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155-749: The National Museum of Ireland – Natural History ( Irish : Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann – Stair an Dúlra ), sometimes called the Dead Zoo , a branch of the National Museum of Ireland , is housed on Merrion Street in Dublin , Ireland . The museum was built in 1856 for parts of the collection of the Royal Dublin Society and the building and collection were later passed to the State. The Natural History Collection comprised sub-collections for zoology, geology and botany;
310-637: A lek mating system. Another possibility is that songs bring in foreign whales to populate the breeding grounds. It has also been suggested that humpback whale songs have echolocating properties and may serve to locate other whales. A 2023 study found that as humpback whales numbers have recovered from whaling, singing has become less common. Whale songs are similar among males in a specific area. Males may alter their songs over time, and others in contact with them copy these changes. They have been shown in some cases to spread "horizontally" between neighboring populations throughout successive breeding seasons. In
465-500: A thylacine , and a pygmy hippopotamus . Also on display is the polar bear shot by Admiral Sir Francis Leopold McClintock . Many of the mounted specimens were purchased from or donated by the Royal Zoological Gardens, Dublin . Part of the large collection of Irish birds bequeathed by Richard Barrington is mounted along one wall. The Lower gallery , closed to general access since 2007, contains bird specimens from around
620-540: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There
775-433: A "spillover" of mobbing behavior intended to protect members of its species. The powerful flippers of humpback whales, often infested with large, sharp barnacles , are formidable weapons against orcas. When threatened, they will thresh their flippers and tails keeping the orcas at bay. The great white shark is another confirmed predator of the humpback whale. In 2020, Marine biologists Dines and Gennari et al. , published
930-629: A Science and Art Museum, a National Gallery, a National Library, a School of Art, and museums dedicated to Natural History and Irish Antiquities, all on one site. On 18 November 1876 the RDS received a letter from the Secretary to the Treasury, William H. Smith , stating that there was an intention to obtain an Act of Parliament which would “vest all the buildings and land now held by the Royal Dublin Society in
1085-697: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of
1240-560: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It
1395-454: A café, a shop, lifts and other disabled-access facilitation. There would also be extra emergency exits from the upper floors of the museum. By 2020, the Office of Public Works was preparing to begin works to restore the roof, and it was hoped that this would be followed by the broader restoration works (now under Project Ireland 2040). In later 2020, work began on removing collections, including
1550-476: A complex song typically lasting 4 to 33 minutes. Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to 16,000 km (9,900 mi) each year. They feed in polar waters and migrate to tropical or subtropical waters to breed and give birth. Their diet consists mostly of krill and small fish , and they usually use bubbles to catch prey. They are promiscuous breeders, with both sexes having multiple partners. Orcas are
1705-472: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,
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#17330851015131860-541: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of
2015-435: A documented incident of a group of great white sharks exhibiting pack-like behavior to attack and kill a live adult humpback whale. A second incident regarding great white sharks killing humpback whales was documented off the coast of South Africa. The shark recorded instigating the attack was a female nicknamed "Helen". Working alone, the shark attacked a 33 ft (10 m) emaciated and entangled humpback whale by attacking
2170-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in
2325-402: A laryngeal sac. Humpback whale groups, aside from mothers and calves, typically last for days or weeks at the most. They are normally sighted in small groups though large aggregations form during feeding and among males competing for females. Humpbacks may interact with other cetacean species, such as right whales , fin whales , and bottlenose dolphins . Humpbacks are highly active at
2480-544: A number of exhibition spaces including an "earth science gallery", were considered, and even costed, at a total of about 70 million euro. All plans were put aside after the economic collapse of 2008. The museum is included in the National Development Plan 2018-2027, as announced in 2018, with allocation for the construction of a side extension, designed not to interfere with the integrity of the historic building, including display space, as well as an education space,
2635-574: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in
2790-554: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on
2945-457: A permanent floor surface. Samuel Haughton arranged part of the mineralogical collection for display. In 1864, the RDS held an "Exhibition of Manufactures" in a purpose-built building. Known as the Shelbourne Hall, it became an annexe of the museum, housing the fossil hall and staff facilities. By 1867 the museum was open 4 days a week, and undertook to open for one evening every week. Due to
3100-569: A phrase. Similar-sounding phrases are repeated in a series grouped into themes, and multiple themes create a song. The function of these songs has been debated, but they may have multiple purposes. There is little evidence to suggest that songs establish dominance among males. However, there have been observations of non-singing males disrupting singers, possibly in aggression. Those who join singers are males who were not previously singing. Females do not appear to approach singers that are alone, but may be drawn to gatherings of singing males, much like
3255-611: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by
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#17330851015133410-538: A result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within
3565-530: A significantly reduced staff. This also resulted in there being little change to the exhibitions for a long period of time. In 1927 the Minister for Education set up a Committee of Enquiry to report on purpose of the National Museum and how it could be improved. The report was written by Professor Nils Lithberg, in which he noted the cramped and poor conditions in which the zoological collections were held, and that
3720-415: A touring exhibition that traveled to Edinburgh and London . The whale was dissected by Professor John Struthers , who wrote seven papers on its anatomy and an 1889 monograph on the humpback. An albino humpback whale that travels up and down the east coast of Australia became famous in local media because of its rare, all-white appearance. Migaloo is the only known Australian all-white specimen, and
3875-426: A weight of 680 kg (1,500 lb). The body is bulky with a thin rostrum and proportionally long flippers, each around one-third of its body length. It has a short dorsal fin that varies from nearly non-existent to somewhat long and curved. As a rorqual, the humpback has grooves between the tip of the lower jaw and the navel. They are relatively few in number in this species, ranging from 14 to 35. The mouth
4030-834: A wide feeding range but most travel to southeast Alaska and northern British Columbia. The wintering grounds of the Okinawa/Philippines population are mainly around the Russian Far East . There is some evidence for a fifth population somewhere in the northwestern Pacific. These whales are recorded to feed off the Aleutians with a breeding area somewhere south of the Bonin Islands . In the Southern Hemisphere, humpback whales are divided into seven breeding stocks, some of which are further divided into sub-structures. These include
4185-537: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss
4340-584: Is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as
4495-477: Is a species of baleen whale . It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae ) and is the only species in the genus Megaptera . Adults range in length from 14–17 m (46–56 ft) and weigh up to 40 metric tons (44 short tons). The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and tubercles on its head. It is known for breaching and other distinctive surface behaviors , making it popular with whale watchers . Males produce
4650-448: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of
4805-549: Is at 81°N around northern Franz Josef Land . They are usually coastal and tend to congregate in waters within continental shelves . Their winter breeding grounds are located around the equator; their summer feeding areas are found in colder waters, including near the polar ice caps. Humpbacks go on vast migrations between their feeding and breeding areas, often crossing the open ocean. The species has been recorded traveling up to 8,000 km (5,000 mi) in one direction. An isolated, non-migratory population feeds and breeds in
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4960-752: Is considered to be endangered . In most areas, humpback whale populations have recovered from historic whaling, particularly in the North Pacific. Such recoveries have led to the downlisting of the species' threatened status in the United States, Canada, and Australia. In Costa Rica, Ballena Marine National Park was established for humpback protection. Humpbacks still face various other man-made threats, including entanglement by fishing gear, vessel collisions, human-caused noise and traffic disturbance, coastal habitat destruction, and climate change. Like other cetaceans, humpbacks can be injured by excessive noise. In
5115-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years
5270-545: Is further divided into C1, C2, C3, and C4 subpopulations; C1 occurs around Mozambique and eastern South Africa, C2 around the Comoro Islands , C3 off the southern and eastern coast of Madagascar and C4 around the Mascarene Islands . The feeding range of this population is likely between coordinates 5°W and 60°E and under 50°S . There may be overlap in the feeding areas of stocks B and C. Stock D whales breed off
5425-449: Is lined with baleen plates, which number 270–400 for both sides. The dorsal or upper-side of the animal is generally black; the ventral or underside has various levels of black and white coloration. Whales in the southern hemisphere tend to have more white pigmentation. The flippers can vary from all-white to white only on the undersurface. The varying color patterns and scars on the tail flukes distinguish individual animals. The end of
5580-567: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described
5735-568: Is reference to a humpback-blue whale hybrid in the South Pacific , attributed to marine biologist Michael Poole. B. acutorostrata/bonaerensis ( minke whale species complex) [REDACTED] B. musculus ( blue whale ) [REDACTED] B. borealis ( sei whale ) [REDACTED] Eschrichtius robustus ( gray whale ) [REDACTED] B. physalus ( fin whale ) [REDACTED] Megaptera novaeangliae ( humpback whale ) [REDACTED] Modern humpback whale populations originated in
5890-458: Is specialized for feeding on humpback whales and is the only species in its family found on them. Internal parasites of humpbacks include protozoans of the genus Entamoeba , tapeworms of the family Diphyllobothriidae and roundworms of the infraorder Ascaridomorpha . Humpback whales are found in marine waters worldwide , except for some areas at the equator and High Arctic and some enclosed seas. The furthest north they have been recorded
6045-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it
6200-405: Is that when humpbacks suffered near-extinction during the whaling era, orcas turned to other prey but are now resuming their former practice. There is also evidence that humpback whales will defend against or mob killer whales who are attacking either humpback calves or juveniles as well as members of other species, including seals . The humpback's protection of other species may be unintentional,
6355-466: Is the facilities function, which provides the attendants for the galleries. Staffing has been severely restricted for many years, and at the Natural History Museum these limitations led the period during which there was only one professional zoology staff member, and in the 2000s to there being no educational operation for at least two years, and to the closure of the museum shop for some years;
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6510-444: Is why it was built to impress. The building was subsequently the subject of a Health and Safety review, and following this, plans for improvements were made. The museum was fully closed for nearly three years, until Thursday 29 April 2010, when the ground and first floor were reopened. As of 2021, both of the gallery floors remain closed, due to lack of emergency exits at upper levels. In the 2000s plans for an extension to one side of
6665-659: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act
6820-484: The Arabian Sea has been isolated for 70,000 years. The adult humpback whale is generally 14–15 m (46–49 ft), though longer lengths of 16–17 m (52–56 ft) have been recorded. Females are usually 1–1.5 m (3 ft 3 in – 4 ft 11 in) longer than males. The species can reach body masses of 40 metric tons (44 short tons). Calves are born at around 4.3 m (14 ft) long with
6975-601: The IUCN Red List lists the humpback whale as least-concern , with a worldwide population of around 135,000 whales, of which around 84,000 are mature individuals, and an increasing population trend. Regional estimates are around 13,000 in the North Atlantic, 21,000 in the North Pacific, and 80,000 in the southern hemisphere. For the isolated population in the Arabian Sea, only around 80 individuals remain, and this population
7130-527: The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was founded to oversee the industry. They imposed hunting regulations and created hunting seasons. To prevent extinction , IWC banned commercial humpback whaling in 1966. By then, the global population had been reduced to around 5,000. The Soviet Union deliberately under-recorded its catches; the Soviets reported catching 2,820 between 1947 and 1972, but
7285-619: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")
7440-551: The Ross Sea to the Antarctic Peninsula. Humpback whales were hunted as early as the late 16th century. They were often the first species to be harvested in an area due to this coastal distribution. North Pacific kills alone are estimated at 28,000 during the 20th century. In the same period, over 200,000 humpbacks were taken in the Southern Hemisphere. North Atlantic populations dropped to as low as 700 individuals. In 1946,
7595-582: The South Orkney Islands and to a lesser extent the Tierra del Fuego of southern Chile. Stock A winters off Brazil and migrates to summer grounds around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands . Some stock A individuals have also been recorded off the western Antarctic Peninsula, suggesting an increased blurring of the boundaries between the feeding areas of stocks A and G. Stock B breeds on
7750-464: The 150-year-old Portland stone staircase (not accessible by the general public) partially collapsed. Eleven people were injured, as a teacher training course was underway in the area. The stairway was a very ornate structure, arising from Leinster House 's former status as the home of the Royal Dublin Society . Members of the society would have used what is now the back door of the museum building to gain access from Leinster House to this building, which
7905-555: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English
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#17330851015138060-769: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as
8215-441: The 19th century, two humpback whales were found dead near repeated oceanic sub-bottom blasting sites, with traumatic injuries and fractures in the ears. Saxitoxin , a paralytic shellfish poisoning from contaminated mackerel, has been implicated in humpback whale deaths. While oil ingestion is a risk for whales, a 2019 study found that oil did not foul baleen and instead was easily rinsed by flowing water. Whale researchers along
8370-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which
8525-563: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme
8680-519: The Arctic regions. There was also a selection of scientific instruments on display, along with some of the Society's library books. The ground floor hosted an area for refreshments for the attendees of the lectures. While Dublin awaited the building of a National Gallery, the Natural History Museum hosted an exhibition of Decorative Art from Easter Monday 1858 which was opened by Earl of Eglinton . The exhibition
8835-570: The Atlantic Coast report that there have been more stranded whales with signs of vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglement in recent years than ever before. The NOAA recorded 88 stranded humpback whales between January 2016 and February 2019. This is more than double the number of whales stranded between 2013 and 2016. Because of the increase in stranded whales, NOAA declared an unusual mortality event in April 2017. Virginia Beach Aquarium 's stranding response coordinator, Alexander Costidis, stated
8990-630: The Cape Verde population gathers around Iceland and Norway. There is some overlap in the summer ranges of these populations, and West Indies humpbacks have been documented feeding further east. Whale visits into the Gulf of Mexico have been infrequent but have occurred in the gulf historically. They were considered to be uncommon in the Mediterranean Sea , but increased sightings, including re-sightings, indicate that more whales may colonize or recolonize it in
9145-603: The Covid-19 pandemic, the museum closed in November 2020 for an indefinite period for major renovations, with the collections being moved over a period of around ten months, as detailed on an official museum Twitter channel. The ground floor reopened in August 2022 but will close when the main renovations commence. The work featured in a television documentary The Dead Zoo in 2022. The Natural History Collection comprises over 2 million items in
9300-463: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish
9455-516: The Government” to allow “the State the requisite control over property and buildings upon which a large amount of public money is to be expended.” The Society was amenable to this, and relevant compensation was decided upon. On 14 August 1877 ownership of the Museum and its collections was transferred to the State by an act of parliament. The new institution, under the directorship of William Edward Steele,
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#17330851015139610-497: The IWC chair asking the Japanese for their co-operation in sorting out the differences between pro- and anti-whaling nations on the commission, the Japanese whaling fleet agreed to take no humpback whales during the two years it would take to reach a formal agreement. In 2010, the IWC authorized Greenland's native population to hunt a few humpback whales for the following three years. Much of
9765-536: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but
9920-475: The Keeper are two Curators of Zoology, a Curator of Entomology and Curator of Geology. The heads of the museum have included Alexander Carte (as Director, 1851-1881), Alexander G. More (as Curator, 1881-1887), Robert F. Scharff (as Keeper, 1891-1921), John S Jackson (1957-1968), Colm E. O'Riordan (1968-1988), James P. O'Connor (1998-2000) and Nigel Monaghan (2001-2022), with Paolo Viscardi serving as of 2022. In 2020,
10075-402: The Natural History Museum was in a precarious condition. During a period in the 1950s, owing to loss of staff to retirement and resignation, the museum had just one staff member, Geraldine Roche. The geology and palaeontology collections received more curatorial attention and the addition of numerous new specimens during the later 1950s and 60s under the auspices of John S. Jackson , although
10230-486: The RIA of islands off the coast of Ireland such as Lambay and Clare Islands. The staff were also involved in cave explorations, the materials from which were deposited in the museum. From 1885 to 1920, the museum produced catalogues of its collections by taxa as well as more general guides to the collections across the various divisions. More specialised lists were also written by museum staff. Scharff oversaw further expansion of
10385-597: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,
10540-683: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He
10695-469: The building the RDS had handed over to Board of Trade which was to become the New School of Design. A grant of £5000 was made available, with a further £2500 to be raised by public subscription. This resulted in the building which still houses the Natural History Museum today. It was originally built as an extension to Leinster House, where the Royal Dublin Society was based from 1815 until 1922. The building
10850-632: The building. Electric lighting was introduced to museum buildings in 1882, but it was only in 1895 that it was deemed sufficiently satisfactory that it was possible to fully replace the gas lighting. During this time many of the staff members added to the collections; this included such as Valentine Ball , Richard J. Ussher , and Alfred Cort Haddon . Specimens were also purchased from suppliers such as Robert Damon , Edward Gerrard & Sons , Deyrolle , Václav Frič , Wilhelm Schlüter , Rowland Ward and Williams & Son, Dublin . From 1905 to 1911, Scharff and other members of staff took part in surveys with
11005-466: The center, often containing at least one fragile hair that erupts 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) from the skin and is 0.1 mm (0.0039 in) thick. The tubercles develop early in the womb and may have a sensory function as they are rich in nerves. Sensory nerve cells in the skin are adapted to withstand the high water pressure of diving. In one study, a humpback whale brain measured 22.4 cm (8.8 in) long and 18 cm (7.1 in) wide at
11160-632: The children's author and illustrator Peter Donnelly released the book The Dead Zoo , based on the building and its collections. One of a series of books written by school students, In Pieces , also uses the museum as a setting as does the children's novel Molly Malone & Bram Stoker in Double Trouble at the Dead Zoo . The museum has been used as a filming location, particularly for Victorian period dramas. These include an episode of Ripper Street , from season 2, in 2013. In 2015 Penny Dreadful filmed in
11315-524: The collections, particularly for areas of fauna that had been previously poorly represented, with the aim that the collections would reflect the full diversity of fauna in Ireland in particular. In 1909 a new entrance was constructed at the east end of the building facing Merrion Street, partly due to the construction of the College of Science building, which now houses the Department of the Taoiseach . This reversed
11470-519: The conclusion that the two causes of these unusual mortality events were vessel interactions and entanglements. In December 1883, a male humpback swam up the Firth of Tay in Scotland, past what was then the whaling port of Dundee . Harpooned during a failed hunt, it was found dead off Stonehaven a week later. Its carcass was exhibited to the public by a local entrepreneur, John Woods, both locally and then as
11625-452: The demolition of the Annexe in 1962 impacted access to the geological materials, as they were placed into storage. In the 1960s and 1970s, as staffing levels again increased modestly, the entomology and zoology collections received more attention, both for the exhibitions and the stored collections. An inventory and labelling project was conducted in the 2000s also. On the morning of 5 July 2007,
11780-484: The direction from which visitors approached the exhibitions and explains why some of the large exhibits still face what appears today to be the back of the building. In 1920 the RDS vacated Leinster House for their new premises in Ballsbridge, allowing Leinster House to become to seat of the new Irish Free State government. The colonnade which connected the museum to Leinster House was closed off in 1922. During this period
11935-713: The education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to the 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of
12090-468: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as
12245-487: The existing building were considered, to provide more display space, and enable construction of lifts, costed at a total of 15 million euro. Other previous reports have also cited the under-staffing of the museum, along with the restraints of the 19th-century building, as hampering the development of the exhibitions and collections. An even more ambitious plan, for a new building within the Collins Barracks complex to house
12400-493: The fields of zoology and geology, a million of the specimens being insects. There was previously also a botanical collection but this was transferred to the National Botanic Gardens in 1970. As with many other natural history museums, the majority of specimens are not on display, for example the entirety of the geological collections. In 1962, a building known as "the Annexe", which housed the main geological displays,
12555-545: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of
12710-420: The first floors up to the upper gallery, many of which were presented to the museum in the 1930s. The museum was built in 1856 to house the Royal Dublin Society's growing collections, which had expanded continually since the late 18th century. From 1786 the collections grew through the work of 'itinerant mineralogist' Donald Stewart. In 1792 the Society purchased the collection of Nathaniel Gottfried Leske under
12865-662: The future. The North Pacific has at least four breeding populations: off Mexico (including Baja California and the Revillagigedos Islands ), Central America, the Hawaiian Islands , and both Okinawa and the Philippines . The Mexican population forages from the Aleutian Islands to California. During the summer, Central American humpbacks are found only off Oregon and California. In contrast, Hawaiian humpbacks have
13020-446: The genital slit of the female is marked by a round feature, known as the hemispherical lobe, which visually distinguishes males and females. Unique among large whales, humpbacks have bumps or tubercles on the head and front edge of the flippers; the tail fluke has a jagged trailing edge . The tubercles on the head are 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) thick at the base and poke up to 6.5 cm (2.6 in). They are mostly hollow in
13175-600: The geological collections have largely been held in storage from the 1960s, and the botanical collection was moved to National Botanic Gardens in 1970. However, the museum's zoological collection, and its building, have changed little since Victorian times, and it is sometimes described as a "museum of a museum" or a "stately home of death". Admission has been free of charge for decades, and attendance grew from 106,000 in 2007 to over 336,000 in 2017, and 388,000 in 2019, despite chronic staff shortages, and two of its four floors being closed since 2007. After temporary closures due to
13330-580: The grooves. Water is pushed out through the baleen. In the southern hemisphere, humpbacks have been recorded foraging in large compact gatherings numbering up to 200 individuals. Humpbacks typically hunt their prey with bubble-nets , which is considered to be a form of tool use . A group swims in a shrinking circle while blowing air from their blowholes, capturing prey above in a cylinder of bubbles . They may dive up to 20 m (70 ft) performing this technique. Bubble-netting comes in two main forms; upward spirals and double loops. Upward spirals involve
13485-424: The group over 27 years in response to a change in primary prey. The tubercles on the flippers stall the angle of attack , which both maximizes lift and minimizes drag (see tubercle effect ). This, along with the shape of the flippers, allows the whales to make the abrupt turns necessary during bubble-feeding. At Stellwagen Bank off the coast of Massachusetts , humpback whales have been recorded foraging at
13640-595: The growth of commercial whale watching was built on the humpback whale. The species' highly active surface behaviors and tendency to become accustomed to boats have made them easy to observe, particularly for photographers. In 1975, humpback whale tours were established in New England and Hawaii. This business brings in a revenue of $ 20 million per year for Hawaii's economy. While Hawaiian tours have tended to be commercial, New England and California whale watching tours have introduced educational components. As of 2018,
13795-401: The herbarium, and the "economic collections" moved into this building. Owing to the museum's reorganisation, the title of "curator" was changed to "keeper". The 1890s saw the first female members of staff with Matilda Knowles and Jane Stephens appointed as technical assistants. A bronze statue of Surgeon-Major Thomas Heazle Parke was commissioned in the 1890s; it still stands at the front of
13950-595: The humpback from the family Balaenidae , renaming it B. jubartes . In 1846, John Edward Gray created the genus Megaptera , classifying the humpback as Megaptera longipinna , but in 1932, Remington Kellogg reverted the species names to use Borowski's novaeangliae . The common name is derived from the curving of their backs when diving. The generic name Megaptera from the Ancient Greek mega- μεγα ("giant") and ptera / πτερα ("wing") refer to their large front flippers. The specific name means "New Englander" and
14105-451: The insect collections, documenting the damage and loss of specimens that had occurred in the Leskean collection. As part of his strategy to encourage more donations, Carte published lists of the acquisitions and donors in the new Journal of the Royal Dublin Society. In 1853 the Society began plans for the new museum building by applying for a grant from the Treasury, partly in compensation for
14260-451: The institutions. Specimens of note that were presented to the museum in 1877 included a Giant Irish deer from the Marquess of Bath , and what became recognised as the type specimen of Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni . Carte died in 1881, and was succeeded by Alexander Goodman More , who was given the amended title of curator rather than director . Under More's direction, the museum focused on
14415-528: The instruction of Richard Kirwan . Leske's collection was one of Europe's largest natural history collections. From this core collection, the Professor of Mineralogy in the RDS, Karl Ludwig Giesecke , expanded the collection by travelling Ireland and internationally including Greenland . The museum in Leinster House opened to the public two days a week from 1832, having been previously the private museum of
14570-698: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has
14725-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of
14880-472: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,
15035-499: The lower jaw tip, along the middle ventral groove, near the genital slit and between the bumps on the flippers. C. reginae digs deep into the skin, while attachments by C. diadema are more superficial. The size of the latter species provides more sites for attachment for other barnacles. Barnacles are considered to be epibionts rather than parasites as they do not feed on the whales, though they can affect their swimming by increasing drag . The whale louse species Cyamus boopis
15190-466: The main natural predators of humpback whales. The bodies of humpbacks host barnacles and whale lice Like other large whales, the humpback was a target for the whaling industry. Humans once hunted the species to the brink of extinction ; its population fell to around 5,000 by the 1960s. Numbers have partially recovered to some 135,000 animals worldwide, while entanglement in fishing gear , collisions with ships, and noise pollution continue to affect
15345-419: The male that is closest to the female is known as the "principal escort", who fights off the other suitors known as "challengers". Other males, called "secondary escorts", trail further behind and are not directly involved in the conflict. Agonistic behavior between males consists of tail slashing, ramming, and head-butting. Males have also been observed engaging in copulation with each other . Gestation in
15500-421: The many scientists who have studied the collections, Stephen Jay Gould did an essay based on the Irish elk in the museum. The museum building is a ‘cabinet-style’ museum designed to showcase a wide-ranging and comprehensive zoological collection, and has changed little in over a century. Often described as a "museum of a museum" or a "stately home of death" the exhibitions display 10,000 specimens from around
15655-422: The members of the RDS. Foreseeing that the museum might become a national museum, in 1836 a special Parliamentary Committee determined that the public should have greater access, which would require a larger building. By 1850, with visitor numbers reaching 44,000, there were complaints of the cramped conditions during the restrictive public visiting hours of two days a week, nine months out of twelve. Alexander Carte
15810-563: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed
15965-605: The movements of the tail fluke. Humpbacks are able to flap and rotate their flippers in a manner similar to California sea lions . Humpbacks rest at the surface with their bodies lying horizontally. They frequent shallow seamounts, commonly exploring depths of up to 80 meters (260 feet) and occasionally venturing into deep dives reaching up to 616 meters (2,020 feet). These deeper descents are believed to serve various purposes, including navigational guidance, communication with fellow humpback whales, and facilitation of feeding activities. Dives typically do not exceed five minutes during
16120-484: The museum for season 3, with the museum standing in for the Natural History Museum, London . In 2018, the museum also became a wedding venue; the first wedding, between former staff member Rebecca O'Neill and her fiancé Greg Sheaf, took place that year. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
16275-399: The museum itself closed to the public from 28 June 1922, owing to the loss of Leinster House and the consequential reorganisation, but also due to the changeover of staff from the British civil service to the newly formed Irish service. From 1921 the overall museum structure officially became known as the National Museum of Ireland. The Natural History Museum was reopened on 2 June 1924, with
16430-771: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to
16585-463: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them
16740-617: The northern Indian Ocean, mainly in the Arabian Sea around Oman . This population has also been recorded in the Gulf of Aden , the Persian Gulf , and off the coasts of Pakistan and India. In the North Atlantic, there are two separate wintering populations, one in the West Indies , from Cuba to northern Venezuela, and the other in the Cape Verde Islands and northwest Africa. During summer, West Indies humpbacks congregate off New England , eastern Canada, and western Greenland , while
16895-1339: The northern hemisphere, songs change more gradually while southern hemisphere songs go through cyclical "revolutions". Humpback whales are reported to make other vocalizations. "Snorts" are quick low-frequency sounds commonly heard among animals in groups consisting of a mother–calf pair and one or more male escort groups. These likely function in mediating interactions within these groups. "Grumbles" are also low in frequency but last longer and are more often made by groups with one or more adult males. They appear to signal body size and may serve to establish social status. "Thwops" and "wops" are frequency modulated vocals, and may serve as contact calls both within and between groups. High-pitched "cries" and "violins" and modulated "shrieks" are normally heard in groups with two or more males and are associated with competition. Humpback whales produce short, low-frequency "grunts" and short, modulated "barks" when joining new groups. Visible scars indicate that orcas prey upon juvenile humpbacks. A 2014 study in Western Australia observed that when available in large numbers, young humpbacks can be attacked and sometimes killed by orcas. Moreover, mothers and (possibly related) adults escort calves to deter such predation. The suggestion
17050-639: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as
17205-498: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish
17360-539: The overhauling of the collections and exhibitions, through cleaning, re-labelling, and reorganisation. In particular the displays were set out in a new taxonomy-based order. More retired in 1887 due to ill-health, which resulted in Robert Francis Scharff becoming the new curator in March 1887. In 1890, the purpose-built museum for Irish Antiquities was made ready, which saw the collections of Art and Industry, as well as
17515-539: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After
17670-403: The region. In Hawaii, humpback whales have been recorded vocalizing for as long as seven hours. Songs are divided into layers; "subunits", "units", "subphrases", "phrases" and "themes". A subunit refers to the discontinuities or inflections of a sound while full units are individual sounds, similar to musical notes . A succession of units creates a subphrase, and a collection of subphrases make up
17825-487: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )
17980-432: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need
18135-446: The rest of the ground floor. Many of the specimens of currently extant animals, such as badgers , hares , and foxes , are over a century old. A basking shark hangs from this ceiling. This grouping of Irish fauna in one room dates from 1910, when the collections were arranged by geography rather than purely taxonomy. The first floor contains mammals from around the world, including extinct or endangered species , including in turn
18290-625: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in
18445-448: The seafloor for sand lances. This involves the whales flushing out the fish by brushing their jaws against the bottom. Mating and breeding take place during the winter months, which is when females reach estrus and males reach peak testosterone and sperm levels. Humpback whales are promiscuous , with both sexes having multiple partners. Males will frequently trail both lone females and cow–calf pairs. These are known as "escorts", and
18600-494: The small shop resumed operations, selling books and other science-related items, at the end of March 2018. Including the Keeper, there is a professional staff of just 3–5 in recent years, much smaller than in many comparable institutions, handling management, curation, classification, international cooperation and scientific advice. In particular, the museum forms part of the global scientific community handling taxonomic queries and exchanging materials and reference data. Working with
18755-516: The southeastern Pacific (stock G), southwestern Atlantic (stock A), southeastern Atlantic (stock B), southwestern Indian Ocean (stock C), southeastern Indian Ocean (stock D), southwestern Pacific (stock E), and the Oceania stock (stocks E–F). Stock G breeds in tropical and subtropical waters off the west coast of Central and South America and forages along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula ,
18910-437: The southern hemisphere around 880,000 years ago and colonized the northern hemisphere 200,000–50,000 years ago. A 2014 genetic study suggested that the separate populations in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Oceans have had limited gene flow and are distinct enough to be subspecies , with the scientific names of M. n. novaeangliae , M. n. kuzira and M. n. australis respectively. A non-migratory population in
19065-469: The southern hemisphere is the Antarctic krill . Further north, the northern krill and various species of Euphausia and Thysanoessa are consumed. Fish prey include herring , capelin , sand lances and Atlantic mackerel . Like other rorquals, humpbacks are "gulp feeders", swallowing prey in bulk, while right whales and bowhead whales are skimmers. The whale increases its mouth gape by expanding
19220-617: The species lasts 11.5 months, and females reproduce every 2 years. Fetuses start out with teeth and develop their baleen during the very last months of their gestation. Humpback whale births have been rarely observed. One birth witnessed off Madagascar occurred within four minutes. Mothers typically give birth in mid-winter, usually to a single calf. Young start out with furled dorsal fins which straighten and stiffen as they get older. Calves with furled fin spend more time traveling and surfacing to breathe while calves with straighter fins can hold their breaths longer and can rest and circle around at
19375-522: The species. Some individual whales have achieved celebrity status such as Humphrey the Whale . The humpback was first identified as baleine de la Nouvelle Angleterre by Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his Regnum Animale of 1756. In 1781, Georg Heinrich Borowski described the species, converting Brisson's name to its Latin equivalent, Balaena novaeangliae . In 1804, Bernard Germain de Lacépède shifted
19530-471: The success of the evening opening it then remained open for two evenings each week. At this time the idea of Sunday openings was suggested, but did not happen until 1884. In 1870 the museum was visited by 103,237 members of the public. From 1868 to 1876 the Government began to look at creating a policy for science and art in Ireland. It was proposed that relevant institutions should be founded and built, such as
19685-589: The summer but are normally 15–20 minutes during the winter. As it dives, a humpback typically raises its tail fluke, exposing the underside. Humpbacks have been observed to produce oral "bubble clouds" when near another individual, possibly in the context of "aggression, mate attraction, or play". Humpbacks may also use bubble cloud as "smoke screens" to escape from predators. Humpback whales feed from spring to fall. They are generalist feeders, their main food items being krill , copepods , other plankton and small schooling fish. The most common krill species eaten in
19840-568: The surface more. Older calves are also away from their mothers more. Calves suckle for up to a year but can eat adult food in six months. Humpbacks are sexually mature at 5–10 years, depending on the population. Humpback whales possibly live over 50 years. Male humpback whales produce complex songs during the winter breeding season. These vocals range in frequency between 100 Hz and 4 kHz, with harmonics reaching up to 24 kHz or more, and can travel at least 10 km (6.2 mi). Males may sing for between 4 and 33 minutes, depending on
19995-504: The surface, performing aerial behaviors such as breaching and surface slapping with the tail ( lobtailing ) and flippers. These may be forms of play and communication and/or for removing parasites. The species is a slower swimmer than other rorquals, cruising at 7.9–15.1 km/h (4.9–9.4 mph). When threatened, a humpback may speed up to 27 km/h (17 mph). Their proportionally long pectoral fins give them great propulsion and allow them to swim in any direction independently of
20150-413: The tips of the temporal lobes , and weighed around 4.6 kg (10 lb). Its brain has similar complexity to the brains of smaller whales and dolphins. Computer models of the middle ear suggest that the humpback can hear at frequencies between 15 Hz and 3 kHz "when stimulated at the tympanic membrane ", and between 200 Hz and 9 kHz "if stimulated at the thinner region of the tympanic bone adjacent to
20305-562: The true number was over 48,000. As of 2004, hunting was restricted to a few animals each year off the Caribbean island of Bequia in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines . The take is not believed to threaten the local population. Japan had planned to kill 50 humpbacks in the 2007/08 season under its JARPA II research program. The announcement sparked global protests. After a visit to Tokyo by
20460-537: The two whale skeletons suspended from the ceiling, to facilitate renovation work on the museum roof and structure. but in 2024 it was announced another round of renovation in the building will take places with it taking years to complete. [1] The National Museum of Ireland has a unified organisation structure and budget, with a single overall Director, a Keeper for each major collection, including Natural History, and to some extent also location, and shared registration, education, IT and administrative functions. Also shared
20615-514: The tympanic membrane". This is consistent with their vocalization ranges. As in all cetaceans, the respiratory tract of the humpback whale is connected to the blowholes and not the mouth, though it appears to be able to unlock the epiglottis and larynx and move them towards the oral cavity, allowing them to blow bubbles from there. The vocal folds of the humpback are more horizontally positioned than those of land mammals which allows them to produce underwater calls. These calls are amplified by
20770-705: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at
20925-554: The west coast of Africa and is further divided into Bl and B2 subpopulations, the former ranging from the Gulf of Guinea to Angola and the latter ranging from Angola to western South Africa. Stock B whales have been recorded foraging in waters to the southwest of the continent, mainly around Bouvet Island . Comparison of songs between those at Cape Lopez and Abrolhos Archipelago indicate that trans-Atlantic mixings between stock A and stock B whales occur. Stock C whales winter around southeastern Africa and surrounding waters. This stock
21080-603: The western coast of Australia, and forage in the southern region of the Kerguelen Plateau . Stock E is divided into E1, E2, and E3 stocks. E1 whales have a breeding range off eastern Australia and Tasmania ; their main feeding range is close to Antarctica, mainly within 130°E and 170°W . The Oceania stock is divided into the New Caledonia (E2), Tonga (E3), Cook Islands (F1) and French Polynesia (F2) subpopulations. This stock's feeding grounds mainly range from around
21235-452: The whale's tail to cripple and bleed the whale before she managed to drown the whale by biting onto its head and pulling it underwater. Humpback whales often have barnacles living on their skin; the most common being the acorn barnacle species Coronula diadema and Coronula reginae , which in turn are sites for attachment for goose barnacle species like Conchoderma auritum and Conchoderma virgatum . They are most abundant at
21390-738: The whales blowing air from their blowholes continuously as they circle towards the surface, creating a spiral of bubbles. Double loops consist of a deep, long loop of bubbles that herds the prey, followed by slapping the surface and then a smaller loop that prepares the final capture. Combinations of spiraling and looping have been recorded. After the humpbacks create the "nets", the whales swim into them with their mouths gaping and ready to swallow. Bubble-net feeding has also been observed in solitary humpbacks, which can consume more food per mouthful without tiring, particularly with low-density prey patches. Using network-based diffusion analysis , one study argued that whales learned lobtailing from other whales in
21545-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By
21700-486: The world. Above this, the second ceiling suspends a humpback whale and fin whale skeleton. This floor includes a composite dodo skeleton, from Mauritius . The Upper gallery , also closed since 2007, displays invertebrate and marine specimens including the Museum's collection of Glass Sea Creatures made by the glass artists Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka (the makers of Harvard's famous Glass Flowers collection). Numerous game heads can be seen mounted on pillars from
21855-459: The world. An online virtual exhibition of the interior is available on the museum website, showing the building before it was emptied for building works. The Irish Room , the ground floor of the museum, displays Irish animals, notably several mounted skeletons of giant Irish deer . Numerous skulls of those and other deer line the walls. Stuffed and mounted mammals, birds, fish — and insects and other animals native to or found in Ireland — comprise
22010-523: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from
22165-400: Was appointed curator, and then director, of the Natural History Museum, and oversaw a period of expansion of the collections, with the aim of making the museum more representative of geological and zoological diversity both nationally and internationally. Carte also began organising the exhibitions and collections into groups pertaining to Ireland, and then international specimens. He reorganised
22320-471: Was completed in 1857 by contractors Gilbert Cockburn & Son. It was connected to Leinster House by a curved closed Corinthian colonnade, which once held displays of the Geological Survey of Ireland . The connection of the buildings allowed a visitor to move from Leinster House to the Museum building, and was eventually connected with the purpose built museum on Kildare Street . The new museum building
22475-516: Was demolished to make way for the Dáil Éireann restaurant and office; this led to these collections being placed in storage in buildings in Beggars Bush and elsewhere, and most have remained in storage since then. A selection from the geological collections was placed on display in the National Museum of Ireland site at Collins Barracks, this exhibition being opened on 27 September 2021 for 18 months. Among
22630-520: Was designed by architect Frederick Clarendon in harmony with the National Gallery of Ireland on the other side of Leinster Lawn. The frame of the building is cast iron, largely clad internally with timber on the upper floors. The exterior uses dressed granite and Portland stone . The foundation stone was laid on 15 March 1856 by Earl Carlisle , the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and the building
22785-538: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build
22940-536: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. Humpback whale The humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae )
23095-497: Was known as the Museum of Science and Art, Dublin . New funding was provided for a new museum building on Kildare Street, and the collections were expanded to include representative specimens from British expeditions and surveys, various marine stations, and British and European biological suppliers and taxidermists. The new Irish museum was deemed to be on a par with other British institutions, seeing surplus collections and exchanges between
23250-542: Was opened in August 1857. The first event was a Conversazione on 27 August attended by 1500 including Earl Carlisle. On 31 August the explorer David Livingstone delivered a lecture in the museum. The first exhibitions were mounted on the first floor and consisted of plants from the Botanic Gardens, Kiltorcan fossils, some birds donated by Carte, edible crustaceans and molluscs, Irish lepidoptera collected by Rev Greene, and fossils and birds collected by McClintock in
23405-465: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in
23560-497: Was probably given by Brisson due to regular sightings of humpbacks off the coast of New England . Humpback whales are rorquals , members of the family Balaenopteridae , which includes the blue , fin , Bryde's , sei and minke whales . A 2018 genomic analysis estimates that rorquals diverged from other baleen whales in the late Miocene , between 10.5 and 7.5 million years ago. The humpback and fin whale were found to be sister taxon (see phylogenetic tree below). There
23715-627: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in
23870-442: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,
24025-413: Was viewed by 55,000 over 11 weeks. Due to Carte's efforts in soliciting donations, the collections expanded considerably in the 1860s, but the Society only spent £373 on purchasing specimens. In the early 1860s much of the collection was not on display due to a lack of funds to prepare them for exhibition, and owing to the fact the ground floor of the new museum building was not completed, lacking heating and
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