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SHEILA TINNEY:SHEILA TINNEY, who has died aged 92, was a pioneering academic in the field of mathematical physics. She was born in Galway in 1918, the fourth of six children.

Her father, Michael Power, was professor of mathematics at UCG. Her mother, Christina (née Cunniffe), died in childbirth when Sheila was 12. One of Sheila’s fondest memories was of her mother playing the piano at home, and she became an accomplished pianist herself, in turn inspiring her own children to learn to play.