Valentia Island sits on the south-west coast of Ireland.
These islands, and the people who reside on them, are accustomed to the storms and waves that appear from the vast expanse of water known as the Atlantic Ocean.
When I first heard the island's name, I assumed it was related to the Spanish city of Valencia.
This would make sense, given that Spanish sailors are actually buried on the island, so it is quite possible there is some Spanish influence.
But that is not the question I am going to ask today.
Rather, I want to know about the life of a former islander, Maude Jane Delap.
Maude lived from 1866 to 1953 and was a self-taught marine biologist.
She was the first person to breed jellyfish in captivity and observe their full life cycle.
Their life cycle is complex, alternating between reproducing sexually (with sperm fertilizing eggs) and asexually (by cloning themselves).
She studied the compass jellyfish and the blue jellyfish which you might find washed up along the Irish shore, particularly in the summertime (pictured below).
But it wasn’t just jellyfish that Maude was interested in; she would collect all sorts of marine species by dredging or netting, recording sea temperatures, and noting changes to the local marine life.
Some of Maude's species collections are still kept in the Natural History Museum in Dublin.
To recognise her work, a burrowing sea anemone was named after Maude - the Edwardsia delapiae.
This is fitting, as it was in fact Maude who discovered this species, and it has only been found around Valentia Island.
After all Maude's work, she was offered a position at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, but she declined the offer due to her father's reaction, who said, "No daughter of mine will leave home except as a married woman."
I find a stark similarity between the indigenous anemone discovered by Maude and her life confined to Valentia Island, shaped by conservative traditions.
I suppose that was a sign of the times, and who knows what other accolades Maude may have achieved if she had been allowed to pursue her career outside of Valentia Island.
Reading about a person's story like Maude's grabs my interest in a way that no science article or textbook ever could.
By reading Maude’s story, I learned about Valentia Island, women’s roles in 19th-century science, the life cycle of jellyfish, and, of course, the Edwardsia delapiae sea anemone.
Maude died in July 1953 and is buried in Knightstown on Valentia Island. There is also a plaque dedicated to her in the village, erected nearly 50 years after her passing.
So, Maude, thank you for all you achieved at that time in history, guided by your curiosity about the marine world.
Maude’s impact rippled far beyond the shores of Valentia Island.
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