Ireland

Bridget Keehan

Email: bridget.keehan@bsbi.org 

Twitter: @BSBI_Ireland

Facebook: @IrishSectionBSBI

The Ireland Officer supports BSBI County Recorders and members, and works with partner organisations on botanical projects and surveys.

Upcoming events in Ireland

After a summer  of exciting field meetings and Aquatic Plant Project field days, winter is nearly with us. Our final event of 2023, the annual Autumn Meeting and AGM, was held this year on Saturday 21st October. This was a great success, with around 75 botanists from all corners of Ireland congregating in the beautiful, autumnal setting of the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin, to meet up with one another and enjoy the fascinating line-up of speakers and workshops.

To see what you missed, or to revisit some of the talks and workshops, visit the Autumn Meeting and AGM page.

Even though summer is over, there are still botanical events and get-togethers to look forward to! Our thirteenth New Year Plant Hunt will run from 30th December 2023 to 2nd January 2024, when thousands of plant lovers will be out plant-hunting across Britain and Ireland - with friends and family, joining a group hunt or going solo.

Whatever your skill level - whether you are a complete beginner or a Professor of Botany! -  you can join in this event, to help us build up a clearer picture of how our wild and naturalised plants are responding to changes in autumn and winter weather patterns - and have fun in the process!

Register your interest here to find out what's happening where, and access resources to help you find and identify the plants most likely to be blooming in Ireland at New Year.

Meanwhile, for information on other local botany events, contact your local BSBI Group (see below), or alternatively check out our Local Botany page to find out about local events and to contact your County Recorder.

Plant Atlas 2020 goes live!

Plant Atlas 2020 is the most in-depth survey of the British and Irish flora ever undertaken. The results for Ireland are summarised on the Plant Atlas 2020 in Ireland page, and you can browse the findings to your heart's content, online, here.

The beautiful 2-volume printed Plant Atlas 2020 is available in bookshops or direct from the publishers - BSBI members can claim a 30% discount when ordering print copies or eBooks. More details can be found on our Plant Atlas 2020 in Ireland page.

Huge thanks are due to everyone who has contributed over the last 20 years to make the Atlas a reality.

2022 Irish Autumn Meeting & AGM

Last year's Autumn Meeting & AGM was held face-to-face on Saturday, 24th September 2022 at Glasnevin National Botanic Gardens. Fifty botanists really enjoyed meeting up and participating in the programme of talks and workshops. All the talks were recorded and you can see them on the Irish Autumn Meeting & AGM page.

Aquatic Plant Project

Although we held our final the Aquatic Plant Project workshop of 2023 on 8th October, the good news is that we are planning more Aquatic Plant Project events in 2024!  Watch this space or visit the Aquatic Plant Project page for more details nearer the time.

If you want to learn more about aquatic plants, or brush up on your i.d. skills over the winter, check out the wide variety of online resources, training videos and webinars, from this year and previous years of the project, all available to view on the Aquatic Plant Project page.

2023 Spring Conference

There were some excellent talks at this year's BSBI Irish Spring Conference, held on Saturday, 22nd April 2023. All are available to watch on our YouTube channel.

Irish Botanical News published

Take a look at the 2023 issue of Irish Botanical News! This magazine provides a wealth of fascinating information about botany in Ireland, as well as what's been happening in botanical circles across Ireland over the past year. You can also browse back issues of this magazine here.