EU Presidency Logo Celebrates Ireland’s Astronomy Heritage
Published
Ireland has unveiled the official logo for its 2026 Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and it reflects a rich blend of Irish heritage and European unity.
A New Symbol for Europe
The colourful spirals hold symbolism as the shape is inspired by the spiral design based on the Whirlpool Galaxy, a galaxy that was first observed by The Great Telescope at Birr Castle in County Offaly. The Great Telescope, also known as the Leviathan of Parsonstown was built in the 1840s. It was the largest telescope in the world from 1845-1914 discovering the spiral nature of galaxies, placing Birr on the map of scientific discovery.
The Leviathan Telescope
The size of this Leviathan telescope allowed for clearer observation of the night sky than ever before. In 1845, while observing a previously documented nebula M51 (essentially an unidentified bright region in the night sky), the 3rd Earl of Rosse in Birr Castle was now able to distinguish light and dark areas, and notices that they formed a spiral structure. This reminded him of the spirals formed whirlpools in the rivers and lakes around Birr, and he named it the Whirlpool Nebula. We now know that this is in fact galaxy, the Whirlpool Galaxy. Many galaxies have this spiral structure, including our own Milky Way Galaxy and it was seen for the first time in the world at Birr, in County Offaly here in Ireland.
More information and history of the 19th century Leviathan Telescope
Image of the Whirlpool Nebula, sketched from observations through the Leviathan Telescope in Birr in 1845.
Image of the Whirlpool Galaxy taken by the ESA/NASA Hubble Space Telescope in 2005.
I-LOFAR Radio Telescope
The astronomy research in Birr continues today with the state of the art I-LOFAR telescope, part of a European-wide network of radio telescopes picking up low frequency radio light from space. This large array including the Irish station at I-LOFAR in Birr is exploring many aspects of astrophysics and helping us understand more about the early Universe, magnetic fields in space, our own Sun, lightening and storms on other planets, and much more.
’Ní neart go cur le Chéile - Strength with unity’
Each arm of the spiral’s 27 dots represents one of the EU Member States, with the remaining space at the centre forming a five-point star, a symbol from the EU flag. The blue, green and orange symbolise both the Irish state and the European Union. The chosen slogan ‘Ní neart go cur le Chéile – Strength with unity’ reflects strength and partnership within the future of Europe. It is a simple yet powerful symbol of Ireland’s connection to Europe and the strength of working collaboratively.
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