Military

The First Successful Submarine

John Philip Holland (1841-1914, pictured above), was born in Liscannor, Co Clare, and died in the USA at the outbreak of World War I. A few weeks later, a small German submarine sank three British cruisers in under an hour, killing 1,400 men - Holland's invention had changed naval warfare forever.

The First Successful Submarine

The First Successful Submarine

John Philip Holland (1841-1914, pictured above), was born in Liscannor, Co Clare, and died in the USA at the outbreak of World War I. A few weeks later, a small German submarine sank three British cruisers in under an hour, killing 1,400 men - Holland's invention had changed naval warfare forever.

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Brennan's Gyroscopically-Balanced Monorail

Louis Brennan's gyroscopically-balanced monorail was completed and succesfully demonstrated in 1909. Like most of his inventions it was designed for military use, however due to concerns over the reliability of the gyroscope the design was never adopted.

Brennan's Gyroscopically-Balanced Monorail

Brennan's Gyroscopically-Balanced Monorail

Louis Brennan's gyroscopically-balanced monorail was completed and succesfully demonstrated in 1909. Like most of his inventions it was designed for military use, however due to concerns over the reliability of the gyroscope the design was never adopted.

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Despite not being a military power, Ireland gave rise to some significant military inventions. The most important was the first successful submarine, developed in the late 1800s by John Philip Holland in the USA. Designed for stealth and to deliver torpedoes, it revolutionised warfare at sea.

A Dublin engineer Sir Howard Grubb invented the submarine periscope about 1900. His family firm specialised in making telescopes for the world's great astronomical observatories.

The ejector seat was the brainchild of Sir James Martin, a talented self-taught engineer from Co Down. His business partner was killed in 1942 attempting an emergency landing, prompting Martin to design an ejector seat. It took several experiments with sandbags, dummies, and then live volunteers before a demonstration in 1946 proved the concept. It soon won international approval and has since saved thousands of pilots' lives.