BSBI Summer Meeting 2023: Jessica Hamilton's report

One of the many Summer Meeting excursions
Image: C. Heardman

BSBI's Annual Summer Meeting is a regular feature in our programme of field meetings and indoor events. It's our main summer get-together and the location rotates between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This year it was Ireland's turn and Jessica Hamilton, ecologist, leader of the BSBI Kerry group and member of BSBI's Committee for Ireland, was there - here is her report.

Over to Jessica:

"It’s hard to believe that it’s nearly been a whole month since the #BSBISummerMeeting took place from the 19th to the 22nd May last month!

Aquatics expert Nick Stewart leads an outdoor
workshop during the visit to Ross Island
Image: M. Sheehy Skeffington

This was a special event, not only was it the first BSBI Summer Meeting to take place in the Republic of Ireland in 12 years, but the outings took place predominantly in the environs of Killarney National Park, a place I have a very strong bias and love for, and where I have been lucky to spend a considerable amount of time botanising over the years.

The organising committee for the event was comprised of a local crew (myself, Mary Sheehan, Rory Hodd, Jean Hamilton, and Clare Heardman) along with BSBI Ireland Officer Paul Green, President Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, and Field Meetings Secretary Jonathan Shanklin.

Our base for the weekend was at the Castlerosse Park Resort Hotel which is located just outside Killarney town and provided easy access to the National Park and surrounds. In total we had approximately 80 participants across the four days, with botanists coming from across Ireland, as well as from across the water in the United Kingdom. Over the course of the event, participants were encouraged to engage with social media and use the hashtag #BSBISummerMeeting when posting about the event online.

Minister Malcolm Noonan launching
 the Summer Meeting
Image: J. Hamilton 

Each day there were several outings that ran in parallel to different locations around the Killarney National Park environs. In the evenings there was dinner and evening talk(s), followed by ID sessions that looked at material collected during the various forays.   

Irish botanist Fiona O'Neill said “The weekend had everything.” 

Here’s the rundown of the outings that took place, and some of the highlights:

Friday 19th May

The meeting started off on Friday afternoon as participants began to trickle in and arrive for a weekend of botanising. Two short forays were made through the Park from the Hotel focusing on grassland, woodland and lakeshore. Sedges were a strong feature, including Carex pallescens, C. laevigata and C. vesicaria. That evening we were delighted to have Minister Malcolm Noonan TD who joined us for dinner and then officially launched the event as well as giving a wonderful speech. The Minister attended our Plant Atlas launch in Dublin in March, and we were very happy to welcome him to another BSBI event. We were then treated to talks by Mary Sheehan (National Parks & Wildlife Service) on Killarney National Park and one from Rory Hodd (County Recorder for Co. Kerry) on the flora of Kerry.

Saturday 20th May

On Saturday there were three different outings happening simultaneously

First off Clare Heardman and Paul Green led a walk along the Muckross Peninsula where participants were treated to Marsh Fern Thelypteris palustris, as well as uncommon Whitebeams such as Sorbus anglica, to name but a few.

At the same time, Rory Hodd and Jean Hamilton brought a busload of botanists to explore Glencar Valley. They first visited an acid oak woodland, and the lucky participants got to see an array of fantastic species including Tunbridge Filmy-fern Hymenophyllum tunbrigense, Irish Spurge Euphorbia hyberna and the famous Killarney Fern Vandenboschia speciosa, which is a protected species in Ireland. After visiting the oak woodland, they visited an area of blanket bog and were treated to Atlantic bog species such as butterworts, sundews and Black Bog-rush Schoenus nigricans.

The third outing that day saw Mary Sheehan and Micheline Sheehy Skeffington lead an outing to Lough Leane to do some island botanising. The boats departed from Ross Island in picturesque conditions and took participants to visit both Rough and Inisfallen Islands. Participants saw an array of wonderful species including lakeshore species, as well as a few giant Strawberry Trees Arbutus unedo on Rough Island (image above left). 

That evening, participants were again treated to another two fantastic talks, one from Daniel Kelly on the Woods of Killarney (image on right), followed by Tim Rich, who shared his superb knowledge on Whitebeams. 

Sunday 21st May

On Sunday, three outings again took place: Daniel Kelly and Clare Heardman led an outing to Derrycunnihy Woods. Clare recaps “Our group, led by Professor Daniel Kelly, took a boat trip from Ross Castle up through the Killarney lakes to Lord Brandon's Cottage and then walked the Kerry Way across the bog and up through the magnificent Derrycunnihy Woods” 

Prof Daniel Kelly &
fern expert Fred Rumsey
admiring epiphytes
Image: C. Heardman

This particular outing ended up being a firm favourite with those who ventured on it - Fiona O'Neill said "The Sunday morning boat trip from Ross Castle across the lakes is one of those lifetime high points” and Dr Jonathan Mitchley also had this to say about the trip: “At the top of my list must be Sunday’s boat trip across the lakes, at over an hour across water as calm as a mill pond past wonderful green vistas it was a trip to treasure”

Not only did they get to see wonderful views, they also saw some pretty fantastic plants, including Spring Quillwort Isoetes echinospora and Pillwort Pilularia globulifera, as well as the ubiquitous Filmy-ferns Hymenophyllum spp., along with the quintessential Killarney Fern. They were also very lucky to get good views of a White-tailed Eagle that was perched nearby.

I led an outing to my neck of the woods, North Kerry, where we walked a section of the Dingle Way and then went onto Banna Dune slack for some coastal gems. 

The Dingle Way excursion, led by Jessica
Image: M. Sheehy Skeffington

Julie Larkin (joint County Recorder for Co. Waterford) had this to say “On Sunday morning Jessica Hamilton led us along the Dingle Way where we walked across the lower northern slopes of the Slieve Mish Mountains with spectacular views over Tralee Bay. Species we encountered along the way included Large-flowered Butterwort Pinguicula grandiflora, Pale Butterwort Pinguicula lusitanica, Round-leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia and other wonderful bog species.  We also saw the dainty Cornish Moneywort Sibthorpia europaea, whose distribution in Ireland is restricted to the Dingle Peninsula,” Julie also got to see her first Kerry Slug Geomalacus maculosus which is a curious species whose range is restricted to the south-west of Ireland.  

Clambering around to see
the Cornish Moneywort
Image: J. Hamilton

We then ventured to Banna dune slack that was awash with Marsh Orchids. Other highlights included Adder’s-tongue Fern Ophioglossum vulgatum, Squinancywort Asperula cynanchica, which is a real western species in Ireland, and the two species of Fern-grass, Catapodium marinum and C. rigidum).  

The final outing that took place that day was to Torc Mountain, along the Old Kenmare Road and was led by Rory and Mary Sheehan where participants saw a mix of woodland and oceanic bog flora, including Brown Beak-sedge Rhynchospora fusca. That evening I gave a talk on the Flora of North Kerry which featured some nice places to botanise in North Kerry, and it of course featured my two #BotanyDogs Lilly and Ben. 

Monday 22nd May

Although things were winding down, there was still exploring to be done and plants to ID! 

After dinner, poring over a big mystery sedge!
Image: M. Sheehy Skeffington

Paul and Micheline visited Tomies Woods, an oceanic old oak woodland located on the western edge of Lough Leane where participants got to encounter yet more characteristic Killarney woodland assemblages, as well as the scarce Ivy-leaved Bellflower Wahlenbergia hederacea. There was also an outing to Gap of Dunloe led by Jonathan Shanklin, where Nick Stewart collected an unusual very tall sedge in the lake and recorded Awlwort Subularia aquatica last seen in the Gap of Dunloe in 1910!

The montivagant Rory Hodd led a Rough Crew outing up the Macgillycuddy Reeks where participants were treated to a range of montane flora such as Roseroot Rhodiola rosea, Brittle Bladder-fern Cystopteris fragilis and montane Saxifrage species such as Irish Saxifraga rosacea and Starry S. stellaris. 

Rory and the Rough Crew
Image: C. Heardman

An outing to Muckross surrounds was led by Sean Forde and Mary Sheehan where they measured a veteran yew tree by the Abbey and discussed sustainable farm management, involving the famed Kerry cattle.

To wrap things up, we all had an enthralling few days. You really can’t beat being in the field with fellow botanists and nature enthusiasts. 

We started planning the event and the outings back in the autumn of 2022, so it was great to see everything come to fruition so smoothly and it more than made up for the long Zoom meetings.

As Fiona O Neil says, “After three years of solo or small group outings, joining the 2023 BSBI Summer Meeting reminded me why being with a large group of botanists, and those who love plants, is such an enriching experience.”

Large-flowered Butterwort seen during the 
Summer Meeting
Image: C. Heardman

Thanks to my colleagues for helping organise the successful weekend and to all the participants who came along and shared their incredible knowledge. We are especially grateful to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) for providing funding and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan TD for attending and launching the event.

I’ll leave you with a final quote from Jonathan Mitchley (Dr M) which I think perfectly summarises everyone’s feelings and thoughts about the event:

“Each day brought new landscapes and plant discoveries, for this visitor from relatively parched Berkshire, huge rocks and tree trunks dripping with epiphytes including filmy ferns, mosses, liverworts and lichens was a major botanical highlight. But perhaps even more than this, meeting with so many botanical personalities all generous and giving of their knowledge, experience and good humour was the ultimate highpoint, reinforcing what I already knew, botanists are such wonderful folk, I can’t wait for the next instalment!”

Many thanks to Jessica for this report and to everyone who shared comments and photos, or helped organise such a fabulous event!