The restoration was finished in about 2014 and discussions started with the Armagh Observatory & Planetarium (AOP) with a view to the telescope finding a suitable home in Armagh, where WFA Ellison was Director. Just as progress was being made, Covid19 intervened.
The AOP now has a Museum Collections Officer, Matthew McMahon (also a PhD student there) and he has been instrumental in making the arrangements for the telescope to not just return, but take its rightful place on display as part of the AOP heritage.
So in September 2024 the telescope was taken apart and carefully squeezed into the Mustang for its journey. My wife and I made a holiday out of it (first time to Ireland) and had a great time. Our visit to Armagh was of course key and the AOP went out of their way to welcome us. We had a detailed tour, lots of discussions and then re-assembled the telescope, at last back on Irish soil!
We were joined by Julian Ellison, great grandson of WFA Ellison. Everyone was moved by the homecoming of the telescope, it being the only known complete instrument he made and the one featured in his 1920 book.
Photo at right of the telescope in the AOP library, with (left to right) Prof Michael Burton, myself and Julian Ellison.
The telescope will be displayed next to the 18” Calver reflector, once owned and much used by WFA Ellison.