Background
He was born at Street.Catherine"s Rectory, Hop Hill, Tullamore, Offaly, eldest of six children of Review John Swift Joly (1818–1887) and Elizabeth Slator.
He was born at Street.Catherine"s Rectory, Hop Hill, Tullamore, Offaly, eldest of six children of Review John Swift Joly (1818–1887) and Elizabeth Slator.
He was educated at Galway Grammar School and later at Trinity College Dublin, where he took a fellowship in 1894.
He became Andrews Professor of Astronomy at Trinity College. In 1897 he was appointed Royal Astronomer of Ireland and he took up his new position at Dunsink Observatory. He was secretary of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1904.
He died at his Dunsink residence in 1906.
Royal Society.