The Royal Irish Academy. A Bicentennial History 1785-1985. With a Forward by W.A. Watta, President. Dublin: RIA, 1985. Pp xvi, 351. Illustrated. A very good copy in chipped dust jacket. With library stamp to title page.

Founded in 1785, with the Earl of Charlemont as its President, its objects were the study of the country’s antiquities, the advancement of science, and research in what was then described as polite literature. Its Library houses a large collection of manuscripts among which are the Leabhar Brech, the Book of Dun Cow, the Stowe Missal, and of course our namesake the Cathach – the earliest surviving Irish illuminated manuscript.

The Academy can claim to be the pioneer in the scholarly study of the Irish Language, with names like John O’Donovan and Eugene O’Curry, Kuno Meyer and Osborn Bergin to the fore.