Nature On One: Casement
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Mooney Goes Wild on RTE Radio 1.
Yes, a wonderful night of nature lies ahead of us now in studio Terry Flanagan and Dr Richard Collins. Before we get into the main programme, can I just flag ahead to next Monday here on RT Radio 1 at 12 noon as part of our Nature on 1 output, we have a wonderful documentary about Roger Casement. Roger Casement? Derek? What are you talking about? What's he got to do with nature? Plenty. As you will discover when you listen next Monday at noon to Eric Dempsey's documentary. Here's a clip.
Aidan, it's lovely to meet you again back in this, what I call an Aladdin's cave of specimens and history and everything. It's just a wonderful, wonderful experience for me to come back in here again. How are you being?
Good, Eric. Great to have you back in the behind the scenes of the Natural History Museum.
Well, last time I was here, I was working on the documentary with the white prominent and in passing, you happened to mention, oh, and that's where Roger Casement's collection is. And that planted a little seed which has now germinated into this current programme about Roger Casement's interest in the natural world. And it's something I think many people wouldn't have a clue about. Now, you are the leading authority on his specimen collection and his input into the Natural History Museum and our knowledge. So, I'm standing here in front of a whole range of things. Talk me through what we have in front of us here. It's amazing.
Yeah, so what I've done, I've taken here some stuff from our archives, some physical specimens that I'll talk about in a minute to try and recreate for you the research that I've been doing to piece together donations from Roger Casement, animal specimens, some plant specimens that are now in the Botanic Gardens.
What is the upcoming 'Nature On One: Casement' documentary and when will it air?
and figured the provenance of them from his letters, from our own register books and so on, and put together a catalogue of the things that he gave to the Natural History Museum in Dublin and also to Dublin Zoo as living specimens. So it probably makes sense to start at the start. So the first thing that Roger Casement gave to us was this snake in a pickled specimen. It's in a jar of alcohol. It's a thing called a rhinoceros viper. He didn't send us a letter. about this one first but we have in our register book here so it's the original book of curators in the past they'd be writing down what was donated in and you have it here in 1898 given in March 4th of March 1898 we know that Roger Casement would have dropped this in in person at the time he was on a leave of absence from Africa and he was staying in Dublin around the corner so he had this bitus nasi cornus the rhinoceros viper it's one of the most poisonous snakes in Africa and it says here given by Roger Casement
And it says Consular Service Niger Territory. So it doesn't help us zone in exactly. It's a huge area. It doesn't help us zone in on exactly where the thing is from. But we know he was stationed over there. And there's an interesting thing in this.
Why is Roger Casement connected to nature and what surprises does his story hold?
In the margin here, the curator's written, Mr. Caseman is now HM Consul. And then it says Lorenzo Marquis de Lagoa Bay. So that's in what was then called Portuguese East Africa. So he's gone now. This is before he's... doing his Congo investigation or any of that. He's sort of like a senior diplomat, like a senior civil servant, travelling through Africa. Potentially, I was told, doing some kind of spy work later on down in southern Africa as well. So that's the first mention we have of Roger Casement. And what date again is that? This is from the 4th of March, 1898. So that's when he would have come into the Natural History Museum in Merrion Street in Dublin and handed in this jar of alcohol with a big pickled snake in it.
I really do think you'll enjoy that documentary, particularly if you have any interest in history and natural history. Where would you get it?
Where in the National Museum of Ireland does Eric Dempsey explore Casement's collections?
Right here on RT Radio 1, courtesy of the Mooney Goes Wild team. Anyway, it'll be broadcast next Bank Holiday Monday, this day week at 12 noon.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:05
2
What is the upcoming 'Nature On One: Casement' documentary and when will it air?
2:05–3:07
3
Why is Roger Casement connected to nature and what surprises does his story hold?
3:07–3:55
4
Where in the National Museum of Ireland does Eric Dempsey explore Casement's collections?
3:55–4:21