Museum

Royal Irish Academy

Ireland

A view of the round tower of Michael of Pole in the city of Dublin [...], by Gabriel, ca.1729-1817 Beranger, 1790

Royal Irish Academy is a museum. 35 works from its collection are in this catalog, including Gabriel, ca.1729-1817 Beranger.

About Royal Irish Academy

Overview & Identity

The Royal Irish Academy (RIA), established in 1785, is Ireland's leading independent learned society and academic body. Based in Dublin, it serves as an all-island forum for peer-elected experts in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences. The Academy's primary mission is to recognize academic excellence, support scholarship, and provide expert advice to government and the public on matters of national and international concern.

Election to membership is considered one of the highest academic honors in Ireland, with members entitled to use the designation 'MRIA' after their names. The Academy currently maintains a membership of approximately 680 individuals and employs around 80 staff to manage its research programs, publications, and library.

History & Founding

Founded in 1785, the Royal Irish Academy is one of the oldest learned societies in Ireland. Its first meetings were held at the personal residence of the Earl of Charlemont. By 1785, the Academy had already begun using a building on Grafton Street for its meetings.

In 1852, the Academy moved to its current permanent home at 19 Dawson Street, known as Academy House. For much of its early history, the Academy functioned as the custodian of Ireland's national collection of antiquities. However, in 1890, the majority of these archaeological artifacts were transferred to the Science and Art Museum in Dublin (now the National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology), marking a significant shift in the Academy's focus from museum curation to scholarly research and publishing.

Collection Highlights & Notable Holdings

While the Academy no longer holds the national archaeological collection, its library remains one of Ireland's premier research libraries, safeguarding major manuscript, book, pamphlet, and drawing collections. A centerpiece of the collection is the Cathach of St. Columba, the earliest example of Irish writing, which is held in the library. The library also possesses a fifteenth-century copy of Euclid's Elements of Geometry, printed in 1482 by Erhard Ratdolt, which is noted as a work of many hands.

The Meeting Room within Academy House contains historical furniture, including benches believed to have come from the House of Commons of the old Irish Parliament at College Green, a ceremonial chair once used by the Lord Chancellor, and gasoliers refitted with Murano glass lampshades. The room also displays a collection of seventy-eight terracotta busts of Roman emperors.

Significance & Legacy

The Royal Irish Academy plays a critical role in the Irish intellectual landscape by promoting study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It operates nine academic research programs at the leading edge of scholarship and manages the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI), a national digital archive. The Academy is a major publisher, having commenced publishing in 1787, and currently releases six journals and numerous research projects.

It administers prestigious awards, including the RIA Gold Medal in the Humanities and the Kathleen Lonsdale Chemistry Prize. Through its Young Academy Ireland initiative, it supports early-career researchers, and its standing committees on archaeology, international affairs, and north–south matters provide strategic input into policy and public concern. The Academy's work influences both scholarship and the wider community, reinforcing its status as a premier national institution.