Clúdach: Cover

Among the many historically valuable materials held in the library of the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin (the only library in Ireland that specializes in botany and horticulture, totaling more than 16,000 volumes) is an extensive collection of drawings of seaweed and fungi by the illustrator and pioneering amateur algologist and illustrator Anne Elizabeth Ball (1808–1972). Raised in Youghal, County Cork, Ball’s family distinguished itself in natural history, as her brother Robert became a prominent naturalist, and her sister Mary, a zoologist. Although Anne Ball was not a member of any scientific societies, her collections and drawings significantly advanced the study of algae in her day.

Our cover image is a drawing of the seaweed Sphaerococcus jubatus, a red algae. There is no date on the drawing. It is unlikely that it was drawn from life, as according to a 1954 article by M. A. Wilson in The Irish Naturalists’ Journal, Ball generally copied images in other books in the course of her studies and research. She did, however, also undertake field research. She collaborated with the naturalist William H. Harvey on his Phycologia Britiannica (1846–51), and when she collected an original specimen of a previously undescribed species near Clontarf in 1846, Harvey honored her by naming the genus Ballia and the specific plant Cladophora balliana.

The National Botanic Gardens also contain the National Herbarium and several historic wrought-iron glasshouses. Founded in the 1790s, the Botanic Gardens came into state care in 1878 and since then have been administered by various government departments. The Office of Public Works (OPW) currently has responsibility for the Gardens, which remain a working scientific institution. The Gardens are open to the public free of charge; visitors may wish to first look at the web site at http://www.botanicgardens.ie/home.htm.

We thank the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, and especially librarian Alexandra Caccamo, for kind assistance in providing our cover images in this year’s volume, and in composing this note.