THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY IS IRELAND'S LEADING BODY OF EXPERTS IN THE SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The Royal Irish Academy/Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann champions research. We identify and recognise Ireland’s world class researchers. We support scholarship and promote awareness of how science and the humanities enrich our lives and benefit society. We believe that good research needs to be promoted, sustained and communicated. The Academy is run by a Council of its members. Membership is by election and considered the highest academic honour in Ireland.

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Pride month DIB entry: the ‘Ladies of Llangollen’

Wednesday, 19 June 2019

To mark Pride 2019 the DIB is publishing its entries on celebrated diarist Sarah Ponsonby (1755–1831) and her life partner Lady Eleanor Butler (c.1739–1829), known as the ‘Ladies of Llangollen’.

Dictionary of Irish Biography

Celebrating Bloomsday: Nora Barnacle in the DIB

Saturday, 15 June 2019

The DIB is publishing its entry for Nora Barnacle, life-partner of James Joyce. The couple had their first date on 16 June 1904, a date immortalised in his novel Ulysses (1922) and thereafter celebrated as 'Bloomsday'. 

Dictionary of Irish Biography

Forgotten Polish Hero of the Great Irish Famine: Paul Strzelecki

Monday, 10 June 2019

Read the DIB entry for Paul Strzelecki, the Polish humanitarian whose efforts saved up to 200,000 children during the Great Irish Famine. 

Dictionary of Irish Biography

The feast of St Colum Cille (Columba)

Sunday, 9 June 2019

To mark the feast day of Colum Cille (Columba) on 9 June, the DIB is publishing its entry by Aidan Breen on the Irish saint who founded the influential monastery at Iona.

Dictionary of Irish Biography

D-Day entry: Columbanus Deegan

Thursday, 6 June 2019

To mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day the DIB is publishing its entry on Columbanus Deegan, one of the many Irish men and women who took part in the intense final push in 1944 in France.

Dictionary of Irish Biography

DIB entry of the day: Mary Ann Hutton

Tuesday, 28 May 2019

Today we present the biography of the remarkable Irish-language scholar and writer Mary Ann Hutton (1862–1953): the first woman to be proposed for, and refused, membership of the Royal Irish Academy.

Dictionary of Irish Biography

Two women and the Royal Irish Academy

Monday, 27 May 2019

In this month's Library Blog post, Turlough O'Riordan of the Dictionary of Irish Biography, looks at the issues surrounding the election of women to the Royal Irish Academy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 

Library, Library Blog, Dictionary of Irish Biography

DIB entry of the day: Maria Edgeworth

Tuesday, 21 May 2019

To mark the anniversary of Maria Edgeworth's death in 1849, we have posted the DIB entry of one of Ireland's greatest writers, by Edwina Keown.

Dictionary of Irish Biography

DIB entry of the day: Rupert Guinness

Wednesday, 15 May 2019

To complement the current Documents on Irish Foreign Policy (DIFP) project exhibition on Iveagh House at the National Archives of Ireland, here is the Dictionary's entry on Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh by Linde...

Dictionary of Irish Biography

DIB entry of the day: Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair

Friday, 3 May 2019

Today's entry is Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (d. 1198), overking of Connacht and high-king of Ireland, written by Ailbhe Mac Shamhráin.

Dictionary of Irish Biography

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