Birr Castle: The Leviathan of Parsonstown In 1845, William Parsons built a 72-inch reflecting telescope that dwarfed all other instruments of its day. With this "Leviathan", Parsons discovered the spiral shape of many galaxies and studied the nature of gaseous nebula. The telescope reigned as the world's largest for nearly 80 years and was a stunning achievement of 19th century engineering.
Optical techniques are a a passion of mine: but this is a good story about the amazing Birr telescope in Ireland, where IES helped by completing the control system refurbishment This historical scientific landmark is located in County Offaly, in the heart of Ireland The Birr Telescope reigned for more than seventy years as the largest telescope in the world Also known as "The Leviathan of Parsonstown," the giant reflecting telescope was the 19th century vision and creation of William Parsons, the 3rd Lord of Rosse.