About us

Botany, which started as an adjunct to Medicine, has been taught in Trinity College Dublin for more than 300 years. The first chair of Botany dates back to 1711 and the first botanic gardens were established in 1687. Henry Dixon, FRS, Professor of Botany from 1904-1949 was responsible for raising the funds for the building of the ‘Botany School’ which celebrated its centenary in 2007. At the present time the original ‘Botany School’ plus the large Herbarium are still the core of the department but we also occupy laboratory and office space nearby on the campus as well as the College Botanic Gardens at Dartry, Dublin 6. In 2005 the Departments of Botany, Geography, Geology and Zoology along with the Centre for the Environment joined to form the School of Natural Sciences.