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.
Read more about the RIAThe Dictionary of Irish Biography is Ireland’s national biographical dictionary. Devised, researched, written and edited under the auspices of the Royal Irish Academy, its online edition covers nearly 11,000 lives.
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Read featured biographies and learn about the latest initiatives from the Dictionary of Irish Biography
Selected by the DIB's Dr Niav Gallagher, John Philip Holland was the inventor of the submarine, a vessel initially rejected by the US navy as ‘a fantastic scheme of a civilian landsman’. Holland's biography is part of a series selected for your reading pleasure during this challenging time.
Selected by friend of the DIB, historian Dr Niamh Puirséil, Dr Noel Browne is celebrated for his efforts to combat TB and to deliver free healthcare to mothers and children during his time as minister for health (1948–51).
Selected by RIA historian Dr John Gibney (Documents on Irish Foreign Policy), John Atherton was an infamous seventeenth-century cleric. Atherton's biography is part of a series of DIB entries selected for your reading pleasure during this challenging time.
Selected by RIA historian Dr Michael Kennedy (Documents on Irish Foreign Policy), Mahmood 'Mike' Butt is best known as the man who introduced Ireland to curry. Butt's biography is the first in a new series of DIB entries selected for your reading pleasure during this challenging time.
I gcomhar le Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU agus Foclóir Stairiúil na Gaeilge, tá beathaisnéis Ernie O'Malley aistrithe mar chomóradh ar Sheachtain na Gaeilge 2020.
I gcomhar le Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU agus Foclóir Stairiúil na Gaeilge, tá beathaisnéis Maud Gonne MacBride aistrithe mar chomóradh ar Sheachtain na Gaeilge 2020.
Please write to the Managing Editor, Dictionary of Irish Biography, Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland, or email dib@ria.ie