Thomas Luby (1800 – 12 June 1870) was an Irish mathematician.

Early life and education

Thomas Luby was born at

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

, in 1800. He was descended from a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

family which fled from France in 1685 and settled in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. His father, John Luby, married Eleanor Fogarty, of the old Irish family of Castle Fogarty. He entered

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

as a

sizar At Trinity College Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an Undergraduate education, undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in retur ...

in 1817, obtaining a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

in 1819. He graduated B.A. in 1821, and was awarded the degrees of M.A. in 1825 and D.D. in 1840.

Academic career

Elected to a junior fellowship in 1831, he was co-opted senior fellow in 1847. Among the various college offices filled by him were those of university preacher, censor, junior dean, bursar, senior dean, and senior lecturer, and mathematical examiner in the school of civil engineering. He served as

Donegall Lecturer in Mathematics The Donegall Lecturership at Trinity College Dublin, is one of two endowed mathematics positions at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), the other being the Erasmus Smith's Chair of Mathematics. The Donegall (sometimes spelt Donegal) Lectureship was en ...

between 1832 and 1847, and as Regius Professor of Greek between 1852 and 1855. His popularity as a college tutor was unexampled. He was a member 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 ...

, to which he presented the autograph of Charles Wolfe's "Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna", and he wrote for college use ''An Introductory Treatise on Physical Astronomy'' (London, 1828), and ''The Elements of Plane Trigonometry'' (1825; third edition 1852). He also edited John Brinkley's ''Astronomy'' (Dublin, 1836), and was associated with

W. R. Hamilton Sir William Rowan Hamilton (4 August 1805 – 2 September 1865) was an Irish astronomer, mathematician, and physicist who made numerous major contributions to abstract algebra, classical mechanics, and optics. His theoretical works and mathema ...

in many of his publications.

Personal life

He married first Mary Anne Wetherall, niece of General Sir Frederick Wetherall, K.C.B., and secondly Jane Rathborne of Dunsina, and had six sons and four daughters. He was the uncle of the Irish nationalist revolutionary

Thomas Clarke Luby Thomas Clarke Luby (16 January 1822 – 29 November 1901) was an Irish revolutionary, author, journalist and one of the founding members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Early life Luby was born in Dublin, the son of a Church of Ireland c ...

. He died 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 ...

on 12 June 1870, and was buried at

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

References

Attribution

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Bartholomew 1800 births 1870 deaths Classical scholars of Trinity College Dublin Irish classical scholars Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Scholars of Trinity College Dublin 19th-century Irish mathematicians