Nathaniel Colgan, 1851-1919: The life, times and genealogy of an enigmatic Dubliner

Nathaniel Colgan MRIA, a self-taught botanist, was known for his research on the ‘real’ shamrock and for his encyclopaedic survey, The flora of the county Dublin. Little was known of his early life and family or of his interests beyond botany, marine biology, mountaineering, and his day-job. He was remembered for being shy, but perhaps it was more a case of being reserved on account of his personal background. When he was 14, he and his siblings were orphaned and brought up in the Coombe, D...