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Alan Turing, the half Irish genius who broke the Enigma code

Alan Turing
The statue of the half Irish, Alan Turing (his mother was Irishwoman Ethel Stoney) on view at Britain’s Bletchley Park

Listen: HERE

Alan Turing is the mathematician credited with designing the principles for the world’s first computer, built during World War 2 to crack German codes. He’s also one of the founding philosophers of A.I. and more.

But did you know he was half Irish? He was by virtue of his mother, Ethel Stoney, who went to school in Dublin’s Alexandra College.

His parents – his father was Julius – had met on a trip back from India, and later got married in St Bartholomew’s Church in Ballsbridge.

Click HERE to listen to a discussion of Alan Turing, his life and achievements, as depicted in the film The Imitation Game, and the book upon which it was based Alan Turing: the enigma by Andrew Hodges.

The discussion featured on RTE Radio 1’s The History Show on 23/11/’14 with Myles Dungan.

The guests were myself, Sean Duke, science writer and broadcaster, Aoibhinn ní Shúilleabháin, mathematics educator at UCD and broadcaster, and Peter Arnds, comparative literature researcher at TCD.