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Tyndall of Leighlin

Part2

Norman McMillan & Martin Nevin, Carlow Regional Technical College

Article on Tyndall and Carlow

Mechanics Institute, Preston

Queenwood College

Royal Institution

Tyndall Gorge, Colorado, U.S.A

Ballinabranna Schoolhouse

The Loosening of Links with Ireland

TYNDALL, like so many Irishmen before and since who set off to earn their fame and fortune overseas, left these shores determined to make his mark. Above all this meant for a young man standing on his own two feet and standing up for his rights. He certainly did this and he carried with him grievances from his period of employment in Ireland. Tyndall announced shortly after his arrival in England his intention of seeking redress for certain grievances at the Survey.

During what was for Tyndall a traumatic time, he received letters from Ireland which must have been welcome relief for the young protagonist, for in a letter from his cousin Maria he heard of much lighter matters.

J. Tyndall's reply to toast by G. G. Stokes, President of the Royal Society at his retirement dinner in the Willis's Room, July 29th, 1887.

I have climbed some difficult mountains in my time, and after strenuous efforts for a dozen hours or more, upon ice, rock and snow, I have not infrequently reached the top. I question whether there is a joy on earth more exhilarating than that of a mountaineer, who having reached his object, is able to afford himself, upon the summit a foaming bumper of champagne. But, my Lords & Gentlemen, the hardest climb, by far, that I have accomplished, was that from the banks of the Barrow to the banks of the Thames — from the modest Irish roof under which I was born to Willis's Room. Here I have reached my mountain-top, and you — God bless you! — have given me a bumper which no scientific climber ever before enjoyed.

"I am sure that you will credit me when I tell you that you are still dear to me and nothing gives me more real pleasure than your sweet romantic letters. They breathe the language that I love. Pray, my dear John, have you written many Valentines this time? I know your talents are of the first order. I am quite sure that you are heartwhole all this time in the South, such a gay and gallant hotharin was never intended to blush unseen like the desert rose. Come now, make me your confidant, as I have no secrets of my own to keep I shall be the more capable of keeping another's?"

While another cousin, Deb, wrote in February 1842:

 

"We expect to leave Ireland in April. I hope you will come to County Carlow before then. If you cannot see me here send me a long letter and a great deal of news and don't forget to let me know how you leave all your little girls. You need not fear me telling Rachel." (REF. 1, p.12). However despite Tyndall confiding that "in the main the ice wine of Ireland is more palatable than the hot lascivious vintage of England." (REF. 16).

He did not concern himself over much with romantic questions at that time and he was undoubtedly concerned with more serious matters. Tyndall in leading the fight against the Survey management led ultimately to the dismissal in September 1843 of which his father had warned. A contributory factor in this dismissal was Tyndall's series of articles in the Liverpool Mercury which brilliantly exposed the disgraceful mismanagement of the Ordnance Survey. On November 8 he had quoted, that 'when Tyndall had won fortune and renown the gentry of his native district hurried to lionise the son of the leather dealer. One descendant of a Cromwellian trooper who joined the crowd, would not condescend without reminding Tyndall of the condescension. He invited Tyndall to dinner. The first topic started for conversation when the ladies had withdrawn was the changing times which made such a dinner-party possible and brought together on a plane of almost equality the host and guest.

The Carlow landlord (was it Bruen?) had a lesson in good manners which he did not forget, and Tyndall left him in real doubt as to whether the man of science or the man of confiscated acres was the gentleman.

The same writer gives an interesting personal and local reminiscence of the Professor. "On one occasion when he saw Tyndall in his native village he was engaged by the riverside with his coat off, helping a peasant to drag a bullock out of a ditch into which it had sunk. He was then a lecturer at the Royal Institution, and was one of the most famous lecturers the Institution ever saw. There was nothing in the bookworm in the heave the Professor gave the rope, however. The conqueror of the Matterhorn was at work, and showed the physical soundness of the stock from which he came." (REF. 11).

Tyndall certainly did come to Ireland in 1874. He was then President of the British Association and had to deliver the Presidential Address. In the

"Belfast address of 1874 suggested that life might have come from in­animate matter." (REF. 19).

Tyndall faced a furore over this speech which has been compared to the original explosion over the theory of evolution. There is modern evidence, however, to suggest that this outcry was engineered by the Irishman Kelvin and his associate Tait, because of another ongoing argument over a theory of glaciers. Tyndall delivered this speech quite appropriately in Belfast, on August 19, 1874. Tyndall really was not challenging religion at Belfast, only irrational religion. He was never an adament materialist, despite his statements which were often in these prudish times misunderstood. An interesting commitant of this historic event occurred. Tyndall had always- kept contact with Conwill and was always careful' to send him copies of his books which he engraved "To Mr. Conwill from his old pal John Tyndall." We learn that

"Even when the pupil wandered into the realms which the teacher had no opportunity of entering, the former often docily received a letter on his behaviour there. The famous Belfast Address provoked a strong remonstrance; but the old man was relieved when he received a reply repudiating the construction placed on it. The letter contained the germ of thought of the later explanatory Birmingham Address. There were a few sentences quoted for the special benefit of Tyndall's successors in the old teacher's ears, in order to prove to them the 'great exemplar' had not degenerated into the scandal-giver. I am not an atheist that men make light of. In the river that rolls by my window I recognise the finger of the Great First Cause." (REF. 26).

Whether or not this was a real statement of Tyndal's views is open to speculation but he certainly was no atheist. His friend T. Hirst claimed that he and Tyndall were agnostics before T. H. Huxley invented the word! His wife certainly suspected him of being a materialist and busied herself for more than forty years .after his death, censoring his papers, journals and letters to remove any 'suspect' passages.

Research Discoveries

From the background research of Tyndall the most important point to emerge is that we can begin to see the reasons for his incredible determination. Firstly he cannot, as had been supposed, from a family who were from poor working stock, but from the Tyndall, Malone and McAssey stock who were extremely wealthy. The fact that his mother and family fortunes were so spartan compared to their parents, must have been a powerful incentive for the young man. The wealth of the parent's family however must have ensured that his parents were both very well educated.

The second point overlooked by other writers is the influence on Tyndall of the 'Friends'. The Quaker influences in his fife were very strong indeed. They came from his grandmother and his mother and later in his life, again when he worked at the Quaker College, Queenswood. Undoubtedly, he personifies the ethic of hard work and self reliance and this is the most characteristic feature of this form of Protestantism. It is certainly significant that Tyndall directed that he be buried in an unmarked grave. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on the way you look at it, well meaning people subse­quently placed a stone on the mound in the church in Haselmere in Surrey where he lies.

It is clear that Tyndall's greatest influence was his father, and therefore possibly his mother as well, although he did not recognize this latter influence himself. This research has possibly revealed this powerful influence more clearly than any earlier study of Tyndall. John Connwill, by popular legend, was meant to be the man responsible for moulding Tyndall's personality, but we would consider that his influence was primarily one of inspiration, in that he set alight the young man latent scientific and mathematical ability, which had been already largely fashioned by his family interactions. Tyndall came to Conwill as a young man of seventeen and he could not therefore have been as influential as this popular local legend would have had us believe.

Finally, we feel that Tyndall's Irishness and more particularly, his LeighKn roots, were undoubtedly sources from which he drew in later life. His acceptance in England never led him to attempt as-simulation into the English ethos, but ii anything, on the contrary, made him more conscious of his identity as an Irishman, which it appears he proudly proclaimed at every opportunity. His opposition to Irish nationalism was certainly not from the stand point of a little Englander. Unquestionably his Irishness shaped his politics, philosophy and outlook in general. We might suppose even, that this played some part in his scientific work although this would be hard to demonstrate. We conclude that the most suitable epithet for Tyndall was not the amusing "X"-centric, which he adopted in the very influential, famous and mysterious "X"-club, but rather Tyndall of Leighlin.

Miss H. Byrne and Mrs. E. Breen exhibited a picture of Tyndall at the Barrow Rally in 197? which was possibly the first publicity given to the Leighlinman which ultimately led to the current interest, although as yet there is not a Memorial Scholarship which Professsor Maloney wished to see established in County Carlow.

Tyndall's Journal from 1866 to his death was very sketchily compiled by a researcher. They show records visits to Ireland in June '69, October '7?' June '86 and January '90 but no explicit mention of Carlow made.

Written home explaining his dismissal. He was ultimately forced to return home penniless just before Christmas in 1843, where he defiantly wrote his final letter to the Mercury. Mrs. Louisa Tyndall later wrote of this period of obvious tension between father and son:

"But in spite of his proclivities, the father showed himself capable of taking large views on the subject and the divergence of opinion between 'Big John’ and 'Little John' (as they sometimes playfully called each other), on the abstract question of justice and human rights was not so great as the latter had anticipated." (p.6). In this period of forced unemployment in Carlow he was far from inactive and apart from keeping up his French and mathematics studies he took to writing a novel. He sought employment and tarried with plans to emigrate to America, which were strongly opposed by his friends. Then he was elected as Plotter for County Carlow only to be bitterly disappointed when this election was declared invalid because the post had not been properly advertised. At this time Tyndall became determined to gain employment and given the prospect of a job in America he would have emigrated, We discover;

"After a lapse of three years, Mr. Tyndall, seeing little prospect of speedy promotien in the profession he had chosen, resolved to emigrate to America. He was however opposed by some of his friends, and particularly by the Dean of Leighlin, a relative of the celebrated Robert Boyle, who exhorted him not to leave the country." (REF. 17).

In August he was informed that he would get appointed to a new Survey Office in Preston being opened by Mr. Wren if he reported for duty. After two weeks it was clear "that he was not the description of person they wanted," and he left. He did not return home however but sought and found employment in Manchester with Nevins and Lawton as a railway surveyor. This was the final break with Ireland for he was never again to live in the country and only returned on the rare occasion for vacations.

Tyndall in England as surveyor & teacher

TYNDALL worked in England as a railway surveyor, from 1844 he then took up an appointment as a teacher at Queenwood College, Hampshire (REF 18) in 1847. He studied for two years at Marburg University in Germany from 1849 and returned to Queenwood, where he worked until he obtained the Chair of National Philosophy at the Royal Institution London in 1853, where he remained until his retirement.

His scant contacts with Ireland during his days at the Royal Institution should however be commented upon. His commitment to climbing took him on vacations away to the Alps and this kept him away from Ireland. Certainly before he was really established in his chosen profession, both, his parents were dead and his major factor which shaped Tyndall's decisions over the years and which consequently kept him away from Leighlin was that he was happy in the intellectual English environment.

Indeed, at his great retirement dinner, given in Willis's Rooms in the Royal Society Room on June 29, 1887 he made this very point: See quote at top of this, article.

On one of his very brief holidays in 1847 Tyndall returned to Carlow to discover his father in a grave state of health with paralysis on his left side. He abandoned his holiday to nurse his father until forced to return to England. On March 27, 1847 his father died and Tyndall wrote:

"One of the strongest links between me and life is broken, one kind tongue forever silent, one fountain of boundless sympathy forever dried up" -REF. 1 (p.16). In his private thoughts he wrote:

"No one but me will ever know his worth."

The night of the father's funeral, "a night of such rain and thunder that was never witnessed before*.

Tyndall's views on the famine which racked Ireland at this time were expressed in his Journal.

* Quoted from Alan Doran, local Leighlin historian.

"Sympathy and humaness are unknown; the rich man treats the poor one as, a slave, the latter in return looked upon his wealthier fellow as a foe. All confidence was destroyed, and now in the hour of trial when confidence would be invaluable and¹ mighty the only means of repelling the famine, they can't be found. This lesson will be scourged into them — that every man upon earth has a duty to perform, and in proportion as a man is exulted his responsibility is increased, and that no man without incurring nature's penalty can shirk his proper employment."

Tyndall's Journal over this period also records the details of this flying visit.

1847 December 22^nd

Reached Clonmel at two, remained there until six. Started thence by mail—felt very sleepy, but had time to swallow a cup of coffee at Kilkenny, which negated my somniferous tendencies. Reached Leighlin at 12, and found all in bed. A flood in the Barrow — it rolled very darkly along.

23^rd  Rise at 7.30. Saw Mr. Conwill in the morning, remained some time in his school. A long chat with my uncle Ned — decided on sending Emma to Banks if possible. A wet day all through. Read remarks on National Education in company with Conwill. Arranged our time. He is at my service up to 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I am at his house the remainder of the day. Wrote to Filmarsh and to Guity.

24^th  Saw Mrs. Steuart in the morning — kind as usual. The forenoon with Mr. Conwill, analysing Whateley's Lessons on Reasoning; a walk to John Kehoe's Bridge to see the works in the railway.

26^th  To church in the evening.

27^th  A lovely day, evening calm, visited Old Leighlin Church and saw my father's grave — he lies beside his own father in a quiet lonely part of the burial ground. On coming away I turned instinctively to bid him goodbye, but there was no answer.

28^th  Called upon the Dean, but did not see him.

29^th  Up at 5. Algebra, got through arithmetical progression. Incessant rain. Mr. Conwill did not come. A walk in the evening to the three-arch bridge. Barrow very much swollen.

31^st  A letter from Mr. McClintock — he recollects the time which I alluded to in my letter, but before giving me any statement as to the state of the country about him he wants to know whether I make the enquiry as a private individual or as an agent of a charitable association. January 1^st

Rose at 5. Started by omnibus to Carlow, thence by rail to Dublin. Met Jack near Westland Row; left my luggage at station, and returned with him. Jack visited Mr. Hammond, and obtained a promise of employment, Reached Kingstown at 6 o'clock and sat down to a capital dinner. In ' 1848 on July 12, we see the 'radical' recording in his journal on early compromise which ultimately led him back into the fold of the conservatives. He wrote:

"Cogitated on the paper for the 'Sentinel'. Altered my original intention and let the landlords off with a slight rule."

Tyndall in Germany as a Mature Student

At the end of the first year of Queenwood College's existence, Tyndall was already very conscious of his need for further education. At the time the only place he could get what he considered to be an adequate university science education was in Germany and he was therefore easily persuaded to join his fellow teacher Edward (later Sir Edward) Frankland as an undergraduate in Marburg University, where they studied under among others the illustrious Robert von Bunsen. Before the friends embarked on what was to be a very strenuous and concentrated course of study they left on a short continental holiday. Tyndall returned early to London on some urgent business but on reading of the revolutionary struggles in the French capital in his London Times, returned rather melodramatically to his friend's side. The pair of them were consquently caught up in the street fighting.

Here where our concern is Ireland we will not recall the very interesting description of the street fighting to be found in his diary, but it is perhaps relevant to mention what was really an insignificant but nevertheless interesting incident. On the 29 June we find the following entry in his journal:

"Two guards mobile were killed, and three insurgents; a bullet was found flattened upon the floor of room next to mine. Women dressed as vivandieres administered poison wine to the wounded soldiers . . .

On opening the door of a large room, saw gentleman and lady apparently in close conversation. I apologised and vanished; learned, however, that my appearance would not be an intrusion. It was a long time since I have seen such incarnation of loveliness in the lady's beauty was positively radiant — mild brown eyes flushed under long pendant lashes, clear transparent skin of the richest peachiness . . .

"With stoical self-denial I kept my eyes off her, indulging in intervals in a transient glance ... the thread of our conversation drew up to Bagenalstown, the spot whence the beauty before mentioned sprung — who can she be? To bed at 11.30."

This entry in Tyndall's diary is very revealing. It demonstrates that Tyndall was either incredibly shy, infatuated with her to the point of dumbness, or was a romantic who wished to preserve the mystery of this radiant beauty.

Tyndall continued as a correspondent for the Sentinal during his two years study at Marburg.

Monday, 11 December 1848

Received a letter from home in the morning giving a melancholy account of the sufferings of the poor people in Leighlin. Arranged that 12 of them should spend Christmas day comfortably. The Dean is leaving Leighlin and removing nearer to the sea. Mr. King is moving into his house. The name of Mr. Bredin mentioned in my mother's letter aroused many long forgotten memories.

The rest of his life was to see him send a considerable amount of money home to his family and all kinds of people in Leighlin. There can be no doubt that he was a most generous benefactor to the people of Leighlin.

There is another mention in Tyndall's Journal about a visit to Old Leighlin made by his mother and sister. It should be remembered that Ireland had only two years before passed through the height of the famine. On 9 January, 1849, after the receipt of a letter, he notes:

"Emma gives me an account of a visit which she and mother made to Old Leighlin. The people were very wretched; Jerry Murray dead. Canting and objecting is the order of the day. James Tracey has lost the loan fund. What will become of his helpless family? Very wretched indeed. In what does the life in Ireland differ from that of the most savage gregarians? The wolf fights with his neighbour over the carcase. Irishmen do the same."

Return To Queenwood And Thence To World Fame

He went on to do research in Berlin for a short period after completing his Ph.D. and then returned to Queenwood for a further two years. This period at Queenwood was to him a very frustrating period because he was now well qualified and looking for advancement.

In 1851 after acting as secretary of the Physics and Mathematics Section of the British Association held in Belfast that year he took the opportunity to pay a brief visit to Leighlin. In his journal for September 8 and 9 the following entries.

September 8 Left Belfast at 10 o'clock, from Dublin again at 5.30. Reached Bagenalstown 8.10, took a car to Leighlin, found my mother in bed. The old woman was as busy as a bee. Felt gladdened on finding everything clean and comfortable around her.

September 9 This morning before breakfast I was at the "MOAT".* It needed no associations of childhood to embellish the delightful scene that lay before me. In itself it was lovely ... I do not know anywhere a sweeter scene than this scene of my early boyhood. Saw some old friends and started again at 12.

*This is the famous seat of the Ard Ri.

Tyndall kept a very detailed Journal which continued up until the 1850s. It became very sketchy indeed when he moved to the Royal Institution of G.B. in London's West End, because as the Professor of Natural Philosophy there he had very demanding duties and he also had an extremely busy professional and social life outside of his employment. The only time that he really kept a detailed Journal after this was when he went to the Alps, because he used these detailed records extensively in his Alpine books. It is hard therefore to find evidence of his visits to Ireland during his years of international fame.

There are stories of course of unconfirmed authenticity about Tyndall, which it is hard to know if they were true or not. Two such are included in one account of his life which date from his 'great years' although the authors know of no definite record of him being in Carlow after 1867* when he visited Leighlin to attend his mother's funeral. This account suggests he did pay other visits and as explained above it is difficult to verify these accounts.

"Before we leave this part of his career, it may be interesting to state, on the authority of the writer * already

*Miss Holly Byrne of Bagenalstown in an interview given on 23 September '78 stated that when a visitor to her home, a certain Professor Daniel Maioney visited her father some thirty years ago was told that he had shaken hands with Professor Tyndall. The American from Staton Island exclaimed: "It was worth while having come to Ireland to shake hands with a man who had shaken hands with Professor Tyndall." Since Mr. Byrne was horn 5 October, 1873, this is strong evidence to suggest that Tyndall was in Leighlin in his later years.

* Article in Dublin Evening Teiegraph. Date not given.

Concluding Remarks Tyndall Work

A much fuller account on "Tyndall and Ireland" is being prepared by the authors, which will cover all the material on the Leighlin man and his country. The map on the region centred on Leighlin reproduced in Part I of this article shows the location of most of the places connected with Tyndall and indicates the positions of every place mentioned in this article whose location is known.

John Tyndall has many relatives in this region still, and a large number scattered throughout the country at large. Indeed, there is still a John Tyndall in Leighlin; but he, like all the other Tyndalls, appears to derive from William Tyndall, the grandfather of the scientist, as John and Louisa did not have any children. The closest relative to the Professor was Caleb de Whycliffe Tyndall who was apparently his favourite nephew, and whose education was paid for at least in part by his uncle. Caleb obtained a job in the Ordnance Survey, almost certainly through his uncle's connections. Tyndall gave or left his nephew some of his property, which was in turn left with various people around the country as gifts by Caleb. The remnants of this invaluable collection passed into the hands of the Tyndall Committee from Mrs. E. Breen, who cared for Caleb in* his old age. The will of C. Tyndall left his property to Mr. John Byrne, the Principal, at Kilkenny Vocational School, who has kindly given all the assistance he could to the committee. He informed us that a box of items was left in the hands of the late Mr. Foley of Bagenalstown, whose son John remembers that this was largely full of photographic plates, although he was unable at the time to locate this box.

John Tyndall was one of the most important scientists of the last century. (Ref. 20). An account of his work can be found in an article by one of the authors but the Tyndall Committee is planning a really authoritative book on his contributions to culture, which, it is hoped, will properly evaluate his work as this was not done in his biography. This book will be edited by Dr. W. Brock of Leicester University and Dr. N. McMillan, and will have some twenty contributions from all over the world, chapters on every aspect of his life and work. The R.D.S. will be publishing this book in 1981.

It would appear that Tyndall's reputation is now firmly established in Ireland the Regional College and the Tyndall Committee must take the credit for this. The museum collection of Tyndall equipment and other items has been established and today three fine museum cases stand in the college and one in the County Library. Also the College and the County Library now possess superb Tyndall sections. The County now has Tyndall's library of his own books and both libraries have original manuscripts and page proofs from his books. The College's Tyndall School's Lecture Demonstration, which is run appropriately by the Institute of Physics, was a great success last year and will be an annual event. It will be transmitted by RTE this year. The College's permanent exhibition may however be the most enduring memorial to this great technical educationalist.

REFERENCES

Ref 16 Louisa C. Tyndall's Gathering from Journals. Held in Royal Institution of G.B.

Ref 17 Professor Tyndall, Natinal Portrait Gallery, Cassell, Poltier and Galpin.

Ref 18 N. McMillan, J. Meehan, John Tyndall, "X-"emplar of Scientific and Technological Education, National Council for Educational Awards Historical Booklet, (1980).

Ref 19 J. D. Bernal, Science in History, Penguin, 1969.

Ref 20 N. McMillan, Carlow's scientific genius awaits his due recognition, Carlow Nationalist, 5 April, 1977.

Ref 20 N. McMillan, Carlow Nationalist, 5 April, 1977. Carlow's scientific genius awaits his due recognition.

Correction

The sisters, Olive Robinson and Dorothy Paterson nee Robinson of Bangor, who provided some information for the first part of the article are relations of Professor Tyndall, their grandmother Deborah Tyndall being his first cousin. Their father worked at Leveretto & Fry and their opened a grocery business at 5(?] Dublin Street. Their mother went into business again after the fathers death at 144 Tullow Street where she bought and sold Carlow sugar for the first time in the town. The shop was sold in 1946.

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Source: Carloviana Vol. 2. No. 27 1978/79. p.22-27 provided by M. Purcell 2012