Rev. Nicholas Callan : Short Biography

Nicholas Callan was born in Darver, County Louth on the 22nd of December 1799. 

As a young man he felt a call to a life in the Catholic Church. He attended the seminary at St Patrick's College, Maynooth where he finished the training that he had begun in his native Louth. While studying in Maynooth he developed an interest in electricity and magnetism. He was a keen student and adopted experimental styles of learning. 

After completing his studies in Maynooth and receiving his ordination, Fr Callan then relocated to Rome where he studied for a Doctorate in Divinity at the Sapienza University. There his interest in electricity grew as he familiarised himself with the work of some of Europe's greatest minds on the topic. 

In 1826, Fr Callan's former mentor Dr Denvir retired from the position of Chair of Natural Philosophy at Maynooth University. Callan returned to Ireland to take over the post which he remained in for the rest of his days. Now with a lab at his disposal, Callan threw himself fully into his research. He experimented with increasingly larger voltages and was known to give shocks to students who volunteered as test subjects. Though this must have made him seem like something of an eccentric, Callan was in fact a gifted inventor, with his greatest achievements contributing vastly to the field of science. In 1834 he began work on his greatest invention, the induction coil, the creation of which allowed for the discovery of x-rays, radio waves, and even the electron. Though he was not initially credited with the invention of the induction coil, it is now widely regarded as his greatest work. 

Callan, however, didn't stop there. He went on to invent a number of other wonders of the electrical world, such as the 'Maynooth' battery, and an early form of galvanisation. 

Rev. Nicholas Callan died on the 10th of January 1864 in Maynooth.