The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) () is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically. The RDS is synonymous with its 160,000 m2 campus in Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland. The premises include the 'RDS Arena', 'RDS Simmonscourt', 'RDS Main Hall' and other venues which are used regularly for exhibitions, concerts and sporting events like the Dublin Horse Show or Leinster Rugby games. The Royal Dublin Society was granted Royal Patronage in 1820 by George IV. The RDS Members' Club is a members-only club offering exclusive access to sports events on its premises and weekly luncheons and dinners.
The RDS is one of nine organisations that may nominate candidates for the Seanad Éireann (Irish Upper House) elections on the Agriculture panel.
Name and history
The society was founded by members of the Dublin Philosophical Society, chiefly Thomas Prior, as the 'Dublin Society for improving Husbandry, Manufactures and other Useful Arts'. On 1 July 1731 – at the second meeting of the Society – the designation 'and Sciences' was added to the end of its name. The Society's broad agenda was to stimulate economic activity and aid the creation of employment in Ireland. For the first few years of its existence, the Dublin Society concentrated on tillage technology, land reclamation, forestry, the production of dyestuffs, flax cultivation and other agricultural areas.
In 1738, following the publication of his pamphlet entitled 'Reflections and Resolutions Proper for the Gentlemen of Ireland', Samuel Madden initiated a grant or 'premium' scheme to create incentives for improvements in Irish agricultural and arts. He proposed a fund of £500 be raised for this and he personally contributed £130. By 1740 the premium scheme had raised £900, and was adjudicated upon the following January and awarded to enterprises in earthenware, cotton, leatherwork, flax, surveying, as well as a number of painters and sculptors.
In 1761 the Irish Parliament voted for £12,000 to be given to the Dublin Society for the promotion of agriculture, forestry, arts, and manufactures. This funding was used to increase the amount of premiums distributed by the Dublin Society. Further funds were given by Parliament to the Dublin Society on a sporadic basis until 1784 when an annual parliamentary vote of £5,000 was put in place and remained so until the dissolution of Grattan's Parliament in 1800.
The "Royal" prefix was adopted in 1820 when George IV became Society patron. Despite Irish Independence from the United Kingdom in 1922 the RDS is one of several organisations based in Ireland that retain their royal patronage.
Arts
On foot of the successful award of premiums to artists and the public interest in this area, the RDS decided to establish an arts school. Through successful petitioning of the then Lord Lieutenant, Lord Chesterfield, it applied for Government support and was awarded an annual grant of £500 in 1746. The drawing school was established in 1750 and had an early emphasis on figure drawing, landscape and ornament, with architectural drawing added in the 1760s. Tuition was free and popular among people of a wide variety of trades and backgrounds. A notable student was James Hoban, who attended in the 1780s and went on to design the White House, in Washington DC. Among the artists who attended the RDS schools of art or were awarded premiums by the Society were: James Barry, George Barrett, Francis Danby, Edward Smyth, John Hogan.
In 1867 as part of a wider initiative, the Government took control of the RDS art school, which subsequently became the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, and later became the National College of Art and Design.
The annual RDS Visual Art Awards incorporate the RDS Taylor Art Award which has been awarded since 1878. This award is now valued at €10,000 and is open to Irish visual art graduates. The total prize fund for the RDS Visual Art Awards is €30,000.
Former notable winners of the RDS Taylor Art Award include: Walter Osborne, William Orpen, Seán Keating, Mainie Jellet, Colin Midleton, Nora McGuinness and Louis le Brocquy, as well as more contemporary artists such as Eamon O'Kane, Dorothy Cross James Hanley and Conor Walton.
Music
The RDS association with classical music extends back to 1886 when it first organised a series of popular recitals that took place over a phased basis from March, and it included works by Corelli, Haydn and Beethoven performed by teaching staff of the Royal Irish Academy of Music.