Robert Lloyd Praeger
Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian. Biography

Early life and education
From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in Holywood, County Down; he had four brothers and a sister. His father was born in the Netherlands, and imported linen, while his mother's family had a history of producing businesspeople, antiquarians and naturalists; an uncle was a co-founder of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club. Praeger attended the primary school of the Reverend McAlister and then the nearby Sullivan Upper School, followed by the Belfast Academical Institution. He joined the Belfast Naturalists Field Club (BNFC) at age 11, and was already judging a category in the precursor to the Chelsea Flower Show at 17. Praeger attended what is now Queen's University Belfast from 1882, earning a B.A. in 1885 and a B.Eng. in 1886. While at college he also became very active in the BNFC, learning a range of practical naturalist skills; he was elected to the club's committee in 1885. Career
Praeger was an engineer by qualification and initial practice, a librarian of long and senior standing by profession and a naturalist by inclination. His first job was with the Belfast city and district water commissioners, and while working with this body on an expansion of Belfast Harbour facilities, he also conducted studies on fossils, which led to his first post-college academic paper, in 1886. He co-authored his first book, on the ferns of Ulster, with a businessman and botanist, in 1887. In 1888 he declined a medium-term engineering position and applied unsuccessfully for a job at the Natural History Museum in Dublin; he worked the next five years on short engineering contracts while carrying on his naturalist work. He continued to publish, and was hired to catalogue a collection of around 60,000 specimens being donated to Belfast city. He was elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1891. In 1892, Praeger founded the Irish Naturalist, becoming its co-editor. Aside from articles, the journal contained official communications of both the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society and the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland. In 1893, Praeger secured a position as an assistant librarian at the National Library of Ireland in Dublin, where he worked from 1893 to 1924, rising to the position of chief librarian. Prager continued to write papers on the flora and other aspects of the natural history of Ireland. He organised the Lambay Survey in 1905/06 and, from 1909 to 1915, the wider Clare Island Survey. Recognition and voluntary work
He was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1921. He became the first President of both An Taisce and the Irish Mountaineering Club in 1948, and served as President of the Royal Irish Academy for 1931–34. Personal life
Praeger met his future wife, Hedwig Elena Ingeborg Meta Magnusson ("Hedi") in 1901; they became engaged after two weeks, and married in 1902. She died in 1952, and Praeger was buried with her in Deansgrange Cemetery, Dublin. His younger sister Rosamond Praeger was a sculptor and botanical artist. Achievements

Praeger was instrumental in developing advanced methodologies in Irish botany by inviting Knud Jessen, the acclaimed Danish expert in Glacial and Post-Glacial flora, to undertake research and teaching in Ireland. This was to lead to the establishment of 'paleoecology' as a distinct field of study in Ireland. "His" counties
A vice-county system was adopted by Praeger dividing Ireland into forty vice-counties based on the counties. However the boundaries between them does not always correspond to the administrative boundaries and there are doubts as to the correct interpretation of them. List of selected  publications

 Praeger, R.Ll. Irish Topographical Botany (ITB), Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Vol. (23) 3rd. series, Vol. 7). Praeger, R.Ll. 1893. The Flora of County Armagh. Ir Nat. : II. Praeger, R.Ll. et al. 1902. The exploration of the caves of Kesh, Co. Sligo. Trans. R. Ir. Acad., 32B: 171 – 214. Praeger, R.Ll. 1902. Gleanings in Irish Topographical Botany. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy, 24B: 61- 94. Praeger, R.Ll. 1901 Irish Topographical Botany: Supplement 1901 – 1905. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy, 26B: 13 – 45. Praeger, R.Ll. 1929. Report on recent additions to the Irish fauna and flora (Phanerogramia). Proc. Roy. Irish Academy 39B: 57 – 78. Praeger, R.Ll. 1932. Some noteworthy plants found in or reported from Ireland. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy. 41B: 95 – 24. Praeger, R.Ll. 1934a. The Botanist in Ireland. Dublin. Praeger, R.Ll. 1934b. A contribution to the flora of Ireland. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy. 42B: 55 – 86. Praeger, R.Ll. 1937 The Way That I Went, An Irishman in Ireland, Allen Figgis, Dublin 1980,  
 Praeger, R.Ll. 1939. A further contribution to the flora of Ireland. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy. 45B: 231 – 254. Praeger, R.Ll. 1946 Additions to the knowledge of the Irish Flora, 1939– 1945. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy. 51B: 27 – 51. Praeger, R.Ll. 1951. Hybrids in the Irish flora: a tentative list. Proc. Roy. Irish Academy. 54B: 1 – 14. Praeger, R.Ll. 1949. Some Irish Naturalists, a Biographical Note-book. Dundalk. See also 
 Clare Island
 Carrowkeel
 Knud Jessen

Further reading 
Lysaght, S.: Robert Lloyd Praeger – The Life of a Naturalist, 1865–1953, Four Courts Press 1998; . Collins, T.2006. The Clare Island Survey of 1909 – 1911: a multidisciplinary success. Occ. Publ. Ir. biogeog.Soc. No.9:155 – 165. Blaney, R. The Praeger Family of Holywood. FAMILIA: Ulster Genealogical Review .No.15:91–100.1999. References

External links

 Profile of Robert Lloyd Praeger from the Irish Universities. Robert Lloyd Praeger at the Ulster History Circle. Chronology. Clare Island survey. The first Clare Island survey from the Royal Irish Academy. Botanic Gardens *Botanic Gardens PDF
 Botanic Gardens
 Eirdata
 Herbaria United digital images of 621 Herbarium specimens collected by Mr. Robert Lloyd Praeger
 
 
 

1865 births
People from Holywood, County Down
19th-century Irish botanists
20th-century Irish botanists
Irish nature writers
People associated with the National Library of Ireland
Veitch Memorial Medal recipients
Presidents of the Royal Irish Academy
1953 deaths