Royal Cork Institution was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

cultural institution in the city of

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

from 1803 to 1885. It consisted of a library of scientific works, a museum with old Irish manuscripts and stones with

ogham inscription Roughly 400 known ogham inscriptions are on stone monuments scattered around the Irish Sea, the bulk of them dating to the fifth and sixth centuries. Their language is predominantly Primitive Irish, but a few examples record fragments of the ...

s, and lecture and reading rooms. A lack of funds resulted in its closure in 1885.

Origins

The Royal Cork Institution (RCI) was founded by Rev. Thomas Dix Hincks, a minister of the Old Presbyterian Church on Princes Street in

and was modelled on institutions such as the Royal Dublin Society and the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. It was incorporated in 1807 and renamed the Royal Cork Institution (RCI). It operated from premises on the

South Mall The South Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located on Lehigh Street south of Interstate 78 exit 57 near Allentown's southern border with Salisbury Township and Emmaus in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. History 1970s and 19 ...

opposite the current Imperial hotel and was a British government supported educational centre for 70 years. Its early patrons included businesses and landed people including William Beamish (1760–1828),

William Sharman Crawford William Sharman Crawford (1780–1861) was an Irish landowner who, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, championed a democratic franchise, a devolved legislature for Ireland, and the interests of the Irish tenant farmer. As a Radical represe ...

(1781–1861), Cooper Penrose (1736–1815) and James Roche (1770–1853). It offered courses, public lectures on science and scientific principles in agriculture and industry. The RCI had a collection of scientific instruments and library of over 5,000 volumes with a private and a public patents collection - a copy of this is in the Boole Library of

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

Activities

The RCI established the Cork Botanic Gardens in 1806. A shortage of funds in 1828 forced the withdrawal of the RCI, and the property was later to become a cemetery. The RCI was influential in the Government decision to establish the Queen's College in Cork. It published the first volume of the ''Munster Farmer's Magazine'' in 1812. It also established the

Crawford College of Art and Design Cork Institute of Technology (CIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Chorcaí) was an institute of technology, located in Cork, Ireland. Upon its dissolution, the institute had 17,000 students studying in art, business, engineering, music, dram ...

, now part of the

Cork Institute of Technology Cork Institute of Technology (CIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Chorcaí) was an institute of technology, located in Cork, Ireland. Upon its dissolution, the institute had 17,000 students studying in art, business, engineering, music, dram ...

(CIT). It was connected with medical schools and gave lectures on anatomy. Lack of funds necessitated the RCI becoming a private society in 1850 and its closure in 1885. Among those associated with the RCI were Richard Caulfield (at one time its secretary and librarian), Robert Day and

Abraham Abell Abraham Abell (11 April 1782 – 12 February 1851) was an Irish antiquarian. Early career Abell was born in Cork, Ireland on 11 April 1782, into a Quaker family of eleven children. His family had long standing in business. He also was succ ...

. The RCI had an influential role in the intellectual life of Cork until the Cork

Cuvierian Society The Cuvierian Society of Cork was founded as a committee of the Royal Cork Institution in October 1835. The meetings were held on the first Wednesday of the Autumn and Winter months in the Library of the Royal Cork Institution. The Society was n ...

. This in turn was supplanted with the establishment of Queen's College, Cork, in 1849.

Canova casts

The RCI acquired

these These may refer to: *the plural proximal demonstrative in English *These, a variation of the Greek Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, e ...

from the Society of Fine Arts in

, who were given them by the Prince Regent later

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

. He had received them from Pope

Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...

who had commissioned

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the cl ...

to make a set of plasters from statues in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

. The statues are currently in the

Crawford Municipal Art Gallery The Crawford Art Gallery ( ga, Áiléar Crawford) is a public art gallery and museum in the city of Cork, Ireland. Known informally as the Crawford, it was designated a 'National Cultural Institution' in 2006. It is "dedicated to the visual arts ...

References

* * {{Cite book , last=Cadogan , first=Tim , author2=Jeremiah Falvey , title=A Biographical Dictionart of Cork , date=2006 , publisher=Four Courts Press , isbn=1-84682-030-8 , url-access=registration , url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000cado

External links

Pigot's Directory 1824

Culture in Cork (city) Defunct organisations based in Ireland 19th century in Ireland

Origins

Activities

Canova casts

See also

References

External links