Discourse Series

The Royal Irish Academy’s Discourse Series are the oldest and most renowned series of public talks in Ireland.

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About the Discourse Series

The Royal Irish Academy’s first discourses were presented in 1786. Historically, Academy discourses were the occasion reserved for the most distinguished academics to first reveal and discuss their research in public. Robert Mallet revealed his pioneering work on earthquakes and William Rowan Hamilton talked about quaternion algebra first at RIA discourses.

Continuing in this tradition, the modern Discourse Series brings international experts to the Academy to discuss important contemporary issues in front of a public audience.

Watch recordings of the Discourse Series

Our Discourses have been filmed since 2020 and are available to watch on the RIA YouTube channel.

Latest Discourse Series videos

Audio recordings of the Discourse Series (2017-2019)

Where can I watch past recordings of the Discourse Series?

We began filming our Discourses in 2020, and these can be found on the RIA YouTube channel.