An Appreciation: Matthew Alastair Parkes (1961-2020)

Abstract

AN APPRECIATION: MATTHEW ALASTAIR PARKES (1961–2020) NIGEL T. MONAGHAN, MICHAEL J. SIMMS, PATRICK N. WYSE JACKSON and JOHN MURRAY Matthew Parkes was a highly respected geologist and good friend to many who knew him. His legacy is his enduring scientific research, published in many popular articles, journals and books. It was important to him that geology was not only thoroughly researched and published for the scientific community, but that it should also be made fully accessible for the general public, particularly for any budding geologist. Once Matthew discovered geology as a teenager, the fascination never waned, and his work covered a wide expanse of geoscience topics across many countries. The geologist Matthew was born 8 July 1961 and grew up in Hertfordshire. At school he focused on sciences, culminating with A levels in Geology and Geography in 1981. He worked at the Soil Survey of England and Wales, then studied geology at Sheffield University and was awarded his BSc in 1985. He then came to Ireland to study for his PhD at University College Galway (UCG; now University of Galway) as a recipient of an Anglo-Irish Postgraduate Exchange Scholarship. With typical careful dedication Matthew studied small areas of rocks of Ordovician and Silurian age on the south-eastern margin of the Iapetus Ocean, from Meath to Waterford, under the supervision of David Harper. These island relics with their endemic brachiopod faunas are poorly exposed and it took considerable determination to get decent fossils out of the scrappy outcrops. His good friend in UCG Eamon Doyle, now geologist for the Burren Geopark in County Clare, studied the other side of that ocean, but from the same office. Even before he completed his PhD in 1990, Matthew was working as an Assistant Lecturer and looking after overseas students on summer programmes. A post-doctoral appointment in Trinity College to work on the Irish-Italian EU-funded project ‘Silurian ecostratigraphy in Ireland and Sardinia’ organised by Charles Holland brought Matthew to Dublin in 1990 where he shared an office with Mike Simms. He was involved in leading student field trips in Ireland and overseas to the Mendip Hills and Devon and Dorset coasts. In 1997 he was awarded a Sylvester-Bradley Award by the Palaeontological Association. Irish Journal of Earth Sciences 40 (2022), 1–9 © 2022 Royal Irish Academy 2 Irish Journal of Earth Sciences (2022) Geologists will appreciate the quality and diversity of Matthew’s contributions to our science. He produced well over a hundred publications, many as collaborations with experts in Ordovician rocks in other countries. His output ranged from the Geological Society’s correlation of the Ordovician (Fortey et al. 2000), to books on Irish geology county by county and much more besides (see bibliography ). Matthew produced high quality papers on Irish Paleozoic faunas that included studies on brachiopods (Parkes 1990; Harper et al. 1990, 2010), trilobites (Parkes and Owen 1994; Owen and Parkes 1996, 2000), Caradoc and Telychian faunas of south east and north west Ireland respectively (Parkes et al. 2017; Parkes 1993), and he also contributed to an assessment of elements of the significant Pennsylvanian Jarrow fauna (Orr et al. 1996). Matthew’s publications on the Ordovician and Silurian faunas of Ireland, based on his PhD studies and subsequent research, have provided a significant volume of data that informs our current understanding of Lower Paleozoic geology in this part of the globe. The caver Matthew’s time at Galway allowed him to indulge his love of caves and karst landscapes, something he maintained for the rest of his life, and caving led to many great friendships. Exploring Horse Discovery, near Cong, his height proved an advantage . The deep pool just inside was easily negotiated by Matthew (at six feet, seven and a half inches) but, as recalled by Mike Simms, it was a swim for the others in the group. Caving together became a lifelong activity, renewed in Wales when they found themselves working together in Cardiff, and again back in Ireland with Matthew based in Dublin and Mike in Belfast. The coast at Portrane, Dublin, with its Ordovician limestone shelly faunas was a great attraction and featured in Matthew’s research. It was also a...