128 



The Irish Naturalist, 



November. 



THE EARLIEST IRISH ZOOLOGIST. 



BY R. F. SCHARFF. 



We possess only a few fragmentary notes on the animals 

 that inhabited Ireland in ancient historical times. From 

 these no idea can be formed of the composition of our 

 fauna as a whole at that period, although the cave researches 

 have yielded some clues as to the larger animals which 

 existed in this country along with the old inhabitants. 

 The two earliest references to Irish animals both date from 

 the gth century. By^far the most interesting of these is 

 what may almost be called a zoological poem written in 

 Irish, which was translated by Mr. Eugene Curry and 

 incorporated in a paper by Sir William Wilde. ^ This poem 

 contains the names of dozens of animals, some of which 

 have never been identified. The second reference is rather 

 vague and negative. St. Donatus, who died in the year 

 840, asserts that the bear, lion, snake and " noisy frog " 

 did not exist in Ireland. Still even this meagre information 

 is of some value. 



About 300 years later (in the 12th century) Giraldus 

 Cambrensis visited Ireland and describes several animals 

 which he saw. It is interesting to note that he does not 

 mention the bear, which we know must have been extremely 

 abundant at the time when the Reindeer and Irish Elk 

 lived in this country. We may assume therefore that it 

 had already died out in the 12th century. 



A much older note on the Irish fauna — like the others 

 it is very fragmentary — does not appear to have been 

 noticed before by Irish zoologists. It is a short reference 

 by an Irish monk called Augustine dating from the 7th 

 century. Nothing is known of his life or abode except his 

 being of Irish origin. The value of his essay from a 

 zoological point of view far exceeds anything written in 

 the course of many centuries after his death for he attempted 

 to solve problems which were not revived until about a 

 hundred years ago. 



1 Wilde, W. : " Upon the unmanufactured Animal Remains belonging 

 to the Academy." — Proc. R. Irish Acad., vol. vii,, i860. 



