Ref: PG.SS.PH.412

Frank Sharman Rishworth (1876–1960) was born at Ballymoate Lodge, Tuam, Co Galway. An able student, he graduated from his studies in both arts and engineering at Queen’s University Galway in 1898. In 1902, he joined the Egyptian ministry of education, and began to lecture at the school of engineering at Giza. He also worked on the first Aswan Dam before returning to QCG as a professor of civil engineering, where he later taught and influenced a young Thomas McLaughlin. In light of his experience, the Free State government requested a leave of absence for Rishworth to become chief engineer on the Shannon Scheme project in 1925.

As Patrick Long notes in his biography of Rishworth, he:

served willingly on the project as a resident expert, drawing up the contract documents and settling in for three years of hard work.

Rishworth’s involvement in the Shannon Scheme gained favour with the government. He was later appointed president of the Institute of Civil Engineers of Ireland (1936–1938), and was involved in a number of subsequent civil engineering projects, such as the drainage commission (1938–1940).

Rishworth’s personal papers are held in the National Archives, Ireland.

Reference: Patrick Long, ‘Rishworth, Frank Sharman’, Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography Online.