Inside No. 19 Dawson St
Historic proclamations, illustrated manuscripts, benches from Grattan’s parliament, the very harp that was owned and played by Thomas Moore, the Bard of Erin . . . and the finest room in Dublin. Just some of the treasures and fascinating stories that feature on this audio guided tour of the Royal Irish Academy.
Listen to extract:
The RIA is Ireland’s foremost learned society, and it has been associated with the great names of Irish literature and science since it began in 1785, from WB Yeats and William Rowan Hamilton, to Mary Robinson and Seamus Heaney.
This tour is available in Irish and English. You can borrow the tour from the RIA library, on a hand-held multimedia player, or download your own copy here.
RIA – Free Audio Downloads
Available in Irish and English:
- RIA English Tour – English MP3 download
- RIA Irish Tour – Irish MP3 download
Highlights of the RIA tour
A visit to the RIA is both a pleasure and a privilege. You will discover a most unusual Georgian and Victorian interior, and learn something of the history and work of Ireland’s foremost learned society. And as a special extra, the tour includes one of Thomas Moore’s famous melodies, The Coolin, played by Una Hunt and Fionnuala Hunt, from their album Irish Fantasy.
Visiting the Royal Irish Academy
Our audio tour visits the Inner Hall, Library Reading Room and Meeting Room of Academy House, 19 Dawson St. If the Meeting Room is in use when you visit, you can still listen to the relevant audio tracks in the Reading Room. The Academy is open to visitors Monday to Friday 10am-5pm, last tour at 4.15pm. There is wheelchair access to the building.
An Ingenious Ireland production for the Royal Irish Academy. Made with a grant from the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport, under the Cultural Technology Grant Scheme 2010.
A native Dubliner and award-winning heritage writer, Mary Mulvihill is an enthusiastic storyteller. Her guidebook, Ingenious Ireland, won a number of awards. 
