288 A HISTORY OF 



1 3th of November 1913. Lord Ardilaun, who is a 

 graduate of Dublin University, always evinced the 

 deepest interest in the work and objects of the Society, 

 and, while one of the representatives in Parliament 

 of the city of Dublin, frequently accompanied de- 

 putations of the Society to ministers, urging their 

 claims. To Lord Ardilaun the Society is indebted for 

 a splendid silver mace, which was first laid on the table 

 on the 1 2th of November 1903, when a cordial vote 

 of thanks was tendered to him for his generous gift. 

 The mace was manufactured by Messrs. West and son, 

 of Dublin, after the design of one presented in 1746 by 

 the then Earl of Kildare to the corporation of Athy. 

 On the dissolution of that corporation in 1841, the mace 

 was presented to John Butler, who had been sovereign 

 of the borough in 1833 and 1841, and it was pur- 

 chased from his son by the Duke of Leinster. The 

 associations connecting the Society with that family 

 made it fitting that a copy of the mace should be used 

 in Leinster House. A detailed description of the ori- 

 ginal, which was regarded as one of the finest specimens 

 of Irish work of the period, will be found in Maces, 

 Swords, and other Insignia of Office of Irish Corpora- 

 tions, by Mr. J. Ribton Garstin, D.L., reprinted from 

 the Journal of the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland, 

 volume i. no. 2. 



In 1 86 1, a Fine Arts Exhibition was held, which 

 was open for 136 days and 66 nights; 190,000 visitors 

 (including the Prince Consort and the Prince of 

 Wales) attended it, and the profit resulting from the 

 undertaking amounted to ^1400. The purpose of 

 the exhibition was to bring together the best works, 

 with a view of illustrating the history of modern art, 

 and showing its progress in the country. In carrying 

 out the enterprise, the Royal Dublin Society and the 



