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This beautifully illustrated 48-page book leads the reader through the story of how Darwin came by his ideas, how Praeger and other Irish scientists were influenced by them and how this brought about the gathering of eminent researchers from all over Europe on this small exposed Atlantic island, culminating in the publication of the Clare Island Survey.

Darwin, Praeger and the Clare Island Surveys celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Clare Island Survey and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species by showing how Robert Lloyd Praeger and his co-workers on the Clare Island Survey strove to investigate some of the questions at the heart of Darwin’s work, ‘throwing light on the question of island life and the problems of dispersal’.

The authors also consider the relevance of the first surveys findings today, highlighting the work of the modern New Survey of Clare Island (1992–2009) and the unique insights gained into the increasingly important issues of turnover of species, climate change and loss of habitat.

ISBN 978-1-904890-56-0

This book accompanies an exhibition in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy and a series of free lectures

Edited by Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh and Kevin Whelan

The first in a series, this richly illustrated and accessibly written volume introduces the reader to the history and folklife of this unique island in Clew Bay, County Mayo, and to the survey that provided the inspiration for the Academy's new multidisciplinary endeavour.

Published 1999
Paperback 160pp; 297 x 210mm
100 illustrations (25 in colour) and 4 fold-out colour maps
ISBN 1874045712

Edited by John R. Graham

This second volume examines the geology of Clare Island. The island's physical appearance today reflects a geological history of over 500 million years. Major geological boundaries, now expressed as faults, run through the island. Repeated movements along these faults have produced the complex distribution of rock types that continues to fascinate geological researchers.

Published 2001
Paperback 128 pp; 297 x 210mm
ISBN 1874045917

Edited by Alan Myers

This third volume in the series examines the intertidal marine ecology of Clare Island. The shores of Clare Island are as exposed as any in Europe and are important baseline sites for the assessment of future environmental change. A knowledge of the ecology of the key organisms of these exposed shores is of fundamental importance.

Published 2002
Paperback 240 pp; 297 x 210mm
ISBN 1874045372

Edited by Conleth Manning, Paul Gosling and John Waddell

The fourth volume in the series is devoted to the Abbey – a National Monument in State care – which has retained much of its medieval wall paintings. The images are documented and illustrated in colour and are placed in the wider context of late medieval Irish art.

Published 2005
Paperback 168pp; 294x210mm
ISBN 1 904890 059

Edited by M.D. Guiry, D.M. John, F. Rindi and T.K. McCarthy

Clare Island is one of the few known ‘hotspots’ of algal diversity in the world. As a result of  a comprehensive survey by a team of specialists, the island is now one of the most intensively worked sites in Ireland and Britain, and it has an amazingly rich algal flora, encompassing well over 700 species.

Published 2007

Paperback 268 pp; 294x210mm

ISBN 978-1-904890-31-7

The cost for this special offer is 60 euro.

For more details on the publications please see the individual entries for each book on this page.