Sky’s the limit for university project

UNIVERSITY College Cork is in seventh heaven as it advances plans to restore a century-old observatory on campus.

The Crawford Observatory uniquely possesses all its original instruments, fashioned by renowned 19th century scientific instrument-maker Thomas Grubb. The 500,000 conservation initiative will reinstate UCC to its historic status as the only university in Ireland with a working observatory.

University heritage and visual arts office director Virginia Teehan said the project would be fully funded by private donations. The project, expected to go to tender within six months, is one of a number of infrastructure initiatives planned for the university in an investment programme totalling 190 million.

Ms Teehan said the observatory was a listed building and required a special approach. She suggested the project would provide a precious reminder of another era at the university.

A project team is currently identifying suitable contracts for the specialist work. Dr Paul Callanan said restoration work had already been completed on the main instrument, an equatorial telescope in the dome. It was carried out by Belfast-based Bertie McClure, an expert instrument conservator and mechanical engineer, whose commissions included delicate work at Armagh Conservatory and the restoration of the clock at the State-owned Farmleigh House. According to Dr Callanan, attached to the department of physics, Mr Grubb detailed his innovative work on the Crawford Observatory in the Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society. The late WH Crawford, whose generosity made possible the acquisition of the original instruments, further funded in 1901 alterations to the telescope, which allowed the night sky to be photographed. The original project was the brainchild of William Kirby Sullivan, president of Queen’s College Cork between 1872-1890. Dr Callanan noted that in a presidential report of 1875, Sullivan outlined plans for the university to have a research arm in astronomy, magnetism and meteorology. “It was far-sighted and radical educational philosophy,” Dr Callanan said.

He said the restoration would help to renew interest in astronomy and science and will also be used as a teaching facility for an astro-physics degree programme at UCC. The project plans also include an interpretative centre within the observatory.