Saturday 16th May is National Drawing Day, promoted by many Irish galleries including The National Gallery of Ireland. Why not take the opportunity, with lockdown still in place, to try your hand at botanical art. Shevaun Doherty, the ‘resident’ botanical artist at the Ellen Hutchins Festival says “Botanical art takes time and practice but it…
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Monday 15th October, 6pm was the Opening of the Ellen Hutchins, Ireland’s First Female Botanist Exhibition. The exhibition was opened by Astrid Wingler, Professor of Plant BiologyHead of Plant Science, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences and Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork. Carrie O’Flynn, the Historical Re-enactor featured on the poster (see above) was there…
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This is the date written in the corner of the earliest known drawing by Ellen Hutchins, and now in a bound volume of over 230 of them held in the Archives at Kew Gardens. We know that Ellen made her first ever drawing of a part of a seaweed in July 1808, and that by…
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Today marks a significant date in Ellen’s Story for two reasons. On 27th July 1808, 210 years ago, she wrote to fellow botanist, Dawson Turner, to tell him of her discovery of a particular seaweed, Fucus tomentosus, in fruit, and that she had made a drawing of it. She wrote “I had great pleasure in…
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The Festival is over and will be back next year. We had a wonderful week with some memorable events. The Festival Page HERE has some lovely photos.
Leaflets for the Ellen Hutchins Heritage Trail arrived last Friday, 18th May, at the Tourist Office in Bantry, and some of the people most closely involved in producing the Trail collected to be the first to see the leaflets and to listen to the audio guide tracks alongside them. The sun shone as we gathered…
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An essay on Ellen Hutchins (1785-1815) Ireland’s First Female Botanist – Botany and Beauty, Landscape and Letters appears in the newly published Volume Three of the Journal of the Bantry Historical and Archaeological Society. On Thursday May 10th at the West Lodge Hotel, Bantry, the Bantry Historical Society launched the new Journal, edited by Dr…
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The Supercomputer Naming Competition has had its deadline for voting extended to 25th May.
VOTE ELLEN bunting and information about the Supercomputer Naming Competition has appeared in two Bantry shop windows – the Bantry Credit Union and the Bantry Bookshop. All Ellen’s plant hunting and her discoveries of new plants were done round Bantry Bay and its neighbouring mountains, so celebrating Ellen’s achievements is also a celebration of Bantry…
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The Ellen schools website is officially launched today, with content specifically developed as research resources for school students interested in entering the competition to name Ireland’s new Supercomputer. Interesting, engaging, and informative material separate pages for primary and secondary school students summaries of useful information, great photos and illustrations at secondary level, links to more…
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