Zoë Devlin

Zoë’s lifelong love affair with wildflowers began at a very early age when she developed a love of the little ‘weeds’ which grew between the rows of peas and spinach in the vegetable part of the family garden close to the village of Dundrum. On frequent family visits to relatives in Co. Wicklow she received great encouragement to pursue her passion. A cousin of her father’s, Dr Kathleen Lynn was the person who first showed her an orchid through her large magnifying glass in what could be described as a ‘defining moment’, spurring her on in her desire to learn as much as she could about the natural world. In the late 1950s, when Zoë finished secondary education, she trained in secretarial work and spent most of her working life as a secretary. But the interest in nature continued to grow and was joined by another. This was photography. Zoë wanted to learn more about botany – books weren’t enough – so she attended extra-mural courses in UCD and lectures and workshops at the National Botanic Gardens. Zoë began to photograph each new species she found and soon built up records and when she retired from the ‘day job’, her daughter suggested she set up a website of those records. In 2009, www.wildflowersofireland.net went live. Source: Commons