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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Michel Déon Prize Winners

  • 2018 In December 2018 the Royal Irish Academy awarded the inaugural non-fiction prize to historian Breandán MacSuibhne for his book 'The End of Outrage: Post-Famine Adjustment in Rural Ireland' and he delivered his Michel Déon Lecture in Paris on 10 December 2019.
  • 2019 On 12 December 2019 the Académie française officially awarded their prize to fiction writer Stéphane Hoffmann for "Les Belles Ambitieuses".
  • 2020 On 29 September 2020 the Royal Irish Academy awarded the 2020 prize to Conor O’Clery for his book The Shoemaker and his Daughter (Penguin Randomhouse).
  • 2021 The 2021 winner of the Académie française prize was Mr. François Cérésa.
  • 2022 The 2022 winner of the Prize was Sally Hayden for her book My Fourth Time, We Drowned (Harper Collins, 4th Estate). We welcomed Mr. Cérésa to the Royal Irish Academy on 20 April 2023 for a conversation with Mary Gallagher MRIA.
  • 2023 On 28 November 2023 the Académie française officially awarded their prize to Pierre Adrian for his extraordinary body of work. The RIA will welcome Mr Adrian to the Royal Irish Academy in 2024.

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