John Grainger
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John Grainger (1830,
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
– 1891) was an Irish
cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
and
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
. Grainger was educated at
Belfast Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (also known as ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern Ireland w ...
and
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
, Dublin. After gaining a Doctorate of Divinity he became Rector of
Broughshane Broughshane ( , formerly spelt Brughshane, ) is a large village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is northeast of Ballymena and north of Antrim, on the A42 road. It is part of Mid and East Antrim District Council and had a population of ...
, County Antrim. He was an indiscriminating collector, who filled his house with a mass of often unlabelled specimens including stuffed birds, shells, insects, coins, minerals, a
dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...
, weapons from New Zealand, and archaeological finds. According to
Robert Lloyd Praeger Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian. Biography Early life and education From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in Holywood, County Down; he had four brothers and a ...
his collection of Irish stone tools was ‘’especially valuable as a study in the gentle art of forgery’’.


Works

Partial list * 1853.Catalogue of the Shells found in the Alluvial Deposits of a Belfast site of the Irish Mesolithic. ''Proc. Roy. Irish Acad''. 56 C, 1-195. * --- Results of excavations in High St., Belfast. ''Ulster Journ. Arch''. ix. 113-121. * 1874 On the Fossils of the Post-tertiary Deposits of Ireland. ''Rep. Bmt. Assoc'', for 1874; Sections, pp. 73–76. He was a member of the
Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...
and of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society and the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club.


References

*Praeger, R.Ll. 1949. ''Some Irish Naturalists, a Biographical Note-book''.Dundalgan Press, Dundalk, 1949 *''Belfast Nat. Hist. and Phil. Soc. Centenary Volume'', 77, portrait. 1924. *James, K.W. 1991.'' Canon Grainger: country rector, magpie collector and Father of the Ulster Museum''. Ulster Museum Publication No. 269. {{DEFAULTSORT:Grainger, John 19th-century Irish zoologists 20th-century Irish archaeologists 1830 births 1891 deaths Christian clergy from Belfast Scholars and academics from Belfast People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish antiquarians