Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
experimental apparatus. In 1897, he succeeded William Johnston
Sollas in the Chair of Geology and Mineralogy, a position he retained
until his death in 1933. Essentially Joly was a physicist and not a
geologist and unlike his predecessors published little about the geol-
ogy of Ireland. He carried out much research on minerals, but it was
his work on radioactivity and radium that was his most important.
What was Joly like as a man? In adulthood Joly was a distinctive
and unforgettable man; he was tall, with hair swept off his forehead, a
bushy moustache, and pince-nez (early spectacles minus arms)
perched on his nose. He spoke with what was considered to be a
foreign accent, but in reality the rolled r's were simply employed to
conceal a slight lisp that had afflicted him since boyhood. For recrea-
tion he travelled, read, collected works of art and maintained a good
garden - although he succeeded in burning down his greenhouse,
perhaps as a result of some failed experiment. Above all he enjoyed
the company of his colleagues, and especially that of the Dixon family.
One of the Dixons' sons bore his name and another was Joly's godson.
As an Irishman in the first two decades of the twentieth century
Joly must have been affected by the local agitation that preceded
Ireland's gaining independence from British rule in 1922. In common
with many Irish Protestants at that time Joly was a Loyalist, which
however did not stop him feeling proud to be Irish. It is a situation that
today is unfortunately not understood by some elements of Irish
society. During Easter week 1916 a group of men and women led by
the poet Padraig Pearse occupied a number of landmark buildings in
Dublin's centre, and declared an Irish Republic. Quickly the author-
ities in Trinity College closed up the university and, using the mem-
bers of the College's Officers Training Corps and other academics,
began to patrol the perimeter of the 40-acre city-centre campus. John
Joly volunteered for duty, and spent four days in occupation. Although
he did not fire a shot in anger, he did undertake dangerous forays from
the campus on his bicycle to purchase cigarettes for the soldiers. After
a week of fierce fighting the insurgents were forced to surrender, and
were then rapidly executed. This turned public opinion, and they
