‘The Ancient Books of Ireland’ by Michael Slavin.
Wednesday, November 8, 2006 at 6.00pm.
Merrion Room, RDS

Ireland is fortunate to have some of the most beautiful and fascinating ancient books in the world. Perhaps with the exception of the ‘Book of Kells’ however, little is know about them.
The books have survived for centuries in manuscript form and include: the ‘Cathach’, a book taken into battle at the head of the O’Donnell armies in Ulster; the ‘Book of Armagh’, long a source of the earliest accounts of St Patrick, and the ‘Book of the Dun Cow’ which contains the earliest versions of some of Ireland’s most well known-stories and legends.

Michael Slavin is a well-known voice in equestrian broadcasting. He was commentator and reporter with RTÉ for 25 years. Since his semi-retirement from journalism ten years ago Michael has run an antiquarian book shop near his home at the Hill of Tara, Co. Meath. He is the author of three very successful books, ‘The Book of Tara’, ‘Irish Showjumping Legends’ and most recently ‘The Ancient Books of Ireland’.

The talk will be illustrated by visual images and will be honing in on insights in the history, contents and legends of some of Ireland’s most prized ancient manuscripts.

Admission is free and open to the public. Seats should be reserved by phoning 01 240 7256 or emailing: lectures@rds.ie

‘Horse Fairs in Ireland’– A Photographic Exhibition by Noel Mullins.
Photographs taken by photojournalist Noel Mullins on the Horse Fairs of Ireland. The exhibition will open with a talk by Mr Mullins on Wednesday, October 18 by way of an introduction to the subject, and will then run through to November 10.

The exhibition will have representative photos taken at fairs such as Ballinasloe, Spancil Hill and the Ould Lammas Fair and from the heart of Dublin at Smithfield. In his photographs, Mr Mullins has tried to capture that sense of the occasion, as well as the unique expressions of the people and the animals. The work has taken over three years to complete and the collection represents some of the best pictures from the series.

This exhibition, which will be taken all over Ireland, will open first in the RDS Library, during normal library hours from 10.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.

For further information, please contact either Mary Kelleher at 01 240 7288 or via email at mary.kelleher@rds.ie or Gerard Whelan at 01 240 7256 or via email at ger.whelan@rds.ie

Energy Boosters & Energy Robbers– Paula Mee.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 at 6.00pm
Merrion Room, RDS

Food and nutrition expert Paula Mee is a scientist who has used her wide range of qualifications and expertise in a number of roles in the Irish food industry.

She has worked for Superquinn, The National Dairy Council and Bord Bia, and is a member of the consultative council of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.

So many people today are trying to be aware and, where possible, take active control of their health and the food they eat. There will be an opportunity for members of the audience to ask questions on daily food intake, including all the healthy or unhealthy snacks that we are targeted to consume every day, as well as our regular meals– breakfast, lunch and supper.

This one hour presentation and Q & A is free. Seats should be reserved by phoning 01 240 7256 or emailing: lectures@rds.ielectures@rds.ie