Frank Imbusch album

Item Set

Items

• A fine day on Aran with Michael D. Higgins, April 1994
  On the left is Michael D. Higgins, who was at the time Ireland’s first Minister for the Arts. In the middle is Mary Imbusch, née O'Donnell, and beside her is her husband Frank Imbusch, Professor of Physics. The photo was taken on Inishmore at the launch of 'The Book of Aran', an event which was attended by a large number of people living on the island, by staff from NUI Galway and notable political figures.
• Science Dress Dance, 1970
  The people seen here are, from left to right: Mrs Mary O'Driscoll, Lady Superintendent; Frank Imbusch, Lecturer in Physics and later Professor; Mary Imbusch, née O'Donnell; Fr Tom (Pops) Kyne, Dean of Residence; and Daidin Ó hEocha, née Fahy. The Deans of Residence, all men, were appointed to cater for the needs of students of various religious persuasions. After the Synod of Thurles (1850) forbidding Catholic clergymen to hold office in the Queen's Colleges, all Catholic Deans of Residence resigned. The result was anomalous. In 1899-1900 in Galway, for example, there were deans for members of the Church of Ireland, for Presbyterians and for Wesleyan Methodists, but none for Catholics. In the same year the religious persuasion of the student body was recorded as 15 Church of Ireland, 48 Roman Catholics, 41 Presbyterians, 4 Wesleyan Methodists, and 2 ‘Various’. (President’s Report, p. 9) In the Irish Universities Act of 1908, the Statute for the university in Galway stipulated that there should be a Lady Superintendent and it set out her duties in detail (Chap. XXIV), as well as her remuneration and pension. It required all women students to 'enter under the Lady Superintendant'. By the time Mrs O'Driscoll was appointed, that rule does not seem to have been stringently enforced. Many graduates of the 60s and 70s recollect her with affection, as has been recorded by Jackie Uí Chionna (Oral History, 2019).
• Pax Romana Congress, Galway, 1959
  The two members of the Catholic hierarchy on either side of Mayor Peter Greene are, from left to right, Monsignor Pádraig de Brún, President of UCG (1945-1959), and Rt. Revd Dr Michael J. Browne, Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh (1937-1976). Near the back, 2nd from the left in the 2nd-last row, is Tom O'Connor, Lecturer in Physics. The church behind the group is St. Joseph's Catholic Church on Presentation Road, recorded by the National Built Heritage Service as having been built in 1880-1885. The Pax Romana has a graduate branch, the International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs (ICMICA-MIIC), and a student branch, the International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS). A brief account of its development is provided on the website of the Newman Association (Lambert 2013).
• Pádraig Ó Céidigh at book launch on Aran, April 1994
  Pádraig Ó Céidigh was one of the many staff of NUI Galway who attended the launch of 'The Book of Aran' on a particularly fine day. He is holding a bag with the words 'Aran Heritage Centre' and has probably bought the book. He was a noted Marine zoologist and very much at home in this type of setting. He is accompanied y the inevitable dog. Note the car parked in front of the no-parking sign.
• Inspecting Physics equipment, 1982
  Tom O'Connor (left) and Frank Gaffney inspecting some equipment, most probably connected with Atmospheric Physics research.
• UCG students by the Corrib, 1955
  Taking a boat up the Corrib to relax has been one of the pleasures of student life over many decades. The location of the University, with its main campus now stretching along the Corrib from Beggars Bridge to the playing fields near Menlo Castle has meant that the Boat Club has always been one of the most popular clubs in the University.
• Breandán Ó Madagáin and his son on Aran, 1994
  This photo of Breandán Ó Madagáin and his son was taken on the day of the launch of 'The Book of Aran'. A noted Celticist and Irish scholar, Breandán Ó Madagáin (1932–9 January 2020) was originally from Limerick. He was a lecturer in Irish in UCG and then, from 1975 until his retirement in 1997, he was Professor and Chair of Irish there. His range of expertise covered folklore, sociolinguistics and Gaelic manuscript traditions. His published work included several monographs: Teagasc ar an Sean-Tiomna (Teaching on the Old Testament), 1974; An Ghaeilge i Luimneach (The Irish Language in Limerick) 1974; Caointe and Seancheolta Eile/Keening and Other Old Musics, 2005. In 1978 he edited Gnéithe den Chaointeoireacht (Aspects of Keening). 'He was deeply interested in the connections between the traditional poetry of Gaelic society and its integral connection to song, writing several substantial articles on this topic ' (Ó Laoire, 2022). In 1992 he was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy, and from 1995-2005 he served as Chair of the Board of the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies.
• Physics graduates, 1976
  Among those pictured here are Tom O'Connor, Lecturer in Physics (1st on left) and Frank Imbusch, Professor of Physics (4th from left).
• UCG Boat Club, 1959
  This photograph, taken in spring 1959, shows how the Boat Club was always a valued amenity just beside the main university buildings.
• Éamon de Valera at UCG Science conferring, 1959
  This photograph was taken on 5 September 1959, on the occasion of Éamon de Valera's visit to University College Galway (UCG), in his role as Chancellor of the National University of Ireland (NUI), of which the University of Galway is a constituent college. The students on the steps are science graduates. The notables in the front row are, left to right: Séamus de Wilmot, Registrar of the NUI; Michael Brown, Bishop of Galway from 1937 to 1976; Éamon de Valera, Chancellor of the NUI, President of Ireland (1959-1973); Prof. Thomas J. Dinan, then Acting President of UCG; Prof. Pádraig de Brún, who was President of UCG from 1945 to 1959; and Prof. James Mitchell, Registrar and Secretary of UCG. The man on the left with his back turned is the official photographer. The unofficial photographer behind the camera is Frank Imbusch, then lecturer in Physics, later professor of Physics (1974-2002) and Vice-President of NUIG (1992-1996).
• Peter Curran, Men's Club, 1971
  Peter Curran was a much-liked member of staff, known to generations of students and staff. He was caretaker of the Men's Club. As noted in the Galway Advertiser (see attached extract), he lived above the club, and took care of the Boat Club, and gave out rowing boats 'to students who were in love or not too pushed about exams' as Tom Kenny put it in the Galway Advertiser. The attached photo shows him with a pair of oars, as a sign of that role he played. He also controlled the snooker room, the table tennis room and 'the inner sanctum where the kind of students who shouted "Wah!" at each other, played card games - especially poker and don' (Galway Advertiser).
• UCG students, 1971
  Students of University College Galway, south of the Quadrangle building, near the main entrance.
• The UCG Camogie Club, retirement of Professor Lee, December 1993
  A large group of wellwishers with Professor Elizabeth (Nellie) Lee at a party in her honour. Frank Imbusch records that 'For a number of years Mrs Mary O'Driscoll was the staff person appointed to work with the student members of the College's Camogie Club. On her retirement, Professor Elizabeth (Nellie) Lee took over this responsibility, a task that she undertook with dedication and concern for the students. She was hugely popular with the Club members. When she retired the members of the Camogie Club - past and present - organized a celebration to mark her many years of commitment and hard work. The event, held in the Spinnaker restaurant, was well attended by students and members of the University staff. Mary and I turned up, along with a camera.'
• Tom O'Connor in St. Patrick's Day Parade, 1959
  As the Knights of Malta pass Keaveney's Grocery and Bar, near the Small Crane on Sea Road, on 17 March 1959, the man closest to the camera is Tom O'Connor, a lecturer in the Physics Department of University College Galway. Tom O'Connor, who is well known for establishing the Mace Head Atmospheric Research station, is featured in many of the photographs in this collection, among them the five below.
• Éamon de Valera officiating at an Honorary Conferring, UCG, 1959
  Éamon de Valera, President of Ireland from 25 June 1959 to 24 June 1973, visited NUI Galway in 1959. He is seen here acting in his capacity as Chancellor of the National University of Ireland (NUI). He was elevated 'on the eve of the treaty split, to the chancellorship of the NUI (a post from which he was separated only by death)' (DIB). The man on whom he is bestowing an honorary degree is thought to be Carl J.S. Marstrander, a noted Norwegian linguist, who received a DLittCelt from the NUI in 1959. Camilla McAleese, friend of Pádraig de Brún, who used to visit him in his presidential residence on campus, has identified him as the man on the left, seen in profile. She notes that 'Dev taught Dr de Brún maths in Rockwell and they remained close friends all their lives. [At the time of this photo] his term of office as President was over as he had reached his 70th birthday but he had to stay on until about Oct. 1959 in order to complete some work on the committees. Hence the reason why he did not appear in his Presidential robes'. To the right, standing in front of a screen, is Frank Imbusch, later Professor of Physics and Vice-President of NUI Galway. As suited the formality of the occasion, Yann Studios were called in to make a photographic record. Photographer Yann Guyomar or Guiomard, originally from Guingamp, had fled to Galway from Germany via Brittany (Foundation Yann Fouéré) after WWII. At first a free-lance photographer, he set up a photographic studio in 1959 (Henna, p. 64)
• Science conferring, 1956
  Among the graduates here are four future professors: John Shanahan, Prof. of Mathematics, Boston College; Michael Hayes, Prof. of Mathematical Physics, UCD; Frank Imbusch, Prof. of Experimental Physics, UCG; Michael Raftery, Prof. of Biochemistry, Cal. Tech. Centre front: the older man in a light suit is Cilian Ó Brolcháin, Prof. of Physics
• Progress at Mace Head, 1958
  Frank Imbusch records that after the Mace Head site had been acquired as a place to conduct atmospheric research 'much work had to be done. Tom O'Connor and Frank Gaffney cleared the site, which involved moving stones and boulders to improve accessibility to the station. Electricity had to be installed and windows repaired before equipment could be brought in. Eventually, in 1958, research activity began at the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station. This photograph shows the station in 1958 with its newly installed windows, while a closer inspection of the foreground shows Tom taking a little rest from his labour.'
• Frank Imbusch and Ephraim Idusogie
  Frank Imbusch is pictured with student Ephraim Idusogie in the late 1950s. Ephraim Idusogie was the son Chief Iyoha of the ancient city of Benin in Nigeria. The image was taken by an unidentified colleague of Frank Imbusch sometime in the late 1950s when Idusogie was a student at UCG. He spent two years at UCG (1956-57 and 1957-58) and transferred to UCC where he graduated with a B.Sc. degree in 1960. He subsequently returned to Nigeria to take up a teaching position.
• Frank Imbusch and Ephraim Idusogie, II
  Frank Imbusch is pictured with student Ephraim Idusogie in the late 1950s. Ephraim Idusogie was the son Chief Iyoha of the ancient city of Benin in Nigeria. The image was taken by an unidentified colleague of Frank Imbusch sometime in the late 1950s when Idusogie was a student at UCG. He spent two years at UCG (1956-57 and 1957-58) and transferred to UCC where he graduated with a B.Sc. degree in 1960. He subsequently returned to Nigeria to take up a teaching position.
• Tom O’Connor and friends, 1959
  Seen here from left to right: Unidentified; Tom O'Connor; Frank Imbusch. Tom O'Connor was at the time a lecturer in the Physics Department. After his studies in UCG, Frank Imbusch departed for the US where he gained his PhD (Stanford) and then worked as a researcher for several years for Bell Laboratories, New Jersey. He was to return to Galway in 1967 to take up an appointment as a lecturer in the Physics Department.
• Cilian Ó Brolcháin and Tom O'Connor, PhD conferring, 1961
  On the left is Cilian Ó Brolcháin (1905–1976), who gained his BSc in UCD in 1925 and his MSc in 1926, after which he studied under Nobel prizewinner V.F. Hess in Graz. Following a period as lecturer in UCG, he was appointed to the chair of Experimental Physics there in 1934. He served as Dean of Science and took a keen interest in the teaching of science and other disciplines through Irish. He married Mairéad Coughlan, 'a former schools inspector in domestic science and native Irish-speaker from Macroom, Co. Cork' (DIB). Among their children was Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin (1955–2015), the distinguished specialist of medieval Irish language and literature, and political activist. In 1973, ill health obliged Cilian Ó Brolcháin to retire (Ainm.ie). On the right, Tom O'Connor (1931-2012), who had been appointed a lecturer in Physics in 1956, is seen here on the day of his PhD conferring. Featured in several photographs in this Collection (q.v.), he was a leading figure in his field and is particularly noted for the creation of the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station.
• Frank Gaffney and Tom O'Connor outside the south wing of the Quadrangle, 1959
  Seen here on the left is Frank Gaffney, who was a technician in the Physics department, and on the right is Tom O'Connor, lecturer in and later Professor of Physics. Frank Gaffney was closely associated with Tom O'Connor in the early days of the Atmospheric Research Station at Half Mace. He made a significant contribution to the recording of Galway's climate from the 1960s to the 1990s. He was also a member of the UCG Mountaineering Club from the beginning of its formal existence. He continued to collect weather data well after his retirement. Originally from Tubercurry, Co. Sligo, he died on 25 November 2012.
• Putting the shot, summer 1959
  This photograph was taken at the 1959 Co. Galway Sports Meet, in which students and staff of UCG participated.
• Judging the pole-vault, summer 1959
  This photograph was taken at the 1959 Co. Galway sports meet, in which students and staff of UCG participated. Note that a heap of sawdust was the landing-place for those completing their vault.
• Triple jump, summer 1959
  This photograph was taken on Fahy's Field at the 1959 Co. Galway sports meet, in which students and staff of UCG participated.