Athy Co-Operative Foundry Limited

Athy Co-op Foundry supplied the patterns and castings for the restoration of the telescope at Birr Castle, Offaly.

The Leviathan of Parsonstown was a 72-inch telescope and the largest telescope in the world from 1847 until the construction of the 100-inch Hooker Telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory in 1917. The telescope was built by William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse on his estate, Birr Castle, at Parsonstown (now called Birr) in Ireland.

The 72-inch telescope replaced a 36-inch telescope that had been at the same site.

The telescope itself was dismantled in 1914 but has since been reassembled as a tourist attraction.