Editor’s note: Scriptwriter, author, and journalist David Forsythe lives in West Cork, Ireland, with his wife and five children. He has had a varied career as a reporter, feature writer, scriptwriter, newspaper and online editor. He worked as a local reporter in Cork city and was Editor of the Cork Independent newspaper, before founding a successful news agency providing copy for National and International media. He founded the West Cork Times online newspaper in west. More recently, David Forsythe has developed a career as a scriptwriter for film and television, writing prime time documentary series for RTE. He is a Director of the film production company Wet Rocks Media, where he is responsible for script development. In 2017 he was authored The Celtic Songlines, the book accompanying the RTE television series, which he also wrote. The son of an Irish mother and English father, David Forsythe was born and brought up in London, England. Throughout his career he has been fascinated by the influences that shape our cultural identity.
“What have the Irish ever done for us?” you might ask. Author David Forsythe would reply, “Plenty! You likely are unaware of the impact Irish people have made on our lives.”
As we celebrate Ireland and all things Irish this St. Patrick’s Day, there is no better time to also reflect on the Irish contribution to the wider world. In his new book, What Have the Irish Ever Done for Us?, Forsythe chronicles those contributions. His book, from Currach Books, features wonderful illustrations by Alba Esteban and details the achievements and contributions of numerous Irish people all around the world.
This enlightening nonfiction work “is available in all good bookshops or online at www.currachbooks.com and from Amazon,” Forsythe stated.
Here is a sneak peek at ten answers to the title question.
John Boyd Dunlop and William Harvey Du Cros It was a Belfast vet by the name of John Boyd Dunlop and a Dublin cycling enthusiast named William Harvey du Cros who came up with the innovation that would make the age of the motorcar possible. Dunlop created an early pneumatic tire to make his son’s bone-shaking tricycle rides along the cobbled streets of Belfast more comfortable. The design was soon taken up by racing cyclists where Du Cross first spotted it. He took Dunlop’s idea global with the Dunlop Rubber Company.
John Holland …The modern submarine is indeed an Irish invention, developed by the talented John P. Holland from Liscannor in County Clare. The U. S. Navy purchased Holland’s design in 1900, where the USS Holland became the first commissioned submarine in history. Its success led to other navies also purchasing the designs, including Japan and the United Kingdom, where five “Holland Class” submarines were commissioned.
James Martin Engineer James Martin from Crossgar in County Down made the first successful test of an aircraft ejector seat, in January 1945 when Bernard Lynch successfully ejected. The Martin-Baker ejector seat went into production soon afterwards and, to date, has saved more than 7000 lives around the world.
Samuel O’Reilly Inventive tattoo artist Samuel O’Reilly did much more than come up with artistic tattoo designs. It was O’Reilly who patented the first electric tattoo machine in New York in 1891. O’Reilly’s invention made tattooing much safer, much quicker, and cheaper. Without him the modern popularity of tattooing would not have been possible.
Cynthia Longfield Cork woman Cynthia Longfield became known as “Madame Dragonfly,” thanks to her adventurous career as a globetrotting entomologist. She collected specimens all around the world, discovering several new species and became a leading authority on Dragonflies. She became an honorary associate of the Natural History Museum in London, where much of her work is catalogued.
Eileen Marie Collins Proud Irish American Eileen Marie Collins became the first female Space Shuttle Commander aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1999. Eileen also piloted the space shuttle Discovery in 1995 and the Atlantis in 1997. During her final mission in 2005 on Discovery she became the first pilot to maneuver a shuttle through a 360-degree roll.
Ninette de Valois Ninette de Valois was the stage name of Edris Stannus from Blessington, County Wicklow. When injury cut her career as a ballet dancer short, she formed her own ballet company performing in Dublin and London. The company she formed at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London would go on to become the England’s National ballet company, the Royal Ballet.
Jim Fitzpatrick An image created by Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick in 1968 is among the most recognized by any artist from any era. The black-on-red image of Che Guevara‘s face has since become one of the most recognized images in the world, a symbol of protest and rebellion, and now appears on everything from mugs to posters and t-shirts.
Bram Stoker Dublin-born writer Bram Stoker will forever be remembered for writing Dracula, first published in 1897. It was immediately successful and has continued to grow in popularity ever since its publication. Dracula has become the most successful horror novel in history and one of the most adapted and influential works of any genre.
Nellie Bly Irish American Elizabeth Cochran Seaman, better known by her pen name of Nellie Bly, was a pioneering investigative reporter. She became world-famous in 1889 when she successfully embarked on a round-the-world trip with the aim of beating the fictitious Around the World in Eighty Days achieved by Phileas Fogg.