The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 E 29, the Book of Fermoy. Commissioned by David Mór Roche, it includes poems and prose relating to the medieval Roche family as well as a duanaire (poembook) containing copies of poems attributed to Gearóid Iarla, 3rd earl of Desmond (1338-1398).

Ink & Innovation: the earliest printed books of the RIA Library. Visit the @rialibrary.bsky.social exhibition showcasing 15th C books printed in Europe. Learn about early printing technology and wide-ranging interests of Renaissance readers. Info & opening hours: https://shorturl.at/vYvgX

'Water, Towns and Topography II', the #IHTA 2026 seminar is convened with the Irish Walled Towns Network, an initiative of @heritagecouncil.ie Free to attend, booking essential 📆20 May 2026 📍Royal Irish Academy, Dublin @ria.ie 🎟️ www.ria.ie/2026/03/30/i...

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 F 16, the Book of O’Gara. This important collection of poetry, compiled in the 1650s in continental Europe, preserves earlier material from sources that have since been lost.

Ink & Innovation: the earliest printed books of the Royal Irish Academy Library! Find out more about our exciting new exhibition by reading our latest blog, written by the curator, Dr Alison Ray @liber-ray.bsky.social (Collections & Archives Manager). www.ria.ie/blog/ink-inn...

Áine Brennan and Grace O'Connor talk about how they doubled social media interactions in @dculibrary.bsky.social post-Twitter. Emma Rothwell shares how she balances traditional curation with outreach demands in @rialibrary.bsky.social at #ASL2026

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 P 16, Leabhar Breac. Written in the 15th century in Irish by Murchadh Riabach Ó Cuindlis (a scribe of the Book of Lecan), at Cluain Lethan and Lothra (Lorrha) in Múscraige Tíre, in north Co. Tipperary. It is the largest Irish vellum manuscript by one scribe.

A serendipitous coincide for #PatricksDay. The Royal Irish Academy @ria.ie @rialibrary.bsky.social has a dedicated web page for the Doegen Recordings of Irish Dialects 1928-1931 which are among the earliest audio recordings of Irish. 🎤: www.doegen.ie Project team: www.doegen.ie/team

We are in the north for this week’s #MapMonday and what a better place to be than supposed burial place of St Patrick in #Downpatrick after he died in c. 490 at Saul ( modern Co. Down) No. 8 in the #IHTA series by R.H. Buchanan & Anthony Wilson was published by the @ria.ie in 1997

Congratulations, Dan Carey PRIA!! 👏

The MS of the week is RIA MS 23 P 7, the Annals of the Four Masters. Two full sets of the annals were prepared and are now divided into multi-volume sets. This volume covers the period AD 1500-1616 and is believed to be part of the Louvain set, which was made to take back to the Irish College there.

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We were delighted to facilitate the loan of John Templeton MRIA's manuscript catalogue of native Irish plants to @ulstermuseum.org You can read more about the manuscript in our recent blog www.ria.ie/blog/the-cat... 🧵

Chonac leabhar na huidhre an inné sa @rialibrary.bsky.social, ana-spéisiúil ar fad! Agus galánta leis

The manuscript of the week is RIA MS 23 E 25, Lebor na hUidre / The Book of the Dun Cow. This 12th century manuscript is best known for containing the oldest extant version of the Táin Bó Cuailgne, or the Cattle Raid of Cooley, a renowned Irish epic.

And will have more opportunity to talk about the fantastic project of getting @rialibrary.bsky.social MS 24 B 1 digitised and displaying and discussing it alongside the Newman College Táin manuscript here @unimelb.edu.au ...

Léacht iontach ar fad inniu le @pomuirch.bsky.social! 👏

Léacht Am Lóin le @pomuirch.bsky.social amárach! Tuilleadh eolais anseo: www.tickettailor.com/events/royal... Agus foilsíodh alt san Irish Times De Luain seo caite! www.irishtimes.com/gaeilge/tuar...

Blagiontráíl nua: Táin Bó Cuailnge ó Éirinn go dtí an Astráil agus ar líne! Léigh anois! www.ria.ie/blog/tain-bo... @dias-isos.bsky.social @corrigans.bsky.social

When you stare into a manuscript and the manuscript stares into you

The manuscript of the week is RIA MS 23 O 48(b), Liber Fergus Fergusiorum. The 15th century manuscript is of Connacht provenance and from the names of places mentioned, written in Co. Roscommon.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the last chance to view: Casimir Markievicz, a Polish Artist in Bohemian Dublin (1903-1913). The exhibition area is inaccessible today due to events, but available 10am-5pm tomorrow. As it is last Friday of the month, the Cathach will be on display! www.ria.ie/library/libr...

Cuir do thicéad in áirithe anois!!

An tseachtain seo chugainn i mBaile Átha Cliath 👇

The manuscript of the week is RIA MS 23 D 17, the Ó Cléirigh Genealogies. The scribe of this mid-17th C genealogical manuscript was Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh, one of the compilers of the Annals of the Four Masters.

Read our new blog - Finances and Funerals: The Digital Archive of Irish Tontines! Dr Andrew McDiarmid @ucddublin.bsky.social is our guest contributor. His project 'Forgotten Funding' is funded by a @researchireland.ie Pathways Fellowship. www.ria.ie/blog/finance...

Oh dear! Looks like a neglectful reader in the past left this genealogy too close to the fireplace! 🤦‍♀️

Researchers will please note that the Library will be closed on Monday 23 February. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and would like to remind our patrons that information about planned closures can be found on our website: www.ria.ie/library/visi... @ria.ie

The Worth Library's Research Fellowships for 2026 have just been advertised. Find out more at edwardworthlibrary.ie/research-fel... Please repost! @bodleian.ox.ac.uk @cerl-community.bsky.social @britishlibrary.bsky.social @wellcometrust.bsky.social @harvard.edu

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 P 10 (ii), the Book of O’Lees. It is named after the hereditary medical family who would have valued the diagnostic tables contained within. It is also known as the Book of Hy-Brasil due to a 17th century a member of the family telling a ‘wild story’...

We’re pleased to announce the appointment of Lynn Scarff as Executive Director of the Royal Irish Academy. The President, Professor Pat Guiry, thanked Dr Siobhán O'Sullivan, who stepped down in 2025, for her commitment and contribution to the Academy: www.ria.ie/2026/02/06/l...

LAI Rare Books Group AGM & Annual Lecture. Dr Nora Moroney, exhibition curator "Benjamin Iveagh - a life in books". Online, Wed 18 Feb, at 12.00. The Group is also running an online rare books cataloguing course on Thurs, 26 Feb. Links below! https://ow.ly/AJkB50YcJ8O https://ow.ly/U9qM50YcJ8P

Bígí linn! Léacht Am Lóin le @pomuirch.bsky.social! Cnámha aduaine bíoblóra: Cnámh de chuid Thady Connellan i mbailiúchán an Acadaimh: www.tickettailor.com/events/royal...

The spring Library newsletter is live! Take a look to discover more about our current exhibition, upcoming events, blogs, podcasts, and more! mailchi.mp/ria.ie/libra...

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS 23 P 26, the Book of Fenagh. This 16th C manuscript is the work of a skilled scribe, on good quality vellum, and contains both prose and verse. The writing is in double columns and some of the capitals are filled in with red pigment.

Some very fun improvised bindings amongst the items called up by a reader today! #SpéirGorm

The MS of the Week is RIA MS 23 P 2, the Book of Lecan. It is an early 15th-century compilation of Irish genealogical, historical, biblical & hagiographical material. Read more and view the digital images, provided by @dias-isos.bsky.social & copyright @ria.ie: www.ria.ie/collections/...

For the weekend that's in it, why not read a Life of St Brigid, or, Betha Brigte. An Leabhar Breac (RIA MS 23 P 16) contains a copy of the Life on starting on p. 61. You can see the "incipit" (Latin for "beginning") outlined in red pigment here, with Brigte spilling over from one line onto another.

The MS of the Week is RIA MS 23 P 6, The Annals of the Four Masters. This volume covers the years A.D. 1170-1499. Each year’s entry is headed, “Aois Cr[íost]” or “Age of Christ” followed by the year denoted by Arabic numerals. Underneath, the year is repeated but written out in full in Irish.

We were delighted to virtually welcome the @komldsp.bsky.social programme cohort this week for a workshop via our visualiser with a few treasures from our collections! 📜🎉

We are thrilled to share this new blog post by Rebecca Cairns about Irish botanist, John Templeton (1766-1825), and his seminal manuscript catalogue of native Irish plants, which we have loaned to @ulstermuseum.org for a special display celebrating 200 years of his legacy. www.ria.ie/blog/the-cat...

Superb talk by @emilymfg.bsky.social on Casimir Markievicz earlier today, coinciding with the new panel exhibition @rialibrary.bsky.social reflecting his life in Bohemian Dublin in the early twentieth century 🎨🎭

Today's Lunchtime Lecture about Casimir Markievicz by Dr Emily Mark-Fitzgerald booked out last night, but some cancellations are trickling through this morning. These will be automatically updated here if you wish to join us! www.tickettailor.com/events/royal... @emilymfg.bsky.social

The Manuscript of the Week is RIA MS B ii 1, Astronomical tract. It is based on a medieval Latin version of a work by Messahalah, a Jew of Alexandria who wrote in Arabic c. 815. The frontispiece is an astronomical rotula with a moveable index attached, illuminated with red and yellow pigment...

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