Timeline of Irish inventions and discoveries

Irish inventions and discoveries are objects, processes or techniques which owe their existence either partially or entirely to an Irish person. Often, things which are discovered for the first time, are also called "inventions", and in many cases, there is no clear line between the two. Below is a list of such inventions.

Pre-history

• Ogham prehistory.^[1]
• Iomániocht (Scuaib/Camán/Ioman) - precursors to modern Hurling^[2]

6th century

• Penitential

14th century

• Caid (precursor to modern Gaelic football).^[3]
• The Northern Reginians Anthem^[4]
• Whiskey

17th century

• Irish road bowling.^[5]
• 1661: Modern chemistry founded by Robert Boyle with the publication of The Sceptical Chymist.^[6]
• 1662: Boyle's law discovered by Robert Boyle.^[7]
• 1680s: European adaptation of Drinking chocolate - Hans Sloane.^[8] 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.^[9]

18th century

• 1730: The concept of an
  entrepreneur - Richard Cantillon.^[10]

• 1805: Beaufort scale created by Francis Beaufort.^[11]
• 1809:
  Milk of Magnesia discovered by James Murray.^[12]
• 1813: Clanny safety lamp created by William Reid Clanny.^[13]
• 1820: 30 January, Edward Bransfield discovered the Antarctic Continent (mainland, islands were discovered earlier).^[14]
• 1820: Modern meat curing and the Bacon Rasher were invented by Henry Denny, a Waterford butcher, in 1820^[15]
• 1821: The development of "Extra
  The Second Arthur Guinness and others.^[16]
• 1831: Column still design enhanced and patented by Aeneas Coffey.^[17]
• 1831: William Brooke O'Shaughnessy pioneered the cure for cholera through Intravenous therapy
• 1832: The Kyanizing process for preserving wood, created by John Howard Kyan.^[18]
• 1834: The game of Croquet.^[19]
• 1836: Induction coil created by Nicholas Callan.^[20]
• 1843:
  Sir William Rowan Hamilton.^[21]
• 1844: Hollow needle in syringe created by Francis Rynd.^[22]
• 1846: Seismology founded by Robert Mallet, who used dynamite explosions to measure the speed of elastic waves in surface rocks - pioneering and coining the word 'seismology'.^[23]
• 1848:
  William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin.^[24]
• 1851: Binaural stethoscope created by Arthur Leared.^[25]
• 1856:
  Sir William Rowan Hamilton.^[26]
• 1859:
  Greenhouse Effect theory proven by John Tyndall.^[27]
• 1865: The first
  William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin on Valentia Island.^[28]
• 1866: The Standard drop method of hanging developed by Dr Samuel Haughton.^[29]
• 1874:
  • Electron introduced as a concept by George Johnstone Stoney.^[30]
  • Brennan torpedo created by Louis Brennan.^[31]
• 1879: The rules of Hurling first standardised with the foundation of the Irish Hurling Union.^[32]
• 1880:
  Irish Land League.^[33]
• 1884:
  Steam Turbine: Compound Steam Turbine developed by Anglo-Irish engineer Charles Algernon Parsons.^[34]
• 1885: The
  Cream Cracker was invented by Joseph Haughton in his home in Dublin and first manufactured by William Jacob in his bakery in Dublin.^[35]
• 1888:
  Gregg Shorthand created by John Robert Gregg.^[36]
• 1894: Joly colour screen created by John Joly.^[37]
• 1894:
  cohesion-tension theory proposed by John Joly and Henry Horatio Dixon at Trinity College Dublin^[38]
• 1897: Modern submarine design created by John Philip Holland.^[39]
• Saccharimeter created by Rev John Jellet from Cashel, County Tipperary (1817–1888).^[40]

20th century

• 1901: Reflector sight created by Howard Grubb.^[41]
• 1914:
  Radiotherapy developed by John Joly.^[42]
• 1928: Three point linkage, patented by Harry Ferguson.^[43]
• 1930:
  Nickel-zinc battery created by James J. Drumm.^[44]
• 1931: Sudocrem was developed by Dublin-based pharmacist Thomas Smith.
• 1930s: The first disintegration of an atomic nucleus by artificially accelerated protons (splitting the atom) discovered by Ernest Walton et al.^[45]
• 1946: Ejection seat - first live test of a reliable, successful modern ejection seat developed by James Martin^[46]
• 1940s: World first duty free airport shop at Shannon Airport, created by Brendan O'Regan
• 1950: Joseph 'Spud' Murphy and his employee Seamus Burke produced the world's first seasoned crisps: Cheese & Onion and Salt & Vinegar.^[47] Companies worldwide sought to buy the rights to Tayto's technique.^[48]
• 1954:
  Trinity College, Dublin.^[40]
• 1965: Portable defibrillator created by Frank Pantridge.^[49]

21st century

• 2000s: Sugru developed by Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh in the early 2000s.^[50]
• 2010: Spice bag, invented in The Sunflower takeaway in Templeogue, Dublin in 2010.^[51]

See also

• List of Irish dishes

References