Dervilla was interested in chemistry from an early age and initially wished to become a pharmacist. However, her journey took a different path as she became interested in phytochemistry, the study of chemicals derived from plants. Her great passion was wood chemistry, which brings vital insight into the chemical composition and properties of different types of wood. Her research employed a combination of organic synthesis, structural studies, mycology, and ecology.

Credit: Patrick Guiry

Dervilla studied chemistry at University College Dublin and completed her PhD there, studying the chemistry of flavonoids. Later, she pursued her postdoctoral studies on the biosynthesis of organic compounds in plants at the University of California at Los Angeles, funded by the American Association of University Women. In 1956, she returned to University College Dublin as a lecturer in Chemistry. Later, in 1979, she was appointed Professor of Phytochemistry.

At her appointment, the Chemistry department had all-male faculty members. Dervilla, as the only female faculty member, became a particularly popular and inspiring supervisor for female chemists. She took a great interest in students’ well-being and scientific development and provided excellent training for those interested in pursuing careers in the pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology, or academia.

Dervilla was a leader in promoting the benefits of international collaborations across synthetic chemistry, spectroscopic or analytical chemistry, and biology. She often served as a visiting scientist in Stockholm and Gif-sur-Yvette in France.She developed and managed one of Europe’s first academic research networks in the late 1970s.

Her skills in international collaboration and commitment to European research were recognized by her election to the European Science Research Council, the European Science Foundation Executive Council, and the European Science and Technology Assembly. Dervilla also had a long and fruitful association with the Royal Dublin Society and became its first woman President. She was also the first woman to receive the Royal Irish Academy’s highest honour, The Cunningham Medal. The award recognizes “outstanding contributions to scholarship and the objectives of the Academy,” and it is the Academy’s premier award dating back to 1796.

Undoubtedly, Dervilla will be remembered by many as a woman dedicated to cultivating curiosity and a remarkable scientist who instilled a high standard of scientific rigour and integrity in all those she encountered during her career. Her teaching will remain with them throughout their life and scientific endeavours.