102 The Irish Naturalist. Sept., 



ALEXANDER MACHENRY. 



Not only by his former colleagues of the Geological Survey 

 and other officials of the old Science and Art Department, 

 with whom he was so long associated, but also by numerous 

 foreign geologists who from time to time visited this country 

 to study some particular point of interest, will the death of 

 Alex. MacHenry be learned of with much regret. 



He was born at Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, in 1844. His 

 parents while he was quite young, came to reside in 

 Dublin, and MacHenry derived his early tuition at the 

 Central Model School under the care of Dr. P. W. Joyce, 

 the eminent Irish historian and antiquary, and it was thus 

 his after-life tastes developed. At this period (late fifties) 

 the institution then known as the Museum of Irish Industry,^ 

 under the directorate of Sir Robert Kane, was a source of 

 m.uch attraction to Dublin citizens, the evening lectures of 

 such men as Sullivan, Barker, and Jukes were eagerly 

 listened to by crowded audiences of the artisan and other 

 classes, conveniently suited by the hours of their delivery. 

 Beete-Jukes's lectures on geology were espec.ally availed of, 

 and his enthusiasm for his subject, splendid delivery and 

 commanding presence at once enlisted the interest of his 

 audience. Amongst others who subsequently attained 

 reputations as ardent investigators of the geology of Ireland, 

 whose interest was aroused by those lectures, was 

 MacHenry. His early zeal on the subject attracted the 

 attention of Jukes, who brought him to the notice of Sir 

 Roderick Muchison, and the latter in 1861 appointed him 

 Specimen Collector on the Irish Survey, in succession 

 to James Flanagan, one of Portlock's old collectors. 



Under the guidance and instruction of Wm. Hellier 

 Baily, MacHenry quickly developed a keen interest in 

 palaeontology, and one of his first essays at field-collecting 

 was at Kiltorcan, Co. Kilkenny, and here he found a 

 crustacean named after him. The Geological Survey 

 Collection then located in the Museum of Irish Industry was 

 a large and representative one, beautifully housed and kept ; 

 it included a complete series of British fossils, as well as the 

 duplicates of the famous Portlock collection, the original 



^ Now the Royal College of Science for Ireland. 



