Day, Robert (1835 -1914)

Robert Day, of Myrtle Hill House in Cork, and later of Patrick's Hill, was involved in his family’s successful saddlery business. He married Rebecca Scott, whose family owned an extensive ironmongery business in Cork. He was president of the Cork Cuverian Society and its successor the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society from 1894 to 1914. He was responsible for assembling the Society’s enormous collection of Irish archaeological artefacts, which were auctioned off in 1913. In the 1860s he developed a keen interest in amateur photographer, and his extensive collection of photographs now form the Day Collection of the Cork Camera Club. He was also a Justice of the Peace, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and a Member of the Royal Irish Academy.