Director Profile: Dr Audrey Whitty

Previously Audrey was Deputy Director and Head of Collections and Learning at the National Museum of Ireland and has held various curatorial and leadership positions at the National Museum of Ireland and the Corning Museum of Glass, New York.

A graduate of University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin Audrey has led on the development of significant exhibitions and research projects including the acclaimed Proclaiming a Republic: The 1916 Rising exhibition, A Dubliner’s Collection of Asian Art: The Albert Bender Exhibition, Alison Lowry: (A)Dressing Our Hidden Truths - An artistic response to the Legacy of Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries.

Audrey serves on several boards (please see the full list below). She has authored over ninety publications including The Albert Bender Collection of Asian Art in the National Museum of Ireland, which was published by the National Museum of Ireland and Wordwell Books in 2011.

Audrey is excited by the opportunities to shape and share our national collections, build upon the trusted services and grow the research and digital innovation that the NLI delivers, both here in Ireland and across the world. She has strong interest in Special Collections, Prints and Drawings and the NLI’s Gaelic manuscripts, and rare printed books collections.

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Read the full press release here.

Board Memberships (Ex Officio)

As Director of the National Library of Ireland, Dr Whitty is a member of the following boards:

• The Chester Beatty 
• The Worth Library
• The Newman House Literary Centre Company (Museum of Literature Ireland/MoLI)
• The Irish Manuscripts Commission
• The National Famine Commemoration Committee
• CONUL (Consortium of National and University Libraries)

Other Board Memberships

In addition to the ex-officio board roles above, Dr Audrey Whitty is a board member of:

• Literature Ireland
• The Irish Museums Association
• External member - Critical Infrastructure Committee of University of Dublin/Trinity College Dublin Governing Authority
• Company of Goldsmiths Dublin

Invited Memberships

• Advisory Committee on the Restitution and Repatriation of Cultural Heritage
• International Academy of Ceramics (UNESCO body)