A bit of history..

Only 9 of the elements—carbon, sulfur, copper, iron, tin, gold, silver, mercury, and lead—were known in the uncombined state in ancient times. Although they were recognized as distinct materials, they were not classified as elements. In ancient and medieval times, the elements were earth, air, fire, and water, the four simple substances of which all material bodies were thought to be made.

The modern use of the concept of an element dates from the early 1660s, when the chemist Robert Boyle (who was born in Lismore, County Waterford) described elements as primitive and simple materials that are not made of any other materials or of one another. Robert Boyle was born in Co. Waterford in 1627. He was the 7th son, and the 14th child of Richard Boyle, who was the first Earl of Cork! (www.juniorscience.ie)