A display of the works of 'the father of Irish botany', John Templeton.
John Templeton (1766-1825) was a Belfast-based pioneer of Irish botany. He methodically observed, recorded and illustrated the plants of Northern Ireland, emphasising groups that receive less attention like mosses, liverworts and fungi. He advanced our understanding of plant biodiversity at a time when the Irish flora was not well known, and he made several new botanical discoveries.
Templeton lived in an interesting period of Belfast’s history, one of great political, cultural and scientific activity often known as the Belfast Enlightenment. Templeton was the champion of many causes and he advocated that the pursuit of knowledge, art and science are fundamental to human dignity and societal progress.
Today, Templeton’s botanical records serve as an invaluable baseline for understanding biodiversity change, providing an insight into the flora before the environmental transformations brought by industry and intensive agriculture.
This display features a selection of the critically important collection of manuscripts, journals, letters, illustrations and specimens belonging to Templeton. Included is his previously unpublished Catalogue of the Native Plants of Ireland, on temporary loan with permission from the Royal Irish Academy.
You can see this display on Level 3 in the Living World Gallery. The display will be in place until Sunday 29th March 2026.
