Richard John Ussher MRIA, 1841-1913, was a speleologist, ornithologist and the main author of Ussher & Warren, The Birds of Ireland (1900), a seminal publication in the history of Irish ornithology that provides an early benchmark by which we can measure the decline of native bird species.

The lecture focuses on the life and work of Ussher, descending the depths of Ireland’s caves in search of fossils and surmounting cliff-faces, mountains and rivers in pursuit of rare birds. The Ussher Bird Notes collection (RIA A009), housed in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, consists of Ussher’s notes and correspondence relating to his research.

Recently, the RIA Library announced a new project, The Birds of Ireland, generously supported by The Heritage Council. The project aims to enable the long-term preservation, access, and discovery of this collection.

To talk about this voyage of discovery, Dr Angela Byrne gave a lunchtime lecture, on Tuesday 9 April 2024, entitled ‘Cynthia Longfield and the St George expedition of 1924: the making of an entomologist’.

Image: Cynthia Longfield sitting in a palm-leaf shelter, Panama. June 1924 (RIA LRC/27/17)

Wednesday 24 April: Institutional and private libraries in Early Modern Ireland.

Chair: Dr Richard Kirwan, University of Limerick.

• ‘Curious collections of scarce and valuable books’: eighteenth-century Irish private libraries. Dr Máire Kennedy, Visiting Research Fellow, Centre for Early Modern History, Trinity College Dublin.
• ‘Cold, draughty, and unwelcoming?’: the institutional libraries of Early Modern Ireland. Dr Jason McElligott, Director of Marsh’s Library.

Wednesday 08 May: Early Modern book collections in the 21st century.

Chair: Barbara McCormack, Academy Librarian, Royal Irish Academy.

• The Bolton Library: reconsidering an Early Modern book collection in the 21st century. Olivia Lardner, Cataloguer of the Bolton Library, University of Limerick.
• Well read and well-travelled: the Franciscan book collection at UCD Special Collections. Eugene Roche, Assistant Librarian, UCD Special Collections.
• The St. Canice’s Library: past, present and future. Alexandra Caccamo, Assistant Librarian with responsibility for Special Collections and Archives, Maynooth University Library.

Wednesday 15 May: Reading and collecting books in Early Modern Ireland and Europe.

Chair: Prof Sandy Wilkinson, University College Dublin.

• Factors affecting book collecting in Early Modern Ireland and Europe. Dr Elizabethanne Boran, Librarian, Edward Worth Library.
• Reading books: here, there and then. Prof Brendan Dooley, Professor of Renaissance Studies, University College Cork.