2024

Cynthia Longfield and the St George expedition of 1924

The RIA Library held a Lunchtime Lecture to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of Cynthia Longfield’s adventure on the St George Expedition.

Early Modern Book Collections

The Royal Irish Academy Library and Historical Studies Committee were delighted to present a three-part lunchtime lecture series on the topic of Early Modern book collections.

Richard J. Ussher

As part of National Heritage Week 2024, ecologist and author, Richard Nairn, delivered a lunchtime lecture entitled ‘Richard J. Ussher: Chronicling the Birds of Ireland’.

2023

Window on the Irish Soul

Stephen Ferguson, An Post Archivist and Museum Curator, gave a lecture entitled 'Window on the Irish soul: A century of Irish stamps' which highlighted the connections between the Academy and Irish stamps.

Vivid Voices: Tomás Ó Máille and Sound Recording in the Modern Irish State

Dr Deirdre Ní Chonghaile, New York University delivered this Lunchtime Lecture on 14 March 2023.

2022

Sister II

Sisters II continues our celebration of sisterhood by exploring the lives and achievements of another four families of sisters who made their mark on Irish life.

2021

Colm Cille 1500: Téacsanna agus Traidisiúin

Lunchtime Lecture series celebrating the Colm Cille/Columba, founder of the monastery of Iona.

2020

The Books of Knockninny

This series of Lunchtime Lectures was organised to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the compilation of the Book of Knockninny (RIA MS C vi 1).

An English take on an Irish character: John Henry Newman’s Irish printing-type

On 26 February 2020, Dr Dermot McGuinne delivered a Lunchtime Lecture on Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890).

2019

Sisters I

The inaugural Lunchtime Lectures series Sisters ran from March to April 2019. This series celebrated the lives and achievements of five families of sisters who made their mark on Irish life. Including artists, publishers, writers, educationalists, philanthropists, revolutionaries, suffragists

A Forgotten Polish Hero of the Great Irish Famine

The June 2019 Lunchtime Lecture explored the life of Count Strzelecki, a Polish humanitarian who saved over 200,000 children during the Great Irish Famine.

Discovering Thomas Moore

The Discovering Thomas Moore Lunchtime Lecture series exposed the breadth of Moore’s research and writing about Ireland and was accompanied by an exhibition curated by musicologist Dr Sarah McCleave, School of Arts, English & Languages, QUB.

2018

Françoise Henry at UCD

Dr Eileen Kane presented this Lunchtime Lecture, Françoise Henry at UCD: Towards a history of Art History in Ireland, in April 2018.

Prodigies of learning: Academy women in the nineteenth century

This Lunchtime Lecture series delved into the different worlds of female Honorary Members.

2017

Charitable property: the manuscripts of St Anne's Guild, Dublin

This Lunchtime Lecture was delivered by Professor Colm Lennon, MRIA.

A life of two exiles: Wacław Tadeusz Dobrzyński (1883–1962)

This lecture was organised in conjunction with the Polish Embassy and was delivered by Ian Cantwell, historian.

‘To please and to reform mankind’ a life of protest: Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745

This Swift 350 Lecture series explored the writings of Jonathan Swift using the Academy collections of pamphlets, broadsides and Swift’s manuscript accounts book.

George IV, Thomas Moore and the Egans of Dawson Street, Dublin

On 8 November 2017, the Library hosted a lecture and recital to celebrate the first ever National Harp Day.

2016

Intellectual life in Ireland, 1910-1920

This Lunchtime Lecture series ran from March to May in 2016 and it explored the aspects of scholarship and intellectual life that helped shape cultural understandings of what it meant to be Irish in the early 20th century.

Book of Fenagh 500

These two Lunchtime Lectures look at the Book of Fenagh (RIA MS 23 P 26) on its 500th birthday.

Representations of Jews in Irish Literature Exhibition

These Lunchtime Lectures investigated the depiction of Jews and Jewishness in Ireland from the Annals of Inisfallen in the medieval period, then through to centuries of poetry, prose and drama to the present day.

2015

Scribing for Ireland: the Ó Longáin family and the Royal Irish Academy

Find out more about the Ó Longáin family, a scribal family who transcribed countless collections of stories, sagas, verse, historical and religious works, working from manuscript to manuscript.

1815, 1915: Centenaries and bicentenaries: Celticists, lexicographers and antiquarian scholars

An initiative of the Library, the Dictionary of Irish Biography and Foclóir na Nua-Ghaeilge, this series reflected on the contribution made by five nineteenth century scholars to the development of Celtic Studies, the Irish language, lexicography, archaeology and antiquarian research, textual studies and Irish history.

2014

Mapping city, town and country since 1824: the Ordnance Survey in Ireland

In collaboration with the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, this Lunchtime Lecture series investigated the Ordnance Survey’s mapping of Ireland at a scale of 6-inches to the mile which began in 1824.

1014: the Battle of Clontarf

A millennium has passed since the Battle of Clontarf took place on the outskirts of Dublin, Good Friday 1014. This series looks at the individuals involved in this battle and the fall out from the events of that day.

2013

Aon amharc ar Éirinn: Gaelic families and their manuscripts

The Autumn 2013 Lunchtime Lecture series highlighted the work of the Gaelic learned class in medieval Ireland.

Ruaidhri Ó Flaithbheartaigh through his letters

This lecture ‘Ruaidhri Ó Flaithbheartaigh through his letters: a learned Gaelic chief and his Oxford friend in 1700’ was delivered by Dr Richard Sharpe.

2012

Scientific collections of the Edward Worth Library

This lecture delves into the scientific collections gathered by Edward Worth (1676-1733), a notable Dublin physician.