The University College Cork (formerly Queen’s College Cork) herbarium (CRK) was first established in 1845. To give an indication of its size, in 1953, Parkes estimated 17,000 genera of flowering plants at Cork.

From the late 1970s, much of the herbarium was moved off-site and subsequently transferred to the National Museum of Ireland, Trinity College Dublin and the National Botanic Garden, where it could be adequately conserved.

The Lettice lab is engaged in research on the history of the CRK herbarium and has located and recorded a significant number of specimens that have remained in Cork. We are currently preparing a publication on this matter.