| Authorised form of name | Kirwan; Richard (1733 - 1812) |
| Dates | 1733 - 1812 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Cloughballymore, County Galway, Ireland |
| Date of birth | 1733 |
| Place of death | Dublin, Ireland |
| Date of death | 01 June 1812 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
St George's Church, Lower Temple Street, Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation | Barrister |
| Research field | Chemistry |
| Mineralogy |
| Geology |
| Meteorology |
| Activity | Education:
Poitiers
Career:
Entered Jesuit novitiate, St Omer (1754) but left and returned to Ireland when his brother, Patrick, was killed in a duel and he inherited the family estates (1755); renounced Catholic beliefs in order to be able to be called to the Irish bar (1766); stopped practising law and took up science (1768); lived in London (c1769-1772, 1777-1787); well acquainted with Priestley, Horne Tooke, Henry Cavendish, Edmund Burke; correspondent of Bergman, Scheele, Chaptal, Klaproth and Lavoisier; his 'Elements of Mineralogy' (1784) was the first systematic work on the subject in English; best known work was 'An Essay on Phlogiston and the Constitution of Acids' (1787); awarded Gold Medal Royal Dublin Society for services in acquiring and arranging the Leskean cabinet of minerals (1794); honorary member of the Academies of Stockholm, Uppsala, Berlin, Dijon, Philadephia, the Mineralogical Society of Jena
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 24/02/1780 |
| RSActivity | Medals and prizes:
Copley Medal 1782 |
| Relationships | Second son of Martin Kirwan of Cregg Castle; married (1757) Anne Blake (died 1765) daughter of Sir Thomas Blake of Menlough Castle |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; Irish Innovators
References:
W A Smeaton, 'Louis Bernard Guyton de Morveau, FRS (1737-1816) and his Relations with British Scientists' in NR 1967 vol 22 pp 113-130 |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/14880429 |
| Code | NA5306 |
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| CB/2/231 | Copy of a letter from Charles Blagden to Richard Kirwan | 28 April 1789 |
| CB/2/548 | Copy of a letter from Charles Blagden to Richard Kirwan | 25 July 1791 |
| CB/2/553 | Copy of a letter from Charles Blagden to Richard Lewis | 23 August 1791 |
| CB/1/1/217 | Letter from [Berthollet] to Charles Blagden | [1785] |
| CB/1/1/215 | Letter from Claude Louis Berthollet, Paris to Charles Blagden | 6 September 1784 |
| CB/2/325 | Copy of a letter from Charles Blagden to Richard Kirwan | 20 March 1790 |
| CB/2/517 | Copy of a letter from Charles Blagden to Richard Kirwan | 16 April 1791 |
| CB/1/4/197 | Letter from R Kirwan, Dublin to Charles Blagden, Royal Society, Somerset House, London | 27 September 1803 |
| L&P/8/64 | Paper, 'Answer to Mr Cavendish's reply' by Richard Kirwan | 1784 |
| L&P/8/166 | Letter, 'On the affinities of substances in spirits of wine' from John Elliot to Richard Kirwan | 31 October 1785 |
| L&P/9/25 | Letter, 'On the blue colour of the sky' from John Elliot to Richard Kirwan | 15 December 1786 |
| L&P/8/164 | Paper, 'Experiments on hepatic air' by Richard Kirwan | 24 November 1785 |
| L&P/7/174 | Paper, 'Experiments and observations on specific gravities and on the attractive power of various saline substances' by Richard Kirwan | 1780 |
| L&P/8/187 | Letter, 'On the air expelled from earths' from Arthur Young to Richard Kirwan | 18 December 1785 |
| L&P/8/131 | Paper, 'Specific gravities taken at different degrees of heat' by Richard Kirwan | 1785 |
| L&P/10/64 | Paper, 'On the origin of basaltes' by Richard Kirwan | 1793 |
| EC/1779/25 | Kirwan, Richard: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| L&P/7/248 | Paper, 'Continuation of experiments and observations on specific gravities' by Richard Kirwan | 1782 |
| AP/5/23 | Unpublished letter, regarding the medicinal powers of music from Thom [Thomas] Peirce to Mr [Richard] Kirwan | 6 March 1787 |
| L&P/8/4 | Paper, 'Of the attractive powers of the mineral acids' by Richard Kirwan | 1782 |
| L&P/8/56 | Letter, 'Remarks on Henry Cavendish's experiments on air' from Richard Kirwan to Joseph Banks | 29 January 1784 |