The former head of the Department of Zoology at NUI Galway, Professor Emeritus, Padraig Ó Céidigh, obtained a First- Class Honours BSc in University College Dublin in 1955, followed by an MSc there (UCD) in 1957. He began his career as an assistant to what was then the old History Natural Department University College, Galway in 1956, reports GalwayNews.
According to the news agency he was appointed professor of the new Zoology Department in 1962, when the Professorship of Natural History was abolished and replaced by Professorships in Botany and in Zoology in 1961, where he served until his retirement in 1999.
Since moving to Galway in 1956 he played a major role in the research into, and development of the marine resources around the West Coast of Ireland and he pioneered the fishfarming industry at a time when it was totally unheard of.
He was one of the youngest ever NUI professors and after becoming Professor of Zoology at the age of 28 his Department was responsible for founding the shellfish and aquaculture industries in Ireland in the early 1970s.
Hero of Irish Aquaculture Passes Away
IRELAND - The man who is said to be responsible for establishing an Irish aquaculture industry has died at the age of 74.