Robert Lloyd Praeger
Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian.
Life
Of a Unitarian background, he was born in Holywood, County Down, and grew up in that town where he was educated, first in the school of the Rev McAlister and then at nearby Sullivan Upper School.[1] He worked in the National Library of Ireland in Dublin from 1893 to 1923. He co-founded and edited the Irish Naturalist, and wrote papers on the flora and other aspect of the natural history of Ireland. He organised the Lambay Survey in 1905 to 1906 and, from 1909 to 1915, the wider Clare Island Survey. He was an engineer by qualification, a librarian by profession and a naturalist by inclination. He became the first President of An Taisce, and of the Irish Mountaineering Club,[2] in 1948 and served as President of the Royal Irish Academy for 1931–34.
He is buried in Deansgrange Cemetery, Dublin with his wife Hedwig.
His younger sister Rosamond Praeger was a sculptor and botanic artist.
Achievements
Praeger was instrumental in developing advanced methodologies in Irish botany by inviting Knud Jessen, the acclaimed Danish expert in Glacial and Post-Glacial flora, to undertake research and teaching in Ireland. This was to lead to the establishment of ‘paleoecology’ as a distinct field of study in Ireland.[3]
"His" counties
A vice-county system was adopted by Praeger dividing Ireland into 40 vice-counties based on the counties. However the boundaries between them does not always correspond to the administrative boundaries and there are doubts as to the correct interpretation of them.[4]
Praeger's publications
- Praeger, R.Ll. Irish Topographical Botany (ITB), Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Vol. (23) 3rd. series, Vol. 7).
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1893. The Flora of County Armagh. Ir Nat.: II.
- Praeger, R.Ll. et al. 1902. The exploration of the caves of Kesh, Co. Sligo. Trans. R. Ir. Acad., 32B: 171 - 214.
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1902. Gleanings in Irish Topographical Botany. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy, 24B: 61- 94.
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1901 Irish Topographical Botany: Supplement 1901 - 1905. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy, 26B: 13 - 45.
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1929. Report on recent additions to the Irish fauna and flora (Phanerogramia). Proc. Roy. Irish Academy 39B: 57 - 78.
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1932. Some noteworthy plants found in or reported from Ireland. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy. 41B: 95 - 24.
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1934a. The Botanist in Ireland. Dublin.
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1934b. A contribution to the flora of Ireland. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy. 42B: 55 - 86.
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1937 The Way That I Went, An Irishman in Ireland, Allen Figgis, Dublin 1980, ISBN O 900372 93
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1939. A further contribution to the flora of Ireland. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy. 45B: 231 - 254.
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1946 Additions to the knowledge of the Irish Flora, 1939- 1945. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy. 51B: 27 - 51.
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1951. Hybrids in the Irish flora: a tentative list. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy. 54B: 1 - 14.
- Praeger, R.Ll. 1949. Some Irish Naturalists, a Biographical Note-book. Dundalk.
See also
Further reading
- Lysaght, S.: Robert Lloyd Praeger – The Life of a Naturalist, 1865-1953, Four Courts Press 1998; ISBN 1-85182-422-7.
- Collins, T.2006. The Clare Island Survey of 1909 - 1911: a multidisciplinary success. Occ. Publ. Ir. biogeog.Soc. No.9:155 - 165.
- Blaney, R. The Praeger Family of Holywood. FAMILIA: Ulster Genealogical Review .No.15:91-100.1999.
References
- ↑ Praeger, Robert Lloyd (1969). The Way that I Went: An Irishman in Ireland. Dublin: Allen Figgis. pp. 10–12. ISBN 0-900372-08-7.
- ↑ Irish Mountaineering Club
- ↑ Tim Robinson (2007) Connemara: Listening to the Wind, Dublin : Penguin Ireland ISBN9781844880669
- ↑ Scannell, M. J. P. and Synnott, D. M. 1972. Census Catalogue of the Flora of Ireland. Dublin, The Stationery Office
- ↑ "Author Query for 'Praeger'". International Plant Names Index.
External links
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Wikisource has original works written by or about: Robert Lloyd Praeger |
- Profile of Robert Lloyd Praeger from the Irish Universities.
- Robert Lloyd Praeger at the Ulster History Circle.
- Chronology.
- Clare Island survey.
- The first Clare Island survey from the Royal Irish Academy.
- Botanic Gardens *Botanic Gardens PDF
- Botanic Gardens
- Eirdata
- Herbaria United digital images of 621 herbarium specimens collected by Mr. Robert Lloyd Praeger
- Works by Robert Lloyd Praeger at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Robert Lloyd Praeger at Internet Archive
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