|last4=Scott|first4=P. F.|last5= Collins|first5=R. A.|title=Observation of a Rapidly Pulsating Radio Source|date=24 February 1968|journal=Nature|volume=217|issue=5130|pages=709–713|bibcode=1968Natur.217..709H|doi=10.1038/217709a0|s2cid=4277613 }}
• 1970s: Avermectin discovered by William C. Campbell.{{cite journal|last=Campbell|first=W. C.|date=May 2012|title=History of avermectin and ivermectin, with notes on the history of other macrocyclic lactone antiparasitic agents|journal=Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology|volume=13|issue=6|pages=853–865|pmid=22039784|doi=10.2174/138920112800399095}}

• 2003: Sugru invented by Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh.{{cite news|title=Kilkenny woman invents best thing since blu-Tack and Sellotape|url=http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/Kilkenny-woman-invents-best-thing.6012334.jp|newspaper=Kilkenny People|date=25 January 2010|access-date=6 February 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201090423/http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/Kilkenny-woman-invents-best-thing.6012334.jp|archive-date=1 February 2010|df=dmy-all}}
• 2010: Spice bag invented by Sunflower Chinese Takeaway in Templeogue, Dublin.{{cite web|last=Geraghty|first=Liam|title=Who invented the spice bag?|url=https://soundcloud.com/liam_geraghty/who-invented-the-spice-bag|publisher=SoundCloud|access-date=21 December 2020}} (Originally broadcast on The Business on RTE Radio 1 on 27/08/2016.)

• List of Irish dishes

{{Reflist}}{{Economy of Ireland}}{{Inventions}}

Category:Science and technology in Ireland

Irish

Inventions and discoveries