The RDS is continuing its strong support for Irish craft by collaborating with Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI) on the annual RDS Branchardière Lace Bursary. First launched and awarded in 2021 to mark the 50th anniversary of Design & Crafts Council Ireland and to commemorate the legacy of Eleanor Riego de la Branchardière.

The RDS Branchardière Lace Bursary is an annual opportunity, funded by the RDS, managed by Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI). 

This opportunity is open to contemporary lace makers and those incorporating lace into their work in a significant manner, who are clients of DCCI or members of a Guild, Association, Network or Society (GANS) registered with DCCI.

• In 2021 the inaugural RDS Branchardiére Lace Bursary was awarded. Valued at €8,000 in its first year, it is worth €2,000 annually and awarded via the DCCI GANS (guilds, associations, networks, societies) Network Support Scheme.

Preserving Tradition, Inspiring Innovation: The RDS Branchardiére Lace Bursary

The bursary award may be used for a wide range of professional development activities such as further education and training; research; development of new work; mentoring; residencies, or innovative individual or group projects relating to Irish lace.

The Legacy of Eleonore Riego De La Branchardière: Supporting Irish Lace Making

The Branchardière Fund was set up in 1890 with a bequest from Eleonore Riego De La Branchardière (her mother was Irish and her father was French), whose 72 books on needlework revolutionised the world of lace and had a major influence on fashion in the Victorian era.

In subsequent years the fund was administered by several different organisations and financed a range of projects that helped workers in the Irish Lace industry. From 2001 to 2017 the RDS distributed the proceeds of the fund via a lace prize at its annual RDS Crafts Competition/Awards.