The Cunningham Medal is the premier award of the Royal Irish Academy . It is awarded every three years in recognition of "outstanding contributions to scholarship and the objectives of the Academy".
4-460: It was which was established in 1796 at the bequest of barrister Timothy Cunningham of Gray's Inn . After a period of uncertainty and experimentation regarding the terms and conditions of the award, it was agreed in 1848 that the medals would be open to the authors of works or essays in the areas of Science, Polite Literature and Antiquities, published in Ireland or about Irish subjects. After 1885,
8-537: The Cunningham Medal ) of the Royal Irish Academy was founded with his legacy of £1,000: for the encouragement of learning in Ireland by the bestowal of prizes on literary or scientific works of distinguished merit. Cunningham was the author and compiler of legal and antiquarian books, including: Attribution [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in
12-763: The Middle Temple , Cunningham lived in chambers at Gray's Inn for over thirty years. In 1759 he asked for employment as copyist at the British Museum from John Burton , proving in fact expensive. Cunningham was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 29 January 1761, and a testimonial for his admission to the Royal Society that year failed, despite supporters including Richard Pococke and Charles Morton . He died at Gray's Inn during April 1789. The Cunningham prize (awarded as
16-497: The academy stopped giving the award, but it was revived in 1989 for the bicentennial of Cunningham's gift. The original medal was cast by Irish medallist William Mossop . The following persons have been awarded the Cunningham Medal: Award suspended Timothy Cunningham Timothy Cunningham (died 1789) was a London barrister, legal writer and antiquarian, thought to have been Irish. A member of
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