James Townsend Mackay

James Townsend Mackay (29 January 1775– 25 February 1862) was a Scottish botanist who worked in Ireland at the botanical garden of Trinity College, Dublin. He published Flora Hibernica in 1836 along with W. H. Harvey and T. Taylor.

Life Mackay was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife. After being educated at the parish school he was trained as a gardener, and having filled several posts in Scotland went to Ireland in 1803. Trinity College, Dublin, was building a botanical garden at the time and he was hired to lay out the garden and in 1806 he was made curator, a position he held until his death.

Works Flora Hibernica: comprising the Flowering plants, Ferns, Caraceae, Musci, Hepaticae, Lichenes and Algae of Ireland.(William Curry Jun and Company, Dublin, 1836). Full text.