John Tyndall

 John Tyndall has been regarded as Ireland's first Great Mountaineer.

Born in Leighlinbridge, Co Carlow, in 1820/21 (he wasn't sure himself), after attending a local National school he joined the Ordnance Survey as a Civil Assistant working in Carlow and Cork before transferring to northern England  during the railway mania of the mid 1840s.  After this he worked briefly as a teacher at Queenwood College in Hampshire before going to Marburg in Germany, taking a doctorate at the University there.  It was from Marburg that he first visited the Alps.  On his return to England he spent a short time at Queenwood school, gave a brilliant lecture to the Royal Institution in 1853 and soon after was appointed as its Professor of Natural Philosophy and took over from Michael Faraday as superintendent there in 1867.

The Ascent of John Tyndall by Roland Jackson is the first major biography for over 70 years, in which he paints a detailed portrait of John Tyndall and his world and describes both Tyndall's scientific achievements and his major mountaineering expeditions.

It was on his return to the Alps in 1856 along with Thomas Huxley for research purposes, that his passion for the mountains really began and although he never neglected the scientific aspects he later declared that 'glaciers and mountains have an interest for me beyond the scientific ones, they have been for me the well-springs of life and joy.'

The Weisshorn is regarded by some as the finest peak in the Alps because of its scale and shape and
relative remoteness.  Its first ascent, in August 1861, along with guides Bennen and Wenger, was Tyndall's finest mountaineering accomplishment - one of the great ascents of the Golden Age.  The mountain had rebuffed a number of previous attempts and on reaching the summit Tyndall was emotionally overwhelmed - 'the delight and exultation experienced were not of Reason or Knowledge, but of Being...in the transcendent glory of Nature I forgot myself as a man.'

Of course he carried out many other mountain exploits.  He was a serious challenger to Edward Whymper in his attempts to climb the Matterhorn and he reached a point on the mountain - the highest before it was finally climbed, Pic Tyndall - that still bears his name.

Tyndall was a prolific author and as well as publishing many works on scientific subjects his books on mountaineering went a long way to popularise the activity. 

Compared to his Alpine climbing his walking/hiking/climbing in Ireland would pale into insignificance.  However, it is recorded that he undertook some adventures here.  In his 'Hours of exercise in the Alps' he has a chapter entitled 'Killarney' where he recounts some of these adventures, including his climb of Eagle Rock, that the local lads would not attempt.  Also, in 1864 he undertook a walking tour in northern Ireland with his friend Tom Hirst and climbed the Slieve League sea cliffs - the first recorded ascent - as well as scrambling on the Antrim headlands.

(see Carloviana, 2020 pp 82)

Read some of John Tyndall's mountaineering works:

Mountaineering in 1861
Glaciers of the Alps
Hours of Exercise in the Alps
Forms of water

He gained worldwide fame through his science and mountaineering, as a result of which numerous geographic features around the world have been named in his honour:

Mount Tyndall (Sierra Nevada, USA)
Mount Tyndall (Tasmania)

Mount Tyndall (New Zealand)

Tyndall Glacier ( Torres del Paine Nat Park, Chile)
Tyndall Glacier and Creek
(Colorado, USA)
Tyndall Glacier (Mt Kenya) 
Tyndall Mountains (Antarctica)

Also;
Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, USA: and
Tyndall, Manitoba, Canada.

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