Largely forgotten marine scientist and explorer remembered in Co Kerry

A plaque has been unveiled in Co Kerry in honour of a largely forgotten marine scientist, geographer and Church of Ireland priest who was central to establishing Irish marine research and responsible for a salted fish industry that employed thousands in the lean decades after the Famine.

“From Mizen to Malin, William Spotswood Green saved lives,” said marine biologist and fisheries expert Kevin Flannery, who organised the commemoration.

Though better remembered in New Zealand, where he attempted to climb Mount Cook in 1882, Spotswood Green has been largely forgotten in Ireland, said Mr Flannery, who traced him to the old Church of Ireland graveyard in Sneem.

Born in Youghal, Co Cork, in 1847, Spotswood Green was, from a young age, fascinated by the sea, fishing and collecting molluscs. He took a degree at Trinity College Dublin in science and logic, but afterwards took holy orders. His posting to Kenmare as a curate in the 1870s allowed him to continue his interest in the marine. It was there he met his wife Belinda Butler.

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Spotswood Green was an early member, if not a founder, of the Congested District Boards established in the 1890s to tackle poverty along the coast, with a particular focus on reviving the fishing industry. After being appointed as an inspector of Irish fisheries, dealing with piers, fishing methods and equipment, he retired from pastoral duties.

He conducted research into developing a salt mackerel market for North America. A busy trade – making work for coopers, salters and slitters from Dingle all along the west coast, it quickly evolved and employed some 80,000 people until the late 1920s.

He was responsible for the design of the 1907 ship the Helga 11, a marine research and protection vessel later used in the battle of Dublin. It became one of the first Irish Naval vessels and the fledgling State renamed it the Muirchú, after a Leinster monk.

He died in 1919 at his home overlooking the sea near Caherdaniel.

In 1967, a lecture at the Royal Dublin Society was told of Spotswood Green that “few men have made so great a contribution to the welfare of Irish fishermen, few will ever equal his achievements and none will surpass him”.

The unveiling on Friday of the plaque at his grave, which states “William Spontsood Green (1847-1919) Fishery Scientist, Mountaineer, Explorer, Man of God”, was followed by a lecture on his life at the Church of Ireland in Sneem.