Royal Institution for its founding were given by the Society for Bettering the Conditions and Improving the Comforts of the Poor, under the guidance of philanthropist Sir Thomas Bernard and American-born British scientist Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford. Since its founding it has been based at 21 Albemarle Street in Mayfair. Its Royal Charter was granted in 1800. Throughout its history, the Institution has supported public engagement with science through a programme of lectures, many of which continue today. The most famous of these are the annual Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, founded by Michael Faraday. The Royal Institution was founded as the
Davy Group association with Arts & Business. The main prizes total €19,000 and were awarded by a judging panel of Royal Hibernian Academy President Stephen McKenna, Royal Ulster Academy President Rita Duffy and international art critic and writer Gemma Tipton. The 2010 Davy Portrait Award was won by Ian Cumberland, a Northern Ireland-based artist. The 2008 Davy Portrait Awards was won by Joe Dunne, a portrait artist based in Dublin. The "Mahon Tribunal" established that Davy, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, made a series of payments to the corrupt politician Liam Lawlor. In 1992, Davy made a political donation of £5,000 to