INTRODUCTION. 



IT has been matter of complaint that the history of the na- 

 tural productions of Ireland has hitherto been neglected; but 

 when all circumstances are considered, it will appear that the 

 censure is one of too great severity. We have no means of 

 ascertaining to what extent a knowledge of plants was possessed 

 in ancient times by the Celtic inhabitants of the country ; but 

 when we are told that the Irish language is rich in names of 

 plants, and also that the names of the letters of the Irish alphabet 

 are taken from vegetable productions, it will be admitted, that, 

 even in periods of remote antiquity, the study of plants was not 

 altogether neglected : nor is this at all surprising, since it is 

 well known that the surface of Ireland formerly presented a 

 very different'aspect with regard to vegetation than its present 

 features would lead us to suspect. Formerly Ireland might have 

 been considered as one vast forest a circumstance to which it 

 was perhaps indebted for what, we are informed, was one of its 

 most ancient^ names (Innis Fiodh, or Woody Island.) The 

 former existence of extensive forests is not a matter of vague 

 tradition ; it is attested by the remains of pines, oaks, yews, &c. 

 which are found in all our bogs in prodigious quantity, and 

 by the undoubted fact that many of these forests existed until a 

 comparatively recent period ; and some of them are described by 

 Dr. Boates, who wrote in 1652, as then existing. These forests 

 were destroyed, partly to facilitate military operations, and sub- 



