Anna Nolan, who has died aged 84, was one of a few Irish journalists – and especially rare among women journalists – who specialised in covering science and technology.
With a degree in mathematics and physics, she took up this specialism soon after entering local journalism in the 1980s. She was active in the revival of the Irish Science Journalists’ Association in the early 1990s and remained committed to the association and to supporting others entering this field until her death.
From her base in Cratloe, Co Clare, Nolan reported for national and international media over four decades on business, technology and science, particularly from the midwest. The Irish Times, The Sunday Tribune, Sunday Business Post, Technology Ireland and Science Spin were among the many newspapers and magazines to which she contributed. She was known as a reliable and conscientious correspondent with wide knowledge.
Nolan sought to uphold high standards and social solidarity in journalism through many years of activity in the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), where she held office in her local branch and in national committees, including the union’s equality council. She served for many years on the committee of the Irish Science and Technology Journalists’ Association (as it became), including a term as president.
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She took a particular interest in the association’s international connections and was for many years a committed Irish delegate to the European Union of Science Journalists’ Associations (EUSJA). Nolan attended conferences across the Continent and was a regular contributor, then editor, of the EUSJA newsletter. She counted long-serving EUSJA activists in Russia, Finland, Germany, Britain and elsewhere among her close colleagues and friends and she remained committed to them when EUSJA ran through a difficult and fractious period in recent years. The news of her death passed between science journalists across Europe and beyond, eliciting many expressions of loss for a trusted and knowledgeable colleague.
Anna Fionnuala Dennehy was born in Athlone in 1941.While she was in primary school, Anna moved from school to school with her mother, a teacher, and then attended Loreto Convent for secondary schooling.
She studied in UCD, earning a BSc in physics, mathematical physics and mathematics, and meeting fellow student Richard Nolan in final year in 1963. They both moved to London after graduating and in 1966 they married.. When they returned to Ireland, Richard worked for several information technology companies before becoming a science lecturer in Limerick Institute of Technology, while Anna worked on the Limerick Consumer (later Limerick Post) and then as a freelance correspondent for local, national and international media.
Anna Nolan pursued education and knowledge continuously, including in Limerick College of Further Education and in the early 2000s through Open University courses in Science Communication and Science and Society. She wore her knowledge and expertise lightly, offering wise counsel gently and sympathetically. An avid reader, she was an active participant in the Hunt Museum Book Club, where her commentaries were much appreciated.
Contributors to a farewell in Shannon Crematorium in early July spoke of her principled support for journalists, her love of opera and her considered conversation. In particular, she was remembered as the wife of 59 years of Richard, and beloved mother of Aisling. In a tribute to Anna read at this event, Richard estimated that their morning and nightly expressions of love to each other amounted to about 21,000 through their years together.
