Des MacHale was born in Castlebar, County Mayo. He earned his BSc and MSc in mathematical science at University College Galway in 1967 and 1968, and completed his PhD at the University of Keele in 1972 under Hans Liebeck. Since then he has been at University College Cork, where his research has focussed on group and ring theory, especially Boolean rings. In 1985 MacHale published George Boole: His Life and Work, the first book length biography of Boole. In 2014, a year ahead of Boole's bicentennial, this was reissued in revised and expanded form as The Life and Work of George Boole: A Prelude to the Digital Age. He is considered the world's leading expert on Boole and in 2018 published another book New Light on George Boole, co-authored with Yvonne Cohen. MacHale has also authored books on other subjects, including brainteasers and he has written more than 30 books of jokes and discussions of humour. His Comic Sections: The Book of Mathematical Jokes, Humour, Wit and Wisdom is a book which combines two of his interests. He has written over a dozen books of lateral thinking problems with author Paul Sloane; and many of these problems are featured on the Futility Closet website. He has written several books about the 1952 American film, The Quiet Man. He has spoken at schools, on radio, and television on the subjects of mathematics, humour, and puzzles. MacHale designed the logo of the Irish Mathematical Society. He is a longtime opponent of smoking, and for decades has played a role within the Irish Association of Non-Smokers. He appeared on RTÉ's The Late Late Show as early as the 1980s in an attempt to educate the public about the dangers of smoking. His son is the actor Dominic MacHale, known for The Young Offenders.
Superbrain competition
From 1984 to 2007, McHale ran the Superbrain Competition at University College Cork, including setting the questions and grading the papers. This annual competitive mathematics exam, now run by a committee of mathematics faculty, is open to UCC undergraduate and master's level students, and consists of 10 questions to be done in 3 hours. A book of the questions from 1984 to 2008 was published in 2011 as The First Twenty-Five Years of the Superbrain by Diarmuid Early & Des MacHale.
1987 The Book of Irish Bull: Better than All the Udders, Mercier,
1985 George Boole: His Life and Work, Boole Press,
Awards and honours
On George Boole Day, 2 November 2015, University College Cork awarded MacHale an honorary doctorate of literature in recognition of his contributions to scholarship on Boole. On 15 October 2016 Maths Week Ireland presented MacHale with the inaugural "Raising Public Awareness of Maths" award.
