Virginia Teehan

Virginia Teehan is an Irish art historian, writer, curator and archivist who has led the Irish Heritage Council (An Comhairle Oidhreachta) since January 2019. She was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2022.

She grew up in Kilkenny, and studied at University College Cork (UCC) where she attained an bachelor's degree in arts, and later at Trinity College Dublin where she earned a Master of Philosophy.

During her time at the Hunt Museum Teehan successfully led the organization through a government enquiry established following an allegation made by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Paris that items from the Hunt collection were looted during the Nazi era. Teehan established a major provenance research project which proved ultimately that the allegations were unfounded. as well as on fine and decorative arts, and cultural management, including monographs on Ogham inscriptions, Seán Keating, Louis le Brocquy and Jack B. Yeats.

Selected publications Books Sean Keating: In Focus. Associated Editions, 2009. Louis Le Brocquy Allegory and Legend. Hunt Museum, 2006. The Honan Chapel: A Golden Vision (with Elizabeth Heckett). Cork University Press, 2005. The Ogam Stones at University College Cork (with Damian McManus). Cork University Press, 2005. ASIN: B00FBBG3L8 Jack B. Yeats: Master of Ceremonies. Hunt Museum, 2004. Provision of Genealogical Services in Ireland. The Heritage Council, 2000.

Journals "Celtic renaissance". Irish Arts Review, volume 33, issue 1, 2016. "Raqqan bowl". Irish Arts Review, volume 26, issue 2, 2009.