One of Carlow’s most famous sons is being remembered in Switzerland today.
It’s 202 years today since John Tyndall was born but although he hailed from Leighlinbridge a plaque in Belalp (more via myswitzerland.com) was labelling him as a British Scientist.
Mayor of Carlow Fintan Phelan and a delegation from the town have gone over to right that wrong today.
Speaking to KCLR Live from Switzerland earlier he explained how their visit came about; “The group of dedicated Tyndall enthusiasts in Leighlinbridge and in the county of Carlow who have trying to put that right over the last number of years, painstaking work and dealing with the Swiss authorities who were very obliging at all stages, we now today are changing that and the plaque which will be in four languages, German, French, English, and ‘as gaeilge’ as well mentions that he was born in Leighlinbridge and that he’s a distinctive Irish scientist, mountaineer and educationalist”.
He adds “John Tyndall would frequently have come to this location in Belalp, he was a keen mountaineer, to honour him the region here in Naters made him a free man of their location and they installed this plaque to him many years ago and it was through various people, including Randal Dempsey who himself is a keen walker and he has family members living here in Switzerland and he discovered this plaque that said ‘British scientist’ and set about, in conjunction with Norman McMillan and Martin Nevin to try and correct it”.
And Mayor Phelan says “We arrived here yesterday and the first thing we saw was a sign ‘Tyndall’, a sign to John Tyndall and that’s a Carlow man and I think it’s significant untapped potential there for Carlow to be able to try and promote the county here and also to try and learn from john Tyndall who of course has a huge background in climate science and many believe him and credit him to be the first person to found climate change in terms of the science around it”.
