ABSTRACT
The mathematical physicist James MacCullagh was born in 1809the exact day and month are unknown-in Landahussy, a townland in the parish of Upper Badoney near Plumbridge in County Tyrone. He was the eldest of 12 children-four of whom died young-of James MacCullagh (1777-1857) and his wife, Margaret MacCullagh (ne´e Ballentine [?], 1784-1839). While he was still young his father left his mountain farm and the family moved to Strabane, where the mathematical talent of the young James first became apparent. He attended the schools of the historian Rev John Graham (1776-1844) and the classicist Rev Thomas Rollestone (1789-1850) at Lifford in County Donegal.
