The Royal Irish Academy, based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one of its leading cultural institutions. The Academy was established in 1785 and granted a royal charter in 1786. As of 2019, the RIA has around 600 members, regular members being Irish residents elected in recognition of their academic achievements, and Honorary Members similarly qualified but based abroad; a small number of members are elected in recognition of non-academic contributions to society.
Royal Irish Academy
Meeting Room in Academy House
Initial page from the 9th-century Stowe Missal
Navigation House, Grafton Street
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta of 1215, but since the 14th century have only been used in place of private acts to grant a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organisations such as boroughs, universities and learned societies.
Charter granted by King George IV in 1827, establishing King's College, Toronto, now the University of Toronto
Coloured engraving by H. D. Smith, commemorating the grant of a charter in 1829 to King's College, London
The McGill University Arts Building in Montreal, Quebec
Stauffer Library at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario