19^5. 



Richard Manliffe Bar?'ingtonn 



195 



all my inquiries that I thought him quite the most delightful 

 person I had ever met." This was, of course, A. G. More, 

 and it is unnecessary to say how close was the attachment 

 ever afterwards maintained between the two. Through 

 More it was that nearly all Harrington's early friendships 

 with other British and Irish naturalists were formed. 

 Perhaps the earliest of these was with Robert Warren, 

 who in 1874, during the meeting of the British Association 

 at Belfast, called at More's request on the Barringtons, 

 father and son, and thus started a friendship that only 

 increased in cordiality as years went by. No words could 

 describe what his friendships meant with Barrington, and 

 an enumeration of them here would be impossible. Among 

 the closest formed with the naturalists whose names are 

 specially associated with scientific or exploring work in 

 Ireland must be mentioned those with R. P. Vowell, R. J. 

 Ussher, and the brothers Edward and William Williams. 

 Outside this island perhaps, the strongest, and those most, 

 frequently and enthusiastically recalled in his conversation 

 were with the late Howard Saunders, Colonel Feilden, and 

 Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown. More, however, continued 

 throughout his life Barrington's chief counsellor and 

 prompter in all matters relating to natural history explo- 

 ration in Ireland, and it would be difficult to form an esti- 

 mate of how much each of them owed to the other. 



What seems to have interested More most among the 

 fruits of Barrington's early researches was his finding on a 

 little hedgebank at Fassaroe on the Dodder (Cwscw/a rn/o/n), 

 growing in this locality as a thoroughly established plant, 

 though needing, in most seasons, a sharp eye to detect its 

 presence. In the supplement to the Cybele Hihernica 

 (" Recent Additions ") published in 1872, Barrington is 

 quoted as an authority for new localities of plants in as 

 many as six counties — Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Water - 

 ford, Galway, and Armagh — no inconsiderable proof of his 

 early proficiency. 



Losing his father in 1877, Barrington became more 

 closely concerned than before with the management of the 

 extensive farm at Fassaroe, into which he entered with a 

 thoroughness that would even in the absence of other 



