10 great Irish inventions 


 

Image: Pixabay

Ireland is an amazing country, and most people would know it for so many things- like, it is the home and origin of St Patrick’s day, even though St Patrick’s was not Irish! Did you know, that Ireland is the only country in the world to use a musical instrument as a national emblem? The harp is the symbol of Ireland, also used in the Guinness logo! The country, that is also known for its warm people and not so warm climate, was also the Titanic’s last point of call, did you know that? Ireland also has very many things to experience- if you want to have a long drive on the coast, then the Wild Atlantic Way, the longest coastal driving route in the world, is the best place to be!

Apart from the very famous and loved Guinness beer, Ireland is also the origin of the well-known Halloween! Still, amazed? Ireland is a country of innovations and discoveries. Over history, the country has produced several things that are used all the time by people around the world, that some people might not even know! Here are six of the most spectacular inventions done by Irish people!

1. Color photography

Image: Pixabay

Living life capturing moments in color is just amazing! In the past, and when the ability to capture images through photography was introduced to the world, people were only able to have their pictures in black and white. Color photography was a great improvement, and we have an Irish Engineering Graduate from Trinity College in Dublin to thank for this. John Joly, in 1894 taking three colors, arranged in narrow lines, on viewing plates. That was the beginning of the color photography that we have grown to love. This invention was a great step in developing even better systems for photography and later videography and was adopted across the world.

2. Hypodermic syringe

Image: Pixabay

A hypodermic needle is used for several things, many being by doctors and nurses when administering injections. Even animals have their share of using the hypothermic syringe. Some inventions are made during the strangest of circumstances; in 1884, a Dublin Doctor, Doctor Rynd who had been administering morphine to a patient by mouth realized that she was not getting better, and he decided to administer it directly to the skin by using a trocar, a cutting tool, and a narrow tube, which were able to inject the morphine to her skin seamlessly. That is how injections came to being! this was then adopted all over the world and has become an incredibly important part of medicine.

3. Binaural stethoscope

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Every time you see a doctor, chances are high that you will see him or her with a stethoscope around the neck. And every time you get checked up, a stethoscope is not very far. This is one of the most important medical inventions of all time, and it was invented by an Irish man. The idea of the stethoscope came from a Frenchman, but Arthur Leared the Irishman, realized that he could do improvements on it, by connecting two earpieces using rubber tubes, to the listening cylinder. A lot of improvements have also been done on it, and even though it received a lot of criticism when he showed it off in London, his experiment paved way for major improvements that saw the modern stethoscope slowly come to life.

4. Induction coil

Image: Wikimedia Commons

The car ignition you know today was invented by a priest who almost killed his bishop by electrocuting him unconscious during his trials, in Ireland. The inventor is none other than Rev. Nicholas Callan, an invention which he perfected by coiling two wires around the end of an electromagnet and the ends of one wire connected to a battery! The priest, a professor of Science at St Patrick’s College Maynooth succeeded when he realized that interfering with the current from the battery allowed him to get a spark from the second unconnected coil, and that way, the induction coil was formed! Interesting!

5. Submarine 

Image: Wikimedia Commons

One of the biggest inventions, the submarine was invented, changing the form of war, as well as deep-sea exploration. Believe it or not, the submarine was invented by a school teacher named Holland, who moved to Boston in 1872, and he is the story of resilience since his first design sank and he had to strategize. Now with funding from the Funian brothers, he was able to launch a new submarine in 1881, which became a success. He pitched it to the US Government who at first did not agree, but after some time, saw its advantages, and were able to buy many of them!

6. Seasoned potato crisps

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Some countries would say potato crisps and others would call them potato chips, it is a matter of semantics, really, but one thing we can agree is that this snack is an amazing one! The popular flavored potato snack, potato crisps, otherwise known as potato chips we enjoy today were invented in Ireland. Joseph ‘Spud’ Murphy is the man to thank for this delicious invention. Whenever you go to the store and see the display of chips, just know that the cheese and onion flavor was the first one to be tried, in the 1950s! The brilliant businessman is the man behind the Tyto brand of potato chips, and their biggest selling point was of course the flavored crisps they introduced in 1954! There were three initial seasoned crisps were the cheese and onion, salt and vinegar, and smokey bacon. These became an instant hit and people who love to have this as a snack must be very happy!

7. Milk Chocolate

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Milk chocolate, something every child, and of course some of us as adults love! The delicious drink was an invention that you might not think about as much, right? Well, Sir Hans Sloane found that the cocoa mixed with water that Jamaicans drank was not nice to him, therefore, he decided to try mixing it with milk instead. This discovery happened to work for him and he took it back home, and that is hoy for the longest time, Cadburys used his discovery as a recipe for their brand!

 

Planning a trip to Paris ? Get ready !


These are Amazon’s best-selling travel products that you may need for coming to Paris.

Bookstore

  1. The best travel book : Rick Steves – Paris 2023 – Learn more here
  2. Fodor’s Paris 2024 – Learn more here

Travel Gear

  1. Venture Pal Lightweight Backpack – Learn more here
  2. Samsonite Winfield 2 28″ Luggage – Learn more here
  3. Swig Savvy’s Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottle – Learn more here

Check Amazon’s best-seller list for the most popular travel accessories. We sometimes read this list just to find out what new travel products people are buying.