Clare Island Survey facts for kids
The Clare Island Survey was a huge scientific project that studied everything about Clare Island, a small island off the west coast of Ireland. Scientists looked at its animals, plants, rocks, and even its history and old buildings. It was one of the biggest surveys of its kind in the world!
Contents
What Was the Clare Island Survey?
The Clare Island Survey was a massive scientific study that happened over 100 years ago. It aimed to learn all about Clare Island in County Mayo, Ireland. This project was a "multidisciplinary" survey, which means it covered many different areas of science. These included:
- Zoology: The study of animals.
- Botany: The study of plants.
- Archaeology: The study of human history through digging up old things.
- Geology: The study of Earth's rocks and how they were formed.
The survey also looked at things like old buildings, local place names, farming methods, and even the weather on the island.
Who Organized This Big Project?
The idea for the Clare Island Survey came from a famous Irish scientist named Robert Lloyd Praeger. He had helped with a similar survey on Lambay Island a few years earlier.
In April 1908, a special committee was formed to get the project going. They brought together over 100 scientists! These experts came from Ireland, England, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. For three years, from 1909 to 1911, these scientists worked hard on the island, collecting lots of information.
The main people on the organizing committee were:
- Robert Lloyd Praeger
- Robert Francis Scharff
- Richard Manliffe Barrington
- Grenville Cole
- Nathaniel Colgan
- Henry William Lett
What Did the Scientists Study?
The main focus of the survey was on studying the different types of animals and plants found on Clare Island. They paid special attention to where different species lived, how they spread, and how they interacted with their environment (this is called "ecology").
But it wasn't just about plants and animals! The scientists also explored many other topics, such as:
- Antiquities: Old objects and buildings.
- Place-names and Family Names: The history behind local names.
- Agriculture: How farming was done on the island.
- Climatology: The study of the island's climate and weather.
- Geology: The types of rocks and landforms.
All the amazing information collected during the survey was published in a series of books and reports. These were called A Biological Survey of Clare Island in the County of Mayo, Ireland and of the Adjoining District. There were 68 different parts published between 1911 and 1915. (Part 8 was never published).
Each part focused on a specific topic. Here are some examples of what was covered:
- Introduction and General Narrative: An overview of the whole project.
- History and Archaeology: Looking at the island's past.
- Gaelic Plant and Animal Names: Exploring local Irish names for nature.
- Geology: What the island's rocks and land were like.
- Plants: Studies on flowering plants, ferns, mosses, fungi, and algae.
- Animals: Detailed studies on mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and many types of insects like beetles, butterflies, and flies. They also studied spiders, crabs, snails, worms, and tiny creatures like plankton.
- Marine Ecology: How sea creatures lived and interacted.
- General Summary: A final report putting all the findings together.
Many different scientists contributed to these parts, sharing their expert knowledge about the island's natural world and history. For example, Robert Lloyd Praeger wrote about plants, and T. J. Westropp covered history and archaeology.
