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RDS Library & Archives Research Bursary

The RDS Library & Archives Research Bursary is an annual prize fund of €10,000* awarded to a post-doctorate researcher for an original research project drawn from the RDS Archival Collections.

RDS Library & Archives Research Bursary
2021 RDS Library & Archives Research Bursary Winner

The RDS Library & Archives are delighted to announce that winner of the RDS Library & Archives Research Bursary 2021 is Orla Fitzpatrick for her proposal, Displaying Art and Industry: The Royal Dublin Society’s exhibitions and the National Museum of Ireland.

Orla Fitzpatrick is an academic, educator, researcher and writer who has published and presented internationally in the area of photographic history, design and material culture. She is also a museum professional and librarian and is currently responsible for the administration and curation of the special libraries at the National Museum of Ireland (NMI)

Orla’s research will explore the relationship between the RDS and the NMI by tracing the selection, display and reception of manufactured items for the Society’s 19th Century exhibitions. It will also look at their subsequent entry into the collections of the NMI to ascertain the extent to which the RDS collections and exhibitions informed the collecting policy of the Museum. The formation of collections and the trajectory of both institutions will be excavated through a forensic examination of the RDS and NMI archives. The outcome of the study will add to the understanding of the history of collections in Ireland and contribute to knowledge of Irish consumer behaviour, art education and exhibition culture and display.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Orla, and we look forward to working with her on her research over the next 12 months.

The RDS Archives are the repository of an extensive collection of historical material relating to Irish visual art. Support for Irish art and artists was one of the Society’s founding aims in 1731. During the 18th and 19th centuries some of Ireland’s most notable artists began their careers in the RDS Drawing Schools (now the National College of Art and Design) and received support through the Society’s premium scheme. The Taylor Art Award was established in the late 1850s and to this day remains the largest prize for visual art in Ireland.  The Society also played a leading role in the delivery of national and international art exhibitions, including Dargan’s Great Exhibition of 1853 and the 1861 Fine Art Exhibition.

Material from the RDS Visual Art Archive includes:

  • The manuscript and printed Proceedings of the RDS from 1731 onwards
  • Minutes and correspondence of the Committee of Fine Art, the Taylor Art Prize and RDS Drawing Schools from the early 19th century onwards
  • Correspondence and material relating to the Fine Art exhibition of 1861
  • Correspondence and material relating to RDS exhibitions from the 1830s onwards

The RDS Library & Archives Research Bursary recipient will be expected to:

  • Produce a paper for a peer reviewed academic journal
  • Present their research at a relevant academic conference
  • Present their research in a talk for the RDS Library Speaker Series 2021/2022

For more information please contact the RDS Archivist and Records Manager (natasha.serne@rds.ie)

*Subject to personal income tax and PRSI liability