Ireland day 1280. Monday 31 March 2025- RIA Tour

Today’s summary	Got up early (ish) and went on a tour round the Royal Irish Academy. Very interesting. Brunch in the National Gallery then train back to Malahide afterwards. Went on a short walk in the afternoon while Val went running. More “Mad Men” in the evening.
Today’s weather	Bright dry and mild with plenty of hazy sunshine. Light south easterly wind. Appx 13c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Hills of Howth walk

Commentary

We have been to a number of events over the last few years, held at the Royal Irish Academy in Dawson Street (where else!), central Dublin. We have always very much enjoyed them, and the Academy itself is a fascinating institution housed in a beautiful detached Georgian mansion. So when I got an email from the RIA’s mailing list inviting us to go on a “behind the scenes tour” at Dawson Street, we jumped at the chance to go.

The tour was scheduled to start at 9:30 so we were up and away, arriving at Malahide station well before 8:30. Unconscionably early for us these days! We got to the RIA building in plenty of time, and the visit started a few minutes later.

We learned quite a bit about the RIA – its history and its objectives – and had a good look at the main reception rooms and library. It exists to promote the arts, sciences and humanities, and being elected to become a member of the RIA is seen as a great honour in these circles. It has a huge library comprising thousands of books – some almost 1,500 years old.

The building itself was formerly a private dwelling, built around 1760. The RIA, which was founded in 1785, moved in in 1851. It reconfigured the building, notably by adding on a large meeting room at the back. Curiously, the ceiling of the meeting room was modelled on the old ticket hall ceiling at Euston Station, London – which was itself demolished in 1961.

The tour lasted about an hour and a half and our guide, Ailbha Rogers, was excellent. We learned a lot. Afterwards, rather than going straight back to Malahide, we called in at the National Gallery café for brunch. A relaxing end to a busy morning.

After returning to Malahide from Pearse station, I went on a quick walk round the estuary – enjoying, for once, not having to wear a down jacket – and Val went on a run. Later, we finished off the lentil curry and watched some more “Mad Men” (there are at least 70 episodes so still plenty of viewing to be done).

By the way – “Adolescence” on Netflix turned out to be so compelling last night that we watched all four episodes back to back in one sitting. It’s not easy viewing but the acting was exemplary, and the storyline thought provoking. Highly recommended.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


19 Dawson Street – home of the RIA	Imposing staircase in the entrance hall – only goes up as far as the first floor. To get to the upper three floors, there is a narrow servants’ staircase hidden round the back

Signs of a bygone era?	In the main meeting room. We’ve been to talks by notable speakers here on a number of occasions

Ceiling in the large meeting room – Euston Station eat your heart out!	Log book for January 1807, recording meteorological conditions

View from the Members’ Room onto the garden adjoining the RIA and Mansion House