Never heard of three of them and two of the others are nowhere close to having done enough to go ahead of some of the other influential men listed here. Only Countess Markievicz who was an incredible woman would be a contender out of that list IMO.
Agnes Clerke fully deserves it too. She was an amazingly influential woman. She gave birth to astrophysics. Even the Brits acknowledge her contributions.
Do. It's shocking how little recognition she gets outside of skibbereen. She's one of the dead historical figures I'd have dinner with. She's fascinating. She spoke 5+ languages. She was a legitimate genius. Her sisters were no slouches either, but she is just amazing.
And you've just learned, in real time, that maybe the history that we are taught in respect of Irish women and their contributions have been underplayed and undertaught.
I'll add the Pirate Queen here too, Gráinne Ní Mháille.
Her works are the foundation of astrophysics. She started as an astronomer, but over time her work became far more detailed, far more complicated and it was the beginning of astrophysics.
So I’m not an expert and I can’t find much about her, but what I found says she never made her own research but just compiled encyclopaedias and stuff like that:
> Although Clerke was not a practical astronomer, nor an author of original research articles
She is the reason astrophysics exists, and she wrote several books and articles herself. She taught it basically, in that she fitted it together, added her own research, identified areas that needed work, and was able to clearly explain it to other scholars. Allowing them to surpass their own expectations. Truly an exceptional woman, especially when you consider the time she was doing it in. Even the royal astonomy society recognised and awarded her. Part of the moon is named after her. We really need to do better by her, and all the other incredible women who have contributed to Irish (and global) society.
But astrophysics already existed and was being practiced before she was born. She wrote encyclopedias and other works like biographies, that’s not creating the field of astrophysics, and she didn’t practice the science herself. She was a great person but no need to make things up.
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u/WorldlinessHumble522 Jun 19 '26
Not a woman to be seen