Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland

Last updated

The Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland
Formation1847
Headquarters Dublin, Republic of Ireland
President
Patrick Paul Walsh
Website www.ssisi.ie

The Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland (SSISI) is a learned society which analyses the major changes that have taken place in population, employment, legal and administrative systems and social services in Ireland. [1] It operates as an all-Ireland body. [2]

The Society was founded in Dublin in 1847 by a group of Irish academics, clergymen, aristocrats and politicians. [3] Its first president was Richard Whately. From its establishment until the 1920s the overwhelming majority of members were Unionists of the Anglo-Irish class, who were, generally speaking, more sympathetic to the British administration in Ireland than with the Irish Home Rule movement. [4] As a result, most papers read to the Society until at least 1870 were in favour of assimilating the laws and practices in Ireland to those applying in England and Wales. Even so, official political or religious endorsement has never been allowed in the Society. During the nineteenth century it frequently provided an important platform for people who were concerned about major social problems, such as the care of orphans and neglected children. The key figures associated with the founding of the Irish National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1889 were prominent members of the Society. [5]

From 1924, several Irish nationalists became presidents of the SSISI. [6] In addition, the Society began to enroll a substantial number of senior officials from the new Irish civil service, and as such has formed a close relationship with the Irish state. [7] The Journal of the Society has provided one of the few opportunities to penetrate the official anonymity of the Irish public service; senior civil servants have spoken more freely on crucial aspects of government policy at SSISI meetings than in any other public forum. On the whole the papers presented to the Society have been concerned with practical problems, such as crime, poverty and economic progress, and by a common concern with the condition of Ireland.

The current president of SSISI is Frances P. Ruane, who is only the second female president in the Society's history. The Society often meets at the Royal Irish Academy and its journal is printed with the help of Trinity College Dublin, where Honorary Secretary Ronan C. Lyons is based, and disseminated with the help of the Central Statistics Office and the Central Bank of Ireland.

Presidents

Richard Whately, 1st President of the SSISI Richard Whately.jpg
Richard Whately, 1st President of the SSISI
Lord O'Hagan, 3rd President of the SSISI 1stLordOHagan.jpg
Lord O'Hagan, 3rd President of the SSISI
Lord Emly, 5th President of the SSISI William Monsell, Lord Emly.jpg
Lord Emly, 5th President of the SSISI
Lord Monteagle of Brandon, 11th President of the SSISI Thomas Spring Rice, 2nd Baron Monteagle of Brandon.jpg
Lord Monteagle of Brandon, 11th President of the SSISI

Since 1847, the SSISI has appointed numerous notable figures from academia and politics as its president: [8] [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Whately</span> English academic, philosopher, and theologian

Richard Whately was an English academic, rhetorician, logician, philosopher, economist, and theologian who also served as a reforming Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin. He was a leading Broad Churchman, a prolific and combative author over a wide range of topics, a flamboyant character, and one of the first reviewers to recognise the talents of Jane Austen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas O'Hagan, 1st Baron O'Hagan</span> Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 19th century

Thomas O'Hagan, 1st Baron O'Hagan, KP, PC (Ire), QC, was an Irish lawyer and judge. He served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1868 to 1874 and again from 1880 to 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Irish Academy</span> All-Ireland academy of sciences and humanities

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.

Events from the year 1885 in Ireland.

John Kells Ingram was an Irish mathematician, economist and poet who started his career as a mathematician. He has been co-credited, along with John William Stubbs, with introducing the geometric concept of inversion in a circle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burials in Glasnevin Cemetery</span>


This is a list of notable people buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Haughton (reformer)</span>

James Haughton, nicknamed "Vegetable" Haughton, was an Irish social reformer, temperance activist and vegetarian.

Frances P. Ruane,, is an Irish academic economist and former director of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in Dublin, Ireland 2006−2015. She is recognised for her research on FDI and its effect on host economies. She has also been a regular appointee to State and public policy boards and committees, including most recently acting as Chair of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland (2016-2019) and the National Competitiveness Council.

Denis Caulfield Heron LL.D QC was an Irish lawyer and politician, who was Catholic Liberal MP for Tipperary, and a senior legal adviser to the British Crown. He was born in Dublin, the eldest son of William Heron, a merchant, and his wife Mary Maguire of Newry, Co Down. He was educated at Downside School, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, and proceeded to Trinity College Dublin, where he was elected a Scholar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Spring Rice, 2nd Baron Monteagle of Brandon</span> Anglo-Irish politician and landowner (1849–1926)

Thomas Spring Rice, 2nd Baron Monteagle of Brandon was an Anglo-Irish politician and landowner, who helped to found the anti-partition Irish Dominion League and was a key figure in the development of Irish cooperative agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Pim (1806–1885)</span> Irish politician

Jonathan Pim was an Irish Liberal Party politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dublin City at the 1865 general election, and held the seat until the 1874 general election, when his absence abroad when the election was called unexpectedly made it impossible to mount an effective campaign. He was president of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland between 1875 and 1877. A Quaker, he served as secretary for the Quaker Relief fund during the Great Irish Famine: the work involved was so exhausting that he suffered a temporary collapse of health. Nonetheless, he retained a lifelong interest in efforts to alleviate the poverty-stricken condition of the Irish. Under his guidance, the family firm, Pim Brothers, opened a pioneering department store in South Great George's Street in Dublin city centre. He had a reputation for being an especially generous employer. He is buried in the Friends Burial Ground, Dublin in Blackrock, County Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jervis Street Hospital</span> Hospital in Dublin, Ireland

Jervis Street Hospital was a hospital in Jervis Street in Dublin, Ireland. The site of the hospital became the Jervis Shopping Centre.

Liam Chambers is an Irish historian and academic.

Thomas Aloysius Finlay, S.J. was an Irish Catholic priest, economist, philosopher and editor.

Elizabeth Whately was an English writer and the wife of Dr Richard Whately, Protestant Archbishop of Dublin. She wrote and edited a number of fictional, religious and educational works, although little of her writing appeared explicitly under her own name.

Richard Hussey Walsh (1825–1862) was an Irish political economist and colonial official.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynn Ruane</span> Irish politician (born 1984)

Lynn Ruane is an Irish politician who has served as an independent Senator for the Dublin University constituency in Seanad Éireann since April 2016. She was the President of the Trinity College Dublin Students' Union from 2015 to 2016.

Charles Francis Bastable, FBA (1855–1945) was an Irish economist. He was Whately Professor of Political Economy (1882–1932) and Regius Professor of Laws (1908–1932) at Trinity College, Dublin.

James Johnston Shaw was an Irish county court judge.

References

  1. K.J. Rankin, 'The Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland', in The Oxford History of the Irish Book, Volume IV, James Murphy (ed.) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011) pp.563–574
  2. SSISI website, 'Home' http://www.ssisi.ie/index.php (Accessed 30 September 2014)
  3. S. Shannon Millin, The Statistical and Social lnquiry Society of Ireland: Historical Memoirs with Portraits (Dublin: E. Ponsonby, 1920)
  4. R. D. Collison Black, The Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland Centenary Volume, 1847–1947 (Dublin: Eason, 1947)
  5. SSISI website, 'History' http://www.ssisi.ie/history.php (Accessed 30 September 2014)
  6. K.J. Rankin, 'The Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland', in The Oxford History of the Irish Book, Volume IV, James Murphy (ed.) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011) pp.563–574
  7. SSISI website, 'History' http://www.ssisi.ie/history.php (Accessed 30 September 2014)
  8. Mary E. Daly, The Spirit of Earnest lnquiry (Dublin: Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland, 1997)
  9. SSISI website, 'History' http://www.ssisi.ie/history.php (Accessed 30 September 2014)
  10. http://www.ssisi.ie/ssisi_presidents_6_5_2014.pdf SSISI website, 'Biographical Portraits of the Past presidents of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland'