Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland is a

After the Society's move to Dublin in the 1890s, it came eventually to occupy the premises on Merrion Square, where it is still to be found. It now fulfills its original aims through the maintenance of its library and provision of lectures and excursions, as well as the continued publication of its Journal, which is one of the most respected publications in the field of Irish archaeology and history.

History

Foundation

The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland was founded in 1849 as the

The two first, and highly dynamic Honorary General Secretaries, the Revd. James Graves (1815–86), and John G. A. Prim (1821–75), a newspaper man, were responsible for its initial success. These cousins had had an interest in Kilkenny antiquities from their youngest days, when they had rambled as far afield as Kilfane Church to see the famous tomb sculpture of Cantwell Fada. Graves had been making sketches of the ancient monasteries of the vicinity since his student days in Trinity College Dublin in the 1830s, while Prim had found time despite his hectic schedule at the 'Kilkenny Moderator' to start collecting Irish ballads and transcribing from medieval manuscripts as early as 1841. Their knowledge of local antiquities was matched by the idealism of the organisation itself, which was non-sectarian, including the Catholic Robert Cane, later Mayor of Kilkenny, as well as Philip Moore, a Catholic priest who remained a close friend of Prim's to the end of his life. Its subscription rate, at 5 shillings a year, was also very modest in comparison with most English archaeological societies, many of which adopted high subscription rates with the intention of promoting a socially exclusive and often highly aristocratic membership.

Irish antiquarianism and archaeology in the 1840s

The Society's foundation was no doubt influenced by the general revival of interest in ancient Irish antiquities and history which the Ordnance Survey had sparked off. George Petrie (1790–1866), who had been actively involved in the OS was also revitalising the Antiquities Committee of the Royal Irish Academy, and opening up critically sound debate on early Christian buildings in Ireland with the publication of his book The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland: An Essay on the Origins and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, in 1845. Nevertheless, it was a time of increasing danger for the heritage of Ireland, as the Irish language suffered severe setbacks after the Famine of the 1840s, and was vanishing from County Kilkenny even around the time the Society was establishing itself. As superstitious beliefs died out, people became less cautious of destroying the field monuments such as raths and stone circles, which hitherto had been avoided in cultivation of the land. Meanwhile, many of the standing buildings were in increasing danger from the effects of rain and frost, as much as from wanton vandalism.

Conservation

The Society's early aims therefore included the conservation of endangered buildings, and they carried out valuable work at Clonmacnoise, County Offaly, Jerpoint Cistercian Abbey, County Kilkenny and St. Francis Abbey in Kilkenny city. However, with the passing of the Church Temporalities Act in 1869, many of these structures came to be vested in the Board of Works, which then took over the duty of conserving them, appointing Thomas Newenham Deane Inspector of National Monuments in March 1875.^[3] This relieved the Society of its responsibilities in active preservation of buildings, although it continued to participate by drawing the Board's attention to individual cases.

Museum

The Society's interest in preservation was also reflected in the museum it built up of objects donated by various members, as well as those objects found during the archaeological excavations it carried out itself. Many items from the Museum subsequently became part of the collections of the National Museum of Ireland.

Preservation through illustration

The Society achieved its aim of illustration of antiquities, not only through the published Journal, which from its creation contained both lithographs and engravings (and later photographs), but also by a comprehensive effort to photograph the antiquities of the 32 counties of Ireland.

Publications

The RSAI publishes an peer-reviewed Journal, generally abbreviated as JRSAI. A volume appears each year, but this is often published in a 1st and a 2nd part. The parts can however be ignored for the purposes of citation as pages are numbered continuously through the volume. The volumes are numbered consecutively or by series. The volume that appeared in 1921 for example is numbered consecutively as 51 but is also known as volume XI of the VIth series.

Governance

The affairs of the Society are conducted by the elected President, Officers and Council (all of whose services are voluntary).

Presidents

The following have served as Presidents of the Society:^[4]

See also

• List of Antiquarian Societies

References