Centenary of Clare Island survey to be marked by RIA

CHARLES DARWIN made the Galapagos Islands famous with his observations of flora and fauna, which eventually led to his best known work, On the Origin of Species. But Darwin also helped put a small island off the west coast of Ireland on the map.

A century ago, Irish naturalist Robert Lloyd Praeger started an ambitious programme to catalogue and better understand the natural history of Clare Island.

Inspired by Darwin’s theories of natural selection, Praeger wanted to investigate whether evolutionary change between the Co Mayo mainland and Clare Island could be detected, and how species colonised the area.

The original two-year survey was a huge success, describing many plant and animal species new to science, according to Prof Martin Steer, who chairs the New Survey of Clare Island executive committee at the Royal Irish Academy (RIA).

“It was a unique snapshot of the total environment of Clare Island at the start of the 20th century,” he explains.

Those initial findings also formed the basis of a new survey, which started in 1992, recording a diversity of plant and animal life, climatic signatures in rocks and a wealth of historic evidence in the island’s medieval abbey.

To celebrate the centenary of Praeger's survey and 150 years since Darwin's On the Origin of Species, a free exhibition of letters, rare books and photographs will run at the RIA's library in Dawson Street, Dublin 2, from July 2nd to December 14th (excluding July 10th to 20th, when the library will be closed to the public), and a series of associated free lectures will run over the coming months.

“The aim of the programme is to help the public appreciate the historical significance of a unique exploration at the start of the last century and how it was influenced by Darwin’s ideas,” says Steer. “It is a major part of our cultural heritage in both the arts and sciences.”

The lecture series starts with The Irish Response to Darwinism, to be given by Dr Thomas Duddy, from NUI Galway, on Thursday, July 2nd, at 6.30pm.

For bookings and more information about events, see ria.ie.