Royal Irish Academy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) (Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann) is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions. Founded in 1785, its current and former members include artists, scientists and writers from around Ireland.
Membership of the academy is by election, usually after the proposed member has published a noted scientific or scholarly work. Those elected are permitted to use the letters MRIA after their names. In addition, international scholars can be selected as honorary members if they have contributed to academia and have a connection to Ireland.
Since 1951 the academy has been based at 19 Dawson Street in the centre of Dublin. Built in c.1750, the building has some fine decorative plasterwork and a handsome meeting room designed in 1854 by Fredrick Villiers Clarendon and now used for conferences, exhibitions and public talks. The academy library holds some important early Irish manuscripts and, in fact, the academy once held many Celtic treasures now in the National Museum of Ireland.
The academy is also known for its publications on Irish material, particularly biography, history, geography and language. The Atlas of Ireland, published in 1979, was a comprehensive atlas of Ireland's geography, including related socio-economic thematical information. The academy keeps an extensive library and collection of Irish-related material.
[edit] Notable Members
- Francis Beaufort, hydrographer and originator of the Beaufort Wind Scale
- J.P. Beddy, public servant
- Frederick Boland, diplomat
- Andrew Nicholas Bonaparte Wyse, civil servant
- Arthur Cox, solicitor
- Eamon de Valera, Taoiseach 1932–1948; 1951–1954; 1957–1959 and President of Ireland 1959–1973
- James Gandon, architect
- Henry Grattan, politician
- William Rowan Hamilton, world-renowned mathematician
- Walter Heitler, physicist
- Thomas Dix Hincks (1767-1857) orientalist and naturalist
- Richard Kirwan, chemist, meteorologist, and mineralogist
- Eoin MacNeill, politician and historian
- William Hunter McCrea, astronomer
- Seán Lemass, Taoiseach 1959–1966
- F.S.L. Lyons, historian
- Frank Mitchell, historian
- Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin and President of the International Olympic Committee
- Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, Attorney General 1946–1948, 1951–1953 and President of Ireland 1974–1976
- John O'Donovan (1806–1861), Irish language scholar and place-name expert
- William Wilde, polymath and father of the playwright, Oscar Wilde
- Isaac Weld 1774 - 1856, topographical author
