Enjoying the Irish landscape

MANY of us will take the opportunity this bank holiday weekend to get out and enjoy Ireland in bloom, for we are now in probably the premium time of year for viewing the wonders of nature.

Interest in such matters has grown hugely. The media has to get some of the kudos for heightening awareness through films, TV programmes, newspaper articles and an ever-growing library of beautiful books.

Recently, I became reacquainted with Robert Lloyd Praeger’s classic, The Way that I Went. Regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest naturalists, he devoted much of his life to traipsing over the landscape gathering information on plants and flowers.