Background
"Athenaeum", also Athenæum or Atheneum, is used in the names of institutions or periodicals for literary, scientific, or artistic study. It may also be used in the names of educational institutions. The name is formed from the name of the classical Greek goddess Athena, the goddess of arts and wisdom.
John Wilson Croker founded the Athenaeum Club in London in 1823, beginning an international movement for the promotion of literary and scientific learning. Croker was of Anglo-Irish parentage with connections in County Limerick. Other founder members of this club included William Blake, Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, Sir Thomas Lawrence, T.R. Malthus, Sir Walter Scott, Michael Faraday, William M. Turner and others. The club published a literary and scientific journal, The Athenaeum, which survived until 1921.
The Athenaeum movement spread throughout the world. In England, Athenaii were located at Bristol, Leeds, London and Manchester. In Ireland, the Cork Athenaeum was built by public subscription in 1853 (this was later to become the Cork Opera House), and Dublin had an Athenaeum at 43 Grafton Street in 1856. In Scotland, the Glasgow Athenaeum started in Ingram Street in 1847 and is today's Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In the United States of America there are Athenaii at Boston, Chicago, New York and other centres.
Read more about this topic: Limerick Athenaeum
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