The latest Dublin City Council commemorative plaque marks the site of the childhood home of mathematician & astronomer William Rowan Hamilton, on Dominick Street, Dublin 1.
The plaque was unveiled on 16 October by Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Donna Cooney.
Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805–1865) was an Irish mathematician and physicist renowned for his contributions to algebra, optics, and mechanics. A child prodigy in languages, he later focused on mathematics and made significant discoveries, including the reformulation of Newtonian mechanics, known as Hamiltonian mechanics.
He also invented quaternions, an extension of complex numbers, which laid the groundwork for modern vector analysis. In honour of his invention 16 October is celebrated as Hamilton Day.
Hamilton served as the Royal Astronomer of Ireland and Professor of Astronomy at Trinity College Dublin, based at Dunsink Observatory, where he lived and conducted much of his work.
Hamilton’s work greatly influenced the development of modern physics and mathematics.