[2] Edith was older sister to Charles Hubert Oldham, who would go on to become Professor of Economics at University College Dublin.

[4] Instead of attending university he worked as a banking assistant for a time before an inheritance allowed him to travel to Paris, France.

[7] Throughout his career, Best became a prolific expert on Celtic studies, and has been widely attributed to the survival and success of the subject as it is known today.

[4] In 1936 Best was awarded the Medal of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences by Pope Pius XI for his facsimile edition of the Milan codex.

He appears in James Joyces’ Ulysses, describing him as such, “Mr Best entered, tall, young, mild, light.

[11] Following his retirement from the Irish Manuscripts Commission, Best spent much of the final three years of his life “sorting out his large correspondence”, much of which is currently held in the National Library.

[8] Best’s work also appeared in multiple academic journals, including “Éiriu, and the Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie, Revue Celtique, Études Celtiques, Hermathena, The Dublin Magazine, The Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy.”[7] Best also continued with his work in palaeography, including the last paper he completed on the Book of Armagh in 1958, which appeared in Éiriu vol.

's obituary for Best also notes “all his anonymous work: transcriptions and investigations undertaken…for other scholars,…friends and colleagues.”[8] His aid in the writing of others is particularly visible in his surviving correspondence with George Moore.

Best Papers are currently held at the National Archive and have been instrumental in the foundation of The Richard Irvine Best Memorial lecture.

This discussion and celebration of Best’s work, organised by Richard Irvine Best Memorial Lecture Trust, has taken place since 1969.