The Irish links of one of the world's best-known inventors were celebrated last night at the Italian Cultural Institute in Dublin.
Guglielmo Marconi invented wireless communications and won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1909. Yesterday his daughter, Princess Elettra Marconi, who was only seven when her father died in 1937, paid tribute to him and highlighted the importance of his Irish connections.
The gathering was shown a 20-minute documentary by Dr Concetto La Malfa entitled Marconi's Legacy in Ireland, which celebrated Marconi's career and his links with Ireland.
The mother of the Italian inventor was Annie Jameson of the distillery family. She grew up in Montrose House on the grounds of RTÉ. His first wife was Beatrice O'Brien, the daughter of Lord Inchiquin of Dromoland Castle, Co Clare.
The Marconi Company he set up established a wireless station at Derrygimla, near Clifden, Co Galway. It opened on October 17th, 1907, and Princess Marconi will return to Ireland later this year to commemorate the centenary of its opening.
"I love Ireland and I know Ireland was very important to my father," she said. "I'm very grateful because Annie Jameson was the only one who believed in my father when he was very young."
Marconi's grandson, Guglielmo, also emphasised his Irish links and said that his grandfather's name translated as William in English and he had been named after Annie Jameson's grandfather. He said Marconi had always wanted his inventions to be used for the benefit of humanity.