The Belfast Naturalists' Field Club is a club of naturalists

Natural science

The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...

 based in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. Founded in 1863, the club was an important part of the education system for Victorian naturalists and worked largely through first-hand field studies. It has been credited with playing an important role in the elucidation of glacial and post-glacial sea levels, climates and fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 beaches and issuing the first of the regional handbooks for meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science

British Association for the Advancement of Science

frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...

 as far back as 1874. The club has four sections, Archeology & History

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, Botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, Geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 and Zoology

Zoology

Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

, and has published several books and a periodical. The Herbarium

Herbarium

In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...

 of the BNFC is now in the Ulster Museum

Ulster Museum

The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasures from the Spanish Armada, local history, numismatics, industrial...

.

History

The club was formed as the first of a series of Field Clubs (followed by clubs in Dublin (1886), Cork

Cork (city)

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

 (1892), and Limerick

Limerick

Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...

 (1892)) established in response to the increasing interest in natural sciences in the Victorian Society of Ireland. The first public meeting was held on the March 6, 1863. Ralph Tate

Ralph Tate

Ralph Tate was a British-born botanist and geologist, who was later active in Australia.-Early life:Tate was born at Alnwick in Northumberland, the son of Thomas Turner Tate , a teacher of mathematics and science, and his wife Frances...

 drafted a document which provided a draft Constitution. The first meeting was held in the Museum Buildings, now the Ulster Museum.
The first field trip organizied by the Club occurred on the 6th April 1863. 88 members travelled to Islandmagee

Islandmagee

Islandmagee is a peninsula on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Larne and Carrickfergus. It is part of the Larne Borough Council area and is a sparsely populated rural community with a long history since the mesolithic period.As part of an...

 to collect fossils. Since then members of the Club have visited many areas including the Cavehill

Cavehill

Cavehill, historically known as Ben Madigan , is a basaltic hill overlooking the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland. It forms part of the southeastern border of the Antrim Plateau. It is distinguished by its famous 'Napoleon's Nose', a basaltic outcrop which resembles the profile of the famous...

, the Giant's Causeway

Giant's Causeway

The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills...

, Mount Stewart

Mount Stewart

Mount Stewart is an 18th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust. Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the home of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, Marquesses of...

 and Strangford Lough

Strangford Lough

Strangford Lough, sometimes Strangford Loch, is a large sea loch or inlet in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula. The name Strangford is derived ; describing the fast-flowing narrows at its mouth...

 to name but a few.

Books

• Systematic Lists Illustrative of the Flora, Fauna, Palaeontology and Archeology of the North of Ireland, 1870
• Guide to Belfast and the adjacent counties, 1874
• Catalogue of a Collection of Irish Antiquities, 1874
• A Guide to Belfast and the Counties of Down & Antrim, 1902
• A Preliminary Report on the Survey of the County Armagh Flora, 1965-1967, 1968
• Urban Flora of Belfast: A project of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club. 1997, by Stan Beesley, John Wilde.

Periodicals

• Annual Report and Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, 1923
• The Irish Naturalists' Journal
  Irish Naturalists' Journal
  The Irish Naturalists' Journal covers all aspects of Natural History and has been published since 1925....
  
  (contributor/coauthor)