Abstract
WE have just laid to rest all that is mortal of the “Father of Irish Geology” in Mount Jerome Cemetery, at the ripe age of ninety-four years. Few public men in Ireland have done so much for the material advancement of their country. If “the age makes the man” the late Sir Richard Griffith was the man whom the age called forth to indicate the road to material improvement at a time when roads, railroads, drainage works, and similar agents were urgently required in this country. Griffith's geological knowledge was the basis of his power; and while few understood, or cared to understand, the principles by which his judgment was guided, Government and the public were always ready to put faith in their application. Amongst the useful works carried out under his direction were the roads which he constructed or improved in the counties of Cork, Kerry, and Limerick, during the time when the Marquis Wellesley was Lord-Lieutenant. Some of these roads are striking examples of engineering skill. I have recently travelled on one of them, namely, that which crosses the wild and rocky range between Kenmare and Glengarriff. Before this road was made the country was inaccessible and the haunt of Whiteboys; now no district in the British Isles is safer for the traveller, and, I may add, more full of bold and beautiful scenery. With reference to Griffith's services to the cause of Irish geology, it is unnecessary for me to say a word here, except in so far as regards the public department with which I have the honour to be connected. It is to this subject that I wish especially to direct the attention of the readers of NATURE, as I am anxious to pay a tribute to the remarkable acumen which Griffith exhibited in determining the age of the various formations which are to be found in this country, as exemplified in at least one special instance.
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HULL, E. THE LATE SIR RICHARD GRIFFITH, BART. . Nature 18, 627–628 (1878). https://doi.org/10.1038/018627a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/018627a0