Background
Her father was the County Surveyor in Galway West and co-founded the Galway Electric Light Company.
Her father was the County Surveyor in Galway West and co-founded the Galway Electric Light Company.
She graduated with first class honours in 1906.
Born in Wellpark, Galway in 1885, Alice was one of five daughters of James and Martha Perry (née Park). Having excelled in mathematics, she changed from studying for a degree in arts to an engineering degree. Following her graduation she was offered a senior postgraduate scholarship but owing to her father"s death the following month, she did not take up this position.
In December 1906 she succeeded her father temporarily as county surveyor for Galway County Council.
She remained in this position for five or six months until a permanent appointment was made. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the permanent position and for a similar opportunity to be a surveyor in Galway East.
She remains the only woman to have been a County Surveyor (County Engineer) in Ireland. Shaw was a soldier who died in 1917 on the Western Front.
Perry retired from her inspector"s position in 1921 and became interested in poetry, first publishing in 1922.
