When he was 19 John Tyndall left school and got a job working with Ordnance Survey in the Carlow office. He was transferred to Youghal. When he saved £1 he would send half of it home in an envelope. He would send the other half in an envelope the next week so that it would not be taken. He transferred to England and attended night school in the Mechanics Institute. He saw that the Irish were often badly treated in England and wrote papers on their behalf. He was sacked. He came home but went back to Queenswood College, Hampshire, England in 1847 where he became a teacher of mathematics.

At the age of 28 he went to the university of Marberg in Germany. He got his PhD after only 2 years. He became fluent in French and German. When he returned to Queenswood in 1851 he would translate German, scientific and engineering papers for his friends. When he was asked to give a lecture in “The Royal Institute in London.” He was noticed by Michael Faraday and was appointed as a senior lecturer in the royal institution in London. When Michael Faraday retired John Tyndall replaced him as president of the Royal Institution in 1862.

At the age of 56 Tyndall suffered from Insomnia and as it got worse he experimented with a variety of drugs. He died in 1893 from an accidental overdose of chloral given to him by his wife Louisa.

It is almost impossible to list all the achievements of John Tyndall. He invented a fireman's respirator and also improved the fog horn. He wrote many books and was very popular as a lecturer because he could explain science to people in a way that they would understand. We are very proud that he came from Leighlinbridge.

In early March this year an article about Global Warming appeared in the Irish Times. It got us thinking about John Tyndall, a scientist from Leighlinbridge. We had no idea how much there is to know about the man and his work. Martin Nevin, a local historian came in to tell us what he knew about John Tyndall. He brought with him two of Tyndall's books. We are very grateful to Martin for his help.

John Tyndall was born on August 2nd 1890 at main Street, Leighlinbridge. His father was a member of the R.I.C and an agent for the local landlord Mr Stewart. He was very energetic when he was young and his mother worried for his safety. He was one of five children but only John and his older sister Emily survived. He received his early education from his father. He loved reading and even read the tombstones in the graveyard. He borrowed an encyclopaedia from a friend and read it from cover to cover. He tried to make some of the gases and he read about burning coal.

His father was promoted to Sergeant and the family moved to Nurney about four miles from Leighlinbridge. In 1828 the family moved to Castlebellingham in Co.Louth and returned to Leighlinbridge in 1836. Although his father worked hard he also did shoe repair and worked with leather he could not afford to send John to university. He sent him to school in Ballinabranna. This caused trouble because it was a Catholic school with a Catholic master, Mr. Conwill and John Tyndall's father was a Protestant and an Orangeman. His father said it didn't matter what religion the teacher was, what was important was that John got an education.

John Tyndall walked to Ballinabranna along the Barrow track and met up with Master Conwill who lived in Rathornan along the way. The two could often be seen , on their walks home to Leighlinbridge , figuring out geometrical problems in the snow. In Ballinabranna John Tyndall studied Maths, Engineering, Bookkeeping, Drawing and Surveying. School took place in a small room with 90 pupils. Master Conwill sent out the pupils in-groups to survey the local fields where he taught the other pupils . He then compared the results.