Evelyn Mary Booth (1897–1988) was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
botanist, designer of the gardens at Lucy's Wood, and writer of ''The Flora of County Carlow''. She was described as "one of Ireland's most loved and respected botanists".
Life
Evelyn Mary Booth was born 30 October 1897 at
Annamoe
Annamoe () is a village located on the Avonmore river in County Wicklow, Ireland about south of Dublin. It is on the R755 road (at the junction with the R763) between Roundwood and Laragh on the road to Glendalough.
The small stone humpbac ...
,
Laragh, County Wicklow, one of three children of Hilda Mary Hall-Dare and James Erskine Wise Booth.
Through her father, Booth was related to
Robert Barton
Robert Childers Barton (14 March 1881 – 10 August 1975) was an Anglo-Irish politician, Irish nationalist and farmer who participated in the negotiations leading up to the signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. His father was Charles William Ba ...
, a signatory of the 1921
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...
, and
Erskine Hamilton Childers
Erskine Hamilton Childers (11 December 1905 – 17 November 1974) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the fourth president of Ireland from June 1973 to November 1974. He is the only Irish president to have died in office. He also ...
, President of Ireland, from 1973 to 1974. Her mother was the daughter of Caroline Hall-Dare, the founder of the
Newtownbarry School of Lace.
Booth attended boarding school in
Southbourne, Dorset
Southbourne is a suburb of Bournemouth in Dorset, England. It is situated between Boscombe and Christchurch, in the unitary authority of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. The area was previously known as Stourfield. Strictly, Southbourne refers ...
. As a young woman, Booth took part in many horse shows, including those at the
Royal Dublin Society grounds in
Ballsbridge. During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Booth served as a Red Cross ambulance driver in France, and as a hospital quartermaster during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Between the wars, Booth spent time in India with her brother, Brigadier John Booth and her cousin Kathleen Cunningham, the wife of the Governor of the Northwest Frontier Province at
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
.
Booth died at her home near
Bunclody
Bunclody (), formerly Newtownbarry (until 1950), is a small town on the River Slaney in Wexford, Ireland. It is located near the foot of Mount Leinster. Most of the town is in County Wexford; a small area at the north end of town is in Count ...
on 13 December 1988.
Botanical work
Upon her return to Ireland, Booth settled in
Lucy's Wood, close to the town of
Bunclody
Bunclody (), formerly Newtownbarry (until 1950), is a small town on the River Slaney in Wexford, Ireland. It is located near the foot of Mount Leinster. Most of the town is in County Wexford; a small area at the north end of town is in Count ...
. Whilst she had many interests including horse riding, fly fishing, and needlework, botany was one of her key hobbies. An example of Booth's needlework can be found in the
National Museum of Ireland, Country Life in Mayo.
At the garden at Lucy's Wood, Booth planned and developed a diverse garden, which is still a tourist destination today. Booth stocked the garden with rare plants, unusual cultivars and wild species.
An anemone that Booth discovered in a wood nearby, ''
Anemone nemorosa'', was named "Lucy's Wood".
Following a meeting with botanist
Edith Rawlins,
Booth became interested in the observation and recording of plants. From 1939 she was a member of the Wild Flower Society, and began to collect seeds from wild flowers in Counties
Carlow and
Wexford
Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...
, depositing parts of her collection in the
National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. She went on to serve as the chairperson of the Bunclody Horticultural Society for a number of years. In 1963 Booth attended the inaugural meeting of the Irish Regional Branch of the Botanical Society of the British Isles, and was elected to the committee, which she served for many years.
Much of Booth's work was published in the ''
Irish Naturalists' Journal''. She also contributed to a number of volumes, including the ''Atlas of the British Flora''.
In 1954 the ''Wild Flower Magazine'' reported that Booth had recorded 584 species in County Wexford, 579 in County Carlow, and 584 in
County Kilkenny. Booth's interests extended to fauna also, and she is considered an early environmentalist, recording surveys of butterflies, dragonflies, birds, and some Crustacea for the
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
, the National Herbarium, and An Foras Forbartha.
Her most significant work was the book ''The Flora of County Carlow'', which was published in 1979, assisted by
Maura Scannell.
Following in the tradition of
Robert Lloyd Praeger
Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian.
Biography
From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in Holywood, County Down. He attended the school of the Reverend McAlister and t ...
as an inventory of plants from a county, this book was the first Irish county flora to be written by a woman.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Evelyn
20th-century Irish botanists
1897 births
1988 deaths
People from Annamoe
Irish women botanists
20th-century Irish women scientists
Scientists from County Wicklow
People from Bunclody