The
Ulster Museum, located in the
Botanic GardensBelfast Botanic Gardens is a public park in Belfast, Northern Ireland.Occupying of south Belfast, the gardens are popular with office workers, students and tourists. They are located on Stranmillis Road in Belfast's university area, with Queen's University nearby...
in
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, has around 8,000 square metres of public display space, featuring material from the collections of
fine artFine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
and
applied artApplied art is the application of design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use. Whereas fine arts serve as intellectual stimulation to the viewer or academic sensibilities, the applied arts incorporate design and creative ideals to objects of utility, such as a cup, magazine or...
,
archaeologyArchaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
,
ethnographyEthnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
, treasures from the
Spanish ArmadaThe Spanish Armada in Ireland refers to the landfall made upon the coast of Ireland in September 1588 of a large portion of the 130-strong fleet sent by Philip II to invade England....
,
local historyLocal history is the study of history in a geographically local context and it often concentrates on the local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history...
, numismatics, industrial archaeology,
botanyBotany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
,
zoologyZoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
and
geologyGeology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
. It is the largest museum in
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, and one of the components of
National Museums Northern Ireland.
The Ulster Museum was closed for nearly three years (2006 to October 2009) while it was under renovation. It re-opened to the public on 22 October 2009, on its 80th anniversary. The renovation work was supported by the National Lottery and the Northern Ireland Executive's
Department of Culture, Arts and LeisureThe Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is a devolved Northern Irish government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
.
History
The Ulster Museum was founded as the
Belfast Natural History SocietyThe Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society was founded in 1821 to promote the scientific study of animals, plants, fossils, rocks and minerals....
in 1821 and began exhibiting in 1833. It has included an art gallery since 1890. Originally called the
Belfast Municipal Museum and Art Gallery, in 1929, it moved to its present location in
StranmillisStranmillis is an area in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is also an electoral ward for Belfast City Council, part of the Laganbank district electoral area. As part of the Queen's Quarter, it is the location for prominent attractions such as the Ulster Museum and Botanic Gardens and is popular...
. The new building was designed by James Cumming Wynne.
In 1962, courtesy of the Museum Act (Northern Ireland) 1961, it was renamed as the Ulster Museum and was formally recognised as a
national museumA national museum is a museum maintained by a nation.The following is a list of national museums:-Australia:*Australian National Aviation Museum*Australian National Maritime Museum*, Sydney*Australian War Memorial*Museum Victoria...
. A major extension constructed by
McLaughlin & Harvey LtdMcLaughlin and Harvey is a Building and Civil Engineering firm founded in 1853. It operates all over UK and Ireland from its head offices located in Mallusk, just north of Belfast.- History :...
to designs by Francis Pym was begun in 1962 and opened in 1964. It is in the
BrutalistBrutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
style, praised by David Evans for the "almost barbaric power of its great cubic projections and cantilevers brooding over the conifers of the botanic gardens like a
mastodonMastodons were large tusked mammal species of the extinct genus Mammut which inhabited Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Central America from the Oligocene through Pleistocene, 33.9 mya to 11,000 years ago. The American mastodon is the most recent and best known species of the group...
".
Since the 1940s, the Ulster Museum has built up very good collection of
artArt is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
by modern
IrishThe Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, and particularly
UlsterUlster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
-based, artists.
In 1998, the Ulster Museum, which includes
Armagh County MuseumThe Armagh County Museum is a museum in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Located on the Mall, the museum is one of the national museums of Northern Ireland...
, merged with the
Ulster Folk and Transport MuseumThe Ulster Folk and Transport Museum is situated in Cultra, Northern Ireland, about east of the city of Belfast. It comprises two separate museums, the Folk Museum and the Transport Museum...
and the Ulster-American Folk Park to form the
National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland.
In July 2005, a £17m refurbishment of the museum was announced, with funding coming from the
Heritage Lottery FundThe Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
and the
Department of Culture, Arts and LeisureThe Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is a devolved Northern Irish government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
(DCAL, usually pronounced as 'Dee-Kal'). In October 2006 the museum closed its doors until 2009, to allow for the refurbishment work.
Illustrations of historic interest will be found as nos 183 and 237 in Larmour,P. 1987. The redevelopment proposals have drawn criticism from many significant figures in the architectural community, who feel the character of the Modernist extension will be irrevocably lost. The reopening has seen the introduction of Monday closure, which has received criticism from the public and in the press.(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8327142.stm) All NMNI sites are to close on Mondays. This decision is being reviewed by
DCALThe Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is a devolved Northern Irish government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
.
Exhibits
The Ulster Museum contains important collections of Irish birds, mammals, insects, molluscs, marine invertebrates, flowering plants,
algaeAlgae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
and lichens, as well as an archive of books and manuscripts relating to
IrishIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
natural historyNatural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
. The museum also maintains a natural history website named
Habitas. In the late 1980s and the early 1990s it had a permanent exhibition on
dinosaurDinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s which has since been scaled back considerably. There is also a collection of
rocksPetrology is the branch of geology that studies rocks, and the conditions in which rocks form....
,
mineralsMineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
and fossils.
Historic
- Joseph Whitaker
Joseph Isaac Spadafora Whitaker was a Sicilan-English ornithologist, archaeologist and sportsman. He is mainly known for his work on the birds of Tunisia, and for being involved in the foundation of the Sicilian football club U.S. Città di Palermo.-Biography :Whitaker's family came from prominent...
early 20th century, mounted birds from SicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
.
- William Thompson mid 19th century author of Natural History of Ireland, Mollusca, birds, algae.
- Robert Templeton
Robert Templeton was a Naturalist, artist, and entomologist, and was born at Cranmore House, Belfast, Ireland.-Life and work:...
(Belfast, Colombo) mid 19th century insects from Ceylon.
- George Crawford Hyndman
George Crawford Hyndman was an Irish auctioneer and amateur biologistHyndman from Belfast was mainly interested in marine zoology and marine botany...
mollusca and Indian birds.
- William Monad Crawford
William Monad Crawford was an Irish colonial civil servant in India and entomologist.William Monad Crawford's father was a wealthy linen manufacturer. He was born in Paris, living there until he was sixteen when the family returned to Ireland. He served in the Indian Civil Service from 1895 to...
early 20th century Butterflies from Burma.
- Canon William Frederick Johnson
William Frederick Johnson was an Irish naturalist primarily interested in Entomology.-Biography:He was born in Travancore, India, where he spent his youth. A genial and kindly clergyman,he published over 100 papers each on Lepidoptera, sixty or so on Hymenoptera and smaller numbers on each of ten...
early 20th century, Coleoptera.
- Charles Langham early 20th century, Irish insects Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an butterflies.
- H.M Peebles Himalayan snow butterflies (Parnassiinae
Parnassius is a genus of northern circumpolar and montane butterflies usually known as Apollos. They can vary in colour and form significantly based on their altitude. They also show an adaptation to high altitudes called altitudinal melanism...
)
- Robert Welch
Robert John Welch was an Irish photographer interested in natural history, particularly mollusca. Welch, born in Strabane, County Tyrone, was the son of an accomplished Scottish amateur photographer....
early 20th century Mollusca.
- Herbert T Malcolmson early 20th century James Sheals bird mounts (Ireland).
- Thomas Workman
Thomas Workman was an Irish entomologist and arachnologist who travelled widely collecting butterflies and studying spiders. He is best known for his book Malaysian Spiders, published in 1896, in which he described several new species....
late 19th century Lepidoptera
Recent
- Paul Wilcox (1943- ) Butterflies of Malaya
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
.
- Paul Smart (1941- ) Tropical butterflies
- Raymond Haynes Irish Butterflies Moths
- James P. Brock Ichneumonidae
Ichneumonidae is a family within the insect order Hymenoptera. Insects in this family are commonly called ichneumon wasps. Less exact terms are ichneumon flies , or scorpion wasps due to the extreme lengthening and curving of the abdomen...
- Shell collections
Conchology is the scientific or amateur study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs, however malacology studies molluscs as whole organisms, not just their shells. Conchology pre-dated malacology as a field of study. It includes the study of land and...
, NudibranchA nudibranch is a member of what is now a taxonomic clade, and what was previously a suborder, of soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusks which shed their shell after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms...
s and Sea spongeSponges are animals of the phylum Porifera . Their bodies consist of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells. While all animals have unspecialized cells that can transform into specialized cells, sponges are unique in having some specialized cells, but can also have...
s
- J.R.Stoffel Types of Agrias
Agrias is a genus of charaxine nymphalid butterflies found in South and Central America.Prized by collectors, these large, showy butterflies have had hundreds of names applied to polymorphic variants.-Species:...
butterflies
Important individual specimens
- Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
of Emperor PenguinThe Emperor Penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in height and weighing anywhere from . The dorsal side and head are black and sharply delineated from the white belly,...
collected by Captain Crozier of Banbridge
- Champion Patrick of Ifold - Irish wolfhound
The Irish wolfhound is a breed of domestic dog , specifically a sighthound. The name originates from its purpose rather than from its appearance...
- Dwarf elephant
Dwarf elephants are prehistoric members of the order Proboscidea, that, through the process of allopatric speciation, evolved to a fraction of the size of their immediate ancestors...
skeletons from Sicily.
- The Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian mummifiedA mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
body of TakabutiTakabuti was a married woman who reached an age of between twenty and thirty years. She lived in the Egyptian city of Thebes at the end of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt. Her mummified body and mummy case are in the Ulster Museum Belfast. The coffin was opened and the mummy unrolled on 27...
.
- Mummy case of Tjesmutperet.
- Slender-billed Curlew
The Slender-billed Curlew, Numenius tenuirostris, is a bird in the wader family Scolopacidae. It breeds in marshes and peat bogs in the taiga of Siberia, and is migratory, formerly wintering in shallow freshwater habitats around the Mediterranean...
- Rothschild's
Rothschild's Birdwing is a large birdwing butterfly, endemic to the Arfak Mountains in Western New Guinea.-Description:...
, Queen Alexandra'sQueen Alexandra's Birdwing is the largest butterfly in the world.The species was named by Lord Walter Rothschild in 1907, in honour of Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
and other BirdwingBirdwings are papilionid butterflies native to the Indian Subcontinent, mainland and archipelagic Southeast Asia and Australasia, and are usually regarded as belonging to three genera: Ornithoptera, Trogonoptera and Troides. Some authorities include additional genera...
butterflies.
- Giant Clam
The giant clam, Tridacna gigas , is the largest living bivalve mollusc. T. gigas is one of the most endangered clam species. It was mentioned as early as 1825 in scientific reports...
- given to the Belfast Natural History SocietyThe Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society was founded in 1821 to promote the scientific study of animals, plants, fossils, rocks and minerals....
by Francis WalkerFrancis Walker was an English entomologist. He was one of the most prolific authors in entomology, and stirred controversy during his later life as his publications resulted in a huge number of junior synonyms....
- Lammergeier
The Lammergeier, Lammergeyer, or Bearded Vulture, Gypaetus barbatus , is the only member of the genus Gypaetus. Traditionally considered an Old World vulture, it actually forms a minor lineage of Accipitridae together with the Egyptian Vulture , its closest living relative...
mount by James Sheals
- Gervais' Beaked Whale
Gervais' beaked whale , sometimes known as the Antillian beaked whale, Gulf Stream beaked whale, or European beaked whale is the most frequently stranding type of mesoplodont whale off the coast of North America...
(Mesoplodon europaeus)
- Japanese spider crab
The , Macrocheira kaempferi, is a species of marine crab that lives in the waters around Japan. It has the largest leg span of any arthropod, reaching up to and weighing up to . It is the subject of small-scale fishery.-Description:...
- Bonaparte's Gull
The Bonaparte's Gull is a small gull.The Bonaparte's Gull is a small species, larger only than the Little Gull and the Saunders's Gull among all gull species. Adults are long with a wingspan and a body mass of . They have a black hood and a short thin dark bill. The body is mainly white with...
collected by William ThompsonWilliam Thompson was an Irish naturalist celebrated for his founding studies of the natural history of Ireland, especially in ornithology and marine biology. Thompson published numerous notes on the distribution, breeding, eggs, habitat, song, plumage, behaviour, nesting and food of birds...
- the first European specimen.
- Giant squid
The giant squid is a deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae, represented by as many as eight species...
Model
- Thylacine
The thylacine or ,also ;binomial name: Thylacinus cynocephalus, Greek for "dog-headed pouched one") was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or the Tasmanian wolf...
- Coelacanth
Coelacanths are members of an order of fish that includes the oldest living lineage of Sarcopterygii known to date....
- Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
Juvenile from near Garrison, County Fermanagh on 11 January 1973. First European record.
- Passenger Pigeon
The Passenger Pigeon or Wild Pigeon was a bird, now extinct, that existed in North America and lived in enormous migratory flocks until the early 20th century...
- Irish Elk
The Irish Elk or Giant Deer , was a species of Megaloceros and one of the largest deer that ever lived. Its range extended across Eurasia, from Ireland to east of Lake Baikal, during the Late Pleistocene. The latest known remains of the species have been carbon dated to about 7,700 years ago...
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, is a cuckoo. Common folk-names for this bird in the southern United States are Rain Crow and Storm Crow...
(Irish specimen)
- Conus gloriamaris
Conus gloriamaris, common name the Glory of the Seas Cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails, cone shells or cones. It is commonly found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans....
Wildlife art
The Zoology Department also maintains collections of Wildlife Art. Works by
Peter ScottSir Peter Markham Scott, CH, CBE, DSC and Bar, MID, FRS, FZS, was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer and sportsman....
,
Joseph WolfJoseph Wolf was a German artist who specialized in natural history illustration. He moved to the British Museum in 1848 and became the choice of illustrator for numerous explorers and collectors. He depicted animals accurately in life-like postures and has been considered one of the great pioneers...
,
Eric EnnionDr. Eric Arnold Roberts Ennion was a British artist, author, illustrator, and radio presenter, specialising in birds and other natural history subjects.Ennion was a founder member and Honorary Vice President of the Society of Wildlife Artists....
,
John Gerrard KeulemansJohannes Gerardus Keulemans was a Dutch bird illustrator.-Biography and Work:...
,
Roger Tory PetersonRoger Tory Peterson , was an American naturalist, ornithologist, artist, and educator, and held to be one of the founding inspirations for the 20th century environmental movement.-Background:...
,
Charles TunnicliffeCharles Frederick Tunnicliffe was an internationally renowned naturalistic painter of British birds and other wildlife. He spent most of his working life on the Isle of Anglesey.-Life:...
,
Robert GillmorRobert Gillmor is an ornithologist, artist, illustrator, author and editor, from England. He is a founder member of the Society of Wildlife Artists and has been its Secretary, Chairman and President...
and
Archibald ThorburnArchibald Thorburn was a Scottish artist and bird illustrator, painting mostly in watercolour. He regularly visited Scotland to sketch birds in the wild, his favourite haunt being the Forest of Gaick near Kingussie in Invernesshire...
are included. Illustrated works held by the Zoology Department include British Entomology - being illustrations and descriptions of the genera of insects found in Great Britain and Ireland — a classic work of entomology by
John CurtisJohn Curtis was an English entomologist and illustrator.-Biography:Curtis was born in Norwich and learned his engraving skills in the workshop of his father, Charles Morgan Curtis...
and
Niccolò GualtieriNiccolò Gualtieri was an Italian doctor and malacologist. In 1742, he published Index Testarum Conchyliorum, quae adservantur in Museo Nicolai Gualtieri . Gualtieri was a professor at the University of Pisa...
's
Index Testarum Conchyliorum, quae adservantur in Museo Nicolai Gualtieri 1742.
The Herbarium (BEL)
The
herbariumIn botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...
in the Ulster Museum (BEL), is based on specimens from Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society (founded in 1821); the
Belfast Naturalists' Field ClubThe Belfast Naturalists' Field Club is a club of naturalists based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1863, the club was an important part of the education system for Victorian naturalists and worked largely through first-hand field studies...
(founded in 1863); the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery (formed 1905) and the herbarium (BFT) of the Botany Departmeny of Queen's University, Belfast acquired in 1968. In total the number of specimens is more than 100,000. Although specimens from Northern Ireland are well represented, specimens from elsewhere in the
worldWorld is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
have been acquired by donation, exchange and purchase. All branches of the world's flora are represented: algae, lichens, fungi, mosses and pteridophytes (ferns), conifers and angiosperms. Little information about the Irish flora before 1830 is available, the oldest specimen in the Ulster Museum is an alga:
Batrachospermum moniliforme (BEL: F41) collected in 1798 by John Templeton, other specimens of
Batrachospermum, originally incorrectly identified as
Thorea ramoissimaThorea is a genus of freshwater algae in the Phylum Rhodophyta . Thorea is a small alga with filaments up to 200 cm long, dark green in colour and not red as are marine Rhodophyta...
were collected by John Templeton in 1815 from a "boghole" in Co. Donegal (BEL:F42 - F47). It was originally published by Harvey in 1841.
List of some of the collectors
- S.A.Bennett (1843 — 1929)
- Corrie Denew Chase (1878 — 1965). (vascular plants and algae) — his heroin of about 4,000 square metres was passed to Methodist College Belfast
Methodist College Belfast , styled locally as Methody, is a voluntary grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland, one of eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, and is a member of the Independent Schools Council...
who passed it to the museum in 1237.
- John Cocs (1787 — 1861) (algae)
- Thomas Huge Correl (1859 — 1883) (vascular plans).
- A. Fenton (A.F-G.Fenton) (lichens)
- M.Foslie (algae)
- Paul Hackney (1945 — ) (vascular plants and mosses)
- William Henry Harvey
William Henry Harvey was an Irish botanist who specialised in algae.- Biography :William Henry Harvey was born at Summerville near Limerick, Ireland, in 1811, the youngest of 11 children. His father Joseph Massey Harvey, was a Quaker and prominent merchant...
(1811 — 1866) (algae).
- George Crawford Hyndman
George Crawford Hyndman was an Irish auctioneer and amateur biologistHyndman from Belfast was mainly interested in marine zoology and marine botany...
(1796 — 1867) (algae).
- Frederick Hugh Woodhams Kerr (1885 — 1958) (vascular plants)
- Mary Patriria Happer Kertland (1901 — 1991) (vascular plants)
- William McCalla
William McCalla was an Irish botanist. McCalla collected algae and flowering plants, his records are included in Harvey's Phycologia Britannica. His specimens are in the Ulster Museum and Trinity College, Dublin....
(c.1814 — 1849) (algae).
- Osborne Morton
Osborne Morton is a former phycologist in the Ulster Museum. Morton retired in 2007.Morton was educated in Belfast and at Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied Botany under Professor D.A. Webb. His final year thesis involved research on marine algae, the interest in seaweed having developed...
(1945 — ) (lichens and algae)
- Robert Lloyd Praeger
-Life:Of a Unitarian background, he was born in Holywood, County Down, and grew up in that town where he was educated, first in the school of the Rev McAlister and then at nearby Sullivan Upper School. He worked in the National Library of Ireland in Dublin from 1893 to 1923. He co-founded and...
(1865 — 1953) (vascular plants)
- Arthur Wilson Stelfox (1883 — 1972) (vascular plants)
- Samuel Alexander Stewart (1826 — 1910) (vascular plants)
- John Templeton (Botanist)
John Templeton was an early Irish naturalist and botanist. He is often referred to as the "Father of Irish Botany". He was the father of naturalist, artist and entomologist Robert Templeton.-Biography:...
John Templeton (1766 — 1825) (algae).
- William Thompson (1805 — 1852) (algae).
- Sylvanus Wear
Sylsanus Wear was an English naturalist who settled in Belfast in 1904.Sylsanus Wear formed the core of the Belfast Field Club. The flowering plants were his hobbie and he undertook the work required to issue a Second Supplement and Summary of the Flora of the North-east of Ireland. He was born...
(1858 — 1920) (vascular plants and algae)
- Coslett Herbert Waddell (1858 — 1919) (vascular plants, bryophyte
Bryophyte is a traditional name used to refer to all embryophytes that do not have true vascular tissue and are therefore called 'non-vascular plants'. Some bryophytes do have specialized tissues for the transport of water; however since these do not contain lignin, they are not considered to be...
s and algae).
1960s Art
The collection contains works by:
- Jean Dubuffet
Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a more authentic and humanistic approach to image-making.-Life and work:Dubuffet was...
- Morris Louis
Morris Louis was an American abstract expressionist painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. Living in Washington, DC...
- Anthony Caro
Sir Anthony Alfred Caro, OM, CBE is an English abstract sculptor whose work is characterised by assemblages of metal using 'found' industrial objects.-Background and early life:...
- Karel Appel
Christiaan Karel Appel was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s...
- Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
- Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys was a German performance artist, sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art.His extensive work is grounded in concepts of humanism, social philosophy and anthroposophy; it culminates in his "extended definition of art" and the idea of social...
- Eduardo Paolozzi
Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi, KBE, RA , was a Scottish sculptor and artist. He was a major figure in the international art sphere, while, working on his own interpretation and vision of the world. Paolozzi investigated how we can fit into the modern world to resemble our fragmented civilization...
- Jean-Robert Ipoustéguy
Jean-Robert Ipoustéguy , a French sculptor, was born "Jean Robert" in Dun-sur-Meuse.Studied painting and drawing in Paris in 1938, under Robert Lesbounit....
Past art exhibitions
- Scultura Italiana 1964
- Henri Laurens
Henri Laurens was a French sculptor and illustrator.-Early life and education:Born in Paris, Henri Laurens worked as a stonemason before he became a sculptor...
, 16 July-30 August 1971
Ethnographic Collections
- Chola Art
The period of the imperial Cholas was an age of continuous improvement and refinement of the Dravidian art and architecture. They utilised their prodigious wealth earned through their extensive conquests in building long-lasting stone temples and exquisite bronze sculptures...
. http://www.unc.edu/courses/2005fall/art/022/001/images/252329.jpg
- Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
statues from the Chola DynastyThe Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which was one of the longest-ruling in some parts of southern India. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Asoka, of Maurya Empire; the dynasty continued to govern over varying territory until...
.
- Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
Armour.
- Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
war canoe. (Similar boat).
Girona
The museum acquired
ArmadaThis article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
artefacts from the
GalleassThe galleass developed from large merchant galleys.Converted for military use they were higher and larger than regular galleys. They had up to 32 oars, each worked by up to 5 men. They usually had three masts and a forecastle and aftcastle. Much effort was made in Venice to make these galleasses...
Girona (ship)La Girona was a galleass of the 1588 Spanish Armada which foundered and sank off Lacada Point, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the night of 26 October 1588 after making its way eastward along the Irish coast...
in 1971.
See also
- Irish art
The early history of Irish art is generally considered to begin with early carvings found at sites such as Newgrange and is traced through Bronze Age artefacts, particularly ornamental gold objects, and the religious carvings and illuminated manuscripts of the medieval period...
- History of phycology
The History of phycology is the history of the scientific study of algae. Human interest in plants as food goes back into the origins of the species and knowledge of algae can be traced back more than two thousand years...
Further reading
- Deane, C.Douglas 1983. The Old Museum. in The Ulster Countryside. Century Books, The Universities Press (Belfast) Ltd. ISBN 0 903152177
- Bourke, M. 2011. The Storey of Irish Museums 1790 - 2000. Cork University Press. ISBN 978-185918-475-1
External links