Robert Lloyd Praeger by Sarah Cecilia Harrison

Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) 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 ...

naturalist,

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

and

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

Biography

From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in

Holywood Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to: Places * Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland ** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland ** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland) * ...

, County Down. He attended the school of the Reverend McAlister and then the nearby

Sullivan Upper School Sullivan Upper School is a mixed non- denominational voluntary grammar school in Holywood, Northern Ireland, and has approximately 1,100 enrolled pupils. The school motto is ', Irish for "with the gentle hand foremost". History Sullivan Low ...

. He worked in the

National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland i ...

in Dublin from 1893 to 1923. He co-founded and edited the '' Irish Naturalist'', and wrote papers on the

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and other aspects of the natural history of Ireland. He organised the

Lambay Lambay Island ( ga, Reachrainn), often simply Lambay, is an island in the Irish Sea off the coast of north County Dublin, Ireland. The largest island off the east coast of Ireland, it is offshore from the headland at Portrane, and is the eas ...

Survey in 1905/06 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 was awarded the

Veitch Memorial Medal The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize issued annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Goal The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement o ...

of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

in 1921. He became the first President of both

An Taisce An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland (; meaning "the store" or "the treasury"), established in June 1948, is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) active in the areas of the environment and built heritage in Ireland. It considers itself t ...

and the Irish Mountaineering Club in 1948, and served as President of the Royal Irish Academy for 1931–34. He is buried in

Deansgrange Deansgrange () is a southern suburb of Dublin, centred on the crossroads of Clonkeen Road and Kill Lane. The area shares the name Clonkeen () with the area further east, known as Kill of the Grange (i.e. "Church of the Grange of ": referring to ...

Cemetery,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, together with his wife Hedwig. His younger sister

Rosamond Praeger Sophia Rosamond Praeger, MBE, HRHA, MA (17 April 1867 – 16 April 1954) was an Irish artist, sculptor, illustrator, poet and writer. Early life and education Praeger was born in Holywood, County Down, Ireland on 17 April 1867. Her parents ...

was a sculptor and botanical artist.

Achievements

Robert Lloyd Praeger (here-lived plaque)

Praeger was instrumental in developing advanced methodologies in Irish botany by inviting

Knud Jessen Knud Jessen (29 November 1884 – 14 April 1971) was a Danish botanist and quaternary geologist. Biography Jessen was born at Frederiksberg, Denmark. He was a student at the University of Copenhagen and was awarded cand.mag. in natural hi ...

, 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 Paleoecology (also spelled palaeoecology) is the study of interactions between organisms and/or interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales. As a discipline, paleoecology interacts with, depends on and informs ...

' as a distinct field of study in Ireland.

"His" counties

A vice-county system was adopted by Praeger dividing Ireland into forty 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.Scannell, M. J. P. and Synnott, D. M. 1972. ''Census Catalogue of the Flora of Ireland.'' Dublin, The Stationery Office

List of selected 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, * 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.

References

External links

Profile of Robert Lloyd Praeger
from the Irish Universities.

at the Ulster History Circle.

from the Royal Irish Academy.
Botanic Gardens PDF

Herbaria United
digital images of 621 Herbarium specimens collected by Mr. Robert Lloyd Praeger * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Praeger, Robert Lloyd 1865 births 1953 deaths 20th-century Irish botanists 19th-century Irish botanists People from Holywood, County Down Irish nature writers Veitch Memorial Medal recipients Members of the Royal Irish Academy