Moving to Dublin, Ireland, in 1867, Traquair took up the position of Professor of Zoology at the Royal College of Science, working and teaching there for the next six years. This was a government position, with the appointment being made by the "Lords of the Committee of Council on Education". One of the honours accorded him during this period was his election in 1871 to the Royal Irish Academy. On 5 June 1873 he married the artist Phoebe Anna Moss (Phoebe Anna Traquair), whom he had met in Dublin. They moved to Colinton Farm south-west of Edinburgh.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1875 They had three children: Ramsay (1874); Henry (Harry) Moss (1875); and Hilda (1879). That same year, Traquair was transferred (again by the government) to Edinburgh to become the first Keeper of the Natural History Collections at the Museum of Science and Art (later the Royal Scottish Museum). This position had been created by the government to ensure that the museum collections remained independent rather than under the control of the University of Edinburgh's Professor of Natural History, Wyville Thomson.
