The achievements of one of Ireland's leading scientists, Maude Jane Delap, are to be celebrated with the unveiling of a plaque in Knightstown, Valentia Island, Co Kerry, next weekend.
The plaque is the first in a series organised by the National Committee for Commemorative Plaques for Engineers and Scientists, which was established recently in conjunction with Dublin Tourism and Bord Failte.
Maude Delap (1866-1953), a doughty marine biologist, trawled the waters off Valentia, carrying out experiments in her home laboratory to understand the life cycle of jellyfish.
As a woman, she received little formal education but, undeterred, she educated herself, helping with the extensive study of the marine flora of Valentia harbour carried out in the late 1800s.
A sea anemone, Edwardsia delapiae, named after Maude, may still burrow in the eelgrass below the waves lapping the shore of Valentia, but the plaque, which was designed by Cork artist Danny Osborne, will provide a more readily visible reminder to visitors of the feats of a Victorian woman scientist who passed her life in Knightstown.
The national committee was assisted by a local committee and Valentia heritage centre. The heritage centre, in Knightstown, is staging an exhibition this month on Maude Delap's life and work.
The story of Maude and other Irish women scientists and pioneers is told in Stars, Shells and Bluebells, published last year by Women in Technology and Science.