By Michael O’Shea
There is a rich and long history of astronomy in Ireland, from the Stone Age burial monument at Newgrange aligned precisely with the winter sun, to the Irish monks who carefully observed the skies above to calculate the correct date of Easter — and developed the world’s first algorithms in the process. From 1845 to 1917 the “Leviathan” telescope at Birr Castle (Co. Offaly) held the title of the world’s largest, while the “Plough and the Star” flag of the Irish Citizen Army featured the Big Dipper and flew during the 1916 Easter Rising.
Modern Ireland is home to cutting-edge astronomy facilities, such as the low-frequency radio telescope array known as I-LOFAR, built in 2017, and also located on the historic grounds of Birr Castle. For the aspiring astronomer, there are highly ranked astronomy departments at universities across the island, as well as the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and the Armagh Observatory. Adjacent to the observatory is the Armagh Planetarium, founded in 1968 and the oldest planetarium in the UK and Ireland. More recently in 2023, a team from University College Dublin developed Ireland’s first satellite launched into space. Further south, Irish-Canadian Dr. Sean Dougherty is director of ALMA, a massive, multinational project in Chile comprising 66 radio telescope dishes spread out across miles of the Andean desert.
Another astronomer, closer to home, is Carmel Malone, originally of Cross Lake, Mayo, and a resident of Chicago’s Northwest Side since the 1970s. Like that of many of her neighbors, her Mayo childhood was shaped by the rhythm and motion of planets, stars, the Sun and the Moon above her Atlantic Ocean community. I had a chance to sit down with Carmel last winter and hear her recollections of traditional Irish astronomy and newer observations in Chicago.
Long winter nights, endless summer days
As a child, Carmel observed it was “never pitch, pitch dark, never” for several weeks in the summertime as the sun skimmed the horizon, never quite setting. Lying at around 54 degrees latitude, Ireland sits at the same distance from the equator as Southern Alaska, with long summer days and long winter nights. (Because of the Earth’s tilt, as our planet orbits the Sun, half of the Earth gets more sunlight than the other. During the summer, it is the north hemisphere that receives more sunlight and daylight hours).
“You'd be ready to go to bed at 11 o'clock. I'm saying to my mother one night, I said ‘aren't you thinking about going to bed?’’ I think it was like 11 o'clock. It was pure bright outside.”
Next thing she knew her cousin was coming to visit.
One night her sister-in-law went out with a camera to photograph the stars, but it was too bright.
“You could see the brightness of the Sun going right around and before you know it around 5 in the morning, up she comes. And oh my God, it was absolutely beautiful.”
She kept track of the movements of the Moon, too, which pulled the tide out each day to reveal slippery dillisk covering the wet rocks. Dillisk (from the Irish duileasc) is an edible purplish-pink seaweed that thrived on the rocks between tides. Low in sodium, dillisk is chewy in texture and a great source of fiber.
“We call it dillisk. It grew on the rocks. They were flat leaves.”
The spring low tide revealed particular rocks, very far out and gleaming with dillisk, calling out to be harvested.
Sometimes Carmel would accompany her mother on slippery trips out to the rocks, all while keeping a careful eye on the encroaching tide.
“You could be engrossed in picking dillisk as the tide was coming in. One blast would come in…before you know it, you could be swept out to sea.”
The Moon and tides go “hand in hand,” Carmel noted. Dillisk, too.
The Moon was used to tell time…and direction
Carmel said they often relied on the sky for time of day and for directions. Unlucky for you if it was an overcast day: “There was no GPS if I was going north, south, east or west, but if it's an overcast day, you wouldn't know where you were, you'd be kinda stuck at that.”
Her knowledge speaks to a natural awareness of the Moon and the sun and the stars, and how celestial events connected to weather on earth, and her location on edge of the Atlantic Ocean.
“If there were no clouds, it was a beautiful evening as the sun went down. And again, we were right by the ocean. So the sun would sink beet red, which we were told was for good weather.”
Years later from her Chicago backyard, Carmel is still looking up, charting the setting and rising of the Moon, and noting the progress of the Sun from solstice to solstice. Recently, noting the Moon was rising unusually farther to the north — due to a double coincidence of celestial geometry — Carmel texted me.
“Absolutely beautiful, I didn’t notice how north it was, but now once it’s full I have noticed...it gets up the north more than I ever remember,” she observed.
Constellations
It wasn’t just the moon and these stars she kept track of though, she said. She remembered the stars, including the Evening Star, as well as Irish constellations like the Plough — as the Big Dipper is known in Ireland, Britain and other historically agricultural areas.
“Yes, from the old folks. They told us about the plough and the evening star.”
The plough is not only an agricultural implement and a name for a grouping of stars — it’s also deeply embedded in Irish politics and the struggle for independence. The “Plough and Star,” in fact, appears on many flags of Irish political organizations throughout the 20th century. It first appeared on the flag of the Irish Citizen Army in 1914 and was flown over the Imperial Hotel during Easter Rising two years later. The plough was chosen for its many connections to Irish socialism, independence, and Christianity.
Astronomy Geniuses
Last year, I travelled to Chile as an astronomy ambassador with a wonderful organization called Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassadors Program (ACEAP). While also visiting supersized telescopes probing the mysteries of the universe (Chile is perfect for astronomy and big budget telescopes because of its climate and geography), I felt luckiest to connect with Indigenous astronomers at Puribeter Natural Reserve and learn millennia-old cosmology and traditional names of constellations. I was taught how to use an ancient astronomy tool, espejo de agua (water mirror), a stone basin filled with very still water still used to reflect and study the night sky.
Upon my return to the United States, I thought about Irish astronomy and who kept this traditional knowledge alive. Though Greek and Roman names for constellations and the universe predominate in the United States and much of the West, every culture has its homegrown astronomy knowledge connected to Earth and sky, including the Irish and its knowledge keepers.
Reflecting on the Mayo astronomers of her childhood, who used the Moon to tell time and could sunsets to predict weather without GPS or clocks, Carmel said, “I think they were just geniuses, myself.”
And I think Carmel is too.
Are you Irish or Irish-American and have astronomy knowledge, observations, or recollections you’d like to share? Get in touch with the author, Michael O’Shea, as he explores Irish astronomy, past, present, and future.
Further reading and sources consulted:
Byrne, C. (2022). Astronomy in Ireland - Réalteolaíocht in Éirinn. Warwick University. [Link](https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/astro/people/conorbyrne/blogs/astronomyinireland/)
“Ireland’s native star names and night sky folklore explored in public lecture.” (2023). Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh [University College Cork]. https://www.ucc.ie/en/news/2023/irelands-native-star-names-and-night-sky-folklore-explored-in-public-lecture.html
“Irish Astronomy.” OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Dec 5 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com
Mac Giolla Chainnigh, A. (2013, January 30). An Chruinne Raidió: Réalteolaíocht ag Tonnfhaid Fhada / The Radio Universe: Astronomy at Long Wavelengths [lecture]. Engineers Ireland. Dublin, Ireland. [Link]. (https://lofar.ie/engineers-ireland-lecture-the-radio-universe-astronomy-at-long-wavelengths/)
Murphy, A., & Moore, R. (2020). Island of the setting sun: in search of Ireland's ancient astronomers. Liffey Press.
"Object: Plough and the Stars Flag." (2023). National Museum of Ireland. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. [Link](https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland)
Ormonde, J. (2015). Constellation Stories of Ancient Ireland. [Amazon Kindle]. Julie Ormonde.
Many thanks to Carmel Malone of Cross Lake for her time in sharing her astronomy wisdom during our interview and for carefully reviewing the article before publication. Additional thanks to Dr. Mark Bailey (Armagh Observatory) for suggestions of research directions into Irish astronomy.