Maxwell Henry Close
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Maxwell Henry Close (1822 – 12 September 1903) was an Irish
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
clergyman and
geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...
who also contributed to the preservation of the
Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
.


Life

He was born in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Ireland, the son of Henry Samuel Close, a well-known lawyer whose family came from Drumbanagher in
County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...
. He was educated at Weymouth and at
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
,
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, where he graduated in 1846; and two years later he entered
holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...
.Obituary by Prof. G. A. J. Cole in
Irish Naturalist ''The Irish Naturalist'' was a scientific journal that was published in Dublin, Ireland, from April 1892 until December 1924. History The journal owed its establishment to the efforts of several leading Dublin naturalists, notably George H. ...
, vol. xii. (1903) pp. 301-306
For a year he was curate of All Saints,
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
; from 1849 to 1857 he was rector of Shangton in
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
; and then for four years he was curate of Waitham-on-the-Wolds. On the death of his father in 1861 he returned to Dublin, and while giving his services to various churches in the city, devoted himself almost wholly to literary and scientific pursuits, and especially to the
glacial A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
geology of Ireland, on which subject he became an acknowledged authority. His paper, read before the
Royal Geological Society of Ireland The Royal Geological Society of Ireland traces its origin to the founding in 1831 in Dublin of the Geological Society of Dublin, under the leadership of William Buckland and Adam Sedgwick. Its initial membership included academics, aristocratics, ...
in 1866, on the ''General Glaciation of Ireland'' is a masterly description of the effects of
glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...
, and of the evidence in favor of the action of land-ice. Later on he discussed the origin of the elevated shell-bearing gravels near Dublin and expressed the view that they were accumulated by floating ice when the land had undergone submergence. In 1872 George H Kinahan and Maxwell Close published jointly an important paper entitled ''The Glaciation of Iar-Connaught and its Neighbourhood in the Counties of Galway and Mayo''. It was a private publication, accompanied by a large map showing the pattern of striae over
Connemara Connemara ( ; ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...
and south
County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...
. He was for a time treasurer of the
Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...
, an active member of the
Royal Dublin Society The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) () is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically. It was long active as a learned ...
, and president in 1878 of the
Royal Geological Society of Ireland The Royal Geological Society of Ireland traces its origin to the founding in 1831 in Dublin of the Geological Society of Dublin, under the leadership of William Buckland and Adam Sedgwick. Its initial membership included academics, aristocratics, ...
.
Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
and
physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
, as well as the ancient language and antiquities of Ireland, attracted his attention. He was a founder member of the Gaelic Union, which he helped to finance, and the
Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language The Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language (SPIL; ) was a cultural organisation in late 19th-century Ireland, which was part of the Gaelic revival of the period. It was founded on 29 December 1876. Present at the meeting were Charles ...
. Through the last decades of the 19th century he was Treasurer to both these societies. He was also a very early member of
Conradh na Gaeilge (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...
, the Gaelic League, which he supported financially.Correspondence of an tAthair Peadar Ó Laoghaire In his will he left £1,000 for the publication of a dictionary of Irish based largely on the old manuscripts. The first volume was published in 1913 and the final volume in 1973. Close died in Dublin on 12 of September 1903.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Close, Maxwell Henry 19th-century Irish geologists 1822 births 1903 deaths Christian clergy from Dublin (city) Scientists from County Dublin 19th-century Irish Anglican priests Alumni of Trinity College Dublin