Dr Éimear O’Connor

Dr Éimear O’Connor is an author, visual artist, and RIAM trained Irish harpist. Formerly a member of the Arts Council, where she was chair of the Policy and Strategy Committee, O’Connor also served on the Board of IMMA, and is currently the Presidential nominee to the Board of the Chester Beatty Library. Recently Director of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig where she fully supported Harp Ireland’s residential bursary, O’Connor is now Director of Collections and Access with the National Museum of Ireland. She holds a BA and PhD from UCD, and a first class honours MBA from DIT. A former winner of the Tailteann Willwood gold medal for Irish Harp (1982), O’Connor is the author of Seán Keating: Art, Politics, and Building the Irish Nation (2013), and Art, Ireland, and the Irish Diaspora. Chicago, Dublin, New York: Culture, Connections and Controversies (2020), which was awarded the inaugural Lawrence J. McCaffrey Prize for a book on Irish America by the American Conference of Irish Studies (2021). She has published chapters, articles, catalogue essays and reviews on Irish art and culture for publications in Ireland, England, America, and France, and has lectured in cultural institutions and universities at home and abroad. She is an honorary member of the RHA and the RUA.