{"id":595232,"date":"2026-08-16T18:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T18:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/595232\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T18:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T18:02:09","slug":"three-irish-observatories-draw-on-combined-history-in-push-for-unesco-recognition-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/595232\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Irish observatories draw on combined history in push for Unesco recognition \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three historic observatories on the island of Ireland are teaming up in a bid to gain Unesco<\/a> World Heritage status.<\/p>\n

The Birr Scientific and Heritage Foundation in Co Offaly<\/a>, Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, and Dunsink Observatory, which is part of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies<\/a>, are collectively known as the Historic Astronomical Observatories of Ireland.<\/p>\n

Together, they have agreed a formal partnership to advance research, education and outreach, and astronomical heritage recognition.<\/p>\n

Achieving Unesco World Heritage status provides legal protection for buildings or sites that are considered to have outstanding universal value.<\/p>\n

\"ProfProf Michael Burton, director of Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, which forms part of the bid for Unesco World Heritage status. Photograph: Jago Communications \/PA Wire <\/p>\n

Armagh<\/a>, Birr and Dunsink contain a number of preserved historic observatories. They have supporting domestic buildings and grounds, along with several original telescopes fixed within their domes or structures.<\/p>\n

The partnership is seeking to appoint a project co-ordinator on a five-year term to take the proposal forward.<\/p>\n

The Unesco nomination bid will feature the story of Thomas Romney Robinson, who was director of Armagh Observatory from 1823 until his death in 1882.<\/p>\n

Robinson, who invented the cup anemometer for measuring wind speed, was president of the Royal Irish Academy and won a Royal Medal in 1862.<\/p>\n

The Leviathan Telescope at Birr will also play a central part in the Unesco bid.<\/p>\n

The logo used for Ireland\u2019s presidency of the Council of the European Union is inspired by Birr\u2019s astronomical heritage.<\/p>\n

The official logo is based on the spiral structure of the whirlpool nebula, first identified in the 1840s using the Great Telescope at Birr Castle.<\/p>\n

Each individual arm of the spiral features 27 discs which symbolise the 27 EU member states.<\/p>\n

The space at the centre forms a five-point star, a symbol from the EU flag, while the blue, green and orange colours symbolise both the Irish state and the European Union.<\/p>\n

Prof Michael Burton, director of Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, said the bid was a \u201clandmark step\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWe are delighted to see our Unesco ambitions moving forward and look forward to this exciting bid progressing in the months ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing designated as a Unesco World Heritage Site would truly put Armagh Observatory and Planetarium on the map and give it global recognition as a world-class site of outstanding scientific importance.\u201d \u2013 PA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three historic observatories on the island of Ireland are teaming up in a bid to gain Unesco World…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[31995,61,60,82,247,27991],"class_list":["post-595232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-dublin-institute-for-advanced-studies","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-space","tag-unesco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}