Submarine inventor honoured at NMCI
Wednesday 20 June 2007
The ornamental pond at Cork’s North Monastery School was the site of the first experiments which led, ultimately, to the invention of the modern submarine. An apprentice teacher, Br John Philip Holland, did the first submerged experiments with models and explosives there in 1858 and later in the River Lee.A native of Liscannor, Co. Clare, in 1873, due to ill-health, John Philip Holland left the Christian Brothers Order and emigrated to the United States where he designed and built the first Submarines for the American, British and Japanese Navies. He is acknowledged as the father of the modern submarine.
In May 2006, Tony Duggan, also a teacher in the ‘North Mon’ was instrumental in organising the twinning of Liscannor and Paterson City, New Jersey – the Paterson Museum houses the original Holland 1 and the famous Holland 2 - “The Fenian Ram.” To commemorate this event the Museum presented Mr. Duggan with a unique collection of John Philip Holland’s papers and he has donated this collection and other archive material to the Cork Institute of Technology and they will be housed in the library of the National Maritime College of Ireland in Ringaskiddy.
