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A revealing account of the family life and achievements of the Third Earl of Rosse, a hereditary peer and resident landlord at Birr Castle, County Offaly, in nineteenth-century Ireland, before, during and after the devastating famine of the 1840s
List of contents
Preface - Daniel McDowell
Introduction - Charles Mollan
Succession of the Parsons Family at Birr
1. History of the Parsons family and Birr Castle - The Earl and Countess of Rosse
2. Origin of the 3rd Earl's interest in astronomy - Trevor Weekes
3. Mary, Countess of Rosse (1813-85) - Daniel McDowell, Alison, Countess of Rosse, and David Davison
4. William Parsons' influence on the town and community of Birr - Margaret Hogan
5. Negotiating 'a difficult sectarian terrain': The public life and political opinions of the 3rd Earl of Rosse - Andrew Shields
6. A Consummate Engineer - Charles Mollan
7. Birr Castle observations of non-stellar objects and the development of nebular theories - Wolfgang Steinicke
8. William Parsons and the Irish nineteenth-century tradition of independent astronomical research - Allan Chapman
9. 'A presiding influence': The relations of the 3rd Earl of Rosse with scientific institutions in Britain and Ireland - Simon Schaffer
10. The 3rd Earl of Rosse: An assessment - Trevor Weekes
Select bibliography
Index
About the author
Charles Mollan is a retired science administrator, editor and publisher, and a historian of Irish science
Summary
A revealing account of the family life and achievements of the Third Earl of Rosse, a hereditary peer and resident landlord at Birr Castle, County Offaly, in nineteenth-century Ireland, before, during and after the devastating famine of the 1840s
