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| Organization | Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) | ||
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| Observatory code | 982  | ||
| Location | Dunsink, Dublin, Ireland | ||
| Coordinates | 53°23′13″N6°20′15″W / 53.38708°N 6.33756°W /53.38708; -6.33756 | ||
| Established | 1785 | ||
| Website | Dunsink Observatory | ||
| Telescopes | |||
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  Location of Dunsink Observatory | |||
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TheDunsink Observatory is anastronomicalobservatory established in 1785 in thetownland ofDunsink in the outskirts of the city ofDublin,Ireland.[1]
Dunsink's most famous director wasWilliam Rowan Hamilton, who, amongst other things, discoveredquaternions, the firstnon-commutativealgebra form,while walking from the observatory to the city with his wife. The annualHamilton Walk that commemorates this discovery begins at the observatory. He is also renowned for hisHamiltonian formulation of dynamics.
The observatory was established by anendowment of £3,000 in the will ofFrancis Andrews, who wasProvost of Trinity College Dublin at his death on 18 June 1774. The site was established on the south slope of a low hill in thetownland ofDunsink, 84m above sea level.[2] The South Telescope, a 12-inch Grubb instrument, is a refracting (i.e. it uses lens) telescope built by Thomas Grubb of Dublin and completed in 1868.[3] The achromatic lens, with an aperture of 11.75 inches, was donated by SirJames South in 1862, who had purchased the lens fromCauchoix of Paris 30 years earlier.[4] He had intended it for a large but troubled equatorial that came to fruition in the 1830s, but was dismantled around 1838.[5][6] (See alsoGreat refractors)
The entry for the observatory inThom's Directory (1850) gives the following account of the observatory,
::ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN, DUNSINK
- Astronomer Royal, Sir William Rowan Hamilton, A.M., LL.D.
- Assistant Astronomer, Charles Thomson, esq.
This Observatory, endowed by Francis Andrews, esq., LL.D., Provost of Trinity College, and erected in 1785, was placed, by statute, in 1791, under the management of the "Royal Astronomer of Ireland," an appointment first filled by Dr. Henry Ussher, and subsequently by Dr. Brinkley, Bishop of Cloyne.
The Institution is amply furnished with astronomical instruments, and is open to all persons interested in astronomical science, on introduction to the resident Assistant. It is situated in Lat. 53° 23' 13" N., Long. 6° 20' 15" W.[1]
Dublin Mean Time, the officialtime in Ireland from 1880, was thelocal mean time at Dunsink, just asGreenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time atGreenwich Royal Observatory near London.[7] In 1916, Ireland moved to GMT. In 1936, Trinity College stopped maintaining the observatory and rented out the land.
Éamon de Valera, who had driven the establishment of theDublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) in 1940, added a School of Cosmic Physics to it in 1947, partly in order to revive the observatory, for which it was given responsibility.Éamon de Valera's signature appears in Dunsink Observatory visitor book dated 13 January 1949.
The named chairAndrews Professorship of Astronomy was associated with the directorship of Dunsink Observatory during the time that the observatory was part of Trinity College Dublin (TCD).
By the late 20th century, the city encroached ever more on the observatory, increasing the atmospheric turbulence thus reducing the quality of the telescope's images. Thetelescope itself is no longer "state of the art", is now used mainly for public 'open nights'.
The observatory is currently part of the DIAS. It is a research institute and regularly hosts visiting scholars and scientists, alongside various conferences and public outreach events. Public talks on astronomy and astrophysics are given regularly at the observatory by professional and amateur astronomers. Stargazing events are also held using the Grubb telescope.
In 2025, the Irish Historic Astronomical Observatories, consisting of Dunsink Observatory,Birr Castle andArmagh Observatory, were added to the World Heritage Tentative List, a step towards becoming aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site.[8]
| Dates | Name | Other titles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1783–1790 | Rev.Henry Ussher | Andrews Professor of Astronomy | Died in office |
| 1792–1827 | Rev.John Brinkley | Andrews Professor of Astronomy, Royal Astronomer of Ireland (from 1793) | AppointedBishop of Cloyne in 1826 |
| 1827–1865 | SirWilliam Rowan Hamilton | Andrews Professor of Astronomy, Royal Astronomer of Ireland | Appointed as a 21-year-old undergraduate. In addition to astronomy, he worked on mathematics. He developed what is now known as Hamiltonian mechanics, and the system of quaternions, having discovered them in 1843. He died in office. |
| 1865–1874 | Franz Brünnow | Andrews Professor of Astronomy, Royal Astronomer of Ireland | Retired due to failing health and eyesight |
| 1874–1892 | SirRobert Stawell Ball | Andrews Professor of Astronomy, Royal Astronomer of Ireland | In 1892 becameLowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry atCambridge |
| 1892–1897 | Arthur Alcock Rambaut | Andrews Professor of Astronomy, Royal Astronomer of Ireland | In 1897 becameRadcliffe Observer atOxford |
| 1897–1906 | Charles Jasper Joly | Andrews Professor of Astronomy, Royal Astronomer of Ireland | Died in office |
| 1906–1912 | SirEdmund Taylor Whittaker | Andrews Professor of Astronomy, Royal Astronomer of Ireland | In 1911 became a professor atEdinburgh |
| 1912–1921 | Henry Crozier Keating Plummer | Andrews Professor of Astronomy, Royal Astronomer of Ireland | In 1921 became professor of mathematics at theArtillery College in Woolwich |
| 1921–1936 | Charles Martin | Acting Director, assisted by F J O'Connor (1908-1987). Died in office | |
| 1936–1947 | Vacant | No astronomical work was done | |
| 1947–1957 | Hermann Alexander Brück | Director of DIAS School of Cosmic Physics | In 1957 becameAstronomer Royal for Scotland |
| 1958–1963 | Mervyn Archdall Ellison | Director of DIAS School of Cosmic Physics | Died in office |
| 1964–1992 | Patrick Arthur Wayman | Andrews Professor of Astronomy (from 1984,honorary), Director of DIAS School of Cosmic Physics | Retired, with a short gap before the next appointment. |
| 1994–2007 | Evert Meurs | Senior Professor DIAS | Retired |
| 2007–2018 | Luke Drury | Andrews Professor of Astronomy (honorary), Director of DIAS School of Cosmic Physics | Retired |
| 2018–present | Peter T. Gallagher | Senior Professor and Head of Astronomy and Astrophysics,DIAS |
The observatory is one of the locations featured in the book,The Coroner's Daughter by Andrew Hughes, which was selected as the Dublin UNESCO City of Literature One City One Book for 2023.[9]
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