28:, whose aims are "to preserve, examine and illustrate all ancient monuments and memorials of the arts, manners and customs of the past, as connected with the antiquities, language, literature and history of Ireland". Founded in 1849, it has a countrywide membership from all four provinces of Ireland. Anyone subscribing to the aims of the Society, subject to approval by Council, may be elected to membership. Current and past members have included
126:
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.
229:
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
154:
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
125:
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
204:
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
51:, 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
76:
area. The aim of the
Society was the preservation and illustration of the antiquities of Kilkenny, city and county, although this later spread to cover a far wider area, with the Society changing its name only five years later to the
97:, as it took on what it saw as a national role, becoming in 1891, according to its Honorary Secretary Robert Cochrane, "not only the largest Antiquarian Society in Great Britain and Ireland, but also the largest in the world".
195:
Inspector of
National Monuments in March 1875. 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.
150:, 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
221:, 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.
717:
188:
619:
230:
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.
121:
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
702:
191:
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
134:
The
Society's foundation was no doubt influenced by the general revival of interest in ancient Irish antiquities and history which the
40:, but the Society firmly believes in the importance of encouraging an informed general public, and many members are non-professionals.
258:
707:
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The affairs of the
Society are conducted by the elected President, Officers and Council (all of whose services are voluntary).
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The Society's early aims therefore included the conservation of endangered buildings, and they carried out valuable work at
81:, both to attract wider membership and to reflect the interests of those who had already joined. By 1868 it had become the
85:, reflecting its exponential growth, partly due to the widespread circulation of its Journal. In 1869 it was granted a
727:
737:
146:, and opening up critically sound debate on early Christian buildings in Ireland with the publication of his book
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21:
553:
431:
142:(1790–1866), who had been actively involved in the OS was also revitalising the Antiquities Committee of the
113:(1821–75), a newspaper man, were responsible for its initial success. These cousins had had an interest in
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The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland: An Essay on the Origins and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland
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The Society achieved its aim of illustration of antiquities, not only through the published
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8:
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143:
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increasing danger from the effects of rain and frost, as much as from wanton vandalism.
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554:"Professor R.A.S. Macalister (1870-1950) Professor of Celtic Archaeology (1909-1943)"
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antiquities from their youngest days, when they had rambled as far afield as
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The two first, and highly dynamic Honorary General Secretaries, the Revd.
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The Proceedings and Papers of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
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The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland was founded in 1849 as the
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37:
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642:"Professor James Francis Michael Lydon: Biography and bibliography"
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114:
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510:
25:
90:
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472:. Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 1892. p. 637.
456:. Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 1981. p. 72.
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in the 1890s, it came eventually to occupy the premises on
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The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
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Kilkenny and South East of Ireland Archaeological Society
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The following have served as Presidents of the Society:
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Historical societies based in the Republic of Ireland
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Dr. Rachel Moss, Associate Professor, History of Art
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Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland
130:Irish antiquarianism and archaeology in the 1840s
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274:The Right Hon. Charles Owen O'Conor, O'Conor Don
460:
444:
513:. Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
486:Planning: the Irish experience, 1920-1988
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259:Charles FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster
187:city. However, with the passing of the
703:Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
683:Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
263:1888–1894: Lord James Wandesford Butler
95:Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
18:Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
695:
482:
655:
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600:. Office of Public Works (Ireland)
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14:
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309:1920–1924: Michael Joseph McEnery
213:Preservation through illustration
533:"Dictionary of Irish Architects"
402:1997–2000: Próinséas Ní Chatháin
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489:. Wolfhound Press. p. 87.
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70:Kilkenny Archaeological Society
708:1849 establishments in Ireland
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284:1903–1905: John Ribton Garstin
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511:"Past Presidents of the RSAI"
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432:List of Antiquarian Societies
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713:Learned societies of Ireland
43:After the Society's move to
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556:. University College Dublin
483:Bannon, Michael J. (1989).
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381:1973–1976: Henry A. Wheeler
93:, changing its name to the
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688:Journal Contents from 1860
411:2009–2012: Charles Doherty
405:2001–2004: Conleth Manning
396:1989–1992: Seán Ó Nualláin
293:1909–1912: Robert Cochrane
207:National Museum of Ireland
58:
728:Historiography of Ireland
408:2005–2008: Aideen Ireland
399:1993–1996: Rhoda Kavanagh
384:1977–1980: Michael Herity
366:1961–1964: Joseph Raftery
345:1945–1948: John Ryan S.J.
199:
173:Jerpoint Cistercian Abbey
738:Seanad nominating bodies
669:. Retrieved 19 July 2021
598:"Some Irish Naturalists"
420:2017– : Conor Lucey
393:1985–1988: Etienne Rynne
314:R. A. Stewart Macalister
253:Rev. Charles A. Vignoles
189:Church Temporalities Act
318:1928–1930: W. F. Butler
305:Thomas Johnson Westropp
667:Trinity College Dublin
280:Edward Percival Wright
123:Trinity College Dublin
298:George Noble Plunkett
193:Thomas Newenham Deane
289:Patrick Weston Joyce
622:. Ask about Ireland
389:James Francis Lydon
144:Royal Irish Academy
723:Irish antiquarians
356:Seán P. Ó Ríordáin
138:had sparked off.
496:978-0-86327-211-0
371:Helen Maybury Roe
181:St. Francis Abbey
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177:County Kilkenny
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152:County Kilkenny
136:Ordnance Survey
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111:John G. A. Prim
109:(1815–86), and
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101:Graves and Prim
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733:Antiquarians
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580:. Retrieved
578:. Oxford DNB
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515:. Retrieved
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225:Publications
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165:Clonmacnoise
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159:Conservation
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107:James Graves
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416:Rachel Moss
414:2013–2016:
387:1981–1984:
377:A. T. Lucas
375:1969–1972:
369:1965–1968:
360:1957–1960:
354:1953–1956:
348:1949–1952:
339:1941–1944:
333:1937–1940:
327:1933–1936:
321:1931–1932:
312:1924–1928:
303:1917–1920:
296:1913–1916:
287:1906–1908:
278:1900–1902:
272:1898–1899:
266:1895–1897:
257:1878–1887:
251:1849–1877:
53:archaeology
697:Categories
647:30 October
626:31 October
604:30 October
582:31 October
560:31 October
538:31 October
438:References
350:Liam Price
242:Presidents
234:Governance
64:Foundation
30:historians
38:linguists
24:based in
426:See also
185:Kilkenny
115:Kilkenny
74:Kilkenny
517:7 March
219:Journal
59:History
26:Ireland
493:
200:Museum
91:Dublin
45:Dublin
20:is a
649:2014
628:2014
606:2014
584:2014
562:2014
540:2014
519:2018
491:ISBN
179:and
36:and
16:The
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183:in
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