The Cork scientists who were snubbed by sexism

The Ballylickey botanist; the Skibbereen astronomer; the Cloyne caterpillar collector, Madame Dragonfly. Robert Hume highlights the lives and achievements of three female scientists from Co Cork, and the obstacles they faced to achieve recognition of their work

VISITORS to the galleries of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew often pause to admire the beautiful illustrations of ferns, lichens and seaweed etched by Ellen Hutchins (1785-1815) from Ardnagashel, Ballylickey, Co Cork, Ireland’s first woman botanist.

Yet, Hutchins may never have developed an interest in botany at all if she had not become ill when a schoolgirl in Dublin. A family friend and medical doctor, Whitley Stokes, took her in, taught her to draw and paint, and enthused her with a passion for the subject. Besides, an outdoor hobby such as plant collecting was thought to be the best possible tonic to restore her health.