The climate of Dunsink
is well suited for astronomical observation. No doubt here, as
elsewhere in Ireland, clouds are abundant, but mists or haze are
comparatively unusual, and fogs are almost unknown.
The legal formalities to be observed in assuming occupation exacted a
delay of many months; accordingly, it was not until the 10th
December, 1782, that a contract could be made with Mr. Graham Moyers
for the erection of a meridian-room and a dome for an equatorial, in
conjunction with a becoming residence for the astronomer. Before the
work was commenced at Dunsink, the Board thought it expedient to
appoint the first Professor of Astronomy. They met for this purpose
on the 22nd January, 1783, and chose the Rev. Henry Ussher, a Senior
Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. The wisdom of the appointment was
immediately shown by the assiduity with which Ussher engaged in
founding the observatory. In three years he had erected the
buildings and equipped them with instruments, several of which were
of his own invention. On the 19th of February, 1785, a special grant
of 200 pounds was made by the Board to Dr. Ussher as some recompense
for his labours. It happened that the observatory was not the only
scientific institution which came into being in Ireland at this
period; the newly-kindled ardour for the pursuit of knowledge led, at
the same time, to the foundation of the Royal Irish Academy.
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